Read. Write. Listen. Create.

I don’t know what else to say, except this book is so good! My Friends, a poignant novel, delves into the profound themes of friendship, loss, and trauma. It follows the story of four teenagers who find solace on a pier. The narrative centers around a painting created that summer, which 18-year-old Louisa must transport. This journey reveals a tale of love, growth, and self-discovery.

The summary on Goodreads says, “Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an artist herself, knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.

Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by spending their days laughing and telling stories out on a pier. There’s Joar, who never backs down from a fight; quiet and bookish Ted who is mourning his father; Ali, the daughter of a man who never stays in one place for long; and finally, there’s the artist, a boy who hoards sleeping pills and shuns attention, but who possesses an extraordinary gift that might be his ticket to a better life. These four lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream.

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be put into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. As she struggles to decide what to do with this bequest, she embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn the story of how the painting came to be. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more she feels compelled to unleash her own artistic spirit, but happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this fresh testament to the transformative power of friendship and art.”

The pacing of the book was so good. Nothing felt too rushed or too drawn out. It was the Goldilocks of book pacing if you ask me! I’m a stickler for pacing and if anything feels too rushed or too drawn out I start to tune out. I liked how the flashbacks felt to seamless and were woven into the story very well. There was only one time where I knew a character had passed away and I wasn’t aware it was a flashback because it had jumped from the present to back in time, but other than that, it was very well written.

The book was originally written in Swedish so at times the English translation doesn’t sound quite right or phrases don’t sound as they would if they were written in English from the start, but it gets the point across.

The narrator on the audiobook, Marin Ireland really brought the story and the characters to life. I loved Louisa’s sass and Ted’s subtle humor. And their dynamic was really unexpected, but so much fun.

I gave the book 4.5 stars out of 5. I think it was really well written and each character came alive and I could totally imagine the pier and their lives and what they struggled with. I really want someone to create the painting because I can imagine it, but would love to see how the author thought it should look.