Rating: 5 out of 5.

I flew to St. Louis from San Diego on a Thursday night to attend a book signing event for 𝙈𝙮 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 with Fredrik Backman on Friday night and flew back to San Diego on Saturday morning. That’s how much I love this author. I could not pass up another opportunity to meet him.

His writing touches me more than any other writer I’ve read. He is able to put into words feelings that I can’t identify or articulate. No other author can break open my cold dead heart and make me ugly cry like Backman, in the best way possible.

This book is about four teenagers with troubled home lives that form an unbreakable bond and the events over one summer that is the basis for a famous painting that years later ends up in the hands of 18 year-old Louisa. She’s an aspiring artist herself, and winds up going on a cross-country trip to find out the story of the three figures in the painting.

I love Backman’s writing style. He tells his story in short bursts that end with universal truths and human insights that take my breath away. I’ve never felt more seen by a writer. This book reminds me of the friendships I formed while I was a teenager. Certain things seemed like the best thing in the world, and alternatively, others felt like the end of the world. When you’re young, your world view is so small that you can’t fathom what is really important and what will pass. It doesn’t mean, however, that the relationships you built, and the feelings you felt, were less-than. Backman depicts this perfectly in this story.

I received an early e-copy of this book from Atria Books. Sorry this review is so late, I am behind on them. All opinions are my own.