Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Girl Friends

I forgot to write a review so I had to do a quick reread. The best thing about this book is exactly how good it is at portraying a toxic female friendship, the competition, the need, the love it's all there. I've been there, I've been both sides. You fall apart and then you both found yourselves again and sometimes it works, sometimes you remember why you fell apart. This book portrays it so well.

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katenorman17's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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kanorve's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Delves into childhood trauma, misogynistic tendencies, abuse, drugs, and sex. Brings back nostalgic feelings of my own childhood and something any girl coming from this time can relate. Beautifully written and so inspirational. This book had me in tears.

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dreiwolken's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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amyvl93's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Every single one of Holly Bourne's adult novels have given me a minor existential crisis, and Girl Friends is no different.

It follows Fern, who has found some slightly accidental viral fame for sharing her experiences with mental illness, who after a ten year estrangement comes face to face with her best friend from her teenage years Jessica. The novel then takes us between the present, as Fern struggles to grapple with Jessica's arrival in her life and the years of the early 00s and Fern and Jessica's original friendship, leading to the point where the girls stop speaking.

Bourne is great at writing about the contemporary female experience and Girl Friends is no different. Fern's insecurities may feel irrational but also recognisable, as does Jessica's behaviour. Bourne's descriptions of the early 00s also felt painfully familiar, from the pop culture references to the grim way that 'lad culture' was accepted and enabled by teenage girls desperate to be recognised. This is a novel that looks at how misogyny creeps into relationships between young men and women, and how it can be a barrier to recognise how things really are.

The only thing that felt false to me is that there needed to be a 'reveal' about Jessica's motivations, given Fern's career and academic interests I would have expected her to be more able to understand the rationale behind the behaviour of those around her. However, this is a great contemporary read and I'll be first to pick up Bourne's next adult novel.

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