Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Friends Like These

Review can also be found at Snow White Hates Apples.

Summer in 1983, New York City is the place and time where not-city-raised Beth starts a new chapter in her life: a journalism internship at a prestigious company. There, she will have a lot of firsts and some of those firsts involve another intern named Edie whom she will have an all-consuming friendship that leans more toward toxic than healthy codependency. Unashamedly, I admit that reading about toxic relationships are a guilty pleasure of mine, especially when they’re written brilliantly with lots of emotional turmoil, self-discovery / self-clarity, and psychological explorations.

However, I’m sad to write that Friends Like These doesn’t deliver more than the foundation of what would’ve been a remarkable coming-of-age story. My primary issue with this book is the succinct narrative that’s all telling, telling, telling. Although it helped with the pacing of the story, this type of narrative reduced the impact of emotional moments, resulting in a shallow read with choppy flow.

Moreover, it didn’t help that the characters are all typical and flat. This wouldn’t have mattered had they felt more human as there’s no way any character (as with any person) can be wholly unique. But, sadly, every single one of them is just a pale imitation. There’s no complexity, no layers or depth—which yes, applies to Beth too despite her growth resultant from her experiences.

Everything considered, Friends Like These has potential to be more than what it currently is, but it fell short. Nevertheless, I thought it was a good book to read in between of heavier ones as it kept my momentum for reading going.

Thank you so much Pansing for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review! Friends Like These by Meg Rosoff is available at all good bookstores.

Content Warnings

becca_thegrimreader's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Meg Rosoff creates a wonderful story about coming of age. Beth is referred to as a “bumpkin,” moving to New York City for a prestigious summer internship at a newspaper where she meets fellow intern Edie. What follows is an intense and domineering friendship.

I enjoyed Beth as the narrator, she is smart and funny. Her naivety makes her experiences more believable, and I felt sympathy for her as her struggles and negative experiences are ignored by Edie. Beth views herself as inferior to everyone around her. In her eyes, Edie is charismatic, intelligent, opinionated, and beautiful. Beth is immediately swept away by Edie and we do see her confidence in herself grow. Both characters are Jewish, and both portray a very different background. Edie comes from a very wealthy family of established New York society. Beth’s family are survivors of the Holocaust, and are haunted by the past. Edie is condescending to Beth about her heritage, viewing herself as a better Jew by passing snide comments or telling Beth directly.

I will say I was not alive during the 80’s, but from what I know I think Rosoff captured New York brilliantly. She creates a vivid and real New York, sweltering in summer heat, with the AIDs epidemic sweeping across the county. The only part I didn’t enjoy was the “reveal.” I felt that the betrayal was not what I had expected, I was thinking it would be bigger. However, it was still a captivating book that is perfect for a summer read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the copy of this book. My review is honest and unbiased.

Content Warnings

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