A review by whatdotheyknowaboutfriends
The False Friend by Myla Goldberg
2.0
Not as good as Wickett's Remedy or Bee Season, but still worth a read if you enjoyed either of those two books. As someone who doesn't particularly enjoy reading about feelings or personal introspectives, I was really surprised the first time I read Bee Seasons and enjoyed it. Goldberg's strong, quick, off-beat prose, sometimes airily wandering, sometimes very direct, really won me over.
I see less of that style of writing in this book. The main character's issues with her family, her boyfriend, and her recent recollection of a childhood accident are described vaguely and generally, and they never hit home for me. Instead, Goldberg falls back on some stock phrases and scenes, like reminiscences of paper bag lunches. The main character's relationship with her best childhood friend (which leads to the aforementioned incident), is almost wholly described in these schlocky terms, and my biggest issue with the book was that I couldn't "get into" this relationship or understand its mechanics.
That said, the ending hits a lot harder and with more focus. It can be a bit hard to see it coming, since its not clear which "thread" of the story is going to lead to the finale (the protagonist's relationship with her parents, her boyfriend, another childhood friend, etc) because none of these threads is really invested with sufficient emotional weight early on. But the ending itself is really powerful, and the last page/epilogue makes up for a lot of earlier failings, recalling Bee Season's nigh-transcendant, fuck-yeah type ending. Worth a read if you're a big fan already, otherwise pick up Bee Season first.
I see less of that style of writing in this book. The main character's issues with her family, her boyfriend, and her recent recollection of a childhood accident are described vaguely and generally, and they never hit home for me. Instead, Goldberg falls back on some stock phrases and scenes, like reminiscences of paper bag lunches. The main character's relationship with her best childhood friend (which leads to the aforementioned incident), is almost wholly described in these schlocky terms, and my biggest issue with the book was that I couldn't "get into" this relationship or understand its mechanics.
That said, the ending hits a lot harder and with more focus. It can be a bit hard to see it coming, since its not clear which "thread" of the story is going to lead to the finale (the protagonist's relationship with her parents, her boyfriend, another childhood friend, etc) because none of these threads is really invested with sufficient emotional weight early on. But the ending itself is really powerful, and the last page/epilogue makes up for a lot of earlier failings, recalling Bee Season's nigh-transcendant, fuck-yeah type ending. Worth a read if you're a big fan already, otherwise pick up Bee Season first.