Book Review: For the Love of Friends

For the Love of Friends by Sara Goodman Confino

I have so many warring thoughts about this book. If I take it as just the light, fluffy concoction that it is on the surface, it’s fine. Really, just…fine. It was a quick read, contained lots of snark, had a completely predictable plot, and our heroine ends up with her HEA. Boom, automatic three stars.

But if I dig any deeper into it, this book makes me want to tear my hair out. As I stated, it’s 100% predictable. Like, there was absolutely nothing that was a surprise, or an unexpected twist. Even the part that was supposed to be the unexpected twist. Anyone who hadn’t figured out who the mystery groomsman was way early in the book has obviously never read a romance novel before.

And then there are the characters. Honestly, the only likeable characters for me were Alex, the love interest, and Lily’s grandmother, who was hilarious. I would read a blog by that woman any day. But the rest of the cast? They’re either extras from Mean Girls casting (Caryn’s wedding), a feeble attempt to portray the struggle of living with social anxiety (Sharon), or our self-centered, judgmental heroine who lacks any sort of self-awareness. Also, how is it that she works in Public Relations and somehow doesn’t realize that you shouldn’t do shady things from your work computer? Or, like, how can you be an adult in today’s society and not realize that?

And while I’m glad that Lily gets a clue at the end and does the right thing by apologizing to those she has hurt, I honestly think she was totally justified in what she said about Caryn and Megan. Caryn allowed her bridesmaid-zillas to force Lily to go thousands and thousands of dollars into debt and to body-shame her and force her to change her appearance for the sake of her precious wedding photos. I’m sorry, no. You deserve everything you get for allowing that kind of behavior to continue. And Megan? Your bestie should always have your back and not suddenly drop out of your life and resurface only to criticize you and, again, body-shame you.

So yes, this was a three-star read for me, despite my issues with it, because it really was a fun and funny book. I loved Lily’s blog posts. They were the best part of the story, and the author definitely knows how to write snark very well. If you’re looking for a light summer read with a lot of humor, definitely check it out. If you’re looking for something deeper, with nuanced character development, this will not be your thing, Honestly, I think this book would make a great movie. It has all the elements of a great rom-com.