Annie Cathryn

It's taken me a couple of days to write about this book. My first impression was I wished it were a bit more "deep." But as the days passed, I realized it was perfectly written. And here's why: Friendships are tricky. They are messy because they involve people whose lives change, and ours don't always stay in sync thereafter. Annie Cathryn has written a good book that, if you look past its light touch, beyond the fun banter, you will see a lot of depth here and some good lessons.

The Friendship Breakup follows Fallon, an almost 40-year-old, trying to navigate her friend group of moms as they change and grow (some regress) and move on. Unfortunately for Fallon, the group's most assertive personality (read leader), Beatrice, behaves more like a high schooler regarding conflict resolution. Bea is going through some serious personal issues but relies on rumor and conjecture to base her decisions, which leads to her ghosting Fallon from the group. And, as in high school, the rest of the group follows Bea's lead.

The book has so much more to it; Fallon wins a chocolate-making contest, gets investors to open a shop, has a good relationship with her husband and her daughter, works through her adoption issues, seeks counseling, and makes new friends - all of which help Fallon, in the end, get back to her confident, independent self, and surround herself with actual good friends.

However, the meat of the story is when you look back on what you read. As all of us know, high school is generally not easy, mean girls bully lots of us, and we carry those scars throughout our adulthood and often into our adult female circles. The Friendship Breakup took me back to some mean girl situations in my own life, but through Annie Cathryn's lighthearted writing and fun dialogue, she was able to help me see that it is okay to break up with those so-called friends and move on.

The Friendship Breakup is a quick, easy read that, if you let it, will help you see that we can and should move beyond the toxic friendship relationships - there are better people out there waiting to friend us.

Annie Cathryn's debut is worth reading and will bring you joy and some good self-reflection.… (mehr)

The fact that the writing was good doesn't make up for the fact that the main character was whiny and mopey to the main character was for most of the book. When she wasn't bemoaning her friend drama (which could have been solved more simply if she'd bothered to ask what was wrong instead of inventing scenarios in her head), she was self-sabotaging with ill-advised plans and catastrophes that were caused or exacerbated by her lack of thinking ahead. Or she was drinking, which seemed to be a common theme throughout. (My husband kept track of her drinks on her trip to New York, and there were enough to cause liver damage, particularly paired with the painkillers and muscle relaxers.)

I'm just relieved that the author didn't find a way for the broken friendships to magically become "all better!" with a handwave at the end.… (mehr)