Reviews

A group of interconnected people in NYC come and go, crisscross and connect and don't, come into focus and fade away. It's brilliant and I loved it. I don't know that I can do a better job of describing it than the blurb does, but I will say that it builds slowly--not boringly, but slowly-- for the first half or so, and then all that careful character building begins to pay off.

I've said many times before that I have no problem being liberal with my star ratings, but the downside is that then when I read a book I really do exceptionally love and admire, I have no way to distinguish it from the ones I enjoyed enough to give five stars. I'd give this one eight or ten stars if I could. And if you know about the man in the macintosh, or Miss Dunne typing the date on a fresh sheet of paper, or Stephen getting kicked out of his apartment early on, you will recognize the allusions here (and many more).

dorkira's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

jesswho's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

4.0

Content Warnings

okevamae's review against another edition

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5.0

The Mutual Friend is clever and darkly funny with interesting characters that weave in and out of each other’s orbits. The main character – if the book can be said to have one – is Alice, a nanny who, floundering for purpose, decides to make good on a promise she made to her late mother to go to medical school. But it’s also about her roommate and her job, and her brother and his search for enlightenment, and her sister-in-law and her health issues, the guy her roommate dated once and his checkered romantic history, and another guy her brother did jury duty with and his ailing father, and so on, and all the tiny ways people’s lives connect and intersect. My only complaint is that most of the main characters are white (or if they are POC it's not stated outright.) The book also examines and skewers many of the trappings of modern life and internet culture like social media, smartphones, time-sucking mobile apps, trashy reality TV, internet addiction, and online public shaming, and gets philosophical about the reality or unreality of the world we experience through the internet and our phones.

It’s a slice-of-life story with a large cast of characters, so if you feel like you need heavy plot or action to find a book compelling, maybe skip this one. I found it to be sometimes funny, sometimes dark, sometimes profound, and overall, really quite beautiful. Five stars.

Representation: trans character, minor characters of color

CW: sexual harassment, slut shaming, bad drug trips, suicide

kmblaney's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

literarycrushes's review against another edition

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3.0

How I Met Your Mother is one of my top comfort shows (I’ve seen every episode at least five times), so I was excited when I saw that one of the show’s creators had written a novel. Like HIMYM, The Mutual Friend centers around a group of loosely connected young-ish people in New York City. It takes place in the summer of 2015, as each character is at a crossroads of some kind in their lives. At the center of the story is Alice, who, at twenty-eight, is floundering - working as a nanny while trying to force herself to study for MCATS but finding little success at either. Her brother Bill has made more money than he could ever spend after exiting a popular app but is searching for a new purpose while accidentally ignoring his wife. Her new roommate Roxy is teetering between being chaotic in a *fun* way and chaotic in a *blow your life up* kind of way. And then there is Bob (short for Bobert, duh!), a serial liar who is perhaps being punished too severely for his questionable actions.
As a huge HIMYM fan, it’s hard not to compare this book to the show. Both feature a cast of quirky but lovable characters you can’t help but root for. Bay’s writing style is also naturally script-y in terms of how he places his characters in settings & situations, often veering to the sidelines to offer the perspectives of others (like extras on a film set) and how even a minor action on their part has the potential to affect the lives of others without their noticing. Despite the somewhat daunting size of the book, it was really a very fun and easy read and would make a great beach read.

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