Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Bad Friend

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The Bad Friend by Caroline Kepnes

5 reviews

kitten_nuisance's review against another edition

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

It is possible that I cannot relate to a character like Ellen, or like Tanya (though truthfully, more Tanya was what I was hoping for in this story). I don't "get" these types of friendships, and I also didn't get the other relationships in Ellen's life! Why do any of this? I guess the one thing that felt like "okay, I can see that" was honestly the relationship the main character had with her daughter, which is odd considering I am childfree by choice, and the main character had been but changed her mind for no reason she ever went into. Maybe there isn't an explainable reason someone changes their mind; I wouldn't know. The short story covers an enormous amount of Ellen's life, and that's pretty impressive. I don't think I needed it in long form. But, of course, with me not understanding Ellen, the less info I had to go off of, the less likely I ever would.

I didn't feel like the groundwork for Tanya and Ellen's friendship was quite laid down in a way that resonated, but attempts were made to do it in a quick way, and there was skill employed there.

I am finding it sad that people don't believe Tanya. I'm seeing in other reviews that readers feel that they "will never know what was true or what happened." I don't think Tanya had any reason to lie, and I think that was a key part of the story that was cleverly done by the author. I thought the ideas Ellen was having toward the end were simply her grappling with what she *knew* to be true, and not wanting to believe it--not communicating to the reader that we should not believe it. Ultimately, Ellen casts about and tries to come up with reasons for why Tanya's story might not be true, but I think we are supposed to be able to see that her reasons don't make sense, and she's trying to find a cope and not blow up her life. The majority of the story felt like fairly boring incidents to me, but the last 25% was pretty poignant and thought provoking.

Content Warnings

briana513's review

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dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Ellen has a best friend Tanya. She worships Tanya. Until one day, they don’t speak anymore. Ellen goes on through the ups and downs of life and love alone while always remembering her once best friend.

Content Warnings