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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
Friendship, forgiveness, and finding your way in life.
The Friends We Keep follows three best friends across several decades, as they drift apart and come back together. The power of true friendships is that they can survive anything, even when they lose their way. This book made its way into my heart, and I won’t soon forget.
The way Jane Green writes makes you feel like the characters are your friends and loved ones. My heart broke with theirs when they lost their way. My heart swelled when their friendships lasted through all of the ups and downs. What a credit to the way Green writes—she makes readers feel that this story is special for them.
And the things the characters go through—I’ll say that I think most of us will have experienced at least one theme themselves. I did this as a buddy read with Berit and we discussed how we connected personally with these characters. How would we react in their spot? It was such a great friendship-building moment for Berit and I, and I think this is perfect to read with a book buddy or book club!
The story spans decades, and that is also one of the things that makes this unputdownable. Beginning at university the three friends meet. Evvie is lonely—a famous, beautiful actress but without friends. Her cat-loving, uptight roommate just isn’t a fit for her. When she meets vibrant and fun-loving Maggie the same day, they quickly swap rooms and find themselves to be instant best friends. Soon after, they meet Topher, a seemingly asexual male who shies away from physical touch, but is a truly outstanding friend.
As the friends grow up through university, I connected with them so much. Their whole lives are ahead of them, and it's hard for them to imagine life ever not being them living with their best friends. And then they transition to adulthood. Each on their own path, we see their lives unfold. They find love. They get their hearts broken. They lose touch. And eventually, they find each other again.
And when they come together, they struggle to tell one another the truth. Everything was not perfect.. Sometimes I do think we have the hardest time being honest with those we love the most., and Jane Green really plays with that theme here. `
My heart is so connected to these characters. I miss them, but I also felt that their stories are so satisfying. I want more but I also don’t feel like I missed anything. Truly a beautiful book, and I’m excited to share it!
Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my copy. Opinions are my own.
The Friends We Keep follows three best friends across several decades, as they drift apart and come back together. The power of true friendships is that they can survive anything, even when they lose their way. This book made its way into my heart, and I won’t soon forget.
The way Jane Green writes makes you feel like the characters are your friends and loved ones. My heart broke with theirs when they lost their way. My heart swelled when their friendships lasted through all of the ups and downs. What a credit to the way Green writes—she makes readers feel that this story is special for them.
And the things the characters go through—I’ll say that I think most of us will have experienced at least one theme themselves. I did this as a buddy read with Berit and we discussed how we connected personally with these characters. How would we react in their spot? It was such a great friendship-building moment for Berit and I, and I think this is perfect to read with a book buddy or book club!
The story spans decades, and that is also one of the things that makes this unputdownable. Beginning at university the three friends meet. Evvie is lonely—a famous, beautiful actress but without friends. Her cat-loving, uptight roommate just isn’t a fit for her. When she meets vibrant and fun-loving Maggie the same day, they quickly swap rooms and find themselves to be instant best friends. Soon after, they meet Topher, a seemingly asexual male who shies away from physical touch, but is a truly outstanding friend.
As the friends grow up through university, I connected with them so much. Their whole lives are ahead of them, and it's hard for them to imagine life ever not being them living with their best friends. And then they transition to adulthood. Each on their own path, we see their lives unfold. They find love. They get their hearts broken. They lose touch. And eventually, they find each other again.
And when they come together, they struggle to tell one another the truth. Everything was not perfect.. Sometimes I do think we have the hardest time being honest with those we love the most., and Jane Green really plays with that theme here. `
My heart is so connected to these characters. I miss them, but I also felt that their stories are so satisfying. I want more but I also don’t feel like I missed anything. Truly a beautiful book, and I’m excited to share it!
Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my copy. Opinions are my own.
Evvie, Maggie, and Topher meet up at their 30th college reunion and catch up with each other’s lives even though they vowed to stay in touch.
I have read most of Jane Green’s catalog of books. Some I loved, some I merely liked. I enjoyed this one a lot because it seems like she went back to her roots with an ensemble cast of characters. I like the diversity of the characters and their storylines, some of which took some slight turns. Some predictability here and there, but it didn’t detract from the plot. If you treasure your college friendships as much as I do and want to witness the life-changing moments and surprising secrets that arise among good friends, you will enjoy her latest.
It’s not taxing on the brain and works as an entertaining novel to pop in your beach bag or tote bag while sunning yourself during breaks at your child’s summer swim meet or lacrosse, soccer, or baseball tournament. Or while sitting at basketball, wrestling, and dance practice.
I have read most of Jane Green’s catalog of books. Some I loved, some I merely liked. I enjoyed this one a lot because it seems like she went back to her roots with an ensemble cast of characters. I like the diversity of the characters and their storylines, some of which took some slight turns. Some predictability here and there, but it didn’t detract from the plot. If you treasure your college friendships as much as I do and want to witness the life-changing moments and surprising secrets that arise among good friends, you will enjoy her latest.
It’s not taxing on the brain and works as an entertaining novel to pop in your beach bag or tote bag while sunning yourself during breaks at your child’s summer swim meet or lacrosse, soccer, or baseball tournament. Or while sitting at basketball, wrestling, and dance practice.
If I could give it zero I would. Awful, slow, boring. Why on earth does Maggie marry Ben?? Why does anyone want Evil Ben and just utter garbage. Evvie is a jerk of a friend. I did not finish this.
"It sounded like a rugby song, something about how they used to work in an old department store in Chicago." A family favorite.
Usually a bigger fan of Jane Green , but I find sometimes authors are now trying too hard to put "token" characters in. It also may be that I HATED the main character Evvie; however, I finished it in one weekend so there must have been something to it. Also, to elicit such a strong feeling about a character something must have hit.
Loved it! Great story throughout the years. Jane Green is one of my favourite authors and she did not disappoint. Set in New York and the UK, I love books that have settings in the UK as it reminds me of my travels. Highly recommend this book!
Out of the three friends, Evvie, Maggie, and Topher; my favorite was Topher with Evvie and Maggie coming in a close second together.
Topher's story kind of snuck up on me as to how sweet and sad it was at the same time. Therefore, I was really cheering for him to find his happy ending. Plus, I like how his character was portrayed in this book. He was not in my face. He is like the best guy friend that a woman would want to have around.
Of the three friends, Evvie and Maggie's stories were connected together. Evvie's secret is what drove a wedge between the two and also shaped their lives in the present. However, it was not all doom and gloom. There was a happy ending for both women as well.
Fans of Jane Green or other contemporary women's books will enjoy reading this book and getting to know Evvie, Topher, and Maggie as I did. So grab a blanket, your sunglasses, and find a perfect reading spot as you read The Friends We Keep.
Topher's story kind of snuck up on me as to how sweet and sad it was at the same time. Therefore, I was really cheering for him to find his happy ending. Plus, I like how his character was portrayed in this book. He was not in my face. He is like the best guy friend that a woman would want to have around.
Of the three friends, Evvie and Maggie's stories were connected together. Evvie's secret is what drove a wedge between the two and also shaped their lives in the present. However, it was not all doom and gloom. There was a happy ending for both women as well.
Fans of Jane Green or other contemporary women's books will enjoy reading this book and getting to know Evvie, Topher, and Maggie as I did. So grab a blanket, your sunglasses, and find a perfect reading spot as you read The Friends We Keep.
emotional
slow-paced
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
- POVs felt muddled - we get a point of view of one of the side characters but only for a short time. There is a child in this book that given the previous character probably should have been given their moment to shine. Also one of the main characters is lgbt and he felt very filler to me.
- I enjoy found family - and while this is somewhat that it’s more like a reconnecting.
- Has an undercurrent of British, thats sometime sets a slow sedate pace. This also made all the characters a bit of doormats to me. Always just going with the flow. Like stand up for yourselves - your grown.
- The narration on the audiobook is terrible. I cannot believe the publisher let the author narrate this. After just a few chapters the character voices are changing - Topher had a deep melodramatic voice in the beginning only for later Maggie to have same voice with Topher now with Maggie’s more sedate tone. Shame on the producers for letting this slide - I actually think the narration harmed my enjoyment of this book - it made the characters seem more like caricatures. I ended up ditching the audio after like 10% to read my physical copy.
I'm a sucker for a good story about friendships over the years, so The Friends We Keep was right up my alley. The book tells the story of Evvie, Maggie, and Topher, who meet at university and become instant best friends and soul mates. Of course, no good friendship story would be complete without a betrayal that tears the relationship apart followed by years-later reunion. The book alternates between the three friends, where we learn about the choices they make and how they affect the friendship. The storytelling is warm and the characters are relatable. I read it very quickly, eager to see what came next for this trio. Not surprisingly, the story has a happy ending with a lovely message about the power of friendship and the gift of forgiveness.