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valleycello's review
4.0
Light read, but relatable and at times painfully so. 20 something protagonist is realizing its time to grow up; story set over a few months before her 30 birthday.
hotmessmamareads's review
3.0
Megan Crane’s Frenemies is a coming of age novel that I felt I could relate to (so it seems much of what I’ve been reading lately deals with growing up and/or embracing adulthood). It spoke to me, mainly because I’m feeling caught in the crosshairs of “adult” and “young adult” and I found the story both poignant and believeable.
The heroine, Gus (short for Augusta), obsesses - much like a young college student might - about her ex whom she caught cheating on her with one of her so-called “friends”. Naturally, this leads her on a journey not only to try to get him back and plot revenge against the offending “friend”, but also propels her on a mission to make sure everything goes according to plan so she can arrive at age 30 with the man, the career, and the ideal independent living situation.
The interesting dynamic in this novel is the ties between friends and pseudo- or semi-friends. Guys might not understand this concept, but women do. She’s your friend, but not really. You have some laughs, maybe go out every so often, but there’s this underlying feeling you’ve got that you don’t completely trust one another. There’s this fine line between friendship, sisterhood, and competition. And which category do your “friends” fall into?
Plus, it’s about Gus growing up. Is a choice or does it just miraculously happen? Up until recently, I kind of thought it just happened. Poof, you’re grown. But every day, I get closer and closer to twenty-five! And I realize that’s not old by any means, I still find it a bit shocking. Twenty-five?! Already? But, wasn’t high school just, like, two springs ago? (Um, try seven years ago. I’m three short years away from my ten-year reunion!). Thanks to various conversations with a guy I’ll just call my White Knight, I’m questioning that and trying to figure out - like Gus was - how to go about the business of ‘growing up’.
To my chagrin, and everlasting surprise, I am once again flabbergasted by the degree of relateability I find within the pages of Ms. Crane’s well-crafted women’s literature. Take note, readers, chick lit has more to offer than you might think it does.
The heroine, Gus (short for Augusta), obsesses - much like a young college student might - about her ex whom she caught cheating on her with one of her so-called “friends”. Naturally, this leads her on a journey not only to try to get him back and plot revenge against the offending “friend”, but also propels her on a mission to make sure everything goes according to plan so she can arrive at age 30 with the man, the career, and the ideal independent living situation.
The interesting dynamic in this novel is the ties between friends and pseudo- or semi-friends. Guys might not understand this concept, but women do. She’s your friend, but not really. You have some laughs, maybe go out every so often, but there’s this underlying feeling you’ve got that you don’t completely trust one another. There’s this fine line between friendship, sisterhood, and competition. And which category do your “friends” fall into?
Plus, it’s about Gus growing up. Is a choice or does it just miraculously happen? Up until recently, I kind of thought it just happened. Poof, you’re grown. But every day, I get closer and closer to twenty-five! And I realize that’s not old by any means, I still find it a bit shocking. Twenty-five?! Already? But, wasn’t high school just, like, two springs ago? (Um, try seven years ago. I’m three short years away from my ten-year reunion!). Thanks to various conversations with a guy I’ll just call my White Knight, I’m questioning that and trying to figure out - like Gus was - how to go about the business of ‘growing up’.
To my chagrin, and everlasting surprise, I am once again flabbergasted by the degree of relateability I find within the pages of Ms. Crane’s well-crafted women’s literature. Take note, readers, chick lit has more to offer than you might think it does.
goddessjentoni's review
3.0
It was not extraodinary. Light read, basic romance. The main character was annoying to me but then again I am not sympathetic to weak women. I think though I was expecting too much from a typical romance. Have a read if you want to have a little light fun and to add to your read pile.
maryganska's review
3.0
Pretty good chick lit - a little predictable but I liked it enough. Sometimes you need a little fluff in your day.
emjay24's review
2.0
I like chicklit, but I don’t always like the characters in the chick lit books..probably because I'm not a girl's girl. I didn’t really like the main character, Gus. She was whiny and really stupid. Her 'frenemy' Helen reminded me exactly of Edie from desperate housewives. I didn’t so much love her either, but I liked her way better than Gus. My favorite character was Henry, followed by Chris. I could only relate to the men in this book. Big surprise. Anyway, very light reading. Not bad, just not good. Even though chick lit is light junk food in the shape of books, there are still better, more interesting ones than this one.
bookishrnamanda's review
3.0
Girl gets cheated on by friend. Girl then sleeps with ex's friend. One of those keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Anyone could have really written this one. Nothing too notable or exceptional about it. Really a petty storyline for 30 year olds. I'd read another book by this author because I feel like this isn't her best work.
birdkeeperklink's review
2.0
Not nearly as strong or funny as her first novel. It felt like she was exaggerating everything from the first novel to try to make this one successful, but it was kind of off-putting instead.
julibug86's review
2.0
If she hadn't named it Frenemies and had a false sense of Boston, I would've given it another star. Overall, just really predictable after awhile. And who has social events and parties like that?
msandvik0505's review
5.0
Frenemies is another favorite Megan Crane book. I love Gus and Henry's relationship dynamics and enjoyed reading this.