A review by rhii_reading
Girl Friends by Holly Bourne

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

Initially I really liked the tense tone of Fern and Jessica’s relationship and thought it was going to be a really good grounded novel. However, as it went on, it began to feel unrealistic - Fern acts like Jessica’s declaration that men

I feel like the big twist at the end completely lacked nuance.

The revelation that Fern has completely misremembered, or never even understood in the first place, Jessica’s constantly stealing away her and her friends’ love interests to make doesn’t feel like the bombshell it’s supposed to. Jessica admits that she had been flirting with Ben, which contradicts the idea that Fern was only being jealous and insecure (although she definitely is). While I really liked the split between the present day and flashbacks, I feel like the moments of retrospective hindsight were very uneven and also made Jessica’s reveal confusing.

 

Honestly, there are so many issues I take with the climax of the book that it feels too complicated to even try and write them all out.  However, I did enjoy the way the pacing ramped up towards the end, with the constant zipping between the two time periods.

Overall, whilst I think the premise had a lot of potential, it feels like a  juvenile and confused attempt at exploring both female friendships and the expectations set on young girls.