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A review by briarsreviews
City of Friends by Joanna Trollope
2.0
City of Friends is a lovely story by Joanna Trollope following the interconnecting lives of women.
This book focuses on the trials and errors of middle aged women being women. Lost jobs, children to take care of, parents to take care of, struggling romantic relationships, family drama and friendship drama all mash together into one well written tale. It's everything you'd expect from a contemporary, women's fiction novel!
There are four women who were once friends and now all of them are middle aged. Each of them have their own struggles to deal with, and somehow all of their problems relate to each other's problems. As with most female centered books, there is a pinch of feminine drama that makes me question if women are just bound to be dramatic and gossip (as a woman, I haven't seen too much of that as an adult - maybe it's just me though). Examples of this drama: One woman offers her friend's "mistress" or new lover a job but not her best friend, two of the women's children start seeing each other, a husband tells a woman to pick between their relationships or her mother's health. Yeah... this book felt petty at times.
Even with some of these interesting plot lines, I did enjoy this book. Buuuuuut... it wasn't a hit out of the park for me. I found it was a lovely, soft read that wasn't hard to jump in and out of. The worst part was that it got very slow at times. There were entire chapters that could have been left out and the story still would have progressed. I also didn't feel like there was a real "end" to this book, it just stopped. That's how life stories go there - there never is an "end", something just "stops".
There are some really strong parts of this book, for those looking for my positives! There are strong women characters who are facing realistic problems. I know many girls and women who have faced some of these troubles - like a sick parent, dealing with a lost job, and trying to balance work and family life. I like seeing books like this that bring about real issues so people realize that everyone goes through this stuff. Our lives aren't what we see on Instagram - life isn't perfect.
It may be because I've read a lot of women's fiction lately (on accident) or maybe it is just the plot of this book - I just didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. The synopsis sounds awesome, the cover is gorgeous and the first half of the book really peaked me interest. At half, I kind of just wandered off in my brain and had trouble getting through it.
That being said, I would still recommend this book to anyone who loves contemporary novels and women's fiction. It's not a bad book, it's just not a good book for me - mainly because it couldn't hold my attention the way other women's fiction has. I think Joanna Trollope has a fantastic, easy reading, writing style and I want to read more books by her! This is just a blip on the book radar!
Two out of five stars.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
This book focuses on the trials and errors of middle aged women being women. Lost jobs, children to take care of, parents to take care of, struggling romantic relationships, family drama and friendship drama all mash together into one well written tale. It's everything you'd expect from a contemporary, women's fiction novel!
There are four women who were once friends and now all of them are middle aged. Each of them have their own struggles to deal with, and somehow all of their problems relate to each other's problems. As with most female centered books, there is a pinch of feminine drama that makes me question if women are just bound to be dramatic and gossip (as a woman, I haven't seen too much of that as an adult - maybe it's just me though). Examples of this drama: One woman offers her friend's "mistress" or new lover a job but not her best friend, two of the women's children start seeing each other, a husband tells a woman to pick between their relationships or her mother's health. Yeah... this book felt petty at times.
Even with some of these interesting plot lines, I did enjoy this book. Buuuuuut... it wasn't a hit out of the park for me. I found it was a lovely, soft read that wasn't hard to jump in and out of. The worst part was that it got very slow at times. There were entire chapters that could have been left out and the story still would have progressed. I also didn't feel like there was a real "end" to this book, it just stopped. That's how life stories go there - there never is an "end", something just "stops".
There are some really strong parts of this book, for those looking for my positives! There are strong women characters who are facing realistic problems. I know many girls and women who have faced some of these troubles - like a sick parent, dealing with a lost job, and trying to balance work and family life. I like seeing books like this that bring about real issues so people realize that everyone goes through this stuff. Our lives aren't what we see on Instagram - life isn't perfect.
It may be because I've read a lot of women's fiction lately (on accident) or maybe it is just the plot of this book - I just didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. The synopsis sounds awesome, the cover is gorgeous and the first half of the book really peaked me interest. At half, I kind of just wandered off in my brain and had trouble getting through it.
That being said, I would still recommend this book to anyone who loves contemporary novels and women's fiction. It's not a bad book, it's just not a good book for me - mainly because it couldn't hold my attention the way other women's fiction has. I think Joanna Trollope has a fantastic, easy reading, writing style and I want to read more books by her! This is just a blip on the book radar!
Two out of five stars.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.