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A review by meghan111
Friendship by Emily Gould
3.0
My relationship status with this book is "It's Complicated."
At times I was struck by observations of modern life, like:
At times I was super annoyed by the protagonists and the feeling that this novel was narcissistic and solipsistic on the part of the author. Another book about young white women in New York City who have worked in publishing, who have money problems and feel left out of the wealth around them. The lives of Bev and Amy are so dull in certain ways, so stunted by the cliche of making it in New York. I think the novel was trying to illustrate that point, but sometimes seemed caught up in its own game.
I tried reading [b:How Should a Person Be|9361377|How Should a Person Be?|Sheila Heti|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1329024487s/9361377.jpg|14244846] by Sheila Heti last year, and while I didn't finish it, I appreciated its more picaresque take on similar themes to this book. Also, this is so much like the movie Frances Ha.
At times I was struck by observations of modern life, like:
"'I guess I'm talking about this weird vapidity that women seem to aspire to,' Amy said. 'This kind of Us magazine editorial voice that infects people's actual conversations and lives.'"
"It was getting close to noon now, she was hungry for lunch, and her limbs twitched restlessly because they craved motion, but somehow she couldn't stop mindlessly scrolling through Tumblr, liking photographs of food and animals. Her actual cat lay at her feet, occasionally pawing her and trying to engage her in play, but she fobbed him off with some desultory petting and then continued to ignore him in favor of the cats on the screen."
At times I was super annoyed by the protagonists and the feeling that this novel was narcissistic and solipsistic on the part of the author. Another book about young white women in New York City who have worked in publishing, who have money problems and feel left out of the wealth around them. The lives of Bev and Amy are so dull in certain ways, so stunted by the cliche of making it in New York. I think the novel was trying to illustrate that point, but sometimes seemed caught up in its own game.
Spoiler
Also, I was so disappointed in the use of the trope where a woman goes to have an abortion and then walks out of the doctor's office because she can't go through with it. But I did like how the story ends and how Bev and Amy both end up working in retail! Realistic.I tried reading [b:How Should a Person Be|9361377|How Should a Person Be?|Sheila Heti|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1329024487s/9361377.jpg|14244846] by Sheila Heti last year, and while I didn't finish it, I appreciated its more picaresque take on similar themes to this book. Also, this is so much like the movie Frances Ha.