A review by rachels_booknook
For the Love of Friends by Sara Goodman Confino

5.0

I love Sara Goodman Confino’s writing and I really enjoyed this book. While it was her first novel, it was the last of her three published books I read. I love books about weddings and parts of this one felt like reading an episode of Say Yes to the Dress. With 27 Dresses vibes (which the author nips in the bud by making that comparison herself), single Lily ends up as a bridesmaid in five weddings in one summer. Having been in several weddings before I met my husband, I felt like I really understood Lily. I also love and relate to the Jewish representation and body image discussion behind the humour. 

Where Lily and I differ is with her decision to write a tell-all blog about her bridesmaid experiences, hoping to earn some cash to pay for her wedding obligations. 

I was so anxious about what would happen when Lily’s friends and family inevitably discover her blog. While I know they had a right to be mad about what she wrote, somehow I was totally on her side. During the wedding planning process Lily was so attuned to the needs of the brides and other bridesmaids that she was basically a model bridesmaid (although I thought maybe a bit of a pushover). She may not have always known exactly what was going on behind the scenes with the brides, but she was doing her best to give them everything they wanted for their weddings – including spending money she didn’t have, standing up to their mothers, and taking really mean criticism about her appearance and even changing it when demanded. I think Lily definitely deserved more apologies. 

Through all the wedding drama, I loved reading about Lily’s growing friendship/relationship with Alex. He was so supportive of her as she navigated all of these wedding responsibilities and I loved their texts and banter. 

This was such a fun book and I highly recommend it along with all of Sara’s other novels.