Book Review for The Friendship Breakup by Annie Cathryn

 The Friendship Breakup by Annie Cathryn 

Genre:  Chick Lit, Contemporary Fiction

Publication: February 7th 2023

 

Taken from Goodreads:  For fans of Laura Hankin and Jennifer Weiner, this fresh, clever, and complex debut "mom-com" explores the ups and downs of friendship and what happens when those you trust the most leave you high and dry.

A plucky protagonist who’s far from figuring it all out—but powers through with wit and determination—Fallon is a heroine millennial moms will instantly connect with.

Fallon Monroe, mother of one, self-help book junkie, and budding chocolatier, has always relied on her mom friends in the Chicago suburbs to get her through the trials of adulthood. So when her bestie Beatrice inexplicably starts ghosting her and takes all their mutual friends with her, Fallon’s left wondering how everything went so wrong. Pushing down a lifetime of insecurities, Fallon doubles down and decides to win them back. First, she hosts an epic Mexican fiesta that goes epically wrong. Then she joins a friendship app but discovers a disturbing secret about one of her new friends.

Just when she’s about to throw in the towel on the whole friendship mess, Fallon reads a recently unearthed letter she’d refused to deal with decades earlier—and reading it forces her to finally face the deep-seated fears she’d desperately tried to bury. Now, looking at her friendships through fresh eyes, she must decide between hanging on and letting go.

Fallon is an instantly likeable heroine—as vulnerable as she is determined—and she’ll have readers eagerly turning the pages as they join her on an emotional journey into the hopes and fears of adulthood. 

My Thoughts:  I have been ghosted by people that I called my friends.  I think everyone has at some point.   I could relate to Fallon’s need to find out why her friends were ghosting her and her need to want to fix it.  I can also relate to how difficult it is to make adult friends, especially as a busy mom.  The judgmental aspect of women’s friendships hit home and made me take a second look at how I perceive my friends and our relationships. 

I read The Friendship Breakup in one day. Annie Cathryn did an amazing job bringing the characters to life, telling a story that many women will relate to.    I hope I will keep in mind, for the future, how I treat my friends and family, how I perceive other people’s relationships, and how I respect my own relationships.  

Friendships are not easy; they require time and energy.    Fallon was lucky enough to have friends that have been by her side for quite some time and some friends that came into her life just as she needed them and then moved on.   All those friendships were important for their own reasons.   The Friendship Breakup made me think about past and present friendships and all that they mean to me now.  

 

Thank you Annie Cathryn for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Meet Annie Cathryn (taken from her website):  I’m a total book nerd. In fact, I read so many books that I became a Bookstagrammer and started a book podcast called Soulful Series Video Chat. I also guest blog for Revision Division where I interview authors and post book reviews. 

In what feels like a past life, I worked in marketing communications for a Fortune 500 company. Then, after reading Eat, Pray, Love, I traveled to Italy, went on an African safari, and meditated for ten days with no contact with the outside world. When I emerged, I took a leap and started a marketing consulting agency.

But writing is really my first love, and I’m excited my debut novel, The Friendship Breakup, a mom-com, will be published by Alcove Press in February 2023. It’s about a flawed and quirky protagonist who struggles with balancing her relationships and mom responsibilities while building her dreams. She realizes she must let go of the past and her fears in order to live her best life.

My essays have appeared in YourTango, Moms Don’t Have Time to Write, and Moms Don’t Have Time to Grieve. I’m a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, the Chicago Writers Association, and the Author’s Guild. I have a degree in journalism and master’s in communications (PR & Advertising) from Marquette University. 

When I’m not writing or reading, you can find me organizing my personal library collection by color or discovering delectable chocolate. I live in Chicagoland with my husband, daughter, and two fur babies.