Community Reviews
Megan Crane’s Frenemies is a coming of age novel that I felt I could relate to (so it seems much of what I’ve been reading lately deals with growing up and/or embracing adulthood). It spoke to me, mainly because I’m feeling caught in the crosshairs of “adult” and “young adult” and I found the story both poignant and believeable.
The heroine, Gus (short for Augusta), obsesses - much like a young college student might - about her ex whom she caught cheating on her with one of her so-called “friends”. Naturally, this leads her on a journey not only to try to get him back and plot revenge against the offending “friend”, but also propels her on a mission to make sure everything goes according to plan so she can arrive at age 30 with the man, the career, and the ideal independent living situation.
The interesting dynamic in this novel is the ties between friends and pseudo- or semi-friends. Guys might not understand this concept, but women do. She’s your friend, but not really. You have some laughs, maybe go out every so often, but there’s this underlying feeling you’ve got that you don’t completely trust one another. There’s this fine line between friendship, sisterhood, and competition. And which category do your “friends” fall into?
Plus, it’s about Gus growing up. Is a choice or does it just miraculously happen? Up until recently, I kind of thought it just happened. Poof, you’re grown. But every day, I get closer and closer to twenty-five! And I realize that’s not old by any means, I still find it a bit shocking. Twenty-five?! Already? But, wasn’t high school just, like, two springs ago? (Um, try seven years ago. I’m three short years away from my ten-year reunion!). Thanks to various conversations with a guy I’ll just call my White Knight, I’m questioning that and trying to figure out - like Gus was - how to go about the business of ‘growing up’.
To my chagrin, and everlasting surprise, I am once again flabbergasted by the degree of relateability I find within the pages of Ms. Crane’s well-crafted women’s literature. Take note, readers, chick lit has more to offer than you might think it does.
The heroine, Gus (short for Augusta), obsesses - much like a young college student might - about her ex whom she caught cheating on her with one of her so-called “friends”. Naturally, this leads her on a journey not only to try to get him back and plot revenge against the offending “friend”, but also propels her on a mission to make sure everything goes according to plan so she can arrive at age 30 with the man, the career, and the ideal independent living situation.
The interesting dynamic in this novel is the ties between friends and pseudo- or semi-friends. Guys might not understand this concept, but women do. She’s your friend, but not really. You have some laughs, maybe go out every so often, but there’s this underlying feeling you’ve got that you don’t completely trust one another. There’s this fine line between friendship, sisterhood, and competition. And which category do your “friends” fall into?
Plus, it’s about Gus growing up. Is a choice or does it just miraculously happen? Up until recently, I kind of thought it just happened. Poof, you’re grown. But every day, I get closer and closer to twenty-five! And I realize that’s not old by any means, I still find it a bit shocking. Twenty-five?! Already? But, wasn’t high school just, like, two springs ago? (Um, try seven years ago. I’m three short years away from my ten-year reunion!). Thanks to various conversations with a guy I’ll just call my White Knight, I’m questioning that and trying to figure out - like Gus was - how to go about the business of ‘growing up’.
To my chagrin, and everlasting surprise, I am once again flabbergasted by the degree of relateability I find within the pages of Ms. Crane’s well-crafted women’s literature. Take note, readers, chick lit has more to offer than you might think it does.
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