Frenemies

Augusta "Gus" Curtis was banking on one person to keep her from feeling totally alone and backward on her 30th birthday: her aloof boyfriend Nate. So when she catches him lip-locked with college friend Helen, Gus is forced to consider how well she really knew or liked any of these people -- including herself.

Frenemies is definitely a novel exploring the nature of women's friendship, as Megan Crane herself notes in the afterword. She says she wanted to write about the things women do to each other, looking at it all from a Mean Girls perspective. I think she succeeded in that. But was it all that interesting? Not really.

I thought Gus was this strong-minded, almost rebellious librarian -- an interesting concept -- only to realize she's show more quite dependent on those around her, including best friends Georgia and Amy Lee. That's okay -- I wouldn't immediately hold that against her -- but it takes so long in the novel to see Gus's growth that it just becomes . . . frustrating. I wanted her to break out of the blindness to see that when Nate says he "can't be" what she needs him to be, he means it! And move on. She wasn't in love with him -- everyone sees that. She's just angry that Helen, her so-called "friend," took what was hers, thereby destroying the illusion Gus had created for her life.

The novel is well written and full of witty banter, and I was relieved to see how far Gus had come at the end of the book, but getting there made me feel a little tired. Many of the peripheral characters are very unlikeable, including Henry, Georgia's former "crush to end all crushes" and Nate's housemate. I wanted to feel something about him, but I didn't.

Overall, a quick read looking at friends-as-family and the way women depend and hurt one another. Did have some insightful scenes, but overall fell a little flat for me. show less

1/2 way through and I like the book. Its a little juvenile, but then even the cover alluded to the fact that the main character feels she's living a high school drama. I like the dialogue, and some of the stunts that Gus pulls are pretty funny to read. Who wouldn't wanna yell/sing Janis Joplin's "Piece of my Heart" 3 inches from your ex's face (and the skank he was getting some from on the side.) Its annoying how weak Gus comes off being, but lets face it, thats generally how people live in life. Missing opportunities to defend yourself in the name of confusion, mental paralysis, or just in the name of social politeness.This was a good book. It followed Gus as she grew up. Yes somethings irritated me about the characters behavior show more traits, but I think the story was written well. show less

A fun little book, I was really just expecting to be entertained but I actually learned something about friendships. Halfway through I wanted to strangle the narrator, I could see where things were headed, why couldn't she. The characters were pretty well developed and their back-story believable. A little deeper than most chick-lit I've read and I would recommend it if your looking for something a little lighter but still somewhat intelligent.

This is the story of Gus Curtis, librarian, as she is approaching her 30th birthday. She walks in to find her boyfriend kissing her best friend (some best friend!) and is beside herself. Here she is, having planned most of her life out and having most of it happen the way she planned and now nothing is going the way it should be going. I found myself laughing out loud several times while reading this book. This is a good chick lit story that is not filled with too much fluff but does have a bit more substance to it. It would make a great beach read or a light read any time you are looking for one!

Frenemies by Megan Crane

When I started reading Frenemies by Megan Crane, I was in the mindset that since the main character, Augusta Curtis, was approaching her thirtieth birthday, she was going to be mature and have her “ducks in a row.” I was more than wrong. Even she thought her life was all falling into place, just as she had been planning. Although it turns out that even when you’re thirty, life can be just as dramatic as ever. It all started to fall apart when Gus caught her boyfriend cheating on her with her “friend.” The incident led to Gus getting close to people she thought she hated, and have a falling out with her best friend of 10+ years.
Since Gus’s two best friends both had good jobs and stable relationships, show more she seemed to lag behind them. She still lived in the same dorm she had in college, wasn’t in a relationship, and didn’t have your typical job. Naturally, her friends treated her differently. I found myself getting mad at Gus for letting her “friends” treat her the way they did, and then feeling sorry for her because of what happened to her. I never quite understood why she didn’t just say what she needed to say to let them know how she was feeling. She always kept to herself, even when she had something important to say, and it really affected how she was treated by others. Throughout the book, Gus started to grow up and realize she needed to stop acting like a child and more like an adult. As soon as she did, she immediately got the respect she had been wanting and it really shows that how you present yourself matters. How you treat others is usually how they will treat you back. Frenemies proves that life is a roller coaster. It can be perfect one second and spiral out of control the next, but it also proves that in the end everything works out for the best. show less

I totally "get" Gus! She is like me with a lager outer circle of friends (which I'm jealous of LOL) I was very happy with the way this book progressed and the ending. Oh and Helen!!!! Who doesn't know a Helen.

Oh the drama!!! This is why I avoid chick lit. There were parts that were witty and it was a quick read, but over all, it was childish.