This book was well written and had heartfelt, real-life examples of friendship and the troubles that can come. Lisa Jo writes with a voice that feels like a trusted friend. My favorite quote was from Ch 7: "I am convinced that the shortest distance between strangers and friends is a shared story about our broken places."

I have not yet finished reading this book, but am looking forward to doing so! Lisa-Jo has so much wisdom and shares it in such a unique, approachable way.

What a beautiful, encouraging book for those of us who feel often on the outside edges of relationships but never in the circle. I appreciated Lisa-Jo's voice of love and care, and also practical ideas to truly connect and find your people.

This was not what I was expecting. But it’s a book a lot of women need to read! We are social and we need others.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

This book and its short but powerful chapters and relatable tone challenged my understanding of friendship. It's more than small talk. Real friendship is loving myself, knowing how much God loves me and sharing that love with others. It's about being vulnerable, letting others into my life and looking for others to love. I'm a better friend because of this book and highly recommend it to any woman who wants to have and be a friend.

The author has learned the hard way, we need girlfriends in our lives. I love this message, and she shares a ton of stories, her own and those of others. A great gift for, well, a girlfriend.

<b>**I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**</b>

<b>Introduction</b>
Facebook. Instagram. Twitter. Snapchat. There are so many social media platforms available now, it seems easier than ever to keep up with every friend, family member, and acquaintance in our lives. And yet, all of these digital interactions come at a cost - they often end up replacing face-to-face, quality interactions. Then, when we've decided that a relationship is inconvenient, uncomfortable, or even hurtful, we "swipe left," unfriend, and move on with our lives as though that is the end of the story. It's not.

<b>The story</b>
In <i>Unfriended</i>, Lisa-Jo Baker helps her audience take a hard, honest look at modern friendships. Are our expectations too high, or maybe too low? Are we taking the time to truly invest in our friendships? Or are we punching some pixels to "like" their updates while avoiding genuine conversation? Do we "unfriend" to avoid conflict instead of confronting our flaws and fears? These are crucial questions that we need to answer, truths we need to confront if we are to rescue modern friendships from digital doom. This is the purpose of Mrs. Baker's book - to begin the conversation. To pull us away from our phones, laptops, tablets, etc to think seriously about the most important relationships in our lives. As Christians, we have a God-given responsibility to love each other like Christ. We are to extend grace, mercy, compassion, and love. And if - when - a relationship falls apart, as they often do between fallible human beings, we are to give it to God, extend forgiveness (or humbly apologize, or both), and let go. Mrs. Baker's book provides practical advice, real-life anecdotes, and scriptural basis for Christian friendship.

<b>Literary analysis</b>
There were several typos and misspellings, but given that this is an advance copy, I hope they were fixed in the final edits. Mrs. Baker also used the image of "cupping" someone's face quite often. It's a sweet image, just in a little danger of being overused. On the other hand, I enjoyed that Mrs. Baker's voice is warm and conversational, as though she were dispensing this advice over a cup of coffee with a close friend.

<b>Conclusion</b>
I recommend this book to anyone looking to enrich their friendships and ultimately their personal relationship with God, especially if they have had problems in either relationship recently and are looking for advice on how to heal.

Have you ever felt betrayed or let down by a friend? How about when someone “unfriends” you on Facebook? Or maybe you just have a hard time making friends?

Author Lisa-Jo Baker takes us into a study of “friendship” and gets down to the “nitty gritty” of relationships, how to manage them and how to grow them.
Lisa- Jo examines all the reasons why relationships work, don’t work and why we may be afraid of them.

This book is for the hurt women, the women who wish they had sisters, women who are the why wasn’t I invited women.

Being in ministry, it helped me understand relationships better, I have seen the cliques, I have heard “We cannot invite them, it would show favoritism”. I know what it feels like to be “unfriended”.
I also like that the author brings out that inter net has opened a whole bunch of new super highways of opportunities to covet our neighbor’s life with our social media we are able to look into our friends lives deeper and we know when we have been slighted, forgotten, not invited, or even unfriended.
I was also delighted that the author uses Biblical illustrations and verses to get her points across to the reader.
Have you ever felt betrayed or let down by a friend? How about when someone “unfriends” you on Facebook? Or maybe you just have a hard time making friends?

Author Lisa-Jo Baker takes us into a study of “friendship” and gets down to the “nitty gritty” of relationships, how to manage them and how to grow them.
Lisa- Jo examines all the reasons why relationships work, don’t work and why we may be afraid of them.

This book is for the hurt women, the women who wish they had sisters, women who are the why wasn’t I invited women.

Being in ministry, it helped me understand relationships better, I have seen the cliques, I have heard “We cannot invite them, it would show favoritism”. I know what it feels like to be “unfriended”.
I also like that the author brings out that inter net has opened a whole bunch of new super highways of opportunities to covet our neighbor’s life with our social media we are able to look into our friends lives deeper and we know when we have been slighted, forgotten, not invited, or even unfriended.
I was also delighted that the author uses Biblical illustrations and verses to get her points across to the reader.

This book was phenomenal. How great to know that we are never un-friended by God-even when others might do the same. Lisa Jo Baker did and outstanding job in communicating how valued and loved we are.

Never Unfriended had some really powerful points. I enjoyed reading it and thought it was written well for the most part.

A portion of the book had a lot of quotes from other people/books (of at least it seemed like a lot to me) and I don't know why exactly, but I didn't really care for that in this book. I guess just because it seemed like so many right in a row. :/

Still, I did like the book and am glad I read it. I just now want to read Beth Moore's book, Get Out of That Pit. ;)

*I received a complimentary eBook copy via NetGalley for my honest review. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*

I LOVED this book. The author writes in an easy to read dialogue, just as if she were sitting across from you and having the conversation. She unpacks the importance of friendship while at the same time recognizing that it is far from perfect. Ultimately, though, she provides hope because through Jesus, we have a forever friend. I highly recommend this book!!!

As someone that always felt on the outside of the group, standing off to the side watching and not sure where I fit in, this book touched me deeply. I read through these pages with smiles and tears. I felt like this was my story in the making. I feel more empowered to work the deep connections I do have and make the changes I need to make to be a better friend myself.
I always knew you should treat people the way you want to be treated but this book took it to a whole new level in my mind. I am so touched by this book and plan to give it as gifts to those close to me.

I liked this book and I'm really thankful to have found a book about friendship that is rooted in the Word! I've always struggled with insecurity within my friendships and really value the wisdom and advice that Lisa-Jo Baker brings in this book. I loved the personal stories she shares - very relatable! The only thing that bothered me about this book was the amount of quotes from other people in the first half of the book. It seemed a little excessive to me. But overall, great book! Excited to apply some of the things in this book to my everyday life!
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A great book for anyone looking to re-establish depth in an age of increasing relational shallowness. As believers the cultural drumbeat of social media and its illusory transient nature, is taking its toll on our relationships. Lisa-Jo unpacks how when we locate our genuine need for acceptance in Jesus, we are freed to deal with the messiness of honest open vulnerable relationships. My wife read this book, and it was a welcome timely read that definitely ministered to her own heart. A physical copy was purchased and has been re-read (not for the first time!)

Often, we expect way too much from our friends. We set friendships up for failure when we require of them what only God can fill for us. Ultimately someone gets hurt. At that point, we can get through it or we can check out. Forgiveness is ground zero.

I appreciate how Lisa-Jo approaches relationships in Never Unfriended. Broken down into four parts, the reader goes into Lisa-Jo’s friendships to show us where they mended together and where she fell short. I can relate to many of the stories.

My favorite chapter – one I can refer to time and again – is Chapter 13, “Don’t Be Afraid To Listen (Even If You Don’t Like What You Hear).” She breaks down seven ways to respond to hard conversations. I’m making flash cards with each reason on them. They are good and soul-filled ways to respond.
I could be a better friend. How about you?

Never Unfriended is a book you’ll want to purchase for your entire tribe of friends. This book is a fun and uplifting relief compared to other self-help books on relationships I’ve read. It falls back on scripture without being preachy and without psychology jargon. I recommend this book if you’re looking to strengthen your relationships and give yourself grace in the process.

This quick read will have you laughing, reflecting, digging deep, understanding connections, and valuing friendships from start to finish. Don’t miss out.

Fantastic book that I wish all women could read. Great insights about the human condition and how our brokenness impacts our relationships with other women, yet we feel powerless or overwhelmed or too afraid to do anything about it. Loved the Biblical truths weaved into the narrative, and as always, Lisa Jo's authenticity offers readers a sense of "me too", which is what makes this book so encouraging. I definitely feel more equipped to love others well and bravely step out in faith and build stronger friendships.

I picked up Never Unfriended by Lisa-Jo Baker. I had heard Baker talk about her book on a few podcasts and decided I needed to actually dig into what her book said.

The title was a really big stumbling block for me. Baker's premise is that we should not unfriend those in our lives when things get hard. And her point is that just because it is so easy to unfriend someone on social media does not mean that's the way we should be treating our friendships in real life.

I decided to set aside my preconceived notions about the title and read this book.

Never Unfriended is broken up into four parts:

1. What are We Afraid Of?

2. What Can't We Do About It?

3. What Can We Do About It?

4. Where Do We Start?

The first part was probably the most beneficial for me. As Baker breaks down the problem with friendship, she addresses the way we bring our brokenness from old friendships into every new friendship. And how that actually harms the friendships we try to build in new arenas because we can't separate the old hurt from the new person.

Baker continues to develop healthy, biblical ways to build friendships. I often found myself frustrated with the last three parts of the book. Not because she wasn't speaking truth, but because the type of friendship she is describing in this book is something I don't know that I've ever been able to experience in my life.

Towards the end of the book, Baker asserts that we have to stop desiring to be part of the "in crowd" because there is always someone on the outside of some group. While I agree with the general premise, I do believe that some people actually have a harder time fitting into any group, and that makes the desire to be a part of a group not unhealthy.

I don't think that it was Baker's intention to shame anyone who struggles with friendship, but I occasionally felt overwhelmed with all of the things that Baker asserts are required for friendship. As I was processing parts of the book with a friend, I made the exasperated comment that friendship like this only works when the other person is willing to dive in too.

I think that Baker hopes women will remember to keep asking, keep inviting, keep inserting themselves into others lives. As I realistically consider this, especially having experienced being the "new person" fairly recently, it's not always possible to always be the one asking. Sometimes it takes someone already established to do some reaching out. I wish that Baker would have addressed the exhaustion that can come from feeling like you always are the one reaching out without having much of that reciprocated.

I have to admit, I passed over this book quite a few times. My thought was, “I don’t need a book telling me how to get friends. And I already know that Jesus is never going to unfriend me.” But then, everywhere I turned on Social Media, people were talking about Never Unfriended. Curiosity got the better of me, and I requested to read it.

It was nothing like I thought it would be.

First off, I really wasn’t very familiar with Lisa-Jo Baker. So I didn’t know what to expect when I began reading the book. (I’ll tell you what to expect, People. Tears, smiles and your head nodding emphatically before you even finish the Introduction.) I didn’t expect Lisa-Jo Baker to jump right out of the gate with authenticity. I didn’t expect her to be so honest. And I didn’t expect her to understand Stacie the Introvert.

Lisa-Jo opens up to her readers and lets us see her heart. She shares tales of relationships that have flourished, because she has taken risks to make sure those relationships stay strong. She shares stories of painful relationships, that made her recoil from pursuing new friendships in the first place. All this while at the same time, letting the reader know that she is imperfect, messy and human. Just like me. Just like you. I kept wishing that I could grab her by the shoulders and say, “Thank you for seeing me. Thank you for being real.”

Have you ever sat down to coffee with your friend, holding your face in a perfect smile to convince said friend (who seemingly has it all together) that your life is storybook happy? Me too. Have you ever experienced having that same friend drop her mask and tell you how messy her life actually is? Because if you have, you know that immediate gut-reaction to jump out of your chair, whoop and holler, hug her, thank her, drop your own mask and to dig into life as a real human being with her. Right? Right.

That’s what this book does. That’s what this book is.

Bottom Line: This book will teach you about friendships. It will teach you about King Jesus. But it will especially teach you about yourself.

a wonderful book of friendships...have shared it w/ all of my friends.

I love reading Lisa-Jo’s writing. She is always fun and engaging and encouraging, and this new book about friendship is sure to be helpful to many women. In Never Unfriended, Lisa-Jo shares many stories from her real life, both the good and the painful. The reader knows that the author is someone who “gets it.” She understands the difficulties women face in friendship, and she has the encouragement we need to press on in friendship. After reading this book, you will know that you can be brave and risk friendship again. Because of Jesus, the One who will never unfriend you, you can be courageous and love others lavishly.

I received an advance reader’s copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.