I had set this aside and tried to pick it back up again, but it just wasn't getting any better for me. I was waiting for the hilarity that the synopsis promised, but it didn't come. Maybe if came later in the book, but I chose to DNF. Maybe this is a case of my expectations not being properly set *shrugs*, but this wasn't the story I thought it was going to be. I also felt lost at times. I found myself flipping back and re-reading passages, because I lost track of the thread at times. Not quite the story of female friendship I was expecting.

DNF 10%

I couldn't relate to and thus didn't form an attachment to any of the characters. They seemed immature and unrealistic.

I had to stop reading this booknat 50% .
I was not interested in the story or the characters to keep on reading.

Harlequin Junkie Recommends

Intelligent, witty and with some genuine laugh til you cry type moments, My Ride or Die is one of those incredibly relatable books that unpacks the inherent bond between women, that perhaps all women share in one way or another.

The set up and the agreed upon living arrangement were perfect and both characters were equally appealing – Sophie in her artsy flighty way, and Amanda in her need for order and routine. In many ways they were polar opposites and thus, were able to provide the other exactly what she needed for balance.

Throughout, the comfort they found in their friendship, and the naturally hilarious banter between them was a huge plus that actually platformed the thematic intent, in that ultimately we need adaptability to shift in the ever-evolving and constantly moving aspects of life. And in many ways the reader requires that same adaptability as well, as there were some moments that were incredibly frustrating to experience.

On the whole though, and despite the title that seems unrelated, this is a very fun read that digs deeply into the unconditional love friends can share, whilst reminding us to take care of those friendships as they are as often as not, more important then the love we share with our families.

I really liked the premise - this book is about two girls, Amanda and Sophie, who are very different but the best of friends. After Sophie ditches her fiance the day of their wedding. the girls make a pact that they will be each others SO and live together (in a non sexual way) and just have boy crushes on the side. Although the book has a lot of girl friendship power, it quickly spirals into something that is not a healthy friendship with the girls keeping things from each other and it gets bad, quick. The characters were well written - I was just a bit disappointed with the story and what ended up happening - it seemed a bit too severe. This book also explores friendship fallout.

I think my problems with this book are rooted in the fact that the synopsis: 1) gives the entire plot away; 2) implies this is a unique millennial story, which made me expect something edgy like Sally Rooney or “Next Year For Sure” that explores polyamory. Also, this could have been even better if Amanda and Sophie had been by and ditched compulsory heterosexuality all together! Instead, this is honestly just a rom-com about 2 best friends who become roommates while they wait for men to swoop them off their feet? Fine! I can totally understand why this book would have an audience, it just wasn’t what I was expecting. I found the dialogue a bit unbelievable and I also detested one of women throughout the entire book, which made it hard for me to really enjoy. Since this book just released, I’m not posting my review on Goodreads since my rating is low. It’s never my intention to request books on netgalley that I won’t love, so I feel bad that this wasn’t for me.

Great synopsis, but what I actually read came across as much more serious than the lighthearted rom-com I was expecting.

I really loved the premise of this novel. Of two best friends committing to each other over men. However, I felt like the plot ended up getting pulled in too many directions and lost that central idea.
I did enjoy how Sophie and Amanda's personalities balanced the other one out. I liked their relationship at the beginning of the book and how supportive they were of each other. All of the inside jokes, and them working together as they bought and fixed up a house.
That being said, there were all sorts of secondary characters introduced, and then often quickly forgotten. I had trouble keeping all of them straight. I also never figured out how Sophie had any money, and why someone as responsible as Amanda would want to purchase a house with her, even if they are best friends. I really hated how Amanda treated Nick, though. He was way too good for her.
Overall, great premise, not-so-great execution on this story. It started as a fast read, then as the plot went downhill, so did my reading speed. I gave this one 3 stars because my feelings on it are so ambivalent.

Review:

“The people in our lives, and the ups and downs that we had with all of them, were more bearable, because we had each other.”

Seriously, why are men like *waves hand* that? At first, I was irritated with the situation since hello, red flag, if they say they’re single and you have radio silence EVERY weekend.. something is happening. I felt like in my mind, I made Sophie and Amanda a lot younger than they were. That naivety kind of made sense when I realized I thought they were younger. This pact, or suggestions to live by, are very young feeling. I had to remind myself they were a bit older in the plot.

I really enjoyed the concept of the story of two amazing friends only relying on each other, but I felt like they really relied on the men more than they should have. I wanted more badass women friendship, and less pompous attitudes. I loved the concept, but it just fell flat for me.

Honestly, I might just be too old for this book. It might just be something that I won’t grasp because I’m older with kids and a best friend and a husband. I’m sure some will really enjoy the journey and it may be a younger audience than what I am.

Thank you William Morrow for the gifted copy. My Ride or Die is out April 20th.

I wanted to love this because the premise sounded so promising and fun but I had to slog through this. I didn't like any of the characters and I found the writing to be trite and difficult to follow. Some of it may be formatting but the POV changes were not done well. I hope you have better luck!

My Ride or Die comes out next week on April 20, 2021 and you can purchase HERE.

"What do you think would happen if we found out that avocados weren't the good kind of fat?"

She paused. "Western civilization as we know it would crumble."

Will post soon at Romance Reviews Today: http://romrevtoday.com/

MY RIDE OR DIE – Leslie Cohen
William Morrow
ISBN: 978-0-06-296678-0
April 20, 2021
Contemporary Fiction

New York City – Present Day

As the story opens, Sophie is about to get married, and Amanda is her best friend (and maid of honor). But Sophie suddenly decides that marriage isn’t what she wants and dumps her fiancé. Traditional relationships just aren’t working for either Sophie or Amanda. The two women decide to form an alliance of sorts that is a commitment to not committing. They purchase and move into a fixer- upper. Amanda, a lawyer, changes jobs and is immediately assigned a tough case, which has her fretting over it. Sophie is an artist and hopes to realize her dream of living as an artist full-time. However, it isn’t easy. Meanwhile, Sophie and Amanda grow closer, even as their lives apart from each other expand.

MY RIDE OR DIE is an amusing looking at the growth of two women who decide to rely on each other for emotional support. The first thing a reader may wonder is how long will their vow of commitment to each other last before they veer off and find male companionship? Amanda left her stressful job at an attorney’s office after the man she was sleeping with turned out to be married. Sophie just fell out of love with her fiancé, Abe.

To celebrate their buying a house together, Amanda and Sophie take a trip to Cabo San Lucas, where Amanda runs into a childhood schoolmate, Nick. He is much different from what she remembers, yet he is still the same. Once they return to New York City, Amanda and Nick go on a few dates, but she’s facing a dilemma. Her relationship priority is Sophie, so how is her burgeoning romance with Nick going to affect that?

Sophie goes off in a couple of directions trying to find her niche as an artist. Just as she thinks things are going well, it turns out to be the wrong way. She even has a fling with Julian, a fellow artist, but even that turns out to be wrong. Finally, Sophie is offered a position with a museum in another country, but can she leave Amanda?

In MY RIDE OR DIE, readers will come to like Amanda and Sophie and their unique and quirky qualities. The women are different from each other, but they complement each other like Yin and Yang. But like other friendships, they eventually start growing apart. Through it all, will they remain friends for life? Be sure to grab a copy of MY RIDE OR DIE to find out.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

My Ride or Die brought me in on the premise of "two friends who decide to give up their search for a perfect man and devote their lives to each other." I mean what could go wrong right?

Amanda and Sophie have been friends since they got paired as roommates their freshman year at University. As adults, they're both sick of the drama of relationships and the commitment that doesn't work out. They decide to buy an apartment together and commit to rely on each other instead of any romantic relationships. Think of it as a friend pact so that you don't end up old and living alone.

The narrative alternates between Amanda and Sophie, which I enjoyed. I did find it hard to follow the time-line at points. I also found Sophie to be selfish and Amanda frustrated me. I wanted Amanda to make different choices and got frustrated that she was lying to the people that she loved.

This was a quick read about the test of friendship and how life can make things tricky.

2.75 stars

My Ride or Die has all of the elements of a classic "two friends take on New York" story. Sophie is an aspiring artist who lives a bohemian lifestyle traveling the world while Amanda is an attorney who is looking to make partner. When they each end their respective romances, they decide to move in together and commit to their friendship rather than continue to seek out relationships that will ultimately disappoint.

This had the makings of a really fun book, but I couldn't help but feel when I was reading it that something was missing. The plot was moving along quite briskly, but it just felt like there was this hole in the middle of the story and that the events weren't really connecting. I spent most of the second half wondering why this might be until I came to the final chapter - we never really get a firm establishment of these two as absolute best friends. So much of their lives throughout the book feel separate from each other, which makes the friendship and their emphasis on the commitment to it all the more decentralized. If we had gotten some more easy, back-and-forth camaraderie early on, it would have really made the story's potential leap off the page.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Paperbacks for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Thank you to @williammorrowbooks for my gifted copy of My Ride or Die! This womens fiction novel is out on April 20th, and the synopsis is in the comments.

While I think that this premise had great promise (two friends deciding to spend their lives together and “keep men on the side for fun, sex, and occasionally fixing things around the house”), I think that it fell short in a few places. First off, I think that Amanda and Sophie, the main characters, were far too dependent on the men in their lives for home maintenance. Women can do anything and fix anything, and it would’ve been nice to see them try to do more of the projects in their brownstone on their own, instead of claiming that they’d use men for them.

I also think that the plot was jumbled up in pieces, and that it hopped around too much. The point of view alternated between Amanda and Sophie, and it never seemed to make sense where it started and stopped between the women. I also think that the love story bits were just thrown in there (though my heart did break at one point for Sophie, and I thought that that part was very well-written).

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

This book sounded promising, with the two friends giving the guys a secondary role when it came to being important in their lives, but in the end, it just did not grab my attention.

Neither character really had me invested in them. The writing was solid, so it wasn't a bad book at all, I think it just wasn't for me, or I was expecting something a bit different. It is an easy quick read that I think many people will enjoy if they maybe don't read the synopsis.

An intriguing premise but I can't say I loved the story. It didn't quite find its footing and so much was left on the table in terms of development. Wasted potential is perhaps a good way to put it.

Amanda and Sophie have been best buds for years. They both have had romantic relationship drama and they are sick of it. So they come up with an idea. From now on their priority is their friendship, and men will take more of a secondary role. Basically, they commit themselves to one another but not in a romantic way. (This a tricky one to explain, but the whole thing makes sense if you read the book.)

The story alternates between the two friends and unfortunately I never warmed up to Sophie. She came across as self-involved. Eventually, Amanda started to wear on my nerves as well. One issue for me was their humorous banter sometimes came across as catty, like they thought they were better than everyone else. The story itself isn't particularly strong but it would have helped a great deal if they were characters I wanted to root for.

On the plus side, it's a quick and light read. It's also refreshing the author chose to focus more on friendship rather than heavily on romance.

I won a free advance digital copy from Book Club Girl and Harper Collins Publishers. All thoughts expressed are my honest opinion.

Just a wonderful feel-good read that will make the perfect book to bring on vacation. I really liked Leslie Cohen's writing so I look forward to reading more from her.

Amanda and Sophie are the best of friends but they are totally opposite. Their romantic lives are falling apart so they decide to buy an apartment together and become life partners. It works for a little while.
I enjoyed this best friend dynamic and how they blend and balance each other so well. It was fun to see how they evolved throughout the book and grew as people.
I think the description may be a bit different than what you actually get so maybe go into this one blind.
Overall, it was a good, quick read.
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for my advanced ebook copy.

I absolutely adored this book!! I also became very invested in the two main characters lives, Sophie and Amanda. I resonated with their personalities so much, that while reading this I kept imagining how I acted at their age and what it would be like to be young again... I honestly did not want this story to end (I miss them already!).
If you are looking for a story about friendship (the ups and downs that go along with it), and about growing up and pursuing your dreams- then this is the book for you! I plan on recommending My Ride or Die to all my friends and family. It’s a must read!

I would also like to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for my advanced review copy, which I had the pleasure of reading.