I was really excited for this novel that was going to explore adult friendships. That topic feels like one that is tricky for so many of us, and under-represented as the main theme in a fiction book. However, this one did not end up being what I hoped it would be. Instead of exploring the challenges & nuances of adult friendship, this one felt like it settled for petty, surface-level drama that I struggled to relate to. I made it through about 1/3 of the book before I decided I couldn't do anymore. I wasn't enjoying this book, was becoming frustrated with the main character's people-pleasing and didn't even care what the big reveal would be about what was behind the current conflict with her friends. This one was disappointing & I wouldn't recommend it, unless you want to read about privileged, petty friend drama.

I read a lot of romance novels so I was intrigued when I saw The Friendship Breakup and ready for some relief from the romance drama. I forgot how much drama there is in friendships though!

I totally related with the MC, Fallon, in trying to navigate the ins and outs of being a good mom while struggling to fit in with judgy moms, be a good partner and follow my own passion.

I love that this book provided a dash of self-help along with the juicy story. While there were times I wanted to jump into the page and stop Fallon from doing something stupid the ending made all of the frustration totally worth it 😆

This book is great for all the moms out here trying to find their tribe. We're all in this together 💕

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for this free arc in exchange for my honest review!

A four-star read that the was made with the ending. This was a good read, but the ending made it for me, there were bits that I felt like they went on a little bit too much, there was too much description on some parts and then other characters and places were just touched upon. The best thing about this story though is how the author manages to get under the surface of female friendships, the bonds and politics that go on underneath. Then you explore the aspect of motherhood and that adds something else as well. It adds to the whole story, this will make you laugh and it may also make you tear up.

What a disappointment. This was not what I was expecting at all. I was hoping for a fun mom-com with a meaningful look at a failing friendship, but what I got was catty and immature women throwing mud at each other. For real. The characters were all cringe-worthy and extremely juvenile. They acted like they were still in middle school, not approaching forty. This just wasn’t believable to me at all. Ugh. Sorry, but I do NOT recommend this book.

I read the ARC of "The friendship breakup", At first i didn't think it would be the kind of book i usually like but it was surprisingly good. This book talks about so many issues that every people experience at some point in their lives and i really liked the main character's developement

I read this book during a time of complete chaos and stress and I found it comforting and relatable. I loved that the characters were middle age women which was different from typical high school-teen dramas, the daily obstacles parents face and balancing life altogether felt somehow refreshing to read about.

Fallon Monroe is one of the soccer mums who's love for chocolate stemmed from grandma Rose and now she decides to spread joy by making her own chocolates. She bonded with other mums back when her baby girl, Maya, started school and they have been friends ever since. They say friendships that last more than 7 years will last a lifetime and on the "make or break" 7th year of their friendship the mum group turns cold towards Fallon especially her best friend, Beatrice. She's always trying to reach out to the group because the thought of losing them leaves her feeling lonely and depressed.
Does she really win them back or is it goodbye forever?
I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun yet heart-warming read, definitely worth it!

I connected to Fallon right away. Although she is younger than me, I, too was at a junction in my life … post Covid, left my 30 year career, and became a single mother of three. Granted, my kids are older, but still require my services on a daily basis. What I didn’t have was friends. This was daunting. How do you make friends when home and kids are your life. Fallon had to deal with gossip, misunderstandings, and immature cliques, but the desire to find “your people “ is strong. The story kept me interested with humorous antics and circumstances that played out like a comedy, but the feelings to connect were sincere and heartfelt.

The MC mentions her BFF Beatrice no fewer than twenty times within the first chapter. And OMG alllll of the italics!!!! This was a DNF for me.

This book was such a good read and I'm so happy that I was able to read it. Annie Cathryn truly knows how to tell a story. The main character, Fallon, was written so well and I always found myself rooting for her no matter what. I was able to connect with her vulnerability, which added so much more to the story for me. Fallon, however, was about the only character I could really stand. The jealous "best friend" was something else... and don't even get me started on the husband. The story was still a memorable one and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for this free arc in exchange for my honest review.

"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."


LIKES - I found this book really interesting! It showed the layers and seasons that friendships go through very beautifully. The themes of community and connection were also very apparent throughout the whole book as well.

DISLIKES - I didn’t love that Fallon tried so hard to fix friendships with people who didn’t seem to care about her.

Read if you like:
*a mom-com
*friendship analysis
*a very relatable story
*humor along with challenging topics

Rating: 5 super shiny stars!!!

Review:
Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC of the Friendship Break Up by Annie Cathryn . This is a debut novel and has a publication date of February 7, 2023.

From her very first words "Right between the milk and the eggs, I go into menopause." I instantly fell in love with our main character Fallon, she became one of my book besties. I don't think I ever laughed out loud at the very first sentence of a book before and I just knew...

Fallon is kind of a hot mess as she hilariously navigates the Mommy life in a small town in the midwest as she learns to let go of a painful past, and to lesser degree, present and evolves into her best self. There are a slew of friends turned frenemies surrounding her and some old friends, some new friends. They all make an impact on her life.

I appreciate the author's choice to focus on the importance of female friendship in our lives and how the people we choose to surround ourselves with hold up a mirror to who we are, not who we want to be. When I wasn't reading this book, I was thinking about the characters and wondering how things would work out. When I was reading it, I had to to pry myself away from the pages with a crowbar on so I could:

A. Go to work

B. Speak to my actual friends and family, and

C. Force myself to go to sleep hours after bedtime.

Do yourself a favor, treat yourself to fun time and read this book! I will be keeping my eye out for more from this new author.

This book delivers hard truths about friendship and who is worth putting effort into through the delightful lens of a mother who has been outcast by her group of suburban mom friends. Everyone has had friendships that end in less than ideal ways and this book delivers meaningful lessons about how to move on and accept the life that you are living. Pick this book up if you love life lessons and quirky women’s fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fallon is a mom who, like most of us, doesn't have it all together. With a daughter and sweetly devoted husband, close friends, and a chocolate business that she hopes will start to take off, it seems she has the important things in life handled. However she finds herself wondering what happened when her group of mom friends suddenly starts snubbing her. Fallon is desperate to repair her friendships, but maybe not all relationships are meant to be fixed.

I'll start by saying that Fallon is a likable and completely relatable character. I love her imperfections and the fact that she cares so much about all the people in her life. But maybe I related a little too much, because the first half of the book gave me anxiety reading it. I have spent too much time in the past over analyzing my own friendships and avoiding drama that this came across as too realistic. The pettiness that all stems from miscommunication and people not just talking about their problems gave me high school vibes at times. I just wanted her to stand up for herself more and have straight-forward conversations or cut ties. Despite all that, the book as a whole works once we're given more backstory and she finds the strength to decide what's important to her. There are definitely humorous moments. When Fallon fails at things it tends to be a drastic and laughable fail at least. And some friendships in here show the true meaning of "lifelong friends" who will stuff their faces with chocolate and be there for you when you need it.

This was an enjoyable and quick read. I would read more from author Annie Cathryn. There were lighthearted moments in the story, but definitely some deep feelings. Trigger warnings if you struggle with friendship or abandonment issues. I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Honestly, I had a hard time getting invested in The Friendship Breakup. The MC was too self-absorbed to see what was going on in her friends lives and would make assumptions/pity herself throughout the story. I constantly found myself rolling my eyes at her. However, the last few chapters were fantastic! I really enjoyed how the story ended and having all the loose ends tied up. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

I love the premise of this book…it’s something I could relate to and connect with. It’s difficult when adult friendships end but that’s hoe life leads you sometimes. Thank you for the ARC NetGalley!

3.5 stars rounded up. There were so many things to enjoy about this book — the drama of a small town, the ups and downs of life as you grow older , the ability to bless and release things that no longer serve you.

Fallon really grew on me as this book progressed — I loved the discussions with her therapist that were included and the growth she experienced as she began to unpack the motivation behind her desperate need to maintain her friendships.

This book was funny, poignant, and very real!

First of all, I loved the name of the MC. Fallon. I don't know why but I just love this name.
Coming to the story, wow it was sooo good. Such a realistic sort of story. I loved it. While reading it, I kinda had the feeling that toxic friendship was coming up (I didn't read the blurb before starting the book). I mean no genuine friend will ghost you all of a sudden. A genuine friend is supposed to talk things out, right? On top of that, her so called bestie started lying to her while group about her, like wow, the audacity. She didn't invite her and then told them she refused to come. Wow. I really wanted to slap her. She was jealous as heck.
Then her husband, ugh he was even worse. He couldn't handle his domestic life and started blaming it on others? FGs, you are grown up. Come to think of it, both of them were the same in this regard, husband and wife, I mean. (That will be Craig and Beatrice).
Then another among the group, always ready to gossip, heard Fallon on phone, misunderstood it, and conveyed it to Beatrice. Wow. You deserved a punch there. I guess almost the whole group was jealous of Fallon.
I'm glad Fallon had some really good and genuine friends (especially Mel). Only they deserved to be in her life.
Fallon went so hard on herself and tried the hardest to patch up and mend things but some relationships aren't meant to last. And she really needed to realize that she has outgrown them and needed to let them go. Because it was not only Beatrice, but all of them. No one reached out to her when she wasn't around. Weren't they supposed to check up on her?
This story was so realistic. I do relate with Fallon on a lot of aspects. It is really hard to let go of your friends when you have so many memories and went through so many things together. But just like seasons change, so do people. At some point, we have to let go of those people. This book taught this lesson quite meaningfully and beautifully. And I loved the way it ended.
5 stars from my side.

As a mom of one also approaching 40, while trying to find her path and passion, this book was so spot on for me. I’ve been through the friendship breakups for one reason or another, so I could relate with Fallon’s struggles. Feeling like you don’t measure up as a friend, mother, wife, business owner, etc. are insecurities we all face. I really appreciated Fallon’s journey to self confidence and happiness. There were so many funny moments that really kept the story moving for me. I think even younger people can appreciate this story, knowing that everyone’s journey and timeline are different, and comparison does not help, but compassion and communication do are lessons we all need reminding of every now and then.

Hi! The Friendship Breakup by Annie Cathryn is an e-book I recently read. I was invited to read an ARC of it by the publisher and I loved the book’s premise based on the blurb.

Book Review

While I will say that I enjoyed this book, even smiled and laughed at a few humorous moments, I wouldn’t say it was amazing to read or that I loved it. I genuinely believed the story could have been executed better, so here are the aspects I liked and the ones I disliked. A lot of them are both- meaning I liked it but it could have been done better.

Fallon was a great character. I genuinely understood where she was coming for and empathized with her. She was very well-fleshed out and I loved her.

The plot though was a bit, drawn out. We were taken through the entire story, being told that there’s this big reason why Fallon’s best friend is avoiding her and it turns out to be.. highly underwhelming. Some things that developed slowly, I understood and appreciated but the rest could have hit so much better without the winded story to get there.

My main issue with the story always ends up here- the motivation of all the friends. Fallon’s (ex) best friend just did a complete 180 while we are told repeatedly how great a friend she was. So while the 180 might have made sense with a different reasoning, getting publicly mad at Fallon was just.. out of character? The story could have gone so much deeper if the reasoning pursued wasn’t jealousy. Maybe something that Fallon did or anything but that really.

All-in-all, if this seems like a read you would enjoy- add it to your tbr to pick up when it publishes next year! I personally give it 3 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my free e-ARC of this read in exchange for my honest review.

purchase this read: https://amzn.to/3SxQfs5 [this is an associate link]

This book could be labeled as some kind of "coming of age story for middle-aged people" and I do not mean this with any negative connotations. In fact, I am a firm believer that the world deserves more coming-of-age stories presenting older people (20-somethings and up), because--let's be honest here--no one has their shit together when they are a teenager.
Despite our almost 20-year age difference, I resonated with Fallon on so many levels and I got her struggles with the need to be accepted and a part of a social group. She is a great mother and a good wife, however, she needs to grow as a person for herself. The story showcases her character arc and with it Fallon's growth into accepting life's blows and the ways to adjust to them. At some point, I was afraid the author was going to finish the story in a certain way, however, I am glad I was wrong