This book is an ode to queer relationships and queer friendships and queer platonic relationships and I think I really loved it. It's genuinely one of the most raw and honest books I've read in a long time.

If follows our main character Chino after he and his wife have a devastating loss of their unborn child. They end up separating and divorcing and Chino relies on his group of friends to really keep him afloat. As the story progresses we see Chino go through grief and new and old relationships. We see him embark on non-romantic sexual relationships as well as forming new friendships and new jobs. The ending of this was my absolute favorite and I just really think we need more books that celebrate QPRs.

Bisexual latine MC

I always appreciate a story that explores the power of platonic love via friendships, etc. because I feel like it’s such an undervalued experience in society. This book was warm and touching, full of diverse experiences and people. While I did have some trouble keeping up the timeline and people and situations, the overall feeling of the book was positive.

gorgeous novel about the sheer power of family and friends that supports and connects you. thanks so much for the arc.

Friendship, Community, and Healing

All Friends Are Necessary is a heartfelt novel that explores the profound depths of friendship, community, and the families we create for ourselves. The protagonist, Chino, a 30-something Latinx bisexual man, is navigating a new beginning in Northern California after his first baby is stillborn and his marriage falls apart. The story captures his journey of healing and rediscovery, supported by his closest friends, Metal Matt and Mike and Kay, and the romantic and sexual relationships that shape his path.

All Friends Are Necessary by Tomas Moniz is a compelling and tender exploration of friendship, community, and personal growth. With richly developed characters and a poignant narrative, it stands out as a meaningful tribute to the families we create and the love that binds us together. Highly recommended for readers who appreciate introspective and emotionally resonant stories.

My second book from this author. I enjoyed "Big Familia" much more, but this book was also quite worthy, and had a lot of heart. Definitely recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. This was a beautiful story of friendship, aging, queerness, and finding your footing again after tragedy. I liked it more than I expected to - I don't read many stories with cis male narrators, but the male main characters in this novel were so lovable. Their friendship is what really made the story for me.

This was a short and very lovely novel about friendship, family, and growth as a middle-aged person. I loved that the main character was almost 40 in this novel. Seeing his relationship with his different friends and lovers felt very real and touching. I absolutely love how this one ended too. It was a great audiobook!

🌈Queer rep: Main bi/pan man in MM and MF relationships. Secondary nonbinary character.

It is a touching story about grief/loss, coping, and moving on. If you enjoy reading about found families/friendships, All Friends are Necessary would be perfect. It also focuses on unconventional situations that readers may sympathize with. Still, it reminds us that we can rely on our friends as we go through them and have their support during difficult situations.

This book was so quietly beautiful! I've never seen friendship written about in this way and it is such a beautiful depiction of chosen family and how to show up for your community. The writing is gorgeous. It does cover the span of time that includes the early part of the pandemic and I know many people have pandemic fatigue with recent books, but I think this one does a good job of accurately depicting the isolation and the sometimes desperate ways we sought to connect with one another.

Thank you to NetGalley and be publishers for an ARC of this book!

All Friends Are Necessary follows Efren Flores after his split with his wife Luna. It’s set in the Bay Area and chronicles his daily life, friends and loves. I liked the cast of characters and the story, but there were some other things that were not for me. Some of the writing felt a little bit uncomfortable to read and I didn’t think that all points of the book were successful. But overall the book was nice, and like the title says: all friends are necessary!

I’m unsure how to describe this book, but the title sums it up nicely.

Chino Flores returns to the Bay Area after he and his wife Luna suffer a great loss. After his marriage crumbles and he is now alone in his grief, he reconnects with friends.

The narrative follows Chino as he walks through his days, dealing with things like hanging out with friends, riding his bike, discovering new lovers, and trying to get sober.

What makes this book unique is its candidness and dichotomy. From his ever-present grief to his studies of ferns, sexual interludes, and his new-found family, this runs the gamut of emotions. Most scenes felt tender and heartfelt, and they flowed naturally, while a few felt a bit forced, even out of place.

A quirky, refreshing story about the nurturing aspects of friendships and connections. How we can grow and heal after loss and learn to open ourselves to love again.



Thank you @algonquinbooks for this gifted book.

this book just made me uncomfortable...and that's never really happened before. maybe one day i'll try reading it again? who knows. the writing style was also hard for me to get into with like the lack of quotation marks and such. kinda confusing

This title just isn't for me. I couldn't get into the storyline at all. I really wanted to give this title a shot. I might revisit the story in the future. But at this moment its no for me.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for an arc of this. This book follows Chino who just lost a baby and a marriage and has to navigate his grief. this book gave a great representation of friendship and support systems and found family. it was very easy to get through. The only problem I had with this book was that scenes did not feel like the helped the plot and it got kind of confusing to read but my that’s just my preferences. either way i think it’s still a solid book

This book was very cool and metal and hilarious--the chapter titles are used to great effect in a novel about youth and friendship (especially the kind that one finds when trying to look for love and sex). Landscapes and the Bay Area are drawn as beautifully as the characters (very). Looking forward to more from this debut author. Thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin for the ARC.

3 Stars
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

This wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't for me. From the description, and especially from other reviews, I was expecting more platonic friendship focus, but this book is very sexual. The platonic friendships are a mainstay to be sure, but the main character is constantly thinking about or describing sex acts, people's genitals, people's bodies etc. He names the male kitten he finds Balls and describes more than once "his velvety testicles". To me, it just got weird and unnecessary.
I'm also not sure how well books that include Covid are going to age. On the one hand, it's heartbreaking to know what's coming for these characters as they are making their plans, but on the other the book's effect is going to wane over time.
Overall, even with these things I genuinely liked these characters and how well they took care of each other. I'm sure that a lot of people will find this book to be exactly what they need- I'm just not one of them.




For the publisher: As a stand-in, Goodreads and storygraph will say "Full review to follow upon publication," and the review will be updated with the above text on that date. The review will also be posted to my blog and featured on my ig on its publication date.

After an unfortunate tragedy that leads to the dissolution of his marriage, Efren “Chino” Flores moves back to the Bay Area from Seattle where he reconnects with old friends, makes new ones, and learns what makes a community. This was a book where my enjoyment of it really snuck up on me. At first, I really wasn’t sold on this at all. I loved the concept, but the execution felt really lacking and the writing style just wasn’t working for me. By the end of it, though, I was really enjoying it.
All Friends Are Necessary is an exploration of grief and healing and community and non-traditional family structures. There were some truly gorgeous moments, but ultimately, I wanted more from the characters. I think all the characters could have benefited from more depth and exposition. There were a lot of really interesting concepts here (e.g. What do you do for the love you have for someone when they’re no longer in your life in the capacity they once were? What does family mean and how can you create your own?), but sometimes their exploration needed to go just a little bit further. The story is also broken up into parts that cover specific time periods and stages of Efren’s healing, but I found that they weren’t always cohesive. They almost read as separate stories at times.

In this joyous, big-hearted novel, “All Friends Are Necessary” by Tomas Moniz delivers readers a commanding new story about the power of friendship, community, and the families we create for ourselves.

Meet our protagonist, Efren “Chino” Flores. He has just moved back to the Bay Area from Seattle, navigating life after a stunning loss that changed everything. Once a beloved middle school biology teacher with a loving wife and a child on the way, Chino now finds himself working temp jobs, terrified of commitment, and struggling to put himself back out into the world.

But there to nurture Chino is a coterie of new and old friends and lovers who form a protective web around him. Among them are a red-haired metalhead with a soft spot for Courtney Love and a rangy dog named Sabbath; and a couple whose literary edge is matched only by the success of their secret OnlyFans account.

As Chino begins to date more men and women, opening himself up again to love, his bonds with other people grow both rich and profound. Like a fern blooming in the wake of a forest fire, new life emerges after even the most devastating upheaval.

Moniz weaves gorgeous, heart-rending detail into a seemingly infinite catalogue of tender, unexpected interactions. His prose creates a striking mosaic of desire and belonging. The novel becomes an anthem to both queer and platonic love, evincing the wonder of friendship and the joy of giving oneself up to the essential force of community.

“All Friends Are Necessary” is a celebration of human connection. Moniz's exploration of love, loss, and resilience resonates deeply, reminding us that even in our darkest moments, friends are the lifelines that keep us afloat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for a temporary e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is not for me. I could not get through it no matter how hard I tried. I gave it multiple attempts and could not get past the halfway mark.

A thoughtful look at friendship in queer communities, which is refreshing when often romantic books are prioritized over platonic ones.