Friends Like These by Hannah Ellis

2.5 Stars

I suppose this could be classed as quirky; if quirky is an euphemism for unbelievable situations populated with disparate characters that never really manage to struggle to full life.  As a debut novel it shows promise and I have read one of Ms Ellis's later tomes and that showed that she can write believable characters in peculiar circumstances very well so I know she is better than this.

Marie is "troubled", she doesn't really have a large social group and when her Best Friend gets offered a job in New York she decides that she needs to expand her friend group.  Unfortunately, she wants "trendy" friends and the group she tries to insert herself in to are stereotypically horrendous (the noughties version of Hooray Henries).  Contrast these with the people that eventually become her friendship group who are all Salt Of The Earth types.  Throw in the perfect boyfriend that she just can't see for what he is and the rogue of an ex-boyfriend.  As you can see it is all more than a tad formulaic with no sheen to gloss over it's shortcomings.

However, the scene setting and plot development is, on the whole, accomplished.  Even if the plot is overwrought and pretty much unbelievable in places.  There is also a dry, gentle humour to the writing and quite a lot of the dialogue has a ring of authenticity to it - I often find dialogue to be the cringiest bit.

I didn't race to finish it but neither was I tempted to give up on it.  The moral of the story is a bit heavy handed (especially relating to Marie's relationship with her eccentric mother) and Marie generally needed a good slap throughout most of the book.  It passed the time and was, mostly, inoffensive.  I was shocked to see there are 2 more books following on from this one - somehow I don't think I'll bother.  However, if you do like this genre then I can recommend Beyond The Lens by the author and I wouldn't hesitate to read another of her later works.