Blog Tour: The Friendship List

I've only read a couple of Susan Mallery's novels throughout the years but she is pretty big in the romance world. She's written a bananas number of novels (seriously, I tried counting on her website, got to 40, and gave up) and, now that I've read her latest, The Friendship List, I've read just four of them. And one was a cookbook. And...I hate to say it because I know she's well-loved but...I think I'm done. Between this book and the last one I read (Meant to Be Yours, which I reviewed here), I haven't been thrilled. 

Here's the synopsis:

Ellen and Unity have been best friends basically since birth, but they couldn’t be more different. Unity married her childhood sweetheart just after high school and became an Army wife, moving from base to base…until her husband's shocking death in the line of duty leaves her a widow. Grief-stricken, it’s time for Unity to come back home to Ellen—the only person she can trust to help her rebuild her life. But Ellen has troubles of her own. Boys never seemed to notice Ellen…until one got her pregnant in high school and disappeared. Her son is now 17 and she’s wondering what to do with herself now that he’s heading off to college and he's literally her entire world.

But now that Ellen and Unity are reunited, they’re done with their stale lives. It’s time to shake things up and start living again, knowing that they'll always have one another to lean on. So they create a list of challenges they have to accomplish--everything from getting a tattoo to skydiving to staying out all night. And whoever completes the most challenges is the winner. But with new adventures and love just around the corner, there’s no such thing as losing…

As I said, Mallery is known in the romance world. But like a lot of romance authors, she's been writing a few more titles that are being marketed as women's fiction. I don't like to use that genre term these days but I have yet to figure out a better descriptor. Contemporary is the best I've come up with. Some of these authors are doing pretty well with writing stories that aren't "simply" romances (Sarah Morgan is one whose contemporary novels I'm enjoying as well as her romances). And some? Not so good.

This story is supposed to be about two friends who have realized they're stuck and create a list to push themselves out of their comfort zones. The list means less as the novel goes on, and that's fine, because they realize that getting a tattoo or going skydiving is really the least of their issues. Unity, especially, has a lot of baggage to take care of. My problem was how much the romantic relationships took over the story. Romance and dating is a part of life and I'm a big fan of love stories in every single thing I read or watch but something about the romances played out in this novel drove me up the wall. Keith and Ellen have been friends for years and it's always been platonic. But as soon as Ellen buys some new clothes that don't hide her figure, Keith is all, "Holy shit, she has a body and breasts and now I can't stop thinking about sleeping with her." Just because she wore clothing that fit her body and made her feel good. That's a whole lot of nope from me. Thaddeus, the love interest for Unity (and what is that name? Sorry to anyone who is or knows or birthed a Thaddeus but I just can't do it as a male hero name), is gorgeous and super duper successful and could sleep with any super duper attractive woman and he just can't understand why Unity, who's "pretty enough", has gotten under his skin. In both instances, Ellen and Unity, who are great women, are reduced to their looks and I couldn't get over it even though both men are, for the most part, really good men. 

Ellen and Unity are both 34 which is just a year older than I am. Now, I did not have a child at 17 (or any age after) and I haven't been married and then widowed. So I don't really know how much those incidents would mature a person. I do know that these women did not act like 34 year olds. That's part of their problem and the reason they're making their lists but I felt like I was reading about characters who were a good decade older and I had to constantly remind myself that, nope, they're basically the same age I am. I could be in the minority but it really felt like the story should have been written for older characters but that age is the only one to really work for a young pregnancy and then also being able to have more children, if the character(s) chose to. It's a hard one to explain but I would love to know what other readers who are in their early thirties felt about the portrayal of Ellen and Unity.

The characters Mallery created were ones I wanted to read about and that pushed me to finish reading this book. I really did like Ellen and Unity. I could feel their pain and frustration even if I had never been in their shoes before. Ellen's son, Cooper, and Keith's daughter, Lissa, were wonderful and I would totally read a YA book about their side of the story. And Dagmar, Unity's friend and Thaddeus's great-aunt, was a total joy and I want to be like her when I'm in my seventies. 

I really wanted to love The Friendship List. The cover and initial description of Susan Mallery's latest novel really intrigued me. The end product though? Left a lot to be desired. For me, anyway. Sometimes books just don't click for a reader and that's why there are so many different kinds of books out there for us to read. 

About the author

SUSAN MALLERY is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women's lives—family, friendship and romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally believable characters in realistic situations," and readers seem to agree—forty million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Her warm, humorous stories make the world a happier place to live.

Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle with her husband. She's passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the two Ragdoll cats and adorable poodle who think of her as Mom.

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*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Harlequin, via NetGalley in exchange for a review for the purposes of a blog tour. All opinions are honest and my own.*