Sunday, March 6, 2011

Stephany Reads Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

Best Friends Forever: A NovelTitle/Author: Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
Where I Got It: Someone very awesome sent it to me!
Why I Read It: I heard A LOT about her books, and this was one of the ones to catch my eyes first, so I wanted to check it out for myself!
Rating: 4.5 stars

Summary (from the cover):

Addie Downs and Valerie Adler will be best friends forever. That's what Addie believes after Valerie moves across the street when they're both nine years old. But in the wake of betrayal during their teenage years, Val is swept into the popular crowd, while mousy, sullen Addie becomes her school's scapegoat.

Flash-forward fifteen years. Valerie Adler has found a measure of fame and fortune working as the weather girl at the local TV station. Addie Downs lives alone in her parents' house in their small hometown of Pleasant Ridge, Illinois, caring for a troubled brother and trying to meet Prince Charming on the Internet. She's just returned from Bad Date #6 when she opens her door to find her long-gone best friend standing there, a terrified look on her face and blood on the sleeve of her coat. "Something horrible has happened." Val tells Addie, "and you're the only one who can help."

Best Friends Forever is a grand, hilarious, edge-of-your-seat adventure; a story about betrayal and loyalty, family history and small-town secrets. It's about living through tragedy, finding love where you least expect it, and the ties that keep best friends together.


This book was actually very well written, and as the blurb says, it was hilarious! It had it's parts that were kind of boring, of course, what book doesn't? But for the most part, it was very entertaining!

I felt like I could relate to Addie quite a bit when it came to having friends in High School, being picked on, etc. I wasn't UNPOPULAR, but I wasn't popular either. High School was a lot less hard for me than Elementary was, but in that aspect, I could definitely relate to Addie.

Addie and Val had a falling out in high school when Val told Addie a secret, and Addie felt as if she needed to tell someone to help Val out. Addie did no wrong, but Val couldn't see it at the time. In the way Val handled it (I don't want to say too much), she wasn't a very good friend. I feel as if I could relate to Addie in the way of losing a good friend over something incredibly preventable, and being so hurt over it.

The book starts off when Addie was a little girl, living with her parents and brother in a neighborhood in Pleasant Ridge, Illinois. Pleasant Ridge is ( in real life ) a suburb of Chicago. One day Addie was looking out her window before lunch or dinner time (I can't remember which) and saw a moving truck pull up into the house across the street. She saw a little girl get out of the car following the moving truck, and realized they were the same age. Addie got excited, hoping to have a new friend.

Later, Val introduced herself to Addie, and Addie invited her to eat lunch with them. The rest is pretty much history. They were across-the-street neighbors, who hung out every single day. They grew up together, never leaving each others side until the event happened in high school.

My only complaint about the book is that I felt like the event that happened to cause them to drift apart, wasn't well detailed. I felt like there was lots of missing pieces. Also, the event that happened before Val showed up at Addie's door 15 years later, involved another character in the book, and I felt like he kept getting lost in the story. Pages and pages would go by before Jennifer would mention him again.

Overall, this was a fantastic book, and I would recommend it to anyone! I am also going to be checking into her other books very soon!!

6 comments:

  1. I've heard really good things about this author. I've heard Good in Bed is a favorite of everyone who reads her so you should check that one out for sure!

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  2. This sounds good and very different. Nice detailed review.

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  3. Hhhhmmm - perhaps I'm the odd one out here! I've recently finished reading "Good in Bed" - it was my first Jennifer Weiner novel but I didn't enjoy it all that much. However, I've been told that "In her Shoes" was a goodie and now that you've given this one 4.5 stars I might have to pick her up again!

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  4. Hmmm, this looks really interesting! I'll have to check it out. Great review.

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  5. My sister loved Good in Bed, but maybe my first Weiner novel will be this one. Love your review!

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  6. I've also heard a lot about "Good in Bed". I had it checked out at the library once, but never got around to reading it. But I plan on reading more of her books!

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