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Nov 08, 2020CL_kcls rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
'The Friendship List' made me furious. Two adult women turn into train wreck, shallow teenagers in the blink of an eye. Along the way, one discovers sex and tell us us about it, graphically, ad infinitum. Does anyone need a fictional character to describe her self induced orgasms, like an announcer giving a football play by play? The parent/child relationships also turn on a dime, beginning with a father who has his teen daughter on birth control and COUNTS her pills despite her promise to him that she's a virgin. Way to let your kid know you trust them, Dad. Did you consider she could just drop them down the drain? Of course, here's a shocker, she has sex right under his nose which sends him in a tail spin... after which he buys her a 'how to' guide because men are easier to please and she should be sure to have a turn at pleasure. And his adult friend, who is also a teacher, says, "Use a condom" after which the teen replies, "You, too." Great parenting, that. Does anyone know how to tell a child, even a teen, NO! anymore, or have the expectation of respect? Parents are not the friends of their children. They trust you, you are responsible for them, you have a responsibility to guide them to adulthood, not throw 'how to' guides and condoms at them or be their pals sharing sex secrets. That is not parental love, it's despicable. Ironically both adults blame the parents that raised them for their problems. There is little romance, less coherent dialog and a lot of pages you just need to skip over in 'The Friendship List'. The only slightly redeeming factor of 'The Friendship List' is the straight talk from the elderly friend of Unity, but even she gets fed up with the dead husband dithering. How many times does a reader have be told one hides in her grief and the other was punished by her parents with rules after her teenage pregnancy? I lost count of the times I read the line "Ellen heard the words but couldn't process them at first." Suck it up, buttercup, you're (supposedly) the adult. Sorry, Ms. Mallery, even with the tidy little bow at the end, this is the third book in a row that has disappointed me, each one more than the one before it. 2 generous stars considering I wasted my valuable reading time and I kept it overdue to waste that time. Don't waste yours.