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REVIEW: Girl Friends by Holly Bourne



Genre: Contemporary Fiction | Womens Fiction | Adult Fiction

Release Date: 8th September 2022

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (also published as When We Were Friends)

Meet Fern: Mental health editor for Gah, suicide survivor, fierce advocate, feminist, fan of swearing and a walking ball of anxiety.

Meet Jessica: Ferns best friend from their youth, who has just appeared at the talk show she's hosting after years apart. And despite the decade between them, it's like no time has passed. Jessica has just moved back to the country with her daughter after a chaotic divorce, but she's still as magnetic and beautiful as ever.

But between all the smiles and love, the real reasons for their estrangement still hangs in the air around them. So as their lives start to entwine once again, Fern can't help but wonder if the past is coming back to haunt her all over again.

"Staying alive came first, friendships second. I was yet to discover how much the two were entwined."

Holly did it again. With her patented wit and candour, she has once again captured the feminist rage and frustration that so many of us feel but struggle to vocalise. These books give words to the things I've been trying to say and provide me with such catharsis and validation. Bourne said a quote by Atwood was one of the inspirations for her third adult novel; "You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur." - and I have never understood that quote more. 

When we meet Fern, she is worried about selling out and dealing with some seriously bad PMS. Immediately, I fell in love with her sweary, bold personality, finding myself painfully laughing at the awful situations she finds herself in. And then when Jessica dances in, looking polished and perfect despite the chaos in her life I couldn't help finding a bit of myself in both of them.

We jump between their lives as they reconnect and their formative years, building a picture and watching as their lives take shape with a beautifully easy flow that brings us closer to the characters in the most intimate ways. We get to see the things they don't talk about in the present, about the struggles that stole their childhoods, about the reality of being a young girl and of course, the real reasons they stopped speaking. The entire story moves fluidly, almost conversationally, each tiny detail adding to the deep understanding we develop with Fern and Jessica. 

Insightful and thoughtful, this book gives a deep, intersectional commentary on female friendship and identity - and how it can be influenced by the outside world, one that is created for and by men. Not only about how the patriarchy can poison every aspect of our lives, but how easy it is let it happen without even noticing. 

Painfully funny and relatable, this tender story is above all a love story. A love story for women, and the beautiful connections that link us all together. 

"A man can't ever understand a woman like another woman can - especially the women who knew you as a girl."


⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review.

CW: self-harm, suicidal ideation and intent, swearing, sexual content, drug use and alcohol. 



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