For the first time, a guide for women recovering from a breakup with their best friend-an indispensable addition to every woman's library
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reviews
Feb 08, 2012
Bonni
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Another one of those subjects no one talks about. Is it wrong to want to let go of a friendship? How do you know you're in a toxic one? How do you relieve yourself and the other person of toxicity without being an asshole?
Irene Levine doesn't claim to have all the answers, but she surveyed vast amounts of women from all age and social groups and found some common themes. She assesses the female need for intimate relationships that are not romantic, helps you to identify whether a r More...
Irene Levine doesn't claim to have all the answers, but she surveyed vast amounts of women from all age and social groups and found some common themes. She assesses the female need for intimate relationships that are not romantic, helps you to identify whether a r More...
Mar 30, 2011
Kris
rated it: 
Dr. Levine's book is a treasure. The author truly understands the depth and meaning of female friendship. Her book validates and normalizes the feelings of confusion, disappointment, shame, anger, pain and loss when a female friendship ends, especially without explanation.
I have read other books on this subject which trivialize and stereotype female friendships, summing up endings as just a feeling of puzzlement when a shopping companion finds another gal pal with whom to browse the More...
I have read other books on this subject which trivialize and stereotype female friendships, summing up endings as just a feeling of puzzlement when a shopping companion finds another gal pal with whom to browse the More...
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Feb 12, 2012
Well thank God for having more than one "bff." While simplistic, this book confirmed my intuition and alleviated some guilt I was experiencing upon the realization that I needed to rid my life of a toxic frenemy that I kept around for 20 some years because of shared experiences and history. I made excuses for her, defended her and listened to countless hours of whining, but I am excited to be free from it and without guilt. I am happy to have cleaned some sludge from my life and make
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May 26, 2010
Lynn
rated it: 
I thought that this book was rather helpful in addressing some of the nitty gritty details in a friendship without getting too personal. Her choice of words are pretty good.
However, as things should be, some parts of the book made me sad. It's like a low mood thingy, but of course it should. It's speaking of toxic friendships and all.. it shouldn't induce euphoric feelings, right?
And there's the part about friendship audit. I sorta skimmed over it because I dont do that c More...
However, as things should be, some parts of the book made me sad. It's like a low mood thingy, but of course it should. It's speaking of toxic friendships and all.. it shouldn't induce euphoric feelings, right?
And there's the part about friendship audit. I sorta skimmed over it because I dont do that c More...
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Jun 03, 2010
Erika
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Some interesting statistics. On average women see their social friends every 3.5 days while men see their social friends every 5 days, but both sexes see their close friends once every eight weeks, only six times a year. Men typically have 20% more friends than women, and their friendships are marginally longer lasting, but men tend to have fewer close friends. Based, it appears, on a survey of 10,000 Brits in 2003.
Some interesting thoughts about dynamics in friendships, though on More...
Some interesting thoughts about dynamics in friendships, though on More...
Apr 14, 2010
Kate
rated it:
Most of it was fairly simplistic. There was a good list of ways to identify a toxic friendship that comprised one page out of the 200+ here. I was hoping for more help in dealing with extracting myself from a toxic friendship.
And there was a decent reminder of things that you need to do in order to be a good friend, and ways that you can look at friendship that might allow you to find new friends in different, unexpected places. Mostly, however, it seemed like it was pandering to th More...
And there was a decent reminder of things that you need to do in order to be a good friend, and ways that you can look at friendship that might allow you to find new friends in different, unexpected places. Mostly, however, it seemed like it was pandering to th More...
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Dec 31, 2009
Laura
rated it:
(FULL DISCLOSURE: I know the author!)
As the year winds down and we make lists (of course checking them twice), don't we also think about our friends in a slightly different light: is this a gift friend? a card friend? an invite over for eggnog friend? can I ignore them this year? and a multitude of other variations. Or am I the only one?
The reality is, many of us are, or have been, friends in unequal relationships that we still include under the rubric BFF. Then, wh More...
As the year winds down and we make lists (of course checking them twice), don't we also think about our friends in a slightly different light: is this a gift friend? a card friend? an invite over for eggnog friend? can I ignore them this year? and a multitude of other variations. Or am I the only one?
The reality is, many of us are, or have been, friends in unequal relationships that we still include under the rubric BFF. Then, wh More...
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Sep 24, 2009
Elaine
rated it:
Two things I realized while reading this book. 1) I miss having a girl BFF--I haven't had one since a particularly bad "breakup" in college. Haven't really trusted a woman since. 2) My ex-boyfriend is such a girl. He had about 9/10 of the "girl behaviors" of friendship breakups in this book! Too funny. I knew there was a reason I'd never marry that man... ;) I'm sure I'll post about it on Library Gremlin in detail.
Oct 07, 2010
Betty
rated it:
The book's main point is that friendships don't last forever and has sections devoted on how to navigate the changing nature of women's friendships. The parts I found useful were how to keep and maintain your friendships and ways to reconnect with people you used to be friends with.
Sep 12, 2010
Esther
rated it:
This is an excellent book for women and girls. I have a more detailed review on my blog. Google passinglovenotes to see my review. It will be posted on Sept. 16th.
Oct 04, 2010
Lori
rated it:
Somewhat helpful to know others have gone through similar painful experiences -- I'm not crazy or overreacting!
Jul 21, 2010
Amanda
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This was a good read -- while I haven't broken up with my BFF(s) and have no intention of doing so, it was quite interesting to read about the dynamics of female friendships, bffs, frenemies, toxic friendships and friendship drift, along with many good suggestions for doing friendship inventories and encouragement to put as much work into quality friendships as one would into one's romantic relationships. There's a lot of sound wisdom in this book and I'd recommend it to all of my girlfriends i
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Sep 05, 2011
Healthy
rated it:
Revelations abounded while making my way through this book. Definitely recommend. Fabulous insights as to how we approach all relationships, not just friendships and not just female friendships. This definitely helped me through a rough patch, but it also helped me understand some other life situations and how to work on resolving them.
Nov 02, 2010
Marilyn
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The only other book I've read on this subject matter was "The Friend That Got Away" which was an excellent collection of essays, but not as instructive, helpful and comforting as this book. It assured me that female friendship has seasons and unfortunately, they do often expire. However, it still remained positive and encouraging about the benefits of having girlfriends.
Jan 23, 2012
Keri
rated it:
Not a book I normally would have chosen to read, but due to a breakup with my best friend last August I was searching for something. This book had a lot of interesting information, and several things that have helped me to come to grips with the loss.
Feb 09, 2012
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