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There are currently 21 member reviews
for The False Friend
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Nina R. (Hot Springs, AR)
Disappointed
Didn't hate it. Didn't love it. I really just didn't care. Disappointed with the ending.
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Sandy P. (Gainesville, FL)
Unsatisfying ending
Overall the book was OK but could have been much more. At some point we've all either been the bully, the bullied or the bystander too afraid to intervene knowing we should. The lack of closure at the end was disappointing. If the book had been any longer than it was I would have felt horribly cheated with it's ending. I hate to invest my reading time with 'unfinished' endings. I got to the end and thought "huh....that's it?" Kept looking for more pages.
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Katherine C. (Richmond, VA)
The False Friend
I thought the story one experienced by many female teenagers. I found the "elite" group, the meanness of the girls in the "Club" so familiar - a perfect description of so many that age. I was, however, disappointed that Celia did not seem to mature. Did she ever look in the mirror, really see herself as she really was? A good read for a young teenage girl.
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Molly K. (San Jose, CA)
Inside the Cootie Catcher
Twenty years ago, schoolmates Celia and Djuna nurtured a toxic alliance with each other and three other schoolmates, whom they controlled with acts of approval and contempt, meted out daily. One day, Celia followed Djuna into the woods, while the others remained behind. Djuna got into a passing car and was never seen again.
Now, Celia is a successful business woman living in Chicago with her long-term boyfriend, Huck. She remembers the incident clearly and knows that she lied to the authorities and to everyone else. Celia returns to her parents home, ready to confess to them, the police, and her schoolmates.
The premise of this book is enticing; a mystery to solve, childhood memories, family relationships, and the hope of redemption. I was prepared to read it in one sitting!
The book is beautifully written, and Myla Goldberg's descriptions of place and use of metaphor is superb. Still, Celia, Huck, and Celia's family never come to life, It isn't that I don't like them; I do. I just don't much care what happens to them. Their relationships remain static throughout, and there is no promise or hint of growth.
In the end, the story really belongs to the three schoolmates and their lives as adults.
I was happy to come to the last page.
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Margaret M. (Troy, NY)
The False Friend
I did not like this book as much as I had hoped. The pacing dragged and the characters were not interesting to me. However, it was interesting to consider whether traumatic childhood memories are accurate and how events when we were children affect us as adults. And why, as adults, do we revert to childlike behavior when returning home to parents? I would not recommend this book to my book club but would to friends that I thought would like to give it a try.
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Julie D. (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA)
Wanted to like it....
After reading the description of this book, I thought it would be great. I loved how it started and then it seems as nothing really happened in the story. I kept waiting and still nothing. The characters didn't really interest me either. Sorry to say this wasn't a great book for me.
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Melissa H. (McKees Rocks, PA)
Expected More
While I appreciated Myla Goldberg's beautiful prose and lyrical, descriptive writing I felt this book didn't live up to my expectations. Expectations garnered from the book jacket as well as my reading of Goldberg's other works. For me the characters fell flat and were either one dimensional or simply unrealistic. The suspense of the psychological drama was attempted but never materialized and the ending was sadly dissatisfying.
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