Thank you to Hodder for the ARC via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars.

This was my first Holly Bourne Book, but it certainly won't be the last.

This was a wonderfully infuriating, honest and brutal story of friendship, insecurity and jealousy.

It tells the story of Fern and Jessica, friends who met in school and it's a merging of the past and present, told through a dual timeline from Fern's perspective. This worked very well as we got to see insights into their friendship developing, bringing you to the present to find out why they haven't kept in touch.

It did not go in the direction I expected, it was better! It was all about women against women, and their rivalry having to compete for the attention of boys, particularly in their younger years, so I guess this is a great coming of age story. It tackles self esteem, the sexualisation of women, and whilst it is mainly about female friendship, it is a very serious book.

And it's so refreshingly British! Many books I've been reading recently have been written by American authors, but this one truly resonated with me. It felt like Holly Bourne had written about my actual life as a teenager living in Surrey, and although my experiences were totally different, I still somehow was able to relate to this book.

I like the overall message of this book and I love how it concluded - it will definitely stay with me for a long time.

I adored Holly Bourne’s last adult novel but I think I loved this one even more. You know when you want to stop doing other things or avoid other commitments in life because you want to stay home and read your book? Thatv was this book!
I think the main reason I connected with this book so much is because I related to it so hard. The main character in this book is one year younger than me and would have been rhe year below me at school so we had very similar experiences during our school years and beyond and just everything she was going through I could recognise and if it wasn’t happening directly to me the same way as it was to Fern, then I knew someone that it did happen to. I was quoting bits of the book outloud to friends and family as I was reading because I just felt like it was written about my own formative school years!
Fern is a great character to get to spend this book with because she is so beautifully imperfect, I feel like anyone could relate to her. She has her own mental health issues and her own self-esteem issues and there will definitely be millions of readers out there who can empathise with her as well as sympathies with her situation. She has a great career and a great relationship but she has this imposter syndrome because she still feels like the self that she was when she was a teenager.
And then we have Jessica. She comes back into the picture and we know that this is not the most positive thing in the world but it takes until just about the very end of the book to find out why this is not such a positive thing. Jessica is wild and free and she seems to be good for Fern, in the beginning. I was always very anxious for Jessica, the choices that she made in the past and the choices that she makes in the current day thread of this story made me very concerned and I was always on the edge of my seat waiting for her to take things just one step too far.
The structure of this story is also just perfect in every way. We flash back and forth between the present day storyline and the storyline of Ferns youth. Both timelines proceed in a chronological way but we switch back and forth just at the moment where we’re going to find out something juicy or see the consequences of someone's action. I think that is why this book gave me such anxiety as a reader, thankfully I read it over basically 2 days, because I was always worrying about what was going to happen next or what the fallout of something was going to be. I loved every minute of it though.
The author's note at the end of this book really sums up why this book is important and why I connected with it so much. There are care warnings in that and at the start of the book so definitely have a look at this before picking this one up but if you’re ok with those then I highly recommend this book about growing up and friendship and having it all in the world that we live in today. Easily one of my top books of the year!

Girl Friends is a beautifully heartbreaking novel by Holly Bourne.

Can people ever really change? When Fern’s old friend Jessica reaches out, Fern has to face the truth of what really happened all those years ago and whether she can trust Jessica now. With dual timelines, we see our main character, Fern, as a troubled teenager and then how her youth has impacted her as an adult.

Holly Bourne has a way of writing that makes me want to cry…even when the words are not necessarily sad - they just feel so heavy with emotion. I found myself relating to the main character at so many points throughout the book and really rooting for her. I have only read one Holly Bourne book before this but I am super excited to pick up some more!

Trigger warnings: Self harm, suicide, sexual assault, substance abuse

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Jess and Fern are inseparable during their teenage years. But Fern always feels second best compared to her beautiful friend and Jess’s actions see Fern putting an end to their friendship.

Now in their 30’s Jess reaches out. The chapters alternate between the past and present whilst we explore whether their friendship can truly be repaired.

The writing is so real and raw and reminds you just how hard being a teenager is and how hard being a woman is in this world.

The story isn’t a light one. It explores lots of tricky themes such as the male gaze and its link to marriage and motherhood, mental health, sexism, sexual violence, the threat women feel from other women, and teenage angst. All are explored well in my opinion, adding to the relatability of the story.

A testament to female friendship and a reminder to continue working towards a better world for the future generations of women and girls.

Holly Bourne's story of on-and-off best friends Fern and Jessica is both furiously feminist and wildly entertaining, following the troubled trajectory of their friendship from schooldays on.

Fern, through whose eyes we see the story, has struggled with her mental health and feelings of self worth, often linked to her own perceived attractiveness- or lack of it - to men.

It doesn't help that Jessica is beautiful and widely desired, but that's not necessarily the blessing Fern perceives it as.

A great read with a powerful message.

This is Holly Bourne’s third novel for adults, having enjoyed considerable success as a Young Adult author. I’ve read both previous adult novels but none of those intended for YAs, and Girl Friends very much feels to be a bridge between these two worlds.

This is a well-structured, first-person narrative told from the perspective of Fern, a thirtysomething woman who is forced to revisit her past when Jessica, an old friend from her fraught teenage years, reappears. The novel moves between these two periods deftly and in particular the teenage years are well evoked with the tensions of friendship circles acutely drawn. Something happened between the two women years before and this simmers away throughout the novel creating a real tension before it is revealed quite near the end of the novel.

Bourne is well known for her advocacy of women’s rights and mental health issues and that is apparent throughout this novel. She strives to make important points about misogyny and charts how it develops across a woman’s life. She does this particularly well via Fern who is an imperfect, something frustrating character but is all the better for it; I would be surprised if most readers did not see a bit of themselves somewhere in Fern.

The only weakness of this is novel is that some of these issues are spelled out very deliberately and explicitly, and sometimes this is achieved through very clunky dialogue which reads more like a sixth-form essay or a leaflet, falling very heavily into too much tell, and not enough show territory. Possibly the novel also tries to cover a bit too much feminist ground too which might feel too overwhelming for this novel’s intended audience, for example some of the proselytizing from Fern’s friend Heather could easily be axed (even though I agree with all of it).

However, these two are fairly minor gripes for a novel which has the best of intentions at its heart and is elevated well the usual hot-mess nonsense that gets launched at this audience.

An excellent and thought provoking read - one that will stay with me for a long time. A well written story of female friendship and an interesting insight as to how females see each other. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an early review copy in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one! A quick, enjoyable read, with great pacing. It never felt that the story was moving to slow or too quickly, and the jumping timeline of the main character (Fern) growing up and her in the present day worked really well

I think most women will relate to the premise of this story - we all had a friendship during our teenage years that was almost too intense, and looking back now you realise that despite whatever past between you, you loved them and probably still do

*Potential mild spoiler*

I had intended to critique the ending - it felt too obvious and reading it I was like "OBVIOUSLY" but then it's subverted, and the actual ending makes you challenge yourself, and rethink everything else in the book. For me maybe it does turn out too happy, which is always nice but maybe I felt things were wrapped up to easily.

This was really good and my first book by Holly Bourne. The main character Fern is in her early 30’s with a steady career and boyfriend. She’s in a good place, but one day, her estranged best friend Jessica pops back into her life and Fern is hesitant to let her back in.

This jumps timelines from current day and when Fern is a teenager, where we find out what happened to their friendship over the years and their eventual falling out. Holly Bourne’s writing is funny and sharp, but this one covers a lot of heavy topics, like depression, anxiety, suicide, sexual assault. I’ve always been super lucky to have an amazing group of girl friends, but this book brings up a lot of memories of what it was like growing up as a teen girl in the early 2000’s and some of the dark bits that can come along with that.

This would be a great one for a book club, it would spark a lot of good discussion, minding the content warnings, though.

Out on 6th Sept - Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy and the chance to read this ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review!

When Fern is unexpectedly approached by Jessica, a woman who used to be her best friend while they were growing up, she greets her with mixed feelings. They parted ways after a betrayal Fern wasn’t able to forgive. But now, Jessica returns, bringing her usual overwhelming energy and charm. She seems a different, more mature person, but will the teenage girl friends fit into their old roles?⁠
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Girl Friends is a fantastic study of female friendship with all the love, jealousy and rivalry it often includes. It dissects the relationships between women, their intensity and their importance, especially for young girls. In the multiple retrospections, Bourne gives her readers an insight into a teenager's mind, writing in detail about the pressure put by society on girls to behave in certain ways. It is an honest voice that shows the contradictions between parental and peer expectations, as the characters attempt to find the impossible balance between desired and slutty. The author explores both the exhilaration of being chosen from the crowd and the uncertainty of unwanted attention.⁠
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Although men are an essential element of the plot, the book always returns to women and the relationships between them. Their love, rivalry, constant judgement and comparisons are the main focus of this novel. I believe I will recommend this book to all my girl friends.

my first holly bourne book and i’m now off to raid my daughters reading room!!
really enjoyed this book and was so invested in Fern and her issues I will be honest i was so angry with Jessica for most of the book!!
a book that reiterates that you can’t judge a book by its cover and that everything is not always what it seems
a book of friendship and every girls insecurities about body image and fitting in

Compelling, Empathetic…
Compelling, immersive and empathetic telling of a female friendship in all of its messy, damaged, unfettered glory and of feminism, the roles we are cast in and the ways in which we break the mould. Nicely crafted with well rounded characters and a sharp edge of wry humour. Compassionately done.

hen I first picked this book up, I assumed it would be about solid female friendships. Fern and Jessica appealed to me, after seeing glimpses of my younger self in them, relating to each for different reasons. As the plot progressed, it became clear that this is, in fact, a much more powerful story that, unfortunately, many more of us will relate to.

Holly Bourne is a compelling and skilful writer who writes about topics that very few of us speak about openly. 'Girl Friends' looks at the insufferable way some men view women, which is somehow deemed acceptable by society. Most of which is ingrained in us as young adults.

As with previous work, this book needs to be read by as many people as possible, especially in the classroom and book clubs where readers can discuss the complexities in a safe environment. Although changes are starting to happen in our society, more needs to be done. Reading this book and learning from Fern and Jessica's positions is one step closer to these changes for young men and women alike.

An excellent, influential and irrefutably raw five-star read that comes highly recommended! Pre-order yourself a copy today!

I love Holly's books and this was no exception. I loved how we jumped between the past and present as the friends story was told. A brilliant book.

I often you read quotes on novels that have one liners like ‘An important book’ and I sort of thing they are over inflating things, but I think that this is an important book for women to read. It tells us a lot without preaching or going too far one way and avoids being overly critical of any group of people. This tells girls and women a lot about the importance of female friendship and being there for each other, whilst not demonising men. It does have powerful messages about society that I think are just as important for young men as they are for young women. (Maybe more so). This is something young people definitely need to hear more of, and I think this book tells it so cleverly.

I have read reviews suggesting a dual narrative would be better but I disagree. I think we hear enough of Jessica’s story to understand it without needing any addition from her. If I’d been told about this book before I read it I’d probably have been turned off but I thought it was actually pretty great, and enjoyable too. I definitely thought the ending added a great deal. I’m trying to think of a reason I wouldn’t give it 5 stars and since I can’t express it, I guess there isn’t one.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this advanced copy in return for this honest review.

Girl Friends is a powerful read about female friendship and mental health and does a really good job of portraying how these formative friendships and events in our teenage years can have an impact in our adult life and the way we view ourselves and those around us. It is a character driven story that follows a dual timeline as Fern reconnects with her teenage best friend Jessica many years after they fell out and the events that led to their fallout in the late teens.
I really empathised with both characters and was really surprised to recognise and reflect on many of the toxic teenage behaviours and attitudes that on reflection were so normalised for many of our teenage experiences. I found the last few chapters of the book particularly impactful and powerful and I feel this is something I will think on for a while.

Please do check the trigger warnings for this book as it deals with difficult issues including mental health, suicide ideation and sexual assault.

Holly Bourne never fails to deliver. I absolutely loved the discussion of friendships and how they grow, evolve and change over time. The discussions of feminism were so impactful and the triggering topics mentioned were handled so thoughtfully and were so insightful. Thank you to NetGalley, Holly Bourne and Hodder for this ARC! I can't wait for my signed edition from Waterstones to arrive!

Some books resonate with you. You see yourself reflected in characters, or you empathise with a particular storyline. Girl Friends by Holly Bourne did that for me, mainly because it is set over pretty much the same timeframe as my teenage years, and some of the experiences are similar to things my friends and I went through.

Friendship is the central theme of Girl Friends, and Bourne deftly explores how the relationships between friends can be both a source of comfort and can be toxic.

Centring on the friendship between Fern and Jessica, neither of whom are particularly likeable protagonists, Bourne demonstrates how this teenage bond is all-consuming and fraught with difficulty, difficulties that continue into adulthood.

Fern's insecurities put a strain on their adult relationship, but Bourne has countered this by showing us all of the things that Jessica did in their friendship to make Fern feel the way she did.

I felt for Fern, but she showed her absolute worst side by her jealousy, but I couldn't help but feel for her. Jessica's actions were despicable, but her insecurities obviously fuelled them, something Fern couldn't see.

With a well paced dual timeline, Bourne looks at how friendships can seem in real time and how with hindsight, we can see all the negatives too. Sometimes at the detriment of the good memories.

Superimposed on this theme of friendship is how girls and women are taught to behave in a certain way - to shrink and mould themselves to be what boys and men want and that we constantly compete with other girls even when we do not realise it. Throughout the book, the boys remain oblivious and unimpeachable as always, patriarchy as an assumed right.

I couldn't put this book down. Through excellent suspense building, I was desperate to discover how the girls' friendship had fallen apart, as well as seeing/needing to learn how their relationship turned out at the end of the book.

Girl Friends is a beautiful story with many important concepts of social conditioning interwoven. I recommend it to everyone - men could also learn a thing or two from this book.

I enjoyed this book....but ooh boy did I not really gel with the characters!

This felt like a YA book, slightly aged up. I did not believe this woman was in her early 30s...or that she actually had as many friends as she apparently had. Fern is OBSESSED with getting engaged, and while yeah I do know some women my age that want their partner to propose I still find it weird that she was so hung up on it? It just wasn't so believable.... Also HOW has she not had therapy since she was a teen?! Honestly that was a plot hole to be honest...

I don't know I think we could have benefitted from having another POV from Jessica, even just in the past. Or the past from Jessica's view and present from Fern. I don't know....I've been dwelling on this for days and I'm still just unknown about how to feel because of the disconnect between myself and the characters despite being around the same age...

And I'm a petty one, so really didn't enjoy the amount of inconsistencies happening in the early 00s - watching The O.C. boxset before it was even on telly, listening to Crazy in Love before it came out..

Holly Bournes books never fail, I am always so engaged from start to finish. Girl Friends follows the complexity and struggles of female relationships from teen to adulthood. We meet Fern and Jessica, who go through stages of being the best of friends, to being each other’s enemies. Trust and jealousy are two main themes throughout, it really highlights how intense friendships can become.

For me this book was great, the writing style really captured what women have to go through on a day to day basis. Definitely a book I recommend!