A raw and honest look at friendships and the importance of connection in today's world. It's not super deep or innovative, more a personal account, but it's warm and engaging and well-written.

The Friendaholic by Elizabeth Day, is a long hard look at friendships, viewed through the prism of Elizabeth’s own platonic relationships.
She is a self confessed Friendaholic, a discovery made during lockdown, when we all had so much stripped away from us.

Elizabeth has been incredibly honest in this book, she has really laid herself bare.
She allows recollections of her friends to be included, giving further insight into their platonic relationships. To see both sides of a memory, from the starting point of a friendship. Writing this book has given the author permission to ask her friends questions. Questions that many of us may have of each other, but might not feel able to ask.

The book allows us space for reflection on our own friendships, both past and present. Using Elizabeth’s experiences as a spring board into our own analysis.
I’m sure different parts of the book, will strike a chord with different readers, helping them to see their own relationships differently. To understand those relationships better, to see what we each are looking for.

For me, the endless metaphors and tangents for anecdotes, lengthened the book far more than was necessary. This caused my attention to wander frequently. It felt repetitive. I did also wonder how anyone who recognised themselves from the pages might feel.

I’m afraid that I wasn’t the right reader for this book, thought I’m very certain that many others will love it.

Yet again elizabeth Day writes a fantastic novel! its such a relatable read and its not to heavy to digest. Great book and I look forward to whatever comes next from this author!

This book has taken me way too long to finish and I'm not completely sure why. The writing is accessible and the subject matter is of interest to me, but there's something about this book as a whole that hasn't been able to grab me.

I think a key problem could be that Day's meditations and revelations on the theme of friendship simply aren't very profound. I imagine this book could be helpful to people who can relate to Day's friendship-related dilemmas—she details her need to seek out friendships as a form of validation, her out-of-the-blue experience of being 'ghosted' by a close friend, and her people-pleasing tendencies that render her afraid of saying 'no' in case it renders her a 'bad friend'.

If any of these situations resonate with you then you may find something worthwhile within Day's musings. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't bother.

A beautiful book on friendship, the highs and lows and the crazy journey's you go through with friends. Engaging and insightful on the different types of friendships you go through in life. Elizabeth Day validates that sometimes not all friends are made he same, and it's nice to know that some of the insecurities you have surrounding friendships and how you deal with them are shared!

Such a brilliant modern guide on friendships - a must read. Having loved How to Fail, I always expect quality research, writing and considerately explored ideas from Elizabeth and she never lets me down! In fact, I wish there was a Friendaholic Book Two as I got so much to think about from this read and can’t wait to share it for lively discussion with my book clubs! Huge thanks to the author, Elizabeth Day, and publisher, 4th Estate, for this review copy. Views my own. 5*

An interesting book on the dynamics of friendship and the importance of a good friendship. This is a personal telling of friendship experiences and has some references to studies and observations too. I enjoyed reading it and it has helped me to broach some conversations within my friendship group.

Friendaholic is a well-written book which, for me, focused a little too heavily on the author's accounts of her own friendships. I would have preferred a more journalistic approach based on interviews with other sources. I think that with such a personal approach, which will really appeal to those who connect with Elizabeth's own experiences, it can be hit and miss with regard to whether or not individual readers feel they can relate to the book. On a technical note, I find it difficult to read texts which conflate 'sex' with 'gender'.

I'm happy to recommend this as I think it might be useful to other people, but personally this fell quite flat for me. Attempts to tell a complex social story of interpersonal relationships were belied by poor political and social understanding (the description of the Troubles was so off) and moments of engagement with complex topics like what we owe each other as a society felt very surface level.

The importance of friendship is so often overlooked, and so I was thrilled when Elizabeth Day brought out this book, all about friendships. She talks candidly about her own experiences of friendships, both good and bad, when she was growing up, and also includes additional stories of other people's experiences. I found the book to be easy to read, uplifting and eye-opening, and a great addition to the still under-represented canon of books about friendship.

An interesting look at Friendships, unpicking their dynamics, their power and their value. It's both a study of friendships, citing scientific studies and historical observations - Cicero anyone?!- and part memoir, part self help. It looks at how we underestimate its value - we hardly have any kind of vocabulary for it. It reminds me of Dolly Alderton's Everything I Know About Love, but perhaps a little heavier, though that's perhaps the nature of the subject.

An astute analysis of what it means to be a friend, as well as a poignant discussion of what friendship means specifically to the text's author Elizabeth Day.

There are a small collection of instances where the text's autobiographical spine means that the premise of a more journalistic examination of friendship as a concept falls away in place of slightly self-congratulatory exposition. I say this with the HUGE caveat that the text clearly reveals Day to be an extremely generous and loving friend. The portraits she paints of the most important people in her life are truly charming, and hold mirrors up to many of my own relationships.

This text has already served as a springboard for discussion and will no doubt continue to help me think productively about friendship and the role it plays in my life.

Friendaholic covers many different perspectives on friendships and really makes you think about how to be a good friend and what a good friend is - good and bad. It is a mixture of non-fiction and self-help as Elizabeth tells stories from her personal life and as a reader, I found this really engaging and it allowed me to occasionally 'feel' what I was reading and link to my own experiences.
I really enjoyed reading this and thought it was well written. I took away many different facts about friendships and I'll certainly be recommending this to others.. as well as buying a copy for myself.

“I have learned that we have different metrics of friendship, and sometimes these will be complementary to another person and sometimes they will not.”

When I heard about Friendaholic by Elizabeth Day I was intrigued because friendships are so important to so many of us and yet we don’t really discuss them that often. We talk about love but it’s always in a romantic sense but platonic love between friends is just as complex and important.
This book discusses all of this and more.

She starts with discussing how and why we make friends and how it can vary in different cultures and societies. How it starts from when we are children and how our childhood friendships can affect our relationships with our friends in adulthood.
She also touches on the pandemic and how that has changed friendships and how we interact in so many ways.
How friendships aren’t always lifelong but can be for a short period for example school or university friends. Whether men and women can just be friends or not.

There was discussions on when some friends may not want the best for you and how it can be hard to navigate that and how sometimes we may be ghosted by someone who we thought we were close to.
How life changing circumstances can affect friendships from having children or dealing with infertility to chronic illness and disabilities.
Discussing whether the friendships can survive these changes in circumstances.
Near the end she also touched on online friendships too.

I thought that the discussions were really interesting and made me reflect more on my own friendships too. While there were things that I didn’t always agree with or had a different opinion about she does say that these are based on her experiences and the people she has interviewed. Though there are also statistics and studies that she researched to include in the book.

Not really what I expected perhaps I read the description wrong !! Part memoir and self help book about friendships ! If this is your bag go for it ! Not a bad read !!!

This book is about Elizabeth’s friends and she tries to analyse their relationships. To me, it seemed very self indulgent and I did not enjoy it. I would not like to think what her friends thought of it!

This is part-memoir, part self-help. A deep dive into the author's friendship history interwoven with other perspectives on friendship and relationships. Despite it being a topic that impacts us all, there is not much in depth writing on friendship so when I saw Day had chosen to tackle the topic, I knew I had to read it!

Day is as candid as always in this reflective look at the friendships she's experienced throughout her life. She shares her realisations as an adult looking back at a young girl that wanted to be liked and still has to contend with that desire as an adult but with a bit more self awareness.

So many of Day's anecdotes and metaphors resonated with me, making me think about my own life, and friendships which as a trainee counsellor is something I am used to doing and found this a great prompt for thinking about the people in my life- past and current and the roles I/they have played.

Resonating with Day's experiences has been a great way of validating my own experiences and feeling less alone in the tricky situations we sometimes find ourselves in with friends. It's also helped to build on the self-awareness that will help to make me a better friend in the present. A very relatable read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher 4th Estate and William Collins for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions of the book are entirely my own.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67353385-friendaholic" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Friendaholic: Confessions of a Friendship Addict" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1674834857l/67353385._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67353385-friendaholic">Friendaholic: Confessions of a Friendship Addict</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1612493.Elizabeth_Day">Elizabeth Day</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5313756512">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This is part-memoir, part self-help. A deep dive into the author's friendship history interwoven with other perspectives on friendship and relationships. Despite friendship being a topic that impacts us all, there is not much written about it so when I saw an author I love had chosen to tackle the topic, I knew I had to read it!<br /><br />Day is as candid as always in this reflective look at the friendships she's experienced throughout her life. She shares her realisations as an adult looking back at a young girl that wanted to be liked and still has to contend with that desire as an adult but with a bit more self awareness. <br /><br />So many of Day's anecdotes and metaphors resonated with me, making me think about my own life, and friendships which as a trainee counsellor is something I am used to doing and found this a great prompt for thinking about the people in my life- past and current and the roles I/they have played. <br /><br />Resonating with Day's experiences has been a great way of validating my own experiences and feeling less alone in the tricky situations we sometimes find ourselves in with friends. It's also helped to build on the self-awareness that will help to make me a better friend in the present. A very relatable read.<br /><br />Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher 4th Estate and William Collins for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions of the book are entirely my own.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5313756512

In this book, the journalist and novelist Elizabeth Day unpacks the significance and evolution of friendship.
What makes a good friend, why do we need friends, how many friends do we need? All good questions raised by this thought provoking book.
I’m not sure that all of it gripped me, but enough of it intrigued me and challenged me, to make this a really worthwhile read. It certainly made me think about the people in my life at different stages – friends who have come and gone, and those that stay the course.
The only real problem was that it made me feel like a bit of a friendship failure – Elizabeth has had so many friendships to analyse that it made me wonder whether I should have tried harder!
With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I love listening to Elizabeth Day's podcasts, I love her warmth and honesty and felt that both of these traits were evident in Friendaholic.
Day's writing flows beautifully, it always feels effortless as if you are listening to a friend share with you and reassure you. I loved the mixture of reflections on how friendship has been portrayed, the stats on friendship and Day's own personal experiences.
I was totally engaged with the writing and it helped me to reflect deeply on my own friendships; why some have lasted and why some haven't worked out in the long term. I felt reassured that what works for me is a small group of close friends and how my people pleasing tendency has, in the past kept me in relationships with friends that weren't working.
A recommended read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

I found this book incredibly insightful and thought provoking! Elizabeth Day reveals interesting personal stories, mixed with studies, to unfold friendships and relationships. This is a relatable book about maintaining friendships and has made me think about my own personal life and experiences and I really enjoyed this book.