The Friendship List

by Susan Mallery

[Linda]

*I received a free copy of The Friendship List. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review which is honest and unbiased.*

Oh wow! The Friendship List is a fantastic story about two women who have known each other their whole lives. Now, they are both on the cusp of a new life, but they’re not sure how to proceed.
For Unity, everything is hard, she’s been existing in a vacuum since her late husband was killed three years ago, and going through the motions just won’t do it anymore. She gets pushed by some of her friends to move forward, but she still kind of feels like she isn’t ready.
For Ellen, things are changing too. A single mom to a soon-to-be senior, she knows Cooper will leave soon to go to college. And she only wants what’s best for him. However, she’s not so sure what she’s going to do when he leaves home.
Thus Unity and Ellen make their friendship list - it’s kind of like a bucket-list, but different. Because they both need to challenge themselves to move forward and be the best they can be. And fully live.
I found it very interesting that Ellen was still living by her parents’ rules, even at 34. But at the same time, it was normal, as everything that happened when she was younger had made her parents very strict. And following the rules was the only way for her to hope to be able to keep her son, finish college and finally be independent.
Ellen had lived her whole adult life solely for her son, she had never dated, never done anything crazy. But now, with the list, she finally agrees to open her horizons a bit, and my goodness does she achieve a lot of good for herself!
For Unity, things are a bit more difficult, but she is still trying her very best - and that’s all we can do, right? Try our best to move forward, to live, to love, to find some joy...
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about female friendships, love, and how taking a risk can be so very scary, but also so very rewarding.