Reasons for Avoiding Friends by Megan Leavell

☆☆☆☆
.ePUB, 280 pages
Expected Publication: September 14th 2021 by Cedar House Press

About the Book:
Growing up, Gwen and Iris were the best of friends, even if they couldn’t have been more different. Now Gwen is living her hometown dream, or so she reminds herself while juggling endless parenting drama, an unemployed husband, and a neighborhood pyramid scheme. Never mind that at age thirty-nine, her social circle still resembles middle school. Her life is everything she ever wanted it to be, but nothing like she had planned. Iris was never destined for the ordinary. When she moved to Manhattan, she shed her old life for a better one—but not without a cost. From a distance, Iris’s life couldn’t be more charmed, but no one knows about the cracks in the image she’s worked so hard to cultivate. No one knows the real Iris at all. Except for Gwen. But Iris and Gwen haven’t spoken for years. Until…When Iris’s past catches up with her, she turns to the one person she could always count on—but she isn’t the only one keeping secrets, and as Gwen scrambles to preserve an illusion of domestic bliss, she finds herself wondering when they went from telling each other everything to sharing nothing. Now, a little wiser, and most certainly a little older, Gwen and Iris discover that the truest of friends accept you just as you are, and that loving yourself is sometimes the best way to find happiness.

My Review:

I don't know why this book has such a low rating. I really liked it a lot. it asks the question, is the grass always greener on the other side? And more importantly...be careful what you wish for! It also shows that what you see on social media isn't always the truth. I liked that Gwen and Iris reconnected and bared their souls to each other, eventually, and then came together and became a force to be reckoned with. 

There is nothing wrong be being a stay at home mom and there is nothing wrong with wanting more than that. There is also a bit of mean girls from the moms in the neighbourhood. There were so many themes explored in this book, like body image, addiction and infidelity. I really enjoyed it and being immersed in the lives of these two women and their families.

Disclosure:
Thank you NetGalley, Megan Leavell and Cedar House Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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