Review: Best Friends Forever

I generally spend my summers reading light, airy novels, and I enjoy that. As one of the few people in the world who doesn’t actually like summer, it gets me through fully entertained. Even when the books are practically unbearable (exhibit A: last summer’s Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger), they always have some redeeming entertainment qualities. As a fan of Jennifer Weiner’s predictable chick lit, I was tremendously disappointed by her latest book Best Friends Forever, a novel billed as more-of-the-same, but struggles to break out of the Weiner Mold...and fails.

Perhaps I went into the book thinking it was something different than it is, but what was advertised as two-best-friends-chick-lit was anything but. Weiner again has her typical overweight heroine who suffered as a teen and throughout her twenties, but this time she has lost all her weight before the book even starts. There is also the sidekick female character, in this case the long-lost best friend, who is tall, thin, gorgeous, successful, and completely self-centered. The basic plot of the book has all the elements of decent chick lit and is set up to be yet another Weiner Page-Turner. At her high school reunion, Valerie Adler (the beautiful best friend) humiliates a man who humiliated her in high school, but she thinks she may have killed him. In her desperation, she shows up at the home of our heroin, formerly-fat high school reject Addie Downs, and ridiculous, overblown, unnecessary drama ensues. It’s a good recipe, but it just doesn’t work.

Unfortunately, about half-way through the book Weiner shifts the POV of the majority of the following chapters to Police Chief Jordan Novick—a dude. The book takes a turn for the worst and molds itself into a pseudo police procedural, when it really wants to be a light version of “Thelma & Louise.” It tries to be funny and fails. Thin, beautiful Valerie is supposed to be charming in her selfishness, but simply comes off as obnoxious and incredibly stupid, making the reader wonder why smart (albeit passive) goes along with anything she says, especially after Valerie’s role in making Addie’s high school life a living hell. (Maybe I just hold onto grudges longer than most people, but I couldn’t buy Addie’s willingness to fall back into line with Valerie with little resistance.) Jordan Novick is supposed to be a broken man who just comes off as pathetic, the kind of guy you do not want your heroine to really wind up with.

The novel is disjointed and Weiner destroys the pacing by spending too much time in the head of Jordan Novick. The most interesting part of the novel is not the plot itself, but the heroine. Addie Downs is a great character. She is complex for a chick lit book. Both of her parents are dead, her brain-damaged brother resides in a home, and the fact that she doesn’t have any friends and has only had sex with one man ever sets Addie Downs up as a character ready for a great adventure. But what is supposed to be a great adventure isn’t. Addie and Val’s cross-country getaway is too-frequently interrupted and there are simply not enough scenes. The book wraps up too swiftly and too neatly, and, similar to Weiner’s first novel, our heroine finds out she’s pregnant. Addie also gets the guy in the end (Jordan), and gets her best friend back. But Jordan and Addie don’t mesh well together. They fall for each “at first sight,” but, again, it doesn’t work. For the characters, everything works out in the end, of course, but rather than allowing the reader to see why, the author simply tells you and expects you to buy it. Everything’s perfect. You know, just like in real life.