Book Review: Frenemies

By Sandy Amazeen Jul 23, 2007, 3:11 GMT

Gus Curtis is experiencing something of a crisis as she faces the big three-o. She has a decent career working as a research librarian but her love life went down the toilet when she discovered her boyfriend Nate making out with Helen, her friend since college. While Gus has the support of long time friends Georgia and Amy Lee, they are occupied with problems of their own, leaving her to wonder what’s going on with everyone. To make matters worse, Gus managed to embarrass herself with a drunken rendition of Janis Joplin in front Nate, Helen and of a bunch of their mutual friends. Helen and Nate, acting as though they’ve done nothing wrong, attempt an intervention for Gus who is beginning to think she has regressed to a high school mentality. For someone who thought she would officially be an adult by thirty, Gus finds herself floundering in the angst of a broken relationship, a regrettable one-night stand with a man she hates and at a total loss to figure out what’s going on with her closest friends. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Liberally laced with wit and a keen humor, Gus is a charmingly flawed and confused character in this effervescent coming of age story that satisfies. Crane has created a solid social circle populated with an interesting collection of shallow acquaintances and fast friends while concentrating on the inevitable self-examination that comes with hitting a milestone like the dreaded three-o.