Tremaine lays out her friendship philosophies, describes the ten roles on the Life Council, and ends with tips for making and keeping friends. I didn’t glean much from this book that I think will stay with me or change my life. Tremaine has created a list of “council members” that every woman should have among their friends. I’m not sure what research went into this besides her own experiences but not only does she describe ten roles, she has more than one friend to talk about for each of them. That’s a lot of friends! I think it’s more than most adults have, making me feel pretty inadequate.
I’m not a fan of gendered self-help either. Why is it ten friends every WOMAN needs? There’s no explanation as to why the information is supposedly gender-specific. Most, if not all, of the friends she talks about are also women. I think some research and information showing the importance of female friendship in particular would have been pertinent when writing a book for only one gender.
I did not know when I got this book that it is from a Christian publisher. This certainly would have scared me away from reading it had I known but I will say that I didn’t find any of the content Christian-specific. She mentions that she’s had some changes in faith over the years but doesn’t go into any specifics so there’s nothing here that should bother a non-Christian.
However, I can’t really recommend the book. I just don’t think there is much to it. It seems like an idea she came up with and decided to write a book about. There is a tiny list of six references. This is truly just one person’s ideas based on their life experience and some discussions with others on the internet. Someone may find something helpful here but would probably learn the same things, and more, from a more researched book, like Marisa G. Franco’s Platonic.
I have no doubt that Tremaine’s podcast and other media are engaging, well-meaning, and get people thinking and having good conversations. This book just has very little to offer.
I’m not a fan of gendered self-help either. Why is it ten friends every WOMAN needs? There’s no explanation as to why the information is supposedly gender-specific. Most, if not all, of the friends she talks about are also women. I think some research and information showing the importance of female friendship in particular would have been pertinent when writing a book for only one gender.
I did not know when I got this book that it is from a Christian publisher. This certainly would have scared me away from reading it had I known but I will say that I didn’t find any of the content Christian-specific. She mentions that she’s had some changes in faith over the years but doesn’t go into any specifics so there’s nothing here that should bother a non-Christian.
However, I can’t really recommend the book. I just don’t think there is much to it. It seems like an idea she came up with and decided to write a book about. There is a tiny list of six references. This is truly just one person’s ideas based on their life experience and some discussions with others on the internet. Someone may find something helpful here but would probably learn the same things, and more, from a more researched book, like Marisa G. Franco’s Platonic.
I have no doubt that Tremaine’s podcast and other media are engaging, well-meaning, and get people thinking and having good conversations. This book just has very little to offer.