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popthebutterfly 's review for:

4.0
emotional fast-paced

Disclaimer: I received the finished book from the author. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Other Side of Friendship

Author: David Grant

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4/5

Diversity: Autistic side character (son), Jamaican MC, Latina side character

Recommended For...: fiction, contemporary

Publication Date: October 24, 2020

Genre: Fiction

Recommended Age: 16+ (mental health, war)

Explanation of CWs: There is some war talk in the book and some talk about mental health and wellbeing.

Publisher: Indie Published

Pages: 300

Synopsis: Tyrone Washington has thousands of online friends, so he should have no problem making friends in real life. After all, he's a successful Army colonel, happily married, and pursuing his dreams. Everything is going well for Tyrone until he and his cousin, Harold, make a bet about which one of them will make a new friend first. Fortunately for Tyrone, he is scheduled to attend the prestigious Eisenhower School at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., so he'll have the opportunity to meet career executives from numerous government agencies. Tyrone is confident he'll make a new good friend in no time.While attending the Eisenhower School, Tyrone unexpectedly becomes fast friends with his classmate, Melissa Lee Park. As their friendship unfolds, Tyrone discovers that winning the bet will be harder than he imagined. The realization that making friends as an adult is not solely a one-sided endeavor hits Tyrone like a ton of bricks. As his friendship with Melissa progresses, Tyrone finds himself in situations that put his military career, family, and mental health in jeopardy. Will Tyrone be smart enough to navigate life on the other side of friendship?

Review: Awww I liked this book. The book does well to explore the different levels of friendship and what real friendship is. I feel like I learned something from the book because I struggle to maintain friendships due to a variety of reasons. The book was a good comfort read and it was very sweetly told. The book had well done character development and the world building was well done. The writing was good and I liked the plot overall.

The only issue I really had with the book is that the pacing was a bit off and it felt too fast for the story, but overall I loved it.

Verdict: Highly recommend!