ARC Review: Asking for a Friend by Andi Osho

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I received an ARC of this book via HQ and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Description

No woman gets left behind

Three best friends are going to solve their relationship woes once and for all

Forty-something Jemima’s life is on track – well, sort of. All she has to do is muster the courage to bat her niggly ex away for good.

Twenty-something Meagan is in the midst of her five-phase plan and is nearly ready for phase three – a relationship.

While thirty-something Simi has had more it’s not yous than any I dos.

Deciding it’s time to play the dating game by their own rules, they’re going to ditch the dating apps and ask people out in real life. The catch? They’re playing matchmaker and can only ask out potential dates for each other because the most important rule is that no woman gets left behind.

My Thoughts

If there are three things I love (though there’s a long, long list) they are comedy, writing and dating disasters. In Asking for a Friend, comedian Andi Osho manages to combine these three things in a debut novel full of fun, friendship and finding your way in the world as a twenty, thirty and forty-something.

Osho presents three women in different walks of life, though they are bonded by comedy (having met at a comedy workshop) and their limited-to-no-luck with men (which is relatable content, if you ask me!). It is the latter which prompts Jemima, Meagan and Simi to embark on a fun – if awkward, at times – dating game where the women choose dates…for each other.

Admittedly, due to wrapping my head around it being a new year (full of goals: both reading goals and life goals) and balancing whatever other reading and “life stuff” I was doing, it took me a while to truly get into the narrative. When I did, I was hooked (though, at times, frustrated) by the three women, the idea of “asking for a friend” and just how much trouble ensued.

I’m a fan of dual narratives so I glad to find not one, not two but three narratives. It was brilliant how Osho managed to create three equally interesting, yet different points of view – in her debut novel, no less! Though there were moments in each characters story I didn’t have much interest in, I loved how each narrative worked brilliantly on their own as well as interconnected with the others.

Another thing I liked – though I don’t know if it’ll appeal as much to everyone – was the reference to the writing process. I’m nowhere near writing a novel but I think even those of us with several blank (or partially filled) documents will relate to Jemima’s storyline and how enjoyable, if frustrating, writing can be.

The one thing that annoyed me about this book was the fact that a situation (I won’t go into details what the situation is, #nospoilers 😂) which caused so much trouble originally for the girls was resolved really quickly. It didn’t ruin the book for me but it just didn’t feel realistic – not sure if that’s just in my opinion!

Asking for a Friend is a contemporary novel with humour, heart and honest female friendship.

Asking for a Friend will be published on 21 January 2021.