I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Girl, you know what I'm talking about; you either have one of "those" friends or you are "that" friend. We all have quirks and traits that will encourage others or annoy them. In this book, the author reminds us of our relational challenges and the biblical point of reference. The lies we tell ourselves are challenged when held up to what God says about us and others.
Note: mine was an advanced digital copy, without photo and had some formatting problems as well as editing issues. Nevertheless, I was able to read around the problem and found the book encouraging and informative.

Amanda Anderson is a fabulous storyteller. The authentic and relatable stories about her own friendships held my interest and quite often had me in stitches. I very much appreciated her transparency about her own mishaps in friendships and what she learned from them which has led to significant growth in that area of her life. This book pushed me to want to be a better friend and also re-evaluate some of my own friendships through the years.

This book is good for women in all stages of life. The author addresses how to maneuver friendships of all kinds as adults. She reaches women looking to make new friends, those wanting to keep friends, and even those looking at evaluating friendships that have possibly run their course.

I was given an e-copy of this book by Netgalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I could not get into this book when I downloaded it. I will not give it a review on the other sites because I can't give a fair assessment since I didn't read much of it.

No one is perfect and often times friends can leave us with real hurt. This book gives practical insight into how to create and foster healthy relationships.

I can't tell you how many times I have heard a woman say she isn't good at making friends or being a good friend. Like so often. Female friendships are so tricky. And I have often felt the same way. So I jumped at the chance to read this book.

AND HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE A BOOK THAT STARS BY QUOTING FRIENDS!! Okay, but in all reality, the first few chapters I thought for sure that it was the book that I needed about 5-8 years ago but that I wasn't going to get anything else out of it. I moved around that time and felt lonely and friendless after leaving all that I had known and been comfortable with. A new city, where I knew no one with four kids. My goodness, I felt like I didn't have a clue who I was or what kind of friend I was looking for. That version of me needed this book....or so I thought.

Since then I've found the exact types of friends that she opens the book talking about. I have become an expert at setting boundaries and saying no when I need to and and I'm even learning to say yes a little bit more. So I really wasn't sure that I needed this book. About that time I thought about skimming. Maybe I'd just skim my way through the rest just so that I could say I finished. (I'm a finisher, gosh darn it, a finisher!)

She talks so much about authenticity in the beginning, which I totally get....but authenticity is something so important to me and highly important in friendship. So while I understand how this could resonate with a lot of people, some even whom I know, it doesn't with me. I don't see how you could have a true relationship without authenticity. Which is the author's point I supposed, but has not been an issue for me.

Then, suddenly, I realized this book was not just about finding friends...it was about being a better friend to the ones you have...and therefore becoming a better version of ourselves. Oh my goodness. Why am I so dense? It's about accepting ourselves among out friends. It's about opening ourselves to up to being friends with those we wouldn't typically choose as friends. It's about being open and available to people--and to ourselves.

I realized as I read that every woman really needs this message, because we truly are better together. She opened up things from the Bible that I'd never seen before about friendship. Like how the disciples were truly the best example of friendships from the Bible. All of them were different, differing backgrounds and differing current opinions, but they came together, got along, under one purpose and one mission.
Also, I loved the idea that each friend could be there for a specific need we have. As in, we shouldn't expect one friend to be everything for us and fill every need....like one big super friend...the way we always see it in movies and TV. But that different friends can be there for us in differing ways and vice versa.

I mean, I started to really, REALLY like the author. We don't have a ton in common but I throughout the pages I just really like her. And I think that's pretty important in an author writing a book about friendships.

Plus her quotes are GREAT! They are fun and funny and relevant. Not stuffy and boring like so many chapter beginners. And she thinks Chris Pratt is dreamy....How could I not love her for that.

At one point I looked up other reviews (which I always do after I've already started the book because I don't like starting the book with a cloud of judgement from other reviewers). And I was shocked and not shocked that the bad reviews were pretty much all people who didn't know it was a Christian book and read it anyway....then reviewed it poorly for the author being Christian and talking about the Bible and Christianity! (eye-roll) I truly don't understand how a reviewer could read this and think the author judgmental. The only thing that made sense to me about that is that they jumped to the judgmental conclusion because she is a Christian the book is very "religious" meaning it quotes the Bible and has a Christian world view. She seriously gives so much grace that someone who didn't read or see that has to be simply reading into her words through their own hurt.

In the end, this is a book that all women (or maybe all "Christian" women?) could learn a ton from. We need each other in so many ways and I can't help but wanting to share this book with all the women I know who have said they aren't a good friend or aren't good at making friendships. Start by reading this book and becoming the friend you want to have.

I received an ARC from Thomas Nelson Books, via NetGalley this review is my opinion.


What a funny and deep book, Amanda Anderson with a hilarious and honest way opens herself about her and her friends and goes step by step in this maze called friendship. With practical and biblical advice she approaches this necessary topic in our modern society. One of the things I like about this book is that it is more of the honesty and real-life situations. Amanda Anderson shows us that life can be messy and sometimes complicated, but by the grace of God we have an opportunity on growing godly and good friendship.

I feel like this book should be required reading for every girl when she enters the tween arena. Author Amanda Anderson helps girls both young and old navigate through relationships (and relationship issues) with grace. She gives practical advice on creating boundaries while also serving others. Instead of teaching women that life should be all about them because they deserve the world, Anderson offers women a chance at learning to be gracious, humble and kind. A much needed message today!

I have to admit starting out that I got a little excited and requested this book before realizing that it was a Christian book. I decided to read it anyway because it's a book about friendship, how religious can it be?

Answer: Extremely religious. It's filled with scripture and religious anecdotes, lots of love for God and Jesus that is no doubt extremely genuine. All of the authors friends seem to be Christian and I'm not sure if the judgy author could even be friends with someone who isn't.

I didn't really like this book and starting at about 65%, I skimmed the rest of the way through.

As someone who has struggled with friendships, this book was a wonderful breath of fresh air! Funny but practical and down to earth.

I really liked the book but the formatting provided by the publisher was terrible. "DO NOT DUPLICATE. COPYWRITED MATERIAL." was splashed across nearly every page, often covering up some of the words of the actual text. Whole sections of paragraphs seemed to be missing which was quite disappointing. Thoughts cut off mid-sentence. It made it very distracting to read which is sad because I was really enjoying the book but constantly distracted by trying to figure out what words and sentences were missing.

Amanda takes about her friendships and the lessons she's learned through mistakes, experience, and growth. She reminds us that not all relationships are meant to be sustained, but even good ones require work and grace. I appreciate her honesty and perspective. She reminds us of the importance and benefits of having strong female friendships. A great book for those who want to strengthen their relationships of all kinds.

Really insightful, and a book that I really needed to read. I think for anyone who has struggled in relationships (everyone!) would glean from this book. Definitely recommend.

I was really excited to read the book based on the description but was kind of disappointed in some of the content. So much so that I chose not to finish the book.

In the second chapter, Amanda discusses one of her friendships that she appreciates because she can say poor things about others and know that what she says won't leave the context. She justifies this by saying we all need friendships like this. I struggle with gossip and it has been a sin I have put a lot of prayer into because I have seen the bitterness and hurt it causes, so to see that she justifies it because her friend won't spread what she said doesn't sit right with me. God sees it and knows our hearts. I'd rather have a friend who supports me in that struggle rather than encourage it.

She also stated that there are deal-breakers in friendship (nothing wrong with that), but insinuated that she would be just fine if someone essentially ghosted her because they didn't like something about her. That can be so hurtful if we repeat those patterns to others.

I really liked a lot of the content but had issues with those two things. Based off of what I read up until those statements, I would have given it four stars.

This was a funny, or rather lighthearted, read about relationships. I think this one would make a good book club pick for the more easy reading crowd.

Story-driven, honest, and at times self-deprecating, this is a good book about friendship. The author is honest (although from a distance) about her own struggles - she does not go into great detail about anything that is personally difficult. And she clearly has a very tight group of girlfriends that she references throughout the book. But I appreciated as a reader that she didn't shy away from harder topics related to female friendship, that she didn't sugarcoat anything, and found the Reader Guide at the back to be a good overview of the book as a whole.

Y’all, this book touched my socially awkward heart. I can relate to so much in this book. It was a great read I would definitely recommend.

All My Friends Have Issues uses humor to relate human relationships to us. It's important for women to have friends, but it's hard to. Women don't always encourage each other and we tend to sacrifice everything else to our child rearing. This shows that you not only need them, but how to keep them in a funny way.

All My Friends Have Issues
Building Remarkable Relationships with Imperfect People (Like Me)

by Amanda Anderson

Nelson Books

Thomas Nelson

Christian

Pub Date 09 Jul 2019

I am reviewing a copy of All My Friends Have Issues through Nelson Books and Netgalley:

In this book we are shown we are shown why it is so challenging to make and keep genuine friends as well as the importance of having those very type of friends. We are reminded too of the importance of being genuine and honest in our friendships, admitting our faults as well as our strengths.

We are encouraged in this book to be brave and to be honest with ourselves and our friends. The book also goes on to point out that there is a difference between us being flawed, which we all are and us being foolish. We are reminded too of the importance of giving genuine apologies when we hurt someone.

I give All My Friends Have Issues five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Not my type of story. The idea was good but it didn't read out as well. I can definitely appreciate what the author was wanting to discuss and commend her on that effort.

This book is directed towards a female audience. However just because Amanda mentions women and sisterhood does not mean that these principles don’t apply to male friendships. Amanda writes what she knows and that comes through from her own friendships, friendships with her own gender. She writes with a lot of humor, personal stories, and self reflection.

In a world dominated by loneliness we should all be looking at how we make, and more importantly, sustain friendships. This book gives great advice and thoughts towards deep and meaningful friendship. It is a great lesson in being authentic, encouraging, and accountable.

All My Friends Have Issues
By Amanda Anderson
Our lives are full of relationships. Some come naturally but most require work and intention. Amanda Anderson addresses how to navigate friendship in an easy to read and engaging way. This book read like a conversation with a wise friend. Anderson is honest and genuine in sharing how to identify and work towards relationships we desire. I was able to recognize qualities in myself I need to work on and how to encourage and support friendships to blossom into God-honoring relationships.
I enjoyed this book greatly and recommend it for women of all ages. My book is full of highlighter!
I received a copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.