Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of Bad Friend by Tiffany Watt Smith.

Female friendships have and will always a source of wonder and confusion. The cliques, the tribalism, the breakups. In this well crafted book, full of very digestible history and research, Watt Smith peels back all of the layers of female friendship.

I agree with a lot of the reviews, I really enjoyed and appreciated the hard work that went into this book, female friendships are one of the most enriching parts of my life! However, I would have liked to feel a bit "closer" to the story. More anecdotes, more personability, more relatable tales of love and loss in these relationships.

A fantastic listen about female friendship. I enjoyed this narrator and found this to be a pleasant listening experience. Telling everyone this is a must read this season.

With notes of “Big Friendship”, “Text Me When You Get Home”, and more—Bad Friend is an in-depth exploration of how female friendship is shaped, transformed, and remembered. Not to mention how it’s changed over centuries, and how it’s become something of a white whale to be and find a good friend. A deep and introspective novel, and an interesting anthropological adventure through a subject I never tire of learning about.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for providing this audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review.

God, I love women. This was so insightful and validating; sometimes it feels impossible to be anything but a bad friend in society. This book helps you to internalize and learn that, really, we are all bad friends - there is almost no such thing as a perfectly 'good' friend.
The narration was easy to follow. Great read for any woman or friend in this world.

"Rather than always succumbing to the impulse to merge, and rather than celebrating and desiring sameness within our friendships, we should practice enjoying and valuing our differences."

"Your friends are your witnesses. They are the ones who knew you when you were younger and have seen parts of you that parents, partners, and children can't."

"There is deep affection between friends, but what makes that affection sustainable is being separate individuals with our own desires and our own aspirations."

I really enjoyed this, especially the way the author tied her own research and personal experiences to the way female friendships are represented in literature. In so many ways, these are the only evidence we have of how female friendships and relationships with one another have evolved across history. Some of those personal experiences I could directly relate to, and hearing about how the author felt and responded in those situations was validating.

Maybe it was just the tone of the audiobook (which is narrated by the author) but I do wish I walked away feeling more like this was a celebration of female connection than a regretful reflection of what could have been. Even so, there are people in my life I already plan on recommending this to.

I received a copy of this audiobook for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Bad Friend: How Women Revolutionized Modern Friendship by Tiffany Watt Smith (book cover is in image) takes the reader through the historical evolution of female friendship in western culture. Weaving in the history along with female relationships throughout her life, the Watt provides with a picture of bad friendships and what women can do to enhance their relationships with one another.

The narration by the author was very well done, and keeps the reader engaged throughout the book.

Thank you to Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read this ARC and listen to this ALC. All opinions are my own.

Audiobook Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: May 06 2025

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#CeladonBooks
#BadFriend
#TiffanyWatt
#WomensHistory
#Friendship
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This a written history of female friendship, written by a female and narrated by one.
It was a great idea for a book, especially since, as the author points out, most history has been written by men. I loved how she addresses the misogynistic belief that women aren’t capable of true friendship, and how she disproves it with examples from both history and her personal experience. I also loved the inclusion of snippets and facts about female friendship across different cultures, I found them fascinating and really enjoy learning about other cultures.
The audiobook, narrated by the author, Tiffany Watt Smith, was delightful, and I especially enjoyed her British accent.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

I had a fantastic time listening to this book and learning about how women's friendships have evolved through the centuries, particularly the parts about how men tried to dictate our friendships and claim we were "bad" at friendship. This book is wonderful for learning the struggles fought by the women before us to give us the opportunities we have today. If you have strong friendships, this will definitely hit home. If you don't, it might give you some insight into how to start building those bonds.

I particularly loved the interviews with women that have chosen to spend their lives in a form of group living. As someone that LOVED the Golden Girls and always kind of expected to spend my later years in the same sort of situation, it was amazing learning about all the women that are doing exactly that today. These women are truly inspirational and remind us of how strong our bonds can be.

This was a really interesting listen! It makes you think about your current friendships and look back at your previous ones. I didn’t realize how many different kinds of friend you can be and how many different categories of friends I’ve had/been in the past.

The narrator was wonderful in this!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the gifted audiobook!

I was intrigued by the premise of this book, but unforunately it was just too dry for me. I thought there would be more of a focus on actual stories of friendship, but this went into a research deep-dive, so it just wasn't what I was looking for.

Interesting look at the history and evolution of women’s friendships. I couldn’t help but think of the Golden Girls while listening to this audiobook, and then this exact thing was referenced because there are actual communities that live like this! I joke with my friends about how it would be nice to have a “sister wife” to help balance the childcare and chores, and it’s fascinating to hear that some people actually live like this.

Thank you to Net Galley for the Audio ARC of this title. This is a well researched and comprehnsive look at friendship and how it has evolved. The organization (via audiobook) was at times difficult to follow- however, I imagine that the print version sets off the vignettes of historical examples in a way that might be easier to connect with the overarching narrative. What Smith includes is intresting and thought provoking. The title doesn't quite fit with the contents.

An in-depth, compassionate breakdown of female friendship through the ages. I appreciated Watt Smith’s insistence on at least noting non-western conceptualizations of friendship, since the concept of friendship itself is and always has been complex, nuanced, and defined by cultural context, though never at the expense of the framing of the way the modern, western, and hyperidealized female friendship sets those of us socialized as women up to fail.

Through the raw micro-memoir sections where Watt Smith bares her own soul and fears of being a “bad friend,” she draws a clear and straightforward throughline mapping the history of what it meant to be a female friend to female friends and the way those relationships were viewed (both by other women and by men) as time passed and the goalposts moved. Spoiler alert: as with any deep dive on how folks perceived as women have been viewed throughout history, a lot of it is rooted in misogyny that runs the gamut from dismissive to hostile!

I found Watt Smith’s writing to be pacy, engaging, and the right mix of thought provoking and fun to read. The narration of this audiobook matched the narrative well, and blended in with the story Smith was telling. I would happily listen to more of their work, as I would read more from Smith.

Bad Friend looks into the history women have with friendships and the complications, challenges, rewards, and structures that come with them and feeling, naturally, like a bad or selfish friend at times when you are just asking for normal and unburdening help. (think new mom, sick/disabled/aging women, even just going through the struggles of life and not knowing if it’s too much to ask for help or if it’s overstepping the role you play in your friends’ lives) It was really so brilliant and relatable for myself and many, if not all, the women I have known in my life. It feels validating that this is something everyone suffers with and has for really forever it seems, the new realization that friendships were once thought to be something women were not capable of harnessing does make a lot of sense to the differences STILL misinterpreted by men when it comes to male vs female friendships.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tiffany Watt Smith for the opportunity to listen to this before the release date, I think this will be one that resonates heavily with so many women.

This book explores the fascinating history of women's friendships and the continual patriarchal effort to undercut them and pit women against each other. Writing is approachable and endearing. And examples of daily life from the past 1000 years and into the future are all relatable

I was really excited to get my hands on Bad Friend—the premise sounded right up my alley. I was expecting a deep, insightful dive into the complexities of friendship, laced with history, psychology, and personal narrative. And while the book does offer all of those elements, the way they were presented didn’t quite work for me.

The structure felt a bit muddled. I often found myself wishing the personal experiences, historical research, and other people’s testimonies were more clearly separated. It sometimes made the narrative feel disjointed, and I had a hard time getting into a rhythm as a reader.

Overall, it just wasn’t quite what I was expecting. There are definitely interesting insights and moments that resonated, but the execution left me wanting more clarity.

I wasn't super sure what I was getting into with this one, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I liked that it was more than just one thing - a memoir, a history, and a cultural critique on female friendship! I deeply appreciate Tiffany Watt Smith and those she interviewed being so open about their experiences with female friendship. Female friendship is truly one of the most amazing things, and I am so grateful for the friendships I have had previously, have currently, and will have in the future.
As far as the production and narration go, I loved it. The narrator speaking clearly is so important to me because I like to listen to audiobooks faster, and for this one I listened at 2-2.5x speed and had zero issues.

I appreciated the balance of historical research, sociopolitical analysis, and personal anecdotes. I think female friendships are uniquely intense (in both positive and negative ways) and that the idea of being a bad friend is a more common fear than we may realise. This book will definitely shift the way I think about my friendships, the concept of friendship in general, and the ways that patriarchy and social norms influence our friendships.

I think the way this was laid out just didn't work well for me. I couldn't really get into it because I just didn't get it. I have been looking for a book that analyzes female friendships that match with my experiences, and I thought this one would do it. But this book starts with a lot of stories, both the author's own and historical ones, that show friends not being the best to each other. I think it was more memoir than I would like and less sociological analysis than I wanted. From other reviews it seems it was more of a me issue than the book's.

This was an interesting listen. I could relate to a lot of the topics discussed throughout the book. Friendships can be so many things to so many different people. I've always been fascinated by the different dynamics within large friend groups.