Best Friends Forever: Surviving a Breakup with Your Best Friend

I read all the different stories on how/why women dumped their friends, and was glad to know I wasn't alone. The book doesn't offer too much advice to how to proceed after being dumped (except in one of the final chapters). However, there are stories showing both sides so we can see how other women processed the breakup (all in a variety of ways). This book did prompt me to apologize to an old friend whom I dumped.

I’m impressed with this book. I debated over it for quite a while, feeling a little silly that I haven’t been able to resolve this issue by myself after all this time, but in the end I decided that years of beating myself up trying to figure out what went wrong with a long-term close friendship wasn’t doing me any good and I might as well see what the author had to say. I’m glad I did… if only to be reassured that this happens all the time, to almost everyone sooner or later, and it’s really more normal than one might imagine.Interestingly, while offering this line of thinking, the author still manages not to slide too far the other way… she never gives the impression that oh well, friendships breaking off without warning is perfectly normal so you should expect it and not worry about it. She never takes the cavalier attitude that if there’s nothing you can do about it you should just let it roll off your back. There are important lessons to be learned from our failures that can be applied to future friendships.I still don’t know what happened to my own best-friendship and I will probably never know… I wasn’t expecting to find the exact answer on Page 64 or anything like that… but I feel more at peace with that reality than I did before I started reading this book. No crime has been committed and there’s no blame to be assigned.

I was looking for a book that would help me work through my feelings and also help me recognize what was going on in my "ex best friend's" mind and heart. I never really looked at our friendship as being a "season." I put this friend up so high on a pedestal that I completely overcompensated for her shortcomings and made excuses because she "had a good heart." It isn't so much that she didn't have a good heart anymore. She had the same heart, but in it, I did not matter as much anymore. She had moved on to other interests and friends who had those same interests. Our daughters friendship started drifting apart and I felt my child was being swept under the rug while others moved in. In a sense, this is what happened. But, I could not let go of "my" friend even though I knew I had been replaced. I still love her very much. After reading this book, I began to understand that there ARE seasons to friendships and sometimes, letting go is the only way to protect your heart even though it is already broken into a million tiny pieces. Yes, I thought I mattered more. I thought my daughter mattered more. I still feel the pain of knowing that my friend and her daughter moved on, yet this book made me realize that I had done nothing wrong and that my heart was always in the right place. Things may go full circle and they may come back to us one day. But truly, I realized I was a friendship of convenience for her, and pretty soon, I became more of a chore to her than joy. I did not want that for her, for me, for my daughter or for her daughter. Our season had passed. Knowing others have suffered the same realization made it easier for me to begin to move on. I still hurt and feel disappointed, but I understand what happened. This book clarified this for me and gave me a sense of peace and greater understanding. A door may be closed, but a window is open, and I see out of that window with a new set of eyes and a new hope for the future for both my daughter and me.

I was really excited to find a book about this "other" type of breakup. I'd never seen one before and I agree that this topic is rarely addressed as being very serious, despite how devastating it can be to lose a bff.This book just didn't deliver, however. It goes on and on about ways you can lose a friend, types of friendships, etc. The section on how to tell if you are the toxic friend can certainly be useful, but that's about it. There is nothing in here about how to actually get over it. Of course there is no magic cure-all, but a self help type book usually has helpful suggestions, activities, etc. This book did not. It literally gives next to no advice on how to "survive a breakup". It's all about really obvious misc. friendship subjects, and rather drags on.

This book has helped me quite a bit, and I havn't even read the full book. I am dealing with a friendship break up, where I have been dumped by not only my best friend, but the only person I have ever truly loved with every ounce in my body. Mereht is a unique individual, and I owe alot to her, but she has hurt me more than words can express. I know that I have forgiven her, but she can't seem to find it in herself to forgive me for any mistakes I have made, or simply being the person that I am.This book helped me cope, and opened my heart up so I could see that I deserve so much more than she could ever give me. But that doesn't mean that I dont miss her like crazy. Her friendship was enough, but mine wasn't. And sometimes you just gotta deal with that, eat a shit ton of chocolate to get over the initial break up, and then start from scratch to rebuild your heart.Mereht, I love you forever. You changed my life, you changed me. I owe so much to you...but you also broke me down, you broke my heart, you hurt me with your actions and words. I know that we weren't right for each other afterall, but the memories we shared meant the world to me. Thank you.

Wow such an important book! As a counsellor I really felt that I should be able to cope with changes in two important friendships but I felt a failure that that two best friends were drifting away. When I googled friendship breakups, articles talked about it being a good thing to let go of toxic friends...this just made me wonder if I was a toxic friend to be trimmed. Just the first few pages of the book have helped. It's soothing to learn that it's a myth that best friends must be forever and there's something wrong with you if your friendship ends or fades. Really looking forward to reading more!

This was a very helpful book. It's nice to know so many women go through this kind of break up and it effects so many of us in such a profound way. I also like the sides notes on how to better/ strengthen existing friendships and how to create new ones.

A perfect book for anyone who is or has experienced a friendship break up. Nothing else like it on the market!

I am finding this book really relevant and helpful and am so glad I bought it. It seems most of us expect our Best Friends to remain "best friends" till "death do us part", but mostly they don't and break-ups happen prematurely and out of the blue in a great many cases. I was completely shattered when my Best Friend of 64 years (yes, 64 years!!) suddenly "ditched" me for no apparent reason, and this book is helping me to come to terms with what feels like a divorce and bereavement all rolled into one.

A very helpful and insightful read. Helped me process some confusing emotions to find peace.