Where Have All The Strong Fictional Friendships Gone?

Do you know what I feel is missing from books at the moment? Strong friendships. Maybe I’m just reading the wrong books and have somehow missed all the excellent friend groups, but out of all the novels I’ve read so far this year, very, very few have involved good solid friendships. I’m not trying to depreciate romantic plot lines in any way. They’re have a special place all of their own. But I feel like almost every book has a romantic subplot, and very few involve good platonic relationships.

The trend has gone so far that, if there is a boy and a girl involved in the same plot, you be sure that by the end of the book, they’re going to be romantically entangled.  The expectation is so strong that even when writing, there’s almost a pressure as the author to pair characters in this way. I am neither much of a reader, or a writer of romance, and yet even I feel like there is an expectation that certain characters will fall in love, simply because that is the trend.

It makes me wonder, where are all the books with platonic friendships? Have I just been missing them on my library shelves? Where are the books where there is a guy and a girl in the same plot and they are close and supportive without having to fall in love? Where are the girl groups that build each other up instead of splitting up because plot? Teenage years are a time of change and growth, and in real life, friendship groups do split up. People you’ve known your whole life do grow apart. But that doesn’t mean that we need to mirror that in our books. In fact, i would go so far as to say that because of this, we need strong fictional friendships more.

It feels like romantic relationships trump all other kinds. How many times has a girl blown off her friends because of a cute boy? It’s almost as if we value romantic relationships more than anything else. Our main characters are often isolated and friendless until some boy comes along to make their lives whole and be their other half in whatever adventure they’re going on. But why can’t two best friends do this too? Why can’t a guy and a girl go on an adventure and have exactly no interest in being in love? What about two girls who are best friends? What about guys? Why is it always romance?

There’s something different about reading about strong friendships, something wholesome and fresh. You can have teasing and in-jokes, along with loyalty and supportiveness. I want to read about girl characters who will take down the entire world to save their friend. I want to read about friends who stay supportive and understanding, trying to help out when one of their group is drawing away because they’re having a hard time. I want friends who have each other’s backs the whole time instead of falling apart with petty misunderstandings and grudges.

Let there be sweet romances and boys and girls falling in love as they save the world. these things are wonderful in their own right. But also let there be more kick butt girl groups fighting side by side, or boys supporting each other and adventuring together. Let there be strong friendships that don’t have to end in romance. I want this to be more normal and apparent. I want to read more books like these.

Over to you! What are some books you’ve read that have awesome friendships? Do you think there is a lack of strong non-romantic relationships at the moment?

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