Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Overall, I found this a wholesome, research-backed, and warmly and accessibly-written book about making and keeping friends. Dr. Marisa Franco foregrounds her ideas in Platonic by articulating how contemporary society often overlooks friendship and prioritizes romantic relationships. Thus, many of us may do not know how to form friendships and how to keep them, especially after high school or college where friend networks are more built-in, in a sense. Franco then provides a lot of helpful strategies for making and keeping friends, such as taking the initiative to see your friends and to build friendships, expressing affection and concern in a genuine way, and developing healthy boundaries. She draws upon attachment theory in thoughtful and intelligent ways to support her claims and recommendations.

I liked this book! It felt easy to read while still offering smart strategies that I imagine can help many people out, especially those who may struggle with social anxiety or those who haven’t thought about investing in their friendships. There were times where I wish the book had been a bit more� hard-hitting, for lack of a better word � I wanted more of a callout of amatonormativity and how the deprioritization of friendship aligns with how patriarchy and heteronormativity prioritize the nuclear family. But I recognize that Franco may have intentionally kept her tone on the lighter and more positive side to appeal to a wider audience. I also for some reason don’t love the insight of assuming that people like you. For me, it feels more authentic to try to cultivate self-regard so that even if people don’t like me, that’s fine, I can still find my people. Regardless of these qualms, I appreciate the rise of books tackling friendship instead of viewing it as an afterthought.

Also, Franco graduated from the PhD program I’m gonna graduate from this upcoming May! I started the program the year she graduated, I believe. It’s a small world sometimes o_o And, I’m happy to see her flourishing as an author.