An unconventional fashion blogger trying to find her place on the internet

I love a good old read; get me a good book and I’ll be wiped off the surface of social media, hooked on every word right to the end – even if that means I’m sat up in the middle of the night, blurry eyed as another day has passed me by. Which is exactly what happened when I picked up Lily Pebbles’ new book The F Word to read on Saturday afternoon. If that doesn’t set the tone for the rest of this post, I don’t know what else will.

I’ve followed Lily on YouTube for a few years; I love her style, always trust her opinions on products she recommends and just find her downright relatable (which is very rare in the world of blogging/vlogging). So when she announced that she would be releasing a new book all about female friendships, I just knew I HAD TO HAVE IT!
I’ve dropped in a quick product description from Amazon which summarises the book perfectly;

A personal celebration of female friendships – the good, the bad and the complicated – by lifestyle content creator, Lily Pebbles.

So, what did I take away from it?

1. I wasn’t the only person to have kept a diary as a teen that was full of slang (which would be unrecognisable to anyone under the age of 23) and moaning about my friends at school. I know I’ve definitely got one of them; it was a light pink Playboy diary from back in the day when Playboy everything was all the rage. I even had pink Playboy bedsheets, pillows and a chair LOL. Deffo need to pull that bad lad out for some laughs
2. Young girls always fall out or secretly hate each other because of boys, which I don’t think changes much when you get older; yeah you might think your best mate’s lad is a knobhead, but it’s not because you’re heartbroken he chose to slow dance with her instead of you at the school disco, it’s because he’s just a tool (not saying I think this about any of my friend’s partners – just wanted to clarify lol)
3. I’ve learnt a lot of lessons about friendships in the short amount of time I’ve been on the planet (twenty-six years in less than two weeks, that’s not long right?!) and am happy with the people I’ve surrounded myself with in my life. The circle is pretty small, but I’d rather have a couple of amazing friends than loads of flaky ones – life’s too short for that shit
4. I’m going to put my hands up and say that I’ve been known to gossip, but the bad and harmless – mainly bad when I was younger and didn’t know better, but harmless since I’ve grown up a lot (there’s an entire chapter dedicated to this -it’s so bloody relatable and makes you reflect on your gossiping ways. Unless you’re not that way inclined, you absolute saint)
5. I’m very fortunate to have family as best friends – George, we may clash all the time, I may break into your flat when I think you’ve died or run away to another country (long story, but no joke I was searching for her passport), you hang up the phone on me when you’re pissed off (which is probably 80% of our phone calls) and I might be a nag when I ask why on earth you think getting a frog is a good idea, but you’re my sister and best friend. Tammy, you may not be my sister, but you’re as close as – we bond over our shitty health escapades, we cry-laugh at your precious bundle of joy smearing shit all over her cot, will always find it weird how you hate belly-buttons (weirdo) and I always know that you’ll never be one to hold your tongue if something has pissed you off (even if you do, your face tells the world what you’re thinking), but you’re also my best friend
6. Maisie Anne Murphy (yeah I’m talking directly to you and will tag you in the comments of Facebook when this post goes live just to make sure you read it ) are the most amazing best friend I could ever ask for. To me, you define what a best friend is; we don’t need to talk every day (I’m sure we could if we had the time), we’ve had so many laughs over the years, many a hair dye failure, drunken Ann Summers parties where you’ve tried to wake me up/carry me to bed and have weathered all of the shit that life has thrown, yet are still standing here today – you’re an amazing mother and I’m so proud of everything you’ve done for not only yourself, but your children too

Well that got soppier than I expected – but I really enjoyed this book, it truly made me reflect on my own friendships in life and showed me who I should (and deep down knew) I needed to focus my time on. It goes all the way from nursery to getting married, showing what a wild ride it is having strong female friendships in your life – especially so now that we’re almost nine weeks away from our big day and I’ve come to realise that I’m a bit of a control freak when it comes to the hen do (#sorrynotsorry George).

Although I did really enjoy the book, I would say it was more of a reflection on Lily’s own friendships than an ‘exploration of female friendships’ as I’ve heard it described before. It’s had a lot of mixed reviews and I would personally say that if you’re looking for guidance on female friendships, this probably isn’t the book for you. I would say it’s more suited if you want to know a bit more about Lily’s friendships and enjoy her content online.
Let me know in the comments below whether you’ve read the book, what your thoughts were and which friendships are the ones that you treasure.

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