5 Bookish Friend Groups I’d Love To Infiltrate

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Written by Norrie

I’ve never been the sort of person who has tons of friends, a huge gang, or an extended social circle. Introvert much? Most likely. Throughout the years my friendships have changed: some evolved, some died off, but if there’s one thing that always stayed the same, it’s that I always considered my closest friends a part of my family. The family I chose.

Most books I read are focused on murder, mayhem, police investigations or some other scary, or slightly depressing topics, so friendships are not a prominent part of the story. Sometimes it even seems like the characters in these books are quite lonely and are only interacting with their colleagues, which is a whole new level of gloomy, if you ask me. In fact, the only crime series I can think of right now where the main character actually had proper friends is the Erika Foster series by Robert Bryndza. Erika had quite an active social life compared to other fictional detectives, and even though I only read the first two books, she did go on quite a few dinners just for fun.

That said, I did read a few books where friend groups were featured and I loved the dynamics it created in these stories.

Top 5 Wednesday is a bookish weekly meme hosted on Goodreads.

The Dream Catcher by Stephen King – Friends with a special bond

Set near the fictional town of Derry, Maine, Dreamcatcher is the story of four lifelong friends: Gary “Jonesy” Jones, Pete Moore, Joe “Beaver” Clarendon and Henry Devlin. As young teenagers, the four saved Douglas “Duddits” Cavell, an older boy with Down syndrome, from a group of sadistic bullies. From their new friendship with Duddits, Jonesy, Beaver, Henry and Pete began to share the boy’s unusual powers, including telepathy, shared dreaming, and seeing “the line”, a psychic trace left by the movement of human beings.

Now as adults, the four guys go on their annual hunting trip where they get caught up in an alien invasion.

Spud by John van de Ruit – The Crazy Eight

John “Spud” Milton and his friends Mad Dog, Gecko, Rambo, Simon, Rain Man, Fatty and Boggo (a.k.a. The Crazy Eight) spend their days in a boarding school in South Africa at the beginning of the 90’s. They are of course not called crazy for nothing. Their hilarious adventures had me laughing so hard, that I was basically crying and had to stop reading the book in public.

It by Stephen King – The Losers Club

Ben, Eddie, Bill, Richie, Stan, Bev and Mike, the 11 year-old misfits, not only form a close bond during the summer of 1957, they also survive meeting the evil clown who lives in the sewers and eats local children on a regular basis, but their friendship is just as strong 30 years later when the evil returns to Derry and the Losers prepare for another face off.

The French Girl by Lexie Elliot – The friends you wish you never had

Kate, Seb, Lara, Tom, Caro and Theo spent a jealousy and lust filled week in France ten years ago. They befriended the girl next door and she went missing. Her body is now found and the friends are under investigation again. Even though most of them moved away and have not been in touch, when they meet again, it’s like no time has passed. Some friends are like that. No matter how long you haven’t seen each other, you can pick it up where you left off. Other friends though? Kind of make you wonder why you even liked them in the first place.

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor – The gang with a big secret

Eddie Adams and his friends Hoppo, Fat Gav, Metal Mickey and Nicky are your typical twelve year old kids – with amazing nicknames. They love riding their bikes, hanging out in the park, building a club house and creating secret signs as a way of sending each other messages.
Thirty years later most of them are still share a special bond and see each other frequently. When weird messages start arriving on Ed’s doorstep, the old friends meet again to figure out just what exactly is haunting them from their past.

Who are your favourite fictional friends?

46 Comments

  3. I live, if only in my head, in Three Pines, part of Louise Penny’s fictional village here, in the province of Quebec. This is one out there bunch of middle-aged people who I would fit in well with.

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  6. When I was a teen I liked the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series (friends who share a magic pair of jeans!) and also the Babysitters Club. They were all so supportive of each other. And of course it would be nice to be at Hogwarts.

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  7. Got to go with the Harry Potter group, Kaz’s crew from Six of Crows, the Raven Boys, etc. I like your pick of the Losers Club I think if I ever survived a killer clown like that it would bind me to those friends for life. I might have nightmares and never want to see them again 🙂 but yeah, you don’t really find better friends than ones you survive that kind of thing with!

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    1. Just got the Raven Boys book recently. I’m quite curious!
      Haven’t read the other ones though…

      Nothing like a killer clown to help friends bond 😀

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  9. Ahh. This is definitely interesting. There are SO many fictional friend groups that I would love to infiltrate (I, too, am kinda a friendless book nerd IRL). I’d have to go with the Rebel of the Sands (Alwyn Hamilton) group as one of my top. I’m a sassy person, so having two suuuper sassy people would be such fun! XP

    (Great post, btw)

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    1. Oh, i defo love a bit of sass 😀 Need to check out Rebel of the Sands it seems!

      Most books i’ve read recently had no friend groups, or even friends featured which is kinda sad.

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  14. Oh this reminds me that I want to see the IT movie. I mean a movie hasn’t really scared me in a long time so I’m not sure how I’m going to go watching a real horror.😂But ANYWAY. I love bookish friend groups more than I like IRL friend groups that’s for sure.😂Socialising is exhausting?! I prefer books haha. But I would pick The Raven Cycle for sure!

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    1. Socialising is exhausting! I agree! 😀
      Haven’t seen the It movie (new one), so don’t know how scary it is. The book was super creepy… 😀

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  17. Great article! I didn’t know about most of these books and they sound really interesting. More books for my list of books to read, LoL.

    I remember I think seeing a few bits of Dreamcatcher the movie. That was so long ago, that I didn’t even realize Damian Lewis and Timothy Olyphant were in that. Now I definitely want to read the book and really want to watch movie again at some point.

    Being someone who grew up in the 90s, I was all about The Babysitter’s Club. It doesn’t matter how old I get, that will probably always be my favorite book series ever, and my favorite group of friends in a book series.

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    1. I remembered Damian Lewis, but only recognised Timothy Olyphant now when i searched for the pic. I don’t think i knew who he was back then… 😀

      I don’t think i’ve read much YA / kids books when i was a teenager, and i totally missed out on the Babysitter Club. Don’t think i even knew what it was then. 😀

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      1. Yeah, when a saw moments from the movie years ago it was before I was super into TV and now that I am, LoL, I’m like I must watch this movie now.

        Omg, LoL. Yeah, The Babysitter’s Club books were really the only books I read growing up. Supposedly there is a TV show in the works of the books, my 90s self is like yes to all of that, LoL.

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