📖 Book Review: Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
⭐ 2 out of 5 stars | Genre: Friendship Drama / Women’s Fiction / 1970s-2000s Saga
🚨 Firefly Lane: A Lifelong Friendship... That I Didn’t Really Care About
I really wanted to love this book, especially since it’s so widely praised and beautifully written. But honestly? The story just didn’t grab me. It’s one of those books I kept reading out of curiosity (“Okay, what’s going to happen next?”) rather than any deep emotional investment. And I really don’t love terminal illness stories — it feels like an easy way to force tears.
📝 The Plot (All the Spoilers You Need)
Firefly Lane follows Tully Hart and Kate Mularkey, two girls who meet as eighth graders in 1974 and stay friends for over 30 years.
👉 Tully: Gorgeous, driven, desperate to be loved. Dealt a terrible hand with a flaky, drug-addicted mom (Cloud) who’s in and out of her life.
👉 Kate: Smart, sweet, wallflower type who’s happy to have one friend at all.
Their friendship starts when Tully moves into the neighborhood and decides Kate is going to be her best friend. The two become inseparable. Tully’s mom (Cloud) keeps abandoning her, Tully’s raped at a high school party (a heartbreaking, traumatic moment), and eventually, after more chaos, Tully moves in with Kate’s family for senior year when her grandma dies.
College & Beyond
They go to college together. Tully’s laser-focused on becoming a famous journalist. Kate? She’s more interested in finding love and eventually settling down.
💼 Tully drags Kate into a TV internship, where Kate meets Johnny Ryan, their boss. She secretly falls for him but is convinced he only has eyes for Tully. Tully gets shot covering a robbery — she survives, gets promoted, and Kate finally makes a move on Johnny.
Kate marries Johnny. They have kids. Tully’s career skyrockets while Kate stays at home, quietly growing resentful and feeling like she’s in Tully’s shadow (because she kind of is).
Things Get Messy
🌪 Tully reconnects with Cloud and films it for TV — it’s a ratings hit. She lands her own talk show, but insists on being based in Seattle to stay close to Kate and Johnny.
🌪 Kate’s daughter, Marah, idolizes Tully, which drives a wedge between Kate and Marah (and Kate and Tully).
🌪 Tully tries to “help” Kate and Marah’s relationship by ambushing them on her live show — it backfires spectacularly. Kate feels humiliated, Johnny quits working for Tully, and their friendship implodes.
The Heartstring Yanking Part
Fast forward: Kate’s diagnosed with end-stage breast cancer. She tries reaching out to Tully, but Tully’s off covering a story in Antarctica. Eventually, Tully comes back and is by Kate’s side in her final months. They reconcile. Tully supports Kate through the end, and after Kate dies, Tully realizes just how much her friend meant to her.
💭 My Take
🔥 The writing? Absolutely great. Kristin Hannah knows how to craft sentences and atmosphere.
🔥 The story? Eh. I just didn’t connect. It felt like a lot of drama strung together to force emotion — and that final illness plotline felt like the ultimate easy way to squeeze out tears.
Did I care about the characters? Kind of. I mean, I stuck with it! But I felt more like an observer than someone truly invested.
Will I read the sequel? Probably, but purely out of curiosity (again).
📚 If You Liked This, You Might Enjoy:
👉 Beaches by Iris Rainer Dart (another lifelong-friendship-with-tragedy story)
👉 The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (IMO a much better book)
💬 Did you love this one or feel the same way I did? Let me know!
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