What do readers think of A Cup of Friendship by Deborah Rodriguez? Write your own review.

It was hard to keep reading for the first two-thirds of the book. The characters seemed flat and I felt no connection with any of them. The story seemed removed and I felt distant from any actions/descriptions. It was almost as if the author assumed that readers would get the gist of things with few words and little description. The last part of the book had more life to it.

In her book A Cup of Friendship, Deborah Rodriguez gives the reader a rich portrait of life in Afghanistan. Through the different characters, the reader is introduced to the many people who come together at the coffee shop of the title. Unfortunately, while I found the story enjoyable, I found the characters so stereotypical that none of them were compelling enough to truly care about.

I started off the book thinking it was going to be a great read. In the end, I was disappointed. Despite all the known violence in Afghanistan, Ahmet and others guarding the entries, the building of the wall, the story doesn't describe any coffeehouse incidents until 2/3 of the way through the book. The title is about friendship, yet the story doesn't ever quite "cement" that bond between the female characters for me. I finished the book feeling the story was slightly disjointed. There was a potential for greatness; but the depth of story and character development never quite got there.

I enjoyed the book for what it was and tried not to think about all the accusations of Rodriguez's personal gain after The Kabul Beauty School. It basically tells the same story with a fictional cast of characters and is an easy read. However, if a book group has discussed her first book I would say this one can be passed on. It is just too similar. The title of the book reminds us it is a novel for good reason. A feature film on the beauty school is reportedly in the works besides the documentary which was released in 2004. This new book on top of the first one is definite overkill. But if you missed the first book and don't plan on seeing the movie, this is a nice read.