At Maple Hills, both Halle Jacobs and Henry Turner are overwhelmed by the challenges of college life. Over the course of the novel, they discover that with the help of their friends, they can confront and overcome these challenges. Their experiences thus continually teach them about the importance of friendship.

For Halle, friendship feels fleeting and elusive after she and her childhood friend Will Ellington break up. For as long as she can remember, Will has been “[her] only friend” and she worries she’s lacking in the “long list of complimentary adjectives” that might attract others to her (4). The end of her old connection with Will initially leaves Halle feeling lonely at Maple Hills. However, the breakup also grants Halle the chance to make her own friends at Maple Hills for the first time. She starts a book club and strikes up a friendship with a co-worker, Cami. The connections she forms with secondary characters such as Cami, Aurora Roberts, Emilia Bennett, Poppy Grant, and Ava Jones feel empowering and exciting for her. As the characters grow closer, Halle discovers the true meaning of sisterhood: “[W]omen supporting other women to meet their goals” (388).