it's not a matter of not being 'true' friends, or 'letting you down'... or of 'teaching you anything'... the problem with using friends and family as critics is that they'll either be too kind, so as to not hurt your feelings, or if they don't like your work and say so, that can damage the relationship, if you're not thick-skinned enough to take the criticism dispassionately... plus the most important of all fact that few new writers have any friends or family members with the professional qualifications to assess the quality of their writing...
