A real slow burner of a book, but absolutely riveting. Full of twists and turns and characters to despise. Definitely recommended.

Sophie and Naomi have been best friends since they were 18 years old - now they are in their 40s and as close as every....or are they? Sophie would do anything for Naomi - even protect secrets that could be damning to her future. Now that Sophie's husband is leaving her - Naomi should be the friend that Sophie has been for all these years. Or maybe face consequences.
This is a story of a toxic friendship - one that you find out too far into that it isn't the best match for you. It is a dark, twisted psychological thriller that was entertaining!
Thank you to Clare Boyd, Bookouture and NetGallley for the ARC of this book!

'Her Closest Friend' highlights the toxicity and complexity of friendships in the most twisted way, and the horrors that come when you start to hide secrets from the one person you would trust with your life- your own best friend.

Thrillers are probably one of my favourite genres in fiction, so I was immediately intrigued when I read the synopsis. However, I did not really like this novel. I felt that at some parts of the book it was like it was dragging out and nothing remotely interesting was happening, while other times it got a bit repetitive. I don't typically like to DNF books, but I had considered giving up on this book a couple of times. One thing I anticipate in a thriller novel are jaw-dropping twists and shocking big reveals, and sadly this book did not really have any of that- or maybe it did and I just missed them.

I did like the fact that we got to see both Naomi and Sophie’s perspectives as the chapters alternate between their points of view. I did not connect with any of the characters and even heavily disliked them at times. If that was what the author wanted to achieve then she did a good job of it. There was also this horrifying animal torture scene which I was struggling to read through.

The novel did end in a way that I was not quite expecting, and I can see why others might have been put off by it, including me, but I appreciate the fact that the author took the risk and pulled through with it- despite how dark it was. I did not feel that “jaw-dropping shock” from the ending as I was almost/probably skim reading the last few pages because I just wanted the book to end.

But I did re-read the ending twice.

Regardless of my low rating of this book, it will not lessen the probability of me checking another one of this author’s books in the future. Despite this being my first book by Clare Boyd, this certainly won't be the last.

1.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of Her Closest Friend

Her closest friend

I received this thriller from
Netgalley. It is about two best friends, Naomi and Sophie, who seem very different but become best friends on their first day of college. We soon realize both of them have many secrets and one is willing to use one of those secrets to keep her best friend close forever no matter what.

I enjoyed this book and read it quickly. It has more twists and surprising revelations than most I read which was impressive. You develop definite feelings about the characters involved. I wish more background of their earlier lives had been revealed.

Overall I give this book 3 stars. A few twists I didn’t see coming along with quality writing along with one of the coolest book covers ever.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this and I hope others enjoy it as well!

Her Closest Friend has a really strong start but I felt my interest disappearing around 40% of the way through and I just can't find the energy to finish it. You know a book isn't good when you'd rather crack on with your chores!

I feel like I can't review this book as well as I'd like to.

When I started reading it I was fully engaged, turning the pages at quite a rate but as the story progressed my interest waned somewhat.

What started as quite a compelling read turned into something more confusing and for me it seemed to lose direction in the last quarter of the book.

The ending didn't make a whole lot of sense to me and I found myself re-reading some chapters.

It was as though I'd missed an important part of the book.

A great concept but in my opinion it wasn't executed quite right.

I feel like this book was hit and miss for me, some parts were fantastic, but others did not feel 'real' to me.
The characters were mostly unlike able in my opinion and I don't think I would read another book by this author

This was my first book to read by Clare Boyd. It is a story of two best friends whose friendship is bound by a dark secret. As the secret comes to light it causes many problems in their friendship, until it all comes to an eerie end. Suspenseful and kept me interested. Would recommend and like to read more from this author.

A tense and well written novel.

The moment I read the blurb I knew this was something that I really wanted to read. The story itself is well executed and the characters are interesting and full of life.
I would recommend this for sure!

Although I raced through this I did find it hard going at times . Sophie and Naomi have been best friends for years , when Sophie's husband announces he is leaving her for someone else she starts to unravel , she has been protecting Naomi from a terrible secret from their uni years but as she gets more and more desperate this secret threatens to destroy the friendship she is trying so hard to protect . Quite a shocking twist at the end , and with two not particularly likeable leads , it wasn't an easy read . Would give it 3.5 stars if I could .

An amazing thriller, about the danger in toxic friendships. I love books about friendship anyway, it's such a fun dynamic, with so many possible spin offs. 'Her Closest Friend' follows the turbulent friendship of Naomi and Sophie, as their relationship becomes more and more shocking. It's a tense story, desperately sad in places and completely shocking at the end. A great read, recommend.

I was really keen to read this but sadly it didn’t live up to its description. At times it was drawn out and clunky and I struggled to get through it. Not for me this time.

I am sorry but this book just didn't do it for me. I rarely give up on a book but halfway through I just felt it was going nowhere and it was making me feel depressed. With Naomi and Sophie sharing the narrative and neither of them being particularly pleasant people I was just not invested in either of them. I'm sure Clare Boyd put her all into this book but as they say, you can't please all of the people all of the time...

This is a very interesting novel thatbinenjoyee immensely. It had interesting characters and they really popped

Thank you to NetGalley & Bookouture for the opportunity to read this ARC copy of Her Closest Friend in exchange for my honest opinion.

Sophie would do anything for her best friend Naomi, even lie to protect her. So when Sophie’s husband leaves her she’s sure that Naomi will be there for her. She has to help Sophie put her life back together. After everything she has risked for this friendship, Naomi wouldn’t let anything happen to her right? What other choices are there when you have a toxic best friend but also a past that seems to irrevocably tie you two together?

This is probably an unpopular opinion but I didn’t love this book. I felt like it started slow and didn’t have any twists and turns. I don’t normally abandon a book in the middle of reading it but I did consider it a few times. I found myself hating Sophie and feeling like it was the same thing being told over and over again. The ending not only confused me but made me mad. I feel like it didn’t make sense with what happened leading up to it.

Naomi and I are best friends. School runs, dog walks, a shoulder to cry on over a glass of wine, we’re inseparable. But now my husband has walked out, I need her more than ever. I know she will help me pick up the pieces. Because she knows about the lie I told to protect her. She knows how much I’ve sacrificed for this friendship. And she’d never let anyone hurt me. Would she?

The cover and the title of this book are what initially drew me into wanting to read this book and I'm glad it did! I loved this story about a toxic female friendship. It felt believable and the writing style of Clare Boyd is one of my favorites. She really knows how to write an excellent domestic thriller. There were a few parts in this book that were difficult for me to read because of the toll it took on my emotions but overall I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of #HerClosestFriend
Pub Date: 05 Mar 2019

The story dragged on a bit too much in some places but it was a good read and I spent most of the time hoping that Naomi would react differently and when she did I was a bit shocked. It was my first time reading anything by this author and i would check out her other books. I would like to thank the publishers and netgalley for letting me have the book to review and the opinions expressed are entirely my own views.

Again many thanks to the author Claire Boyd and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book. I am a big fan of Boyd but this book fell a little short for me. The burb promised an edge of your seat thriller but I have up reading 50% through. I found the plot a little too crazy for me.

I have no words guys. I stayed up until 1 am finishing this book. It's engrossing because at times you can't believe how bad the writing and flow is. I kept reading because I was wondering if the character of Sophie was finally going to snap and take out her closest friend Naomi. And I was baffled at how dumb Naomi was about a lot of things. So I just sat back and enjoyed a so-so book. Then we get to the bonkers ending and my jaw dropped. I don't even know. I want to say Boyd is kind of brave for just going down a truly dark path and not backing away from it. A lot of times authors just don't lean in enough to where a plot is going IMHO. And Boyd goes there. If only the 2/3 of the book had those same smacks in the faces this would have been a very good thriller.

"Her Closest Friend" is a siren warning to all of us women out there who have toxic friendships. You know what that is. The one friend who no matter what it seems can't help saying something cutting to you when you have something wonderful happen to you. The one that reminds you of the time you walked around for an hour at an party with your skirt tucked into your pantyhouse. That one friend who always posts shitty pictures of you on Facebook and doesn't get why you are mad that she looks like she got a glow up in the same picture.

Naomi and Sophie have been friends since they were 18. Now they are in their early 40s and are on different paths in their marriages. Naomi is happily married with two daughters. She has a successful blog (seriously authors, give the women in your books another job). The only fly in the ointment is her feeling like she is on suffrage when she is dealing with Sophie and her up and down mood swings.

Sophie for her part is dealing with a failing marriage, an old grandfather who seems to speak in riddles and like vodka, and a son with eczema. Sorry, that last part was mentioned in the book a lot. Apparently it is a sin among many that a young boy can have. I don't know.

We quickly realize that Sophie is off her freaking tree. She stalks Naomi and gets angry if she doesn't text her back right away. She is jealous of Naomi's perfect life and think that she owes her. We find out slowly (and in a mind numbing way) why Sophie feels this way. I had to call bullshit over the whole thing that Sophie is holding over Naomi's head though. It made zero sense why Naomi owed anything or was responsible. And I hated the book even taking the whole thing seriously. I always want to ask these women do they not know any lawyers to advice them?

The book just goes back and forth between both women. As Sophie keeps trying to cause Naomi harm in small and then big ways, you have Naomi just dealing with it and snapping at her husband and descending into a bottle.

The two women's husbands in this one are not very developed. They were just there to either say something about the one woman or the other and in one case to worry constantly, but not do anything.

The book moves back and forth between both their homes and other locations. Mostly though we have Sophie in her cottage and realizing that she also owns a big house that she won't move into.

The ending as I said was a shocker. I re-read it a few times to make sure that I got all of what Boyd was putting down. I thought the justification at the end was nonsense, but had to admire Boyd for going dark.

I too am not one to start a book and not finish it but I have given up on this book at 46%. It seems as though the main plot is not that great a storyline and Neither Sophie or Naomi.... Or their families are likeable characters. The storyline seems to be going no where and constantly touching on the same thing.
Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy but this book is certainly not for me.