Loved it! I was hooked from the start.I'm not sure how any of the parents made it through that tragic event. I wanted to find out what happened on that tragic night. When the truth was finally revealed, it was a bit surprising. Dani, Lindsey and Kendra have been best friends since childhood and now their sons are best friends- so it would seem. I'm not sure how the woman remained friends after everything happened. Although after the last chapter I'm not sure they will be. I would love to see how that meeting goes when they reveal all their secrets to each other!!! All three of the families looked perfect on the outside but they were all hiding stuff. I wished Dani would have confided to her friend and mom about what was really going on with her husband. I have a few questions. What happened the night of junior prom that Dani, Lindsey and Kendra won't talk about? It seems like it was something important. Wouldn't the parents who owned the gun be charged with something? They allowed their gun to get into the hands of minors.

Definitely recommend the book. Loved the story, characters and writing style. I didn't consider the book to be a thriller. The book is a bit of a mystery because everyone wants to find out what happened between the three boys on that horrible night. The book is all about friendship, forgiveness, love and grief. Look forward to reading more books by the author. Love the cover of the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas & Mercer through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Great character development along with an excellently paced plot. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of The Best of Friends. The author does a great job of drawing the reader into the lives of three families/friends who experience a terrible tragedy.

5 stars!!! Three terms are hanging out. Two get shot. One passes away, one is vegetative, and the other won’t utter a word. What happened? Three very different families are beautifully portrayed with just enough twists and turns. Highly recommend!! Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer publishing I received an advanced reader copy of this book. This story was much more than I expected. Right from the start it was intense and unputdownable. Three best friends must deal with an unimaginable tragedy involving their sons. Told from the point of view of each mother, we watch the cracks emerge in each relationship, between each friend, with each spouse and also with their own children. The story asks the question, how much do we really know our friends and loved ones? Publishing date August 18, certainly worth reading.

Lindsey, Dani and Kendra have been inseparable and best friends since elementary school. Still living in the same neighborhood and all raising kids, they’re ecstatic that their high school senior boys, Jacob, Sawyer, and Caleb, have also become and remained best friends.

The boys are hanging out one night and planning to stay at Dani and her husband’s house. When Kendra hears sirens ringing throughout the neighborhood in the middle of the night and sees them stop at Dani’s house, she starts to panic. The families’ worst fears come true when they learn there’s been a gun accident. One boy is dead, one is alive but non responsive, and the third is so traumatized he’s gone mute.

Each woman must come to terms with her new reality - Kendra has lost a child, Lindsey’s child is in a vegetative state, and Dani’s has become paralyzed with fear and is suffering from extreme PTSD.

No one but Caleb knows for certain what happened that night and he has emotionally and psychologically retreated into himself. Did Jacob kill Sawyer and then attempt suicide? Did Caleb do this to both boys? Were they in a drug fueled haze? Was it a crazy accident?

As each mother tries to discover what happened that night, secrets start to surface. Secrets each woman has held close, the husbands are keeping, and even that the boys were concealing.

This book was fantastic, tragic, and beautiful all at once. I loved the friendship parallels between the mothers and their sons. It was easy to form connections to the characters and I saw pieces of myself in each woman. Their history was well developed and the drama and familiarity among the characters perfectly fit the storyline. Though the subject matter was heavy and this was a very emotional read at times, I liked that there were enough side stories to detract from the tragedy a bit. I liked that some of the storylines didn’t completely wrap up and left us to imagine how things unfolded. I can’t recommend this one enough!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced copy of this novel.

Wow! What a page turner! Ms. Berry has done it again. This book hooked me from the first few pages as I had to know what really happened! Then she threw in family drama, friendship drama, and secrets and I could not put it down. There were quite a few characters to keep up with and at times this slowed me down. However, the pacing, the character development, the plot, everything was just very well written! And that humdinger of an ending was icing on the cake! Whew! What a ride!

This was a sad book to read, but I enjoyed it. A heavy story of being a parent, a sibling, a friend and a wife. I found it a little strange how sympathetic the women were towards one another at times, but I assume that was the authors intention, being that it was occurring throughout the story.

This book is an absolute page turner! Compelling story, right from the beginning. Lucinda Berry beautifully delivers a raw, heart wrenching story that sticks with you long after the last page is read.

Not being much of a psychological thriller fan, I was hesitant to read this book. Thankfully, I jumped in with both feet and could barely come up for air. Although initially all of the characters were a little difficult to follow, after a few chapters, the story flowed effortlessly and intriguingly. "The Best of Friends" is fast-paced, original and entertaining. Ms Berry does a fine job with portraying family drama, friendship woes, teenage angst, and a mystery that will keep you engaged until the end. This book may have made a psychological thriller fan out of me and will likely make you one too.

The Best of Friends is the perfect book for you if you like characters with plenty of secrets, problems, and bad marriages. Three best friends suffer a tragedy when their sons are involved in a shooting, leaving one dead, one brain dead and one so traumatized he is unable to tell anyone exactly what happened. The story is told from the POV of the grieving mothers, and my only complaint is I found it difficult to tell them apart - which son/husband/other children belonged to which character, and had to keep looking back to figure it out. Other than that, it is a well-written story that moves at a fast paced and has a satisfying, if sad, conclusion. Great read for the summer and one that will definitely have me looking out for Lucinda Berry's next book.

Thank you so much to Lucinda Berry, the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book for an honest review.

Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani all become part of parent's worst fear when their sons, who are all best friends, have an accident, which leaves one boy in a coma, one mute and too frozen to speak, and one dead.

The story takes you from parent to parent to 'see' what each one is going through at specific intervals, and shows you how each are coping in their own way. I thought the way that Lucinda Berry put in some subtle small other background stories to keep each story moving forward was great.

The way this author chose her words, and the stores for each character, was very relatable. I cried with each of the mothers, and the mute son throughout the last few chapters of the book, and I loved how the author sewed up one of the open-ended story lines at the very end.

Lucinda Berry is on my Author to watch for list, and her books will always be on my TBR pile.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.* I have previously read Dr Lucinda Berry's very creepy book 'The Perfect Child' and loved it, so was excited to be reading a new book of hers. The premise behind 'The Best of Friends' makes me very, very glad to live in a country with robust gun laws. Three teenage boys, Caleb, Sawyer, Jacob are mucking around with a gun one night when it somehow goes off, leaving one of them dead, one of them in a coma and one of them not talking. The rest of the book is about their families trying to heal after this horrendous events, whilst at the same time trying to unravel exactly what happened on that tragic night. To add another layer to this suburban thriller, the mothers of the three boys are all close friends as well. An enjoyable and intriguing read.

While I did enjoy the book I was lost trying to remember who was who. There was just to many people to keep up. The plot was good and could have been a winner

This is an emotional story about three moms who have been best friends for years and their sons, who are all best friends as well. I was getting them all confused until I was a good 3/4 of the way in - honestly it was confusing.

Tragedy strikes early on in the book, and for the rest of the time, the moms do everything they can to figure out what happened that fateful night. The first half of the book is very repetitive and I almost gave up.

I figured out what happened that night about a quarter of the way into the book, so it was kind of excruciating to read this to the end.

I found the writing to be simplistic and almost juvenile, although the emotional aspect was on point.

There were a few plot holes and unanswered questions for me. What happened when the girls were young that they won’t talk about? What happened to the detective who was such a big part of the story? Why does Caleb freak out over things that have nothing to do with what happened?

I think the bones of this story were good, but it needs more meat.

**Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy, in exchange for an honest review**
This is my second read by Lucinda Berry, the first being The Perfect Child, which I DEVOURED!
The Best of Friends took me awhile to get into, possibly because I read the first half in small bits, rather than setting aside some time to get consumed. Once I did get into the story, I devoured the second half in one sitting! The story centres around the families of 3 women-Lindsey, Kendra and Dani following a tragedy that happened to their three teenage boys. As the story unravels, we learn about what happened and of some past secrets each family had been keeping, some of which led to the tragic events that occurred that night.
This book kept me on my toes, and I was not expecting the outcome at the end of the book. I would recommend this book, as well as The Perfect Child, if you have not read it. Both such good, clever reads!

What happened with the gun that night which left such destruction in its wake for Sawyer, Jacob and Caleb? They are the sons of Lindsay, Kendra, and Dani, three women who have been best friends forever but who have never really opened up to each other. There are, of course, lots of secrets here's some of which are not so secret and some of which are quite destructive. It's narrated, alternately, by the three women. If there's a fault with this well conceived novel, it's that the women really merge together as they do not have distinct voices. You've got nine people to keep track of (if you count the husbands/dads, which you should), which is a lot in any circumstances. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good way to while away an afternoon.

Three best friends grow up together, through high school, college and as adults they are thrilled their sons are best friends too. But does anyone really tell anyone EVERYTHING? What happens when those secrets come out? When one of their sons ends up dead, the other in a coma and the third won’t speak to say what happened? All their lives will change forever and maybe they will finally start telling each other the truth! A great read about friendship, motherhood and love.

I received an ARC of The Best of Friends in exchange for an honest review. This was an emotional book. Three women, who are best friends, have three sons who are best friends. You don't know what really happened until the very end, but there is an incident and one of the boys is killed, one is on life support and one has not spoken since the incident. The three women and their families are so similar, it was hard to keep them straight. The story was told from each woman's perspective and at times you had to check to see who was actually speaking because of the similarities. This story had so much potential, but some story lines were mentioned once and then never again. The Epilogue actually takes place only two weeks later. There were some other questions that could have been answered and instead went back to one of the previous story lines I mentioned, possibly setting the book up for a sequel instead of wrapping of parts of this story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was definitely a page turner and I was so intrigued to see what actually had happened between the boys. A nice twist I didn’t see coming at the end as well. Loved the author’s writing style and would definitely read another book of hers!

The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry

**I have received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank You!**

Description

An unthinkable tragedy forever changes a group of teens and turns family against family in this edge-of-your-seat thriller that begs to be read in one sitting.

Best friends Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani endure every parent’s nightmare when a tragic accident befalls their teenage boys, leaving one dead, another in a coma, and a third too traumatized to speak.

With the illusion of happiness and safety long gone, these women must now confront the hazards of heartbreak, the consequences of jealousy, and the dangers of living double lives.

Review

I am addicted to Lucinda Berry. Everyone one of her books that I have read have just thrown me for a loop and I Love it! This one is no exception. These three Best Friends ave such an amazing and emotional connection. That you can't help but get sucked into the mess that everyone's lives have been throwb in to. I cried along sides these ladies and wanted closure as much as the rest of them. A very deep read! That I soaked up in one sitting! If you haven't read Lucinda Bery yet, I ask you... WHY NOT? She will not disappoint.

4 Solid Stars