Unfortunately I found this to be fairly predictable and found myself unable to connect with the characters. I really thought the premise was interesting but the relationships between the characters seemed unrealistic as the book progressed. I did appreciate the last little twist on the last page.

I received this ARC for an honest review from Net Galley.

This is the first book I have read from this author. The book was fair to me. Storyline is about 3 friends who all have sons that are friends and tragedy strikes their families. I felt sometimes the chapters going back and forth between the 3 female friends were difficult to follow.

I would try another of her books in the future.

Okay, I'm confessing right off the bat that I struggled with this book, and a fellow reader hit the nail on the head as to why. Only, she expressed it way better than I could. So, thank you Melissa Buehner for this quote: "...the novel is in serious need of character development and voice distinction. The story is told from the points of view of the three mothers, through alternating chapters, and in all honesty, I struggled to keep the characters' names straight and to remember whose viewpoint I was reading. Juggling three viewpoints and voices should not be this tough to do. But in this case, it is tricky because Kendra, Dani, and Lindsey are basically the same woman, just in triplicate."

I'm giving it three stars because the story kept my interest, but it's not a book that will stay with me. Thanks NetGalley for opportunity to read and review.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providiing a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Three women, friends, all mothers. Their sons are friends, life is good. Then something happens. One son is mute. One is in the hospital. And one has died.
As a parent, this is a hard one to read. No parent wants to think of anything bad ever happening to their children. The thought that a split second mistake can change everyone's life so drastically - it's a hard one to read. I knew from the description going in, that this book would not be a light and fluffy read. And I think that the categorization of this book as a mystery is incorrect - this is fiction, this is family drama, this book is a lot of things. But it's not a mystery. A hint of a question doesn't make a book a mystery.

But I wanted to like the book. I gave it a serious try. But this was one of the most confusing books to read! The book is told from various POV's but none of the characters were really well developed, so it was very hard to distinguish one character from another - to tell who was married to who, which son was which woman's. After a few chapters, I gave up, went back to the beginning, and had to make notes. This is not the way I like to read a book! I expect for the author to develop the characters enough that I don't need to keep a record in order to read a book in 2-3 days.

Overall, it was ok. It's not a mystery. There are lots of hints at character flaws, but it was just filler. Many of the threads went no where. In a book where I'm writing down notes to keep track of details, giving me unnecessary details is only going to put me off. I know the book already has lots and lots of 4 & 5 star reviews, but I just can't understand it. I'm setting on a 3 star review, because it was ok, but I can't say I really liked it all that much.

This is the third Lucinda Berry novel I’ve read, the others being When She Returned which I loved and Phantom Limb which I gave three stars. I read both of these books in a day each, and this one was no different. Just like Berry’s other two novels, I was hooked immediately.
This was an addictive read that was easy to get invested in the story. All the characters and situations seemed genuine and real. I enjoyed reading from the perspectives of the three moms. The thing I always like most about Berry’s novels is that she intertwines her experience in the field of psychology with a mystery thriller.

DNF: 20%

I really liked Lucinda Berry's book The Perfect Child, so was expecting to like this one. Unfortunately, I'm not gripped at all. I find it difficult to tell the narrator's apart, even with all their different kid's names. I'm not finishing this one as I keep putting it down and have no desire to really pick it back up, and I have a lot of other books to read.

I'm giving it 3 stars as there's nothing really bad about it so far, and I can't review the whole thing.

As usual, Lucinda Berry kept me totally gripped from the very first page through the very last. The Best of Friends is an emotional roller coaster and I loved every minute. It’s told in first person perspective from each of the three mothers, which I loved because I felt like I was really inside their heads. I could relate to each one of them in some way despite them being totally different. This book is a tangled web of secrets and deceit and friendship and all of the delicate emotions that go along with being as close and as vulnerable as you are with deep relationships. I loved the ending as I gasped and threw my hand over my mouth in shock!
I highly recommend The Best of Friends!

Thank you so much to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for allowing me the incredible privilege of reading this book in advance.

Three mothers — Kendra, Lindsey and Dani — who have been best friends since childhood deal with a tragedy involving their three sons that leaves one boy dead, one in a coma, and one severely traumatized. In doing so, they work to discover what really happened that tragic night.

This was a quick, engrossing read. There were plenty of twists and turns, secrets abounded, and the plot was interesting and well-paced, making this a page-turner. However, the main characters were so unlikeable that they definitely hampered my enjoyment. They each seemed to act terribly at every turn and showed virtually no sympathy for anyone else despite the tragedy that had occurred. I can usually deal well with characters in a novel that are not all that likeable, but the three “best friends” around whom the story revolves were simply way too unempathetic for me given the circumstances they were thrust into and thus difficult to connect with.

Well, this book ended up being more of a heavy read than just a simple mystery/psychological thriller. I think the summary of the book forewarned me about that... but it was still a little unexpected on my part. The author threw a lot of things in this book with gun violence and the dangers of owning a gun the most prevalent. Three best friends - Kendra, Dani, and Lindsay - have three boys who also became friends - Sawyer, Caleb, and Jacob. One boy is dead, one boy is in the hospital, and one boy is so traumatized he won't say a word, so no one really knows what happened that fateful night.

This is a book full of secrets and lies that are slowly revealed about the mothers, the fathers, the siblings, and the 3 boys. The story is told from each mother's POV, switching off chapter by chapter and each told in the first person. I found it extremely difficult to keep the women straight - who was married to who, which woman had the eating disorder, alcoholism, abusive husband, cheating husband, etc. The narratives were not very distinctive in my opinion. And the author even mistakenly used the son's names incorrectly in a couple of the POV's (more confusion).

Overall though, I was caught up in all the drama of the families and it had me hooked to the end.

Kendra, Lindsey, and Dani have all been friends since they were young. They have grown up together and have had the opportunity to raise their kids together. In fact, three of their sons, Jacob, Sawyer, and Caleb, are best friends too! From the outside, they look like three very happy middle class families.

Obviously, this is a thriller so we know that’s not true.

This is my first book by Lucinda Berry but I’ve heard about her book The Perfect Child which I’ve been dying to read, so I snatched this one up as soon as I saw it on NetGalley. It didn’t disappoint, at all.

One fateful night, gunshots are heard coming from Caleb’s home. All three boys were they by themselves, and tragedy strikes. Sawyer is dead from a gunshot wound to the stomach. Jacob has been shot in the head and has physically survived, although he has been declared brain dead. Caleb was physically unharmed, but is no longer capable of speaking.

The mothers, who are best friends, take turns narrating the chapters. Secrets hidden from their best friends spill out to the reader as they try to process the tragedy. Suspicion escalates and marriages turn sour, because it’s unknown who shot who, or why.

I was gripped by this book and I really enjoyed reading it! I did feel that the characters lacked a bit of a distinctive voice from each other, which I can get past, as I wasn’t expecting fancy literature, just excellent twists, which it does partially provide. My biggest annoyance is that some storylines were intriguing but randomly dropped as though Berry forgot where she was going with it. No spoilers- there was a mention of “we don’t talk about that night back in high school” but we never find out what it was and that sort of drove me mad. Another is that an eating disorder is mentioned off-handedly but never has another mention or a resolution.

Overall, it’s a good read and the mystery was fun to untangle. I would definitely recommend it for anyone else who enjoys family drama, friend drama, mysteries, and light thrillers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced edition copy in return for my honest review.

The Best of Friends is the story of Kendra, Lindsay, and Dani - three women who have been best friends since childhood - and the terrible tragedy involving their teenage sons that changes their lives forever. Complicated by secrets and underlying resentments, can their friendships survive the aftermath of the horrible incident that ties them together forever?

This is a highly emotional book about grief/loss and friendships being pushed to the limit. It's very well written and engrossing from start to finish. You won't want to put it down until you know exactly what happened and why. This was the first book by Lucinda Berry that I've read, and I definitely look forward to reading more.

This story was like an onion, so many layers to get through. It was intense, gut-wrenching and totally caused me so much parental anxiety!

The Best of Friends is about so many things; tragedy, friendship, relationships, parenting and secrets & lies. It gripped me from the first few pages and I couldn't put it down. The short chapters continuously ended in a way that left me lying to myself by saying "Just one more...." There were so many twists and turns that it kept it exciting right to the very end. And the epilogue - YIKES!

My only complaint would be that there were a few things left pretty open ended and I wasn't entirely sure why these things were mentioned in the first place without giving them closure. But it didn't ruin the story at all for me.

Highly recommend!

i enjoyed the three different dynamics, I was intrigued enough to keep reading. I have recommended this to several of my friends!

3 women, lifelong friends have 3 sons
1 is dead, 1 is on life support and 1 wont speak, this follows a ‘shooting accident’ after a night partying
The life long friendship of all 3 women is about to tested, to the limits
Written in the ‘now’ the story follows all 3 as they try and discover what really happened that night, and as their desperation gets stronger the gloves come off as they become more determined to get to the truth
Secrets are discovered and uncomfortable truths about their own lives laid bare as the thin line between their friendship and needing answers starts to waver
I found it quite an emotional read, quite sad in parts as things and lives become more and more unravelled
There is a conclusion, unexpected, in fact there are quite a few and maybe the last part of the epilogue wasn’t needed, a tad unrealistic after a whole book that felt just the opposite, it can get confusing re names, there are 3 friends, 3 husbands, 3 children then multiple siblings so at times you need to stop and just remember who is who but it really is worth it for this hard hitting well written story
8/10
5 Stars

This is a heartbreaking story about motherhood, friendship, and grief. While it’s more of a domestic drama than a thriller, I still really enjoyed this one. There are a lot of characters. Like, an overwhelming amount. There are three couples and each couple has at least two kids and there’s police and lawyers and therapists and it’s a lot to keep track of. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; more like a head’s up. Every character played a crucial part in the story, and at the beginning it was hard to keep track, but as the story progresses it gets easier.
I found the writing good and the story really sucked me in. Although I thought it was quiet slow-paced, and the ending was slightly anti-climactic, this story is intense and I would recommend it to people who can handle heart-wrenching stories who enjoy multiple points of view.

This was pretty good. Not my favorite of the year. But I was intrigued throughout.

Things I liked:

— Short chapters; they made the story and plot move quickly and also kept the suspense factor

— Kendra; because she was the person I saw most of myself in. I also found her to be the realest of the women.

— The slow unraveling; piece by piece the happenings get deconstructed until we learn the truth

Things I didn’t like:

— The ending; it felt too abrupt. I think I’d have liked a little more there. I feel there’s a couple loose threads left.

Dani; sometimes she was just a bitch!

But like I said, overall it’s a good book/story. There’s nothing too tough to work out. No real surprises. I guessed most of the things...I just couldn’t work out the actual reason WHY.

The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry Reviewed on July 24, 2020 4++ Stars (rounded up ~ Note: I give very few 5 star ratings!)
This story stars with best friends ~ Kendra, Lindsey, and Dani; they grew up together, became mothers together and their sons were friends. However now are dealing with grief and terrible loss when their teenage sons are in a gun accident that leaves Kendra’s son Sawyer dead, Lindsey’s son Jacob in a coma and Dani’s son Caleb is in shock and cannot speak.
Kendra is positive this was not a simple accident.
Accident takes place at Caleb’s house. Is he responsible for the accident? Why is he still in a terrified state nearly 3 weeks after the accident?

Actually I went into this knowing little about it other than the title and name of author. My childhood BFF is Lucinda aka Cindy ~ so I was drawn to a story about best friends.
It didn’t take all that long when another friends novel came to mind "The Devine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" which I read many years ago! My memory isn’t all that clear… but I do remember secrets but also remember humor and laugh-out-at–loud situations.
Trust me no fun laugh-out-loud situations here but yes there are secrets!

Author Lucinda Berry is actually Doctor Berry, a trauma psychologist and leading researcher in childhood trauma. She uses her experience to create disturbing psychological thrillers.
Yep! She certainly did with this novel.

A WOW Emotional ride!! Truly a page turner!!
I am a big psychological thriller fan and happy to say that I found a new favorite author!!!

Want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this early release granted to me in exchange for an honest professional review. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for August 18, 2020

"The Best of Friends" grabbed me, and wouldn't let go. Three best friends from high school, whose lives are completely intertwined, with sons close in age and best friends, too, endure a horrific accident leaving one son dead, another in a vegetative state and the third, who'd always been a bit left out, traumatized and unable to speak. He can't tell them what happened, so they make up their narratives. Lawyers get involved and accusations are hurled behind closed doors. I enjoyed the way Berry puts the narrative in the minds of Kendra, Lindsey and Dani, in alternating chapters (although initially, I had to take a minute to remind myself who was who, which kid belonged to which family). Each does indeed have their own secrets, and Berry lets them be honest, and with that insight, they aren't very likable. Still, I couldn't stop reading about them. A few plot points were a bit contrived, yes, but I have to say, I didn't see them coming. Not always pleasant read, but most definitely compelling - and you get the sense that these women will pick up the pieces of their shattered lives, marriages and families, and remain true to each other, whatever that means. Sometimes it's good to know your friends so well, and sometimes, not so much.

P.S. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance reader copy.

That was dramatic. And intense. Three women (Kendra, Lindsey and Dani) are best friends from school. They have three sons (Sawyer, Jacob and Caleb) who are also best friends - all 16-17 years old. The families are close. They all live in a really ‘nice’, safe area in nice, comfortable homes. Life is good. Until it’s not.

One night the boys are going to spend the night at Caleb’s house playing a new video game. Kendra and Paul Mitchell have been chilling out in front of the TV when they hear a bang. A second bang soon follows but that one really sounds like a gunshot. It came from the direction of the Madison house. Kendra bolts out the door and runs in that direction. Her only thought is of her son, Sawyer, who is staying over there.

As she approaches, emergency vehicles are everywhere. She is not allowed through. Three anxious sets of parents wait at the hospital to find out the fates of their sons. One is dead, one is horribly injured and possibly in a coma and the third is rendered catatonic and mute. This story is (one of) every parent’s worst nightmares. The repercussions following that night, the blame game, the uncertainty as the uninjured but totally traumatised teen has still not uttered a word start to fracture the women’s friendship. Only one person really knows what happened that night and he is not talking.

As the truth slowly emerges and some of the secrets are stripped away the parents are shattered. If only the boys had spoken about this! They had no idea. And that, dear readers, is the scariest part of all. None of the parents really knew their sons and this story was so very plausible. I really, really enjoyed the book but the narration, told in the alternating voices of the three women, was hard to follow. I keep notes these days as I’m bad at remembering names but I was constantly having to check which son (or daughter or husband) belonged to which woman as their voices were very similar. Many thanks to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and Lucinda Berry for providing a copy of the book for me to review.

Lucinda Berry remains my automatic buy for authors when they come out with a new book. This one did not disappoint! I will be buying the physical copy when it’s out. Thank you!