Member Reviews
This author always seems to write a fantastic plot and this one was no different, full of tension and suspense and kept me fully engaged
This one was excellent. Secrets abound and I didn't want to put it down because I needed to know what was happening. I will definitely be reading more by this author! Four stars.
Three female best friends live in the same neighborhood. Their sons are all pretty much the same age, 17, and are thick as thieves. They are out one night when suddnely, there are what sounds like gunshots and then emergency vehicles in the neighborhood. . .at the house the boys were at.
It's every parent's worst nightmare. As the story unfolds, it's easy to point fingers and shake your head but do you really know how you'd handle this situation if you were in it? I did like the crime aspect and how it slowly peels away for you to learn piece by painful piece what happened to get to that fateful night.
But really, this felt less mystery and more like a neighborhood drama. I can't even imagine 3 couples who are supposed to be best friends having more secrets from each other than this. As each secret was reveals, THAT definitely started to feel that like took the stage and not the horrible event that took a boy's life. However, the end does wrap up well and I liked the conclusion. It was just a bit more drama than I typically like.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
It was hard to keep track of the characters and also literally nothing happened for 80% of the book. I don't really know what the point was. There was nothing thrilling about it.
Lucinda Berry always puts us on a rollercoaster, and The Best of Friends was no different! This one kept me up reading late into the night as always! I would recommend this book and this author to everyone, so good!!!!
Kendra, Lindsay and Dani were the best of friends.
When they had children - they were the best of friends too - Sawyer, Jacob and Caleb.
But even the best of friends - those who tell each other everything - still hold secrets.
When tragedy tears their world's apart in an instant - who will tell the truth, and who will keep the truth to themselves.
3 stars ⭐⭐⭐
Special thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
This is my first go at reading Lucinda Berry and I enjoyed this read. This book pulls a few heartstrings from friendships to motherhood and tragedy that can just hit so close to home. Lindsey, Dani, and Kendra the best of friends since childhood and into adulthood. There boys Sawyer, Jacob, and Caleb have followed in their footsteps and become the best of friends as well and then tragedy strikes... Sawyer is dead, Jacob is in a coma, and Caleb isn't speaking! Who is at fault, who is to blame, what is a mother to do when tragedy hits them from multiple ways?!?! This book will make you weep, feel like your soul shatters a little, and can be very emotional. These women's lives will never be same, their friendships never the same, their boys and their friendships never the same! Thank you NetGalley for the copy to review with my honest opinions.
I’ve read a few books by Lucinda Berry and this one didn’t not disappoint with an awesome plot but I couldn’t help but feel like this story has been told before. While I enjoyed it, I definitely got a little bored.
Unbelievably stirring and compelling straight out of the gates! Such a page turner of a read.
Difficult to put down. An excellent novel and will be sure to keep the author, Lucinda Berry on my radar. Five star read!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this book in exchange from my honest review.
I was drawn in and invested from the first paragraph. This book started out with an intense story-line. Three life-long, best friends narrate a tragic story and how their boys were involved. Three different families were affected at the same time. How all of them handle it and navigate their ways through it are told through each one. Short chapters kept me reading at a pretty fast pace. I did find myself becoming a little confused when it came to which boy belonged to which mom and the intricate details going on in each home involving their spouses, and other children making it a bit confusing at times. Still a very enjoyable read and a surprise at the end! I would love to read more by this author.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.
Omg......... this book was amazing I flew threw the pages with Olympic speed I was hooked from the very first page. I found it full of twists and turns threw out and it kept me on the edge of my seat all the way threw I would defiantly recommend this book if you like a good book to keep you reading threw the night hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did
Heavy. Heart-wrenching, Tough.
This was a great book with lots of feels.
A huge thank you to NetGalley, Lucinda Berry and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.
The Best of Friends is a fast-paced and twisted thriller that had me hooked from the start. The short chapters with rotating POVs were all so interesting, and every time I finished a chapter, I wanted to keep going and find out what happened next. I loved all of the secrets and the drama, and I flew through the book in less than two days!
Content warning for death, drugs, abuse, hospitalization.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC of The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry.
I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!
The Best of Friends by Lucinda Barry was a two star read for me. This book wasn't an easy read. Three teenage boys, best friends since birth, go out one night. One ends up dead, one is in a coma and the third is unable to speak about the trauma. As a mom to teens, this was a hard subject matter. In addition, I had a very hard time keeping track of the characters. The mothers of the boys were all best friends too, and there were numerous back stories. I can't recommend this one. It was only an EH. TWO STARS.
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this book and was completely riveted from start to finish. The quick pace of the narrative and the author’s effortless prose made this book impossible to put down.
I was intrigued by the way the author so accurately portrayed and described the moments of the lives of three families dealing with intense and interrelated turmoil - I hadn’t realized she was a therapist specializing in trauma, but that experience clearly shows in this book. The author has a gift for unfolding the emotional lives of her characters in a believable way. I have never *wanted* to be a fly on the wall witnessing someone’s most agonizing moment, but this book did that.
The only thing I find a little unrealistic with the book is that the friendships of the three women remained as intact as they did throughout the aftermath of the incident, particularly considering the unspoken accusations and suspicions each of them harbored for the others’ children. I tend to think their friendship would have been torn apart by this tragedy.
Overall, though, this is one of the best books I’ve read in awhile. The subject matter is heavy, but the book didn’t feel heavy. This book is a masterclass on delving into the psyche of people in crisis.
Lucinda Berry draws the reader right into the world of her characters. The best of friends alternates between the perspective of three friends, Dani, Lindsey and Kendra. We learn that their son's have been involved in a shooting incident- Sawyer is dead, Jacob is seriously injured and Caleb is severly traumatised.
As the novel progresses, problems are revealed in each of the marriages. I thought the issue of domestic abuse was particularly well tackled. As was the debate over when/if life support should be withdrawn.
The reason why the boys were fighting is illustrative of what our teens are facing on a daily basis and that's scary. The lure of drugs and alcohol, peer pressure and questioning their identity/ sexuality.
The climactic scene when the events of that night are revealed was very tense and well written. I loved the way the book ended on a slightly lighter note.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this engaging read.
Three bestfriends Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani have always been inseparable, including their teenage boys until, a tragic accident occurs leaving one dead, one in a coma, and one so tramatized, he's unable to speak. Everyone is shocked to learn that the accident is only the beginning. Do they really know eachother, and their children?
The Best of Friends is a tragic, frustrating, and binge-worthy book. I enjoyed the multiple POVs; the doubts and judgements they all feel towards eachother was juicy. The only thing I didn't enjoy was, it sometimes wasn't clear and I had to flip back to the beginning of the chapter to figure out who's perspective I was reading. Each chapter the reader is teased, and it's so frustrating with only little hints being dropped however, I couldn't put it down.
Thank you Thomas and Mercer and netgalley for this Arc in exchange for a review.
Thank you Netgalley for the copy. Best friends Lindsey, Kendra and Dani have been best friends since school. Their boys Sawyer, Jacob and Caleb have grown up together and are also best friends. Then a gun incident rips the friends lives apart. A hard hitting emotional story of family and friendship.
An emotional story about friendship and loss. As the three women try to deal with everything that's happened and find out what really took place, they realize that they didn't know their best friends or their sons as well as they thought they did! Good suspense, good writing. A dark and gritty tale that unfolds twist by devastating twist. Very intense and heartbreaking.