Thank you #netgalley, Thomas Mercer and Lucinda Berry for the ARC of #Thebest of friends.

Three best friends have their lives shattered as a terrible tragedy befalls them. One son is dead, one is in a coma and one is so traumatised by what happened that he refuses to speak. Will Kendra, Dani and Lindsey ever find out what truly happened that fateful night?

Wow, what an emotional rollercoaster! This book had everything, twists, joy, sadness and hope mixed with jealousy and hate. Sometimes I felt myself feeling sorry for one person only by the end of the chapter feeling the exact opposite! It was great like that and the author knew how to keep my guessing.

My only thoughts about it were I wouldn't classify this as a psychological thriller, more a domestic family mystery. Especially compared to all the thrillers I've read previously. But that doesn't stop this from being an excellent quarantine read! I will be buying this when it becomes available 😊

I was happy to get #TheBestofFriends from #Netgalley to review. This story about three best friends and the tragedy that happens to their sons (who are also best friends) is a perfect quick summer read. It’s well written and will keep you turning the pages to find out what really happened between the boys. The untangling of the complex relationships between the moms and their spouses is also interesting. It’s a great quarantine book.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. Wow! What a rollercoaster ride! I could not put it down. It was a little confusing at the beginning as the story is told by three people and getting the names straight and which family each belong to. Three young guys have grown up together since preschool and in one night of drunkenness, one ends up dead and one in a coma. The only boy who can talk about what really happened, Caleb, has not spoken since the accident.

As teenage best friends Caleb, Sawyer and Jacob find themselves the center of a tragedy, their moms, who are also best friends, enter into a whirlwind murder investigation that tests the limits of their friendships as well as their family relationships. As happy as Dani, Kendra and Lindsay were that their sons were best friends, it’s the secrets behind each relationship that they never saw developing that cause them to question who the real victims are. As the secrets to their marriages unravel, so do the secrets of the friendships formed, and they’re never sure they will find out who pulled the trigger and why.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lucinda Berry and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC.

This story grabs you right from the beginning, and doesn't let go until that shocking ending. I really enjoyed this book, even though the subject matter could be triggering to some people. The only negative I have is about the three different narrators. At times, it was hard to differentiate between who was telling the story - Kendra, Lindsey or Dani. It read like one person telling the story, not three.

Overall, this was another great book by Lucinda Berry.

The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry is a great book, but very sad as well. It talks about three friends (Lindsey, Kendra and Dani) from childhood until today. It is told from their viewpoints. Their sons are also best friends. A terrible "accident" happens and one son is killed, one is in a coma, and one is alive, but isn't talking. The book discusses the women's efforts to find out what happened. In the course of the book, old jealousies , rivalries and insecurities bubble to the top. Not all of the marriages are as "perfect" as they seem. There are a lot of twists and turns along the way, but as a reader, you are riveted to the book. It isn't until near the very end, that you find out what happened. It is a shocking ending, and the lives of these lifelong friends and their families will never be the same. And then, the story ends with one more surprise. You have to read it to find out. This book makes me want to read more by Lucinda Berry. Her training as a childhood trauma psychologist comes through loud and clear in this book. I highly, highly recommend this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for giving me an ARC and providing me with the opportunity to read this book.

Thanks to the author Lucinda Berry and Netgalley for giving me the ebook. I've read all of the author's books and it couldn't be different, perfect book.
She always writes books that make us reflect on our motherhood and how we raise our children. I loved it so much.

It’s no secret how much I love all of her books. I love how she walks that line between education and entertainment so well.
This one focuses on trauma, grief, suicide, loss, guilt, betrayal, and so many other things all rolled into one story.
Which is hardest- losing a child completely and suddenly, having a child hang in life/ death limbo, or your child possibly murdering others? Is it easier to think your child was murdered by a best friend or shot by their own hand?
This story navigates generational friendships and secrets and doubts and fears.
It really was a heart breaking story (as most of hers are) that sucks you in and keeps you hooked from the first page to the last.
Thank you so much to @netgalley and @lucindaberryauthor for the arc.

*My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Publish Date: August 18, 2020

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - This was a rough one, folks, but not in the way you'd think.

The Best of Friends is a harrowing tale of family, secrets, and the circumstances surrounding the death of two teenage boys and the silence of one. Jacob, Caleb, and Sawyer have been friends since birth, and their mothers before them. From the outside, they all had perfect lives. But when Sawyer is shot dead, Jacob into brain death, and Caleb terrified into absolute silence, their mothers desperately try to piece together what could have happened while the illusion of perfection falls down around them. Secrets are dragged kicking and screaming to the light and one thing becomes clear: They did not know their children as well as they thought, and that they weren't the only ones keeping secrets.

First I must attest to Lucida Berry's ability to move a story along quickly. I started this at about 9:30pm and finished at 12:30AM. That's fast even for me, but it wasn't for lack of information. The story is told from the inter-changing POVs of the boys' grieving mothers, who had also grown up together since little kids. Their families were always very close, but now with one child dead and another on the way they start quickly pointing fingers at each others children while trying to navigate the horror of the case to find out what really happened that night.

Each family held an entire cache of secrets, some worse than others, and that most definitely sent the pace of the book into breakneck speed as you attempt to figure out how that secret could have affected the boys actions in a way that led to their careless use of a gun. When the seeds were dropped about certain motives pertaining to Jacob and Sawyer in particular, there was no way I could stop until I found out for sure, and of course, by then, my heart was shattered. This book will definitely make you feel things. It is not lacking in emotion in any respect.

I'm not sure if this was intentional, but I did not enjoy the parents. At all. I found them each to be cruel in their own ways, whether to their remaining children, each other, or their husbands(when they didn't deserve it), and it reminded me of why I stopped reading adult fiction. There is a pervasive attitude that adult relationships are nothing but bitter. Full of cheating or divorce or violence or flat out mistrust and that message ripples into our perception of the world and what it is like to be in relationship.( TLDR: Are the straights okay??? I mean honestly? Can we stop this? ) Now, I understand that the particular disfunction in these relationships were absolutely plot necessary, so I find no fault in that. But it definitely speaks to the fact that I was not as surprised by any of it as I probably should have been.

This book isn't for the faint of heart. It delves deeply into the grief of losing a child and the complicated emotions surrounding it. It speaks about abuse in marriage and in the home. There is some concerning language triggers (though they are not used against anyone as much as they are repeated for information's sake). It will throw you for a loop or two, but it was not entirely hard to find out a lot of the twists. Really, what kept me going was the absolute visceral need shared by the three mothers to find out exactly what happened that night. And it was. A lot to process. I cried my eyes out. So, if you are looking for that kind of twisty, fast-paced read centered around family, you'll wanna pick this up.

Its no surprise that I am a big fan of Lucinda Berry's work. This is my 4th book of hers, and I've given them all 5 stars.

What i feel is a major strength of the author's is creating relatable and complex characters. The Best of Friends follows 3 friends: Dani, Lindsay and Kendra. The women have been friends since high school, and even their sons became friends with each other. The story is told in alternating perspectives between the three women, so we get to know each character and her imperfections as the book progresses.

In true Lucinda Berry fashion, the prologue instantly grabs the reader's attention as Dani rushes out the door after hearing gunshots. We learn of a tragic accident involving their teenage sons, where one is killed, another is in a coma, and the third is alive, but refuses to talk about what happened. The women desperately want to piece together the details of the night, and realize as secrets surface, that they didn't know their children as well as they thought.

I admit that the epilogue was what gained the 5th star in the rating. While it was admittedly a little far fetched, I enjoyed the tie in to a plot point earlier on in the book.

I could not put this book down. I HAD to know what happened that night. It was almost a compulsion. Excellently weaves stories together and the end is unforgettable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC.

The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry centers around three close friends Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani who without a doubt, faced every parent's worst nightmare. Their boys are 16 , excellent soccer players and best friends. One ends up dead, one in a coma and the other is traumatized by the events of that night.

The story alternates between multiple points of view by each of the moms. It was easy to see the different parenting styles.. The book definitely makes you think about things if you have kids. Did the parenting styles contribute to the what happened? Could it have been prevented? It had the potential to be a really great book. However, it fell flat because it was predictable I had already figured out who did what pretty early on. I did keep reading because it was an engaging story.

Story told from 3 POV. Every chapter is full with new details and leaves you in a cliffhanger but smoothly transitioning to the next chapter making it difficult to stop reading! I have never read a book in such a short time. Kept me on the edge all the time and I loved it!

I absolutely loved the book. Probably in my top 20 books I have read. I liked it told the 3 mother point of view. I don't like when writers only write in one person point of view. I'm hoping maybe read second book on how the ending ended.

Absolutely heart wrenching, soul gutting, story. Well written storyline with characters that have depth of emotions as well as personality.

Three childhood friends struggle to retain their bonds when tragedy strikes through their children.

I received an arc of this book and voluntarily provided a review.

Lucinda Berry truly blurs the lines between non fiction and fiction. Her characters are so real and raw that sometimes you forget that you are reading a novel and not a memoir. The tragedy will leave you heart broken, the thrills will leave you breathless. this is a one sitting type of read.

Kendra, Lindsay, and Dani have been best friends since childhood, just like their teenage sons are now.
But the women's friendship is about to be put to the test as their sons' fatal sleepover changes all of their lives forever.
One boy ends up dead, one in a coma and one too traumatized to speak.

The story, following the three mothers as they try to come to terms with what happened, gripped me from the very first pages.
However, the number of characters (the mothers, the fathers, several siblings, etc) made for a very confusing read. It must have been about half-way through when I finally got a grasp of who was who.
Regardless, it was a captivating, albeit difficult read, especially for those who are parents.
The ending wasn't particularly shocking, but it made me shed a tear or two. The final twist was a good bonus.
Overall, it was a good, gripping read, and I will be checking out other books from this author.

Absolutely loved this book! Lucinda Berry has a habit of writing books that draw me in from the first few pages, books that are hard to part with. The uniqueness of her storylines and the characters that leave the page and become real people make for the most enthralling books.

The Best of Friends by Lucinda Barry is every parent's nightmare. The kids get together to hang out and one of them winds up dead. How could this happen with boys who have been friends their whole lives?

As best friends Linda, Dani and Kendra try to find out what happened on that fateful night, their friendship is also threatened. One lost her son, one has a son who was horribly injured and one has a son who is fine. How can their friendship continue when no one knows who was responsible for this tragedy? An excellent novel that makes you question how well you know your children, even when you think you know everything about them!

Thank you to the author, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

Heart wrenching story of three families who have been friends for forever and their three sons all grow up together being very close, too. There is a tragic event that happens one night with the three sons and one is dead, one traumatized beyond speaking, and one in a coma. The parents are desperate to figure out what happened but the one son physically healthy, won't talk. There is a police investigation, families get lawyers, things turn ugly, etc. Of course, we find out relationship issues within the marriages. It's a sad story, but moves along quickly and I found I was so anxious to get to the bottom of what happened! I recommend it.