The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry is another pulse-pounding domestic drama from an author who has cemented her place on my must read list. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Ms Berry's work, and this latest is no exception.

On a tragic night in Southern California, three teenage boys are involved in an unfathomable tragedy. Left to deal with the fallout are their mothers, who also happen to be lifelong friends. Told from the alternating perspectives of each of the women, Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani, secrets begin to emerge from behind the closed doors of each devastated family. How well do we ever really know our closest friends or, in many cases, those who share our homes?

This is a heart-wrenching read that I tore through over the course of a single afternoon. Its weighty, gripping subject matter will linger long after the final page has been turned.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC.

TW: spousal abuse, gun violence, alcohol/drug abuse
There's nothing quite like a "they look perfect but aren't" story. After getting past the confusion of who's married to whom and which child belongs to which mother, this was a book I couldn't walk away from. The chapters are short enough to be read in snippets, but fast-paced enough to warrant you reading until the early mornings.
I enjoyed the family dynamics, but felt too much of the friendships and relationships relied on "we've been friends forever" lines instead of actual scenes demonstrating their relationships. The ending was both satisfying and heartbreaking (but I wish there could have been more development on the "why" there).
Remind me never to move to the suburbs...

I chose to read this book after hearing so much about the author! I've always been into psychological thrillers, and this book received its label for a good reason.
I have to be honest, I was eager to give this book 3 stars because I didn't feel like the climax was powerful enough, but after reaching 99% of the book and after reading the last line, my world got smashed! I just didn't expect what happened next!
I am going to give this book 4 stars only because it was quite hard for me to get acquainted with the characters. At first, I thought there were too many, and after 6 chapters, I finally understood which one was related to whom.
I will post a more detailed review of this book near the publication date on my website. Keep an eye on!

An advance copy of this book was provided to me free of charge in exchange for an unbiased review. The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry creates the premise of three women whose sons are adolescent best friends in the same suburban neighborhood and an unimaginable tragedy occurs among the three young men. The remainder of the book deals with the fallout from this tragedy.

I wanted to like this book; one of my favorite genres is domestic noir involving legal entanglements. However, I was continually pulled out of the story by the unnecessary descriptive background scenes. Additionally, I found the male characters to be flat and shallow, essentially foils upon which the primary female protagonists could react. The primary characters' actions were so over the top that the characters themselves were not believable or relatable.

The idea behind this novel is excellent and thought out well. I would have loved to see the characters' underlying motivations realistically portrayed.

Serious book hangover! This book has everything! Believable flawed characters drive this suspenseful novel. Three close knit families, a tragic accident and the heartbreaking fallout. This is my first read by Lucinda Berry, but it won’t be my last. #grabahanky

The Best of Friends
by Lucinda Berry
Thomas & Mercer
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 18 Aug 2020 | Archive Date 01 Sep 2020

One of my best reads so far in 2020. Thanks to Thomas Mercer and Net Galley for the ARC. I couldn't put this book down. I had to see how the long time friends resolved this trauma.

Great book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my electronic ARC in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 stars

The plot centers around 3 high school boys and a deadly shooting. The whole book we are reconstructing what happened to get to the truth of who shot who. All of these families know each other and there are a lot of secrets. The problem is I just wasn’t invested in any of the characters to really care about them. I did not think it was the page turner it was made out to be.

Review also posted on GoodReads.

Lucinda Berry does it again! This is the store of what happened one night between three teenage boys who’ve been friends their whole lives. One boy is dead. One is on life support. The third hasn’t spoke a word since that night. As you read, the story unravels and there’s many secrets below the surface that are revealed. Very very good read.

Kendra, Lindsay and Dani have been best friends since childhood. All 3 have sons close in age that are also the best of friends. They are all living what seems to be idyllic lives until one night a terrible event with the boys shatters their lives forever. As the mothers try to figure out what happened that fateful night, secrets come to light and they all see that things are never as they appear to be. This book was heartbreaking to read and will make me hold my kids a little tighter.

Initially I was confused with all the characters in the beginning, but I soon embraced the 3 families who suffer a terrible loss with their children. The book is a complex and layered story with so many twists and turns.
Loved the story.v It grips the reader from the first chapter. It will definitely be a best seller.

I loved this book. It was emotional and raw and really made me sad at times. The characters were very well written. I am glad we found out what happened in the end and I also enjoyed the little twist on the last page.

One of my biggest pet peeve book-wise are the women who are being abused by their husbands/boyfriends but still keep on giving excuses to themselves to stay.
There are a lot of foolish decisions following this situation and it makes me so pissed off that someone will write women characters portrayed as this weak and stupid. It's not fair.

Anyway, this was a story with a full-on family drama.
A lot of unexpected surprises that somehow made this an interesting read.

5 heartbreaking stars.

Lucinda Berry knows what the F she's doing.

She's quickly becoming an author that I immediately add whatever her new book is to my 'to-read' shelf. I don't even bother reading the description, I just see Lucinda Berry wrote it and I'm already in.

This book, per usual was sososososososoooooooooooooo good.

This story revolves around the friendship of three women. These women have been best friends since high-school, live on the same street, and their three sons (all the same age) are also best friends. A tragic incident happens leaving one son dead, another in a coma and a third one completely traumatized to the point where he cannot speak or function. The story however is not about the incident, it's about the friendship of the three women and the secrets that threaten to break their life-long relationship.

The thing I really love about Berry's books is how raw she writes her characters. Being a woman reading this book, I was in awe of how accurate she portrayed the friendship of these women. There is such a deep love among them, but also deep-rooted jealousy and resentment. Berry has a way of creating characters that are so insanely realistic that when you're reading her books, you often feel punched in the gut because she writes the things that you feel guilty for internally feeling.

This book is heartbreaking in so many ways. It's also ridiculously intriguing and thought-provoking. This book gave me huge Big Little Lies vibes, except this is better.

I highly recommend this book - or any of Berry's books for that matter.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC and wanting my honest opinion.

This is the first book I have read by Lucinda Berry and I am hooked! I read this book in virtually one sitting and was truly unable to put it down. Loved how the story was told in alternating voices - these ladies seem like people I could be friends with. Having teenagers, the book was so much more relevant and timely. Loved loved loved it and I cannot wait to recommend this book when it comes out! I thought the twist at the end was amazing and would love to see a sequel! Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Best of Friends!

Wow! What an emotionally tragic rollercoaster this book was! I think happiness is the only emotion you don’t experience while reading this. I feel like this is what every mother wants when growing up - to have 2 best friends and you all have children together who end up being best friends. After reading this, I’m not so sure I want that anymore!! Tragedy shatters the lives of Kendra, Dani and Lindsey when one night there is a fatal accident involving their teenage sons. One son is dead, one son is in a coma with a traumatic brain injury, and one son is physically unharmed but hasn’t spoken a word since everything happened. The women are determined to find out what happened to their children but at the possible cost of their friendship? Each woman has different secrets they haven’t told their best friends and everything is threatened to be exposed. Will their friendship survive this?? A great quick read and another book from Lucinda Berry that I really enjoyed!

Great read! I’m more into the psychological suspense, like Lucinda Berry’s last few books but I had to give this book a chance, too. Glad I did! It’s not the genre I usually prefer but it is a great family drama with a bit of mystery, too.

The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry is a heavy book that left me with a severe book hangover. Its brilliantly written, full of emotion with sympathetic characters and a storyline that will break your heart into pieces and leave you in need of safe space and a quiet room.

What happens when a shooting occurs at home and a teenager dies? One of the other kids is left in a coma and the other refuses to speak. The mothers of the boys are all longtime best friends who have no choice but to deal with the fall out of this event and the ensuing grief and no one is left unscathed. Lucinda writes so beautifully and the reader is pulled into each woman’s personal hell as she tries to figure out what happened and why. What drove their kids, who they all thought they knew so well, to get a gun and shoot?

The plot:

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.

Reeling from the worst night of their lives, the three mothers plunge into a desperate investigation of the bizarre incident. How could something so horrible happen in their wealthy Southern California suburb?

They soon discover that the accident was just the beginning, and troubling discoveries lead to chilling questions: Do they really know their children? Do they even know each other? As more secrets surface, a fog of doubt and suspicion threatens to poison their families, their friendships, and the whole community.

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.

I read a few of the author’s other books and they are very good and engaging but this I think is her best due to the emotion and sympathy between the pages. When I finished this book, I really felt like I had been put through the ringer. It’s tragic and every parent’s nightmare.

FREE with Kindle Unlimited or $4.99 if you don’t have it. This is an excellent book that you don’t want to miss. Pre-order here.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 Thanks to netgalley and thomasmercer for the e-arc for an honest review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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Three families are left reeling after a tragedy among their teenage boys. As they deal with the aftermath, they start to understand they may not have known their children as well as I had thought. ⁣
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Wow, that was a dramatic, heartbreaking story. This was short, but packed a powerful punch. The friendships were built so well, you really got to know each character and the complexes of the relationships. At first it was difficult to keep the families straight. I actually wrote them down.. the names of the couples and their children, and then I had no problem. There was a lot going on in this novel, in a good way. It wasn’t just about grieving families, it was about secrets and what we keep from the ones we love. There are resentments and jealousies, even among the best of friends. These friends were about to stick with each other through terrible tragedy, in this beautiful story. ⁣
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“𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯.”⁣
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Thank you to Thomas & Mercer for the chance to read an advanced copy of this book through Net Galley. The book begins with a shocking event that involves three best friends and their children. Each character narrated their story, alternating by chapter, to reveal little pieces of the puzzle until that culminating event which is not the last surprise in store for the characters. Make sure you read to the end for one last twist. Enjoy reading!!!

Once I was able to get the characters straight in my head (I did have to restart after a couple of chapters because I couldn’t keep the families straight) .... wow! Could not put this one down - read it in just a few hours. With that being said, it’s not that I liked the characters, I really didn’t, but I did want to know what happened. I was completely invested in the outcome.

This is the 2nd book I’ve read by Lucinda Berry and I look forward to reading more.

Thank you #netgalley and #thomasandmercer for the rARC.