Unhealthy friendships on steroids.

This was a quick read with some truly awful behavior. The end was not exactly a surprise, but still, 😳.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Psychological thrillers are probably one of the genres I read the most but it can be hard to find a book that just sucks you in. I feel so lucky when I find a book with a new take on a plot with interesting characters and twists you don't see coming or an ending you truly aren’t expecting. I was hooked once I started this book and I couldn't put it down and didn’t see the ending coming at all!

This one was hard to read for me. The characters were awful, and the way Ruth treats Marley throughout made my stomach sick. Honestly there was a lot more that made my stomach sick. The twists were aplenty and definitely shocking, so I think a lot of people will probably love this. Enjoy factor: 2. But I am going to rate it 3 since I do think it was a book that a lot of people will enjoy and the author really surprised with the ending. Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

This was SOOO GOOD and I loved every second of it. I believe the characters and I felt for them throughout the book which is so hard these days in thrillers.

Ok, this one is girlfriends gone wild with a twist that you will never see coming. Ruth is a very wealthy divorcee and she and her daughter, Marley will host the Hillside Academy meet and greet for kindergartners. When all of the parent/children arrive, Ruth takes an interest in one mother daughter duo. Gemma and Bee go on expensive outings and dinners with Ruth and Marley. One day things change ant Ruth’s affair is exposed and Gemma uses that time to get away from her. Six years later and Gemma is in a scandal that will rock the town they live in. But once again, Ruth is there to help. Although while she is there, she becomes very obsessed with Gemma and that obsession is very nefarious. Ruth has an unhealthy admiration for Gemma and she is not going to stop doing what it takes to keep her. This is an adult drama with twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat waiting and wondering what will happen next.


4 out of 5 stars


Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author/ publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Ahhhh…. My favorite! A psychological thriller with intensity, and twist after twist!
It is a modern take of mothers and daughters and obsessive friendships. I kept wondering how low are they willing to go? But they went lower, haha!
The 4 character POV was intriguing as you got the insight from each of them.
And the last moment? My mouth is still agape from that one!

"A suspenseful, gripping novel about families and friendships torn apart at the seams by obsession, secrets, and betrayal with relentless twists and turns that hurtle forward to a shocking confrontation.

When Ruth, a wealthy divorcé​e, offers to host the Hillside Academy kindergarten meet-and-greet, she hopes this will be a fresh start for her and her introverted daughter, Marley. Finally, they’ll be accepted into a tribe. Marley will make friends and Ruth will be welcomed by the mothers. Instead, the parents are turned off by Ruth’s ostentatious wealth and before kindergarten even begins, Ruth and Marley are outcasts.

The last guest to arrive at the meet-and-greet is Gemma, a widow and a single mother to her daughter, Bee. Ruth sets her sights on the mother-daughter duo, and soon the two families are inseparable. Ruth takes Gemma and Bee on Aspen vacations, offers VIP passes to Cirque du Soleil, and pays for dinners at Michelin-starred restaurants. For Gemma, who lives paycheck to paycheck, Ruth’s largesse is seductive, but as the years go by, she can’t shake the feeling that she’s accruing an increasingly unpayable debt. When Ruth’s affair with a married Hillside dad is exposed, and she’s publicly shunned, Gemma uses it to sever ties with Ruth.

Six years later, when Gemma finds herself embroiled in a scandal of her own—Ruth comes to her defense. Their renewed friendship rehabilitates their reputations, but once again, Gemma starts to feel trapped as Ruth grows more and more obsessed with their relationship."

This book is a wild ride of adults acting like children. Mean girls meets Mommy groups or "pods". I did not like one character, Paul I don't mind that in a psychological thriller. You'll never see the ending coming.

If you are looking for a book filled with drama among girlfriends this is your book! To think I almost stopped reading it as I was not a fan of the catty thoughts and actions between Ruth and Gemma, and listening to the thoughts of their teenage daughters Marley and Bee reminded me of my dreaded junior high school days. I'm sure glad I kept reading! I can't tell you whether I hate or love this book, but I know for sure it has a genius, wicked, messed up plot.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is my first book by this author. I really wanted to enjoy it and part of me did. I liked a few parts. It was basically like a few other books I have read. Two moms and their daughters. Best friends until they aren’t. Later one needs the other and of course they are there for them. I had a hard time relating to either of the mothers or daughters. I just could not relate to either. It took me a very long time to read this book but I am glad I finally finished it.
Even though I didn’t enjoy it I know others did and will.

Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC. This is my true thoughts about this book.

3 stars. I try to not go below 3 ever. Author’s work to hard for me to bash their work.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. An interesting read and if you are in the mood for a drama type book you might want to check this out.

This book was soooo delicious! I ate it up. It was a good, fun, dramatic thriller, this one is for you!

2 of my favorite things are multiple POV and short chapters, and this book has both.

Highly recommend!

I requested this book on netgalley because I thought, "oooh a thriller with a bunch of mean moms." To a degree, that is the basic premise of this book, but it got real old, real fast. I don't know that people are actually this horrible to each other - the body shaming and sniping. I didn't connect to any of the characters, and of course, a thriller wouldn't be complete without at least one unreliable narrator. Not a big fan.

Did I Say You Could Go is a domestic fiction with some slight touches of suspense that's about two adult friends and their daughter's. There's a lot jealousy and clear mental health issues, some being addressed by professionals while others are not.

The story is told from all 4 povs, which could be a lot for some. However, I personally enjoy books with multiple povs and getting all the perspectives. It might lead to knowing the twists, but I still prefer it. And yes, the majority of the twists in this story, I saw coming, but I was so drawn into the story and the characters that I didn't mind.

The depth of character development was fantastic. This doesn't mean I liked the characters, in some cases it made me loathe them.

There were times this book was a bit difficult to read due to the nature of the story. However, I feel it's important for people to realize all the types of bullying, manipulating, and harassment that happens and the consequences that can come from them.

*Content warning: attempted suicide, emotional abuse, eating disorder

Ruth and Gemma couldn't be any more different except that they are both single mothers - Ruth a divorccee and Gemma a widower. Both of their daughter's are the opposites of their mothers. Bee, Gemma's daughter is popular and scaleable while Marley, Ruth's daughter, is shy and introverted. There's a huge academic scandal that throws them all into a chaotic mess of lies and deception.

This story is full of many twists told from multiple POV that will have you racing to turn the page to find out what's going to happen next.

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this arc in return for an honest review.

Wowza!!! I don’t even know where to begin with this twisty, mind bending psychological thriller. I have a daughter so this touched a nerve in me. There were some unlikable characters, okay more then some, but that’s what made this read so good. There are twists around every corner. As a parent, there are some moments that make your heart sink and your pulse race with pure terror. What is the price of fitting in. What kind of examples are we setting for our daughters. Do not miss this!!

This novel is told from four alternating perspectives - Ruth and her teenage daughter Marley, and Gemma and her teenage daughter Bee. Both moms and their respective daughters were best friends when the girls were little but grew apart, but then when Gemma suffers a setback, Ruth tries to pull them all back together again, but they each have their own problems/secrets/issues.

I really enjoyed Melanie Gideon’s previous novels Wife 22 and Valley of the Moon so I’m sorry to say that this one just didn’t work for me. I picked it up because I was in the mood for a thriller and I thought this one was a thriller or at least a psychological suspense - but it wasn’t really. There was I suppose a bit of a suspenseful element but more it was just what creepy thing is Ruth going to do next. Which is one of the reasons I didn’t like this book - she was just so horrible and awful that it made the book not fun to read. And, it was just so deeply unbelievable. And I really did not like the ending either where this book was finally trying to act like a thriller with several twists happening. But maybe if you like women behaving badly books you’ll like this one better than I did.

At least this was on my list of 22 backlist books to read during 2022 so I can cross one off my list.

2.5 stars.

Gemma and Ruth meet at a kindergarten 'Meet and Greet" and quickly become friends. Their friendship changes over the years, but their daughters are the glue that holds them together.

This is a short read and was very confusing for me. I felt like I missed a lot of the story. It was a depressing read and had an abrupt ending. I'm not sure I could recommend this story to anyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

There was an issue connecting with the characters but after finishing the book, I think it had a lot to do with the twists and turns in the storyline. Being a single mom, I know it's not easy to connect with other moms. But once you do, it feels like you have a good thing. Until you find it's not that easy to trust. If you can't trust your good friends, then who can you trust?

I really enjoyed this book! While being my first from this author, I know I will look for future books by her. I love when authors offer multiple POVs with different characters! It has a touch of mean girls with desperate housewives mixed in! I found the twists to be timed well and really added to the story!

It’s not often that I DNF books but this one had to be. I couldn’t get into it at all. I didn’t like the characters or the writing. It was just not for me. But I’ve seen some fabulous reviews from others so I’m in the minority.