Friends Like These
by Kimberly McCreight
Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
Harper

Everyone has those friends. Doesn’t matter how long it’s been, or how badly they’ve occasionally behaved, or how late it is when that call finally comes—you show up. No questions asked.
Thanks to Harper and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I like to read mystery/thriller genre and often recommend them to our patrons.
This one however fell short for me. I had read it a few weeks ago and forgot to review it. Oddly, I couldn't remember much about the book which could say something about me or the book. LOL
Once it came back to me, I remembered I didn't care for it at all. It was kind of a mess, with POV, many characters, and week plot.
So for me, it's a miss. 3 star

Good, not great. I think I liked her last one better. This was solid - once you wade through all the characters in the intro, it was solid overall. A lot going on but it was still entertaining. I did mostly audio for this and enjoyed it. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Now THIS is how you write a book! I'm not always a fan of multiple narrators, but it worked really well here. There are a few major storylines going on, as well as a few minor plot points, but rather than becoming confusing, all the plots wrap up together nicely. I was on the edge of my seat for the majority of the book, and I 100% did NOT see the final twist coming. I've never read any other novels by this author, but I will be looking for future titles, as this is one of the best books I've read in a long time.

I think the idea for the plot was amazing. I would have really liked to dig deeper into the character's relationship more through the college years in order to better understand the friend dynamics as adults.

Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight is another masterful thriller set in both the present and in the past. The present storyline revolves around a group of friends gathered at a remote vacation home. The past storyline is about the same group of friends when they all met in college. The decisions these friends made in college directly correlate to their present lives. Secrets abound in this novel! Read and enjoy!

Friends Like These
Published September 7
by Kimberly McCreight
Published by HarperCollins
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/  4.5 star rating

A group of college friends from Vassar, 10 years later meet in the mountains for a bachelor party which is really an intervention to get one of the friends to go to rehab.  During college, something traumatic happens and they all agree to keep it a secret.  This wasn't just a little something it was a BIG something.  Morals and lines were crossed, secrets kept that would weigh on anyone's conscience for years to come.  I can not begin to tell you how much I love stories that begin or revolve around academia.  The points of view rotate between the friends and one unknown person who seems to be watching and knows their secrets but their agenda is not made clear.  The setting definitely has a locked room/isolated location feel and I absolutely love those.

Once at the mountain house, the police get involved because one of the friends was found dead in their car while another person who was in the vehicle is missing.  The identity of these people will not be revealed until much much later.  The timeline switches from past to present and there are many twisty plots.  Moral lines will have to be drawn again as a collective group, but there are many secrets that are being kept from each other as well.  But since it is all about protecting friendship and loyalty it is totally okay, right? (Sarcasm) Really bad judgment and character flaws follow this group like a black cloud.  The suspense closer to the end is nerve-wracking as you find out which friend is dead and who killed them.  It just doesn't end there all things come full circle as the pieces are put together like the most intricate puzzle by one very clever detective.  Somehow she is able to piece together the truth from all the lies she has been told.  I like that the story explored the dark side of friendship and makes you wonder even if you have known someone for years do you ever really know them???
I felt like the writing was so clever and how it all came together at the end giving the reader a satisfying conclusion, which I like.  It also had lots of twisty parts at the end that took me by surprise, which I love too.  I like not being able to guess how it all ends.

Friends Like These has a hard path to follow as Kimberly McCreight's last novel, A Good Marriage was a smash and an amazing thriller. (I'm still thinking about it!) Anyway--Friends Like These are good, an interesting exploration of (very) toxic friendships and the fallout that follows. It isn't as strong as A Good Marriage, but it's a solid thriller that will definitely appeal to psychological thriller fans (like me!) I expect this to lead readers to McCreight's backlist and especially A Good Marriage and Reconstructing Amelia. Highly recommended!

I was super excited for this one as the premise sounded so great about a group of longtime friends and tones of secrets, drama and murder!

I’m typically a fan of multiple POVs and alternating timelines but unfortunately I found this one a little confusing. The abundance of characters also didn’t help while trying to decipher what was really going on.

While it was pretty suspenseful at times, it is definitely a slow burn type of thriller! I will say that I certainly did not see that ending coming though, so bonus points for that!

3.5 stars rounded to 4 for goodreads

I am usually not a fan of a lot of multiple points of view in books but this one was well done. I didn’t get lost and the characters were very well developed. Friends Like These is a fast paced thriller you’ll have a hard time putting down. The mystery is solid and I really enjoyed the setting and the characters. Kimberly’s books are great for leaving subtle clues along the way and this book is no exception. This would make a great book club read, buddy read or a great book to take along on a short vacation.

True friends?. They are the kind of people you can pick up the phone at 3 am, tell them you need help, and they will JUST SHOW UP. No questions, you know you can count on them. That’s part of the premise of Kimberly McKreight’s Friends Like These, in which 5 long-time friends from college days at Vassar gather at a house in the Catskills for a “bachelor party” which is really an intervention...but I’m getting ahead of things here.

Back in college, a group of friends had a shared tragedy in two parts: someone died when they were all together and, later, one of the group committed suicide. Coincidence? HA! Not in a Kimberly McKreight book! After college, the friends have mostly remained close, they have all stayed mostly in the Northeast, and all have had various challenges: Jonathan is fabulously wealthy (or at least his family is) but can’t quite break free from fear of Daddy’s disapproval, Kevin is an addict but still successful (or is he?), Maeve has apparently survived her very sad upbringing, and Stephanie is -- well, she is the golden girl, but still has to deal with the issues faced by any young, gorgeous female attorney.

The story jumps from one character to another, and at times, it’s not entirely clear who is “talking,” but we get to know this group well, and there are clues along the way to what really happened back then, and what is happening now. Despite everything they seem to have an unbreakable bond created through a shared tragedy.. As the weekend rolls on, we have lies,, drugs, unrequited love, jealousy, infidelity, murder and a lot of family dysfunction. There’s a good-sized twist at the end, which I didn’t see coding--but then, I rarely do. I tend to just roll with whatever and enjoy the ride. And I enjoyed this one a lot. Thanks to Harper/NetGalley for a copy in exchange for this honest review. Four stars.

Kimberly McCreight is turning into an author where I only like every other book she writes. This one didn’t grab me and I honestly could barely finish it. Definitely recommend some of her other titles, just not this one.

When a group of college friends get together for an impromptu bachelor weekend, their sordid past is brought to light, as well as their unfortunate recent misdoings.

Fully immersive, twisty, and fun. McCreight does a great job of hooking you from page one! While the jumping timelines and multiple POVs were confusing at first, McCreight did a great job at weaving them together to create a great mystery.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this book for an honest review. Kimberly McCreight does a wonderful job with this gripping new novel. This is a story of betrayal and murder and it was fast paced. It really does leave you wondering how well do you know your friends. I enjoyed this book and it was a great read.

With friends like these who needs enemies? The friends in this book are extremely interesting and intriguing. I was stumped on this mystery until the last page wondering how it would come together. I loved it.

I've always enjoyed Kimberly McCreight's books and this one was no different! This was a decent thriller that kept me guessing just who exactly did what throughout. There were a couple characters that pissed me off--in a good way--and I held out hope for others until the very end. It was fast-paced, angsty, and I could not put it down!

Friends like These is a wild, multi layered psychological thriller that pulls you in and leaves you asking for more. Page after page the story changes, leaving you question what you just read and what will happen next. The unexpected twists in the story are unique and go directions you’ll never see coming. This group of friends that met at Vassar college appears so polished and put together. They’re successful , rich and share an unbreakable bond created through a shared tragedy.. What lies beneath the surface is unexpected and intriguing. Deception, drugs, unrequited love, jealousy, infidelity, murder and family dysfunction. The perfect ingredients for an unputdownable story! The plot twist at the end, WOW! Totally unexpected and everything I didn’t know I needed to wrap up this thriller! . 5 stars! An absolute must read.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an egalley for review. With the popularity of true crime podcasts, this one has a great hook, line and sinker. Privileged weekenders stage an intervention that goes terribly wrong at a vacation home that has ties to a hidden past. Red herrings and dead ends abound through this book which the reader flies through, just to see who is who and who is pretending.

An enjoyable read, for sure, but something about the resolution felt...swishy? insincere? too easy? I would have liked to see something a bit more, is what I'm saying, though everything was going well until then.

I've loved everything by Kimberly McCreight, and her latest novel doesn't disappoint. Kimberly McCreight is the queen of taking you down a road where you think you know where you're going and then completely blindsiding you. I love the premise of college friends getting together for a reunion, and each character is well defined and interesting. Secrets, lies, a tragic and traumatic event...this group of friends is complex and will keep you turning the pages. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper for providing me with an advance e-copy of this incredibly twisty and entertaining novel!

Full of twists and turns, and with a tough as nails female detective at its center, Kimberly McCreight's gripping new novel FRIENDS LIKE THESE, a tale of betrayal and murder, is going to be one of the top thrillers of the fall; unputdownable, fast paced, and full of red herrings, It truly does leave you wondering how well you know your own friends....And the ending gave me goosebumps!

The novel revolves around a group of 5 college friends who are keeping a dark secret of something that happened 10 years ago, and a reunion in the Catskills while holding an intervention for their drug addicted friend leads to chaos when a dead body is discovered. I loved this book, and fans of domestic thrillers are going to eat this one up.

5 incredible stars for Ms. McCreight’s latest effort, and believe me, she had big shoes to fill, A GOOD MARRIAGE was one of my top 10 reads in 2020!