I did not enjoy this book. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and the story was very meandering and anticlimactic. I love the idea of following the relationship of two friends over time, but this one just was not successful.

Not sure how I feel about this one. I didn't hate it as much as other readers did, but I also didn't like it either. It was fine. Nothing much happens. It is pretty much a story about two women's friendship with each other, the ebbs and flows of their relationship. It was a fast read due to the majority of the book being dialogue. I didn't mind the no quotations thing. It was pretty easy to figure out who was speaking, especially when you come to realize that Bella is the more cautious one and Kate is more rebellious and outgoing one.

What I didn't like is how the book is marketed as dark and suspenseful. There is nothing along those lines that would ever make me think that. There was only one hint of something bad, which was kind of only talked around, and even then the events didn't really make sense.

The Best Friend follows Kate (charming, gregarious, thoughtless?) and Bella (reserved, focused, thoughtful?) over the course of their 75+ year friendship (yes, really). It’s billed as a thriller, and it certainly is dark and foreboding, but it’s really more of an in-depth examination of a (toxic?) female friendship. Ms. Fellowes commented has said that female friendships at a certain age can almost be precursors to romantic relationships and I think that hits the nail on the head - if you’re a woman, you’ve probably had that friend or friends with whom your friendship has bordered on the edge of too much. If you can relate to that, you can relate to this book.

Fair warning: this book has an interesting writing style. There are no quotation marks in conversations, and that can be a bit confusing. But once you get into the flow of the book, I promise you don’t notice.

This book is unsettling and dark and a great exploration of complicated female friendships. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for a review copy of The Best Friend, I only made it about half way through this one and had to stop. The format was really not easy to follow and the story lacked movement. It was just not the style or story for me.

Kate and Bella have been best friends since they met in school. As is often the case, they have very different personalities, but seem to complement each other. But there are long periods of time when the friends don’t speak to each other, because of hurtful actions that just can’t be overlooked. However, they always seem to come back together.

This was an interesting book covering a lifetime friendship. At the end, I was left wondering how balanced the relationship was, and if it was a friendship worth hanging onto.

I received The Best Friend in exchange for an honest review.

A good friendship has benefits. But can it have costs too? Looking into female friendship over a lifetime, The Best Friend follows Bella and Kate, with chapters giving glimpses of ages six, nine, fourteen, seventeen, thirty-one, forty-two, seventy-seven, seventy-nine, and eighty-two. Many of the chapters are dialogue between the two characters. The first chapters are very short, as the reader starts figuring out who these characters are. As the characters age into their thirties and forties, the chapters get a bit longer allowing the reader to get a better understanding of who each character is, just as the maturing characters are learning who they are.
The writing does not use quotation marks, although the dialogue is only between two people at a time (typically between Bella and Kate), so the reader can follow who was speaking without too much effort. The book is fast paced which I really enjoyed, but I continued to think about it each time I set it down between sessions. I was lucky enough to participate in a zoom with the author the night before publishing, and I really enjoyed hearing her backstory behind certain pieces of the book. If you enjoy reading about female friendships, I think you’ll enjoy this one. Thanks to St Martin's Press Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion - The Best Friend is available now!

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first book I've read by Jessica Fellowes and I was captivated by her writing style. It's very unique and could be confusing at first, but once I got into the groove, I was in for a wild ride! Bella and Kate's friendship is complex and this book was definitely a slow burn filled with obsession, dark secrets, and crazy suspense!

Highly recommend this interesting thriller!

I didn’t love this one. It felt like a book about a toxic friendship and codependency between the two.

What I thought would be an interesting read about childhood best friends turned out to be long and drawn out. I really struggled to finish this one and gave it an extra start as it was my first read from this Author.
Thank you to Netgalley, SMP Minotaur and the Author, Jessica Fellowes for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Oof this missed the mark. I don't know what the point of it was. I couldn't connect with the characters (who honestly felt the exact same) and I kept picking up other books to read until I finally gave up on this one and will not be finishing it.

Unfortunately this was extremely challenging to read. The text had no quotation marks for the characters and it was very difficult to follow along. I had to DNF half way through :/

A very odd and confusing book in a format that left me scratching my head in places, and missing clarity on the relationship between Bella and Kate, who were both rather unlikeable characters. Not a great read.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and Jessica Fellowes for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to like this book, and I had such high hopes for it..unfortunately I had a really hard time getting into the story line and connecting with the characters. It was also very confusing at times with how the dialogue was written without quotation marks so you had a hard time figuring out who was actually speaking...

This was a 2.5 star read for me but while this was not the book for me, you might end up loving it!

This was a DNF for me. I couldn't get past the way the dialogue was written in the first few chapters.

The Best Friend by Jessica Fellowes is my first book by this author. Although I wasn’t sure I wanted to finish this one, I am very glad I did! The writing is different, the dialogue is unmarked, but after reading a few chapters I adapted and enjoyed the storyline. A story about two friends with a toxic relationship! Ms. Fellowes writes an intense story filled with secrets, tension, heartbreak and tragedy. A little blizzard and dark but I encourage all to keep reading about these two friends, I enjoyed it at the end.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press Influencers, Minotaur Books and Jessica Fellowes for an advanced copy of this distinctively written book in exchange for my honest opinion.
#netgalley #minotaurbooks #stmartinspressinfluencer #jessicafellowes ##thebestfriend. #arc

The Best Friend is a beautifully written testament to all the joys and angst, and above all, love, which are the hallmarks of an enduring friendship of women who are as close as sisters, perhaps closer. At several points in their lives, the two friends went years, decades even, without any communication at all - they had truly given up on each other. Then, inevitably, they are reunited, for it seems love is truly capable of withstanding the greatest heartbreak, which in turn, is the catalyst for an enduring bond. I enjoyed this heart wrenching tale immensely.

A note on the formatting: Many reviews have remarked on the author’s choice to not use quotation marks, with disdain. I didn’t find it bothersome at all, In fact, I found it to be a useful tool in engaging the reader’s attention and immersion in the storyline.

My gratitude to NetGalley, Jessica Fellowes, and St. Martin's press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest and wholly independent opinion.

Kate and Bella had been best friends in school. But before graduation, Kate and her parents had to move away suddenly. Kate promised to write when they got to their new place, but she never did. Bella was quite hurt at the loss of her good friend.

Years later, Bella learns that Kate is an actress in a play and attends her performance. There they meet up and renew their friendship. Now, Kate is married to Alex with an older stepson and a son named Charlie. Bella is married to David and Mom to a daughter, Georgie.

David has a way of taking off for days at a time without saying where he is going. Frustrated at that, Kate invites her and Georgie to stay with them so when David returns, he can worry about where she is. Bella enjoys her time there and is busy with her portrait painting at which she is very talented.

But the two women end up at a crossroads again and go their separate ways. They stay apart for many years and it is at the end of their lives that they connect again.

This is a very “different” story and quite poignant in so many ways. We all make mistakes along the way in our lives as both of these women did. But it is a life lived and their story. Well done.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Touted as a thriller, this book did not even come close to that genre for me. Instead it was more domestic drama with a tad of suspense that was hidden until over halfway through the book. Covering the friendship between Bella and Kate from early childhood until they are elderly, this book was puzzling at times and frustrating at others. The most frustrating part was trying to figure out who was talking to whom because there are no quotation marks. This might be a new trend but it just didn’t work for me because more often than not, I had to flip back a few pages to try to figure out who was actually speaking. Not only was that annoying, it also took away from the enjoyment of the story itself. This is a slow-burning domestic drama, with the emphasis on the word slow. Filled with lies and manipulation, I felt played myself into believing that the book was a thriller and that part would be revealed at any moment. This novel does not lend itself to either a smoothly flowing plot or likable characters. The plot was more like some kind of staccato style, and it seemed to be hit or miss whether I understood what was happening or not. Instead of being a thriller, this book was more of a puzzle to me. Described as a book about female friendship that becomes toxic, it seemed more to be a study of how to alienate your friends and end up bitter and broken. This is not an uplifting or light read and although somewhat entertaining, it is not one that held me enthralled and eager to continue to read. It seemed more like an onerous task that I had to complete because I was committed to do so.
2.5 stars, rounded up because of the thought I could see that was put into creation of the book. But again, seriously, no quotation marks!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Minotaur via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

The synopsis of this book held so much promise for me but I had a hard time connecting to the charachters and found myself backtracking too often. The dynamic was so odd between Bella and Kate. I'm willing to read more from this author but this one wasn't for me.

I am very grateful for the chance to read this book but it is not for me. It was hard to follow, especially the dialogue. The two women were very similar despite the fact that they were supposed to be opposites. You may love this!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author, and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for the gifted ebook. ❤️