This was a difficult one. The writing was superb but the plot didn't show up until near the half way point. So, while I was enjoying the writing I had no idea what the point of the story wad for waaaay too long which was frustrating. After that, nothing really happened until the eighty percent mark. No twists, no reveals. The ending was good.

A real page Turner,with a twist at the end .Loved all the description of the characters throughout the book,kept the reader interested in the story with its twist and turns.Definatly I'll recomed it to family and friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this eARC of Best Friends Forever by Shannon Hollinger. This was my first book from this author and I really enjoyed her writing style. This was a fast-paced thriller with no lack of plot twists. I enjoyed how the "now" chapters are written in first person from Kate's perspective and the "then" chapters are in italics and written in third person point of view.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

After high school graduation, Kate saw her best friend Emma kill a man named Brad who she was friends with. After the group of friends got their stories straight and talked with the police, Kate left down and didn't come back for 10 years. The only reason why she rushed back home was because she got a phone call from her sister, Lily, who has selective mutism. So Kate drops everything, leaves her car title for her roommates to sell toward her portion of rent, and flies home. (I found this scenario very unrealistic. She just hadn't gone home to even visit her Mom or sister for 10 years? Then with one phone call with nothing but breathing on the other end, she rushes back home?).

Then when Kate is back, she finds that her mother was recovering from a broken hip and then after being in town for 2 days, Emma is found dead. Kate is able to somehow request a copy of her autopsy report and believes that Emma was murdered. She buddies up with a cop who was also in their friend group in high school and is working to investigate what happened to Emma. She then finds that homeless men had been being murdered throughout the last 10 years and is convinced that Emma had been killing them.

I thought for sure that I had figured out who the killer was halfway through the book, but I was very wrong. When I got to the end and found out the truth, I wasn't totally shocked, but it still was a good twist.

My reason for not giving this book a 5 star review is because I wasn't crazy about the ending. When I say there was so much going on in this book, there was SO MUCH. Even though it was entertaining, it felt like too many different things going on at once. A serial killer on the loose, a rapist in town, childhood sexual assault, a secret sibling from an affair, a stalker, and a murderer who couldn't remember committing the crime... I felt like there wasn't a need to add so many different dramatic (and traumatic) scenarios. It also didn't sit right with me that *one of* the killers in this book literally got away with it and never confessed or took accountability for the crime that they committed. Also wasn't crazy about the fact that Kate was friends with Brad for two reasons: 1- he was a grown adult in his 30's or 40's hanging out with high school kids and 2- if she really was his friend, why did she never tell the truth about what truly happened to him? 

I genuinely enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it! I guess just trying to process it all after reading it and writing it down, there are just some things in the plot that were either unnecessary or just didn't sit well with me. 

#BestFriendsForever #NetGalley

this is authors first book, and it is so good twisty gripping and very addictive read in a day, Kate leaves her hometown and never wants to go back she leaves her mum and sister Lilly. but once she loved her hometown, she had best friends, and one was like a sister {Emma] one Kate s graduation night something happened that changed Kate and her sisters Lilly who never spoke again, but one morning Kate s phone goes, and she knows it's her sister on other end, so Kate gets the first flight home. then something happens, and everything changes and who can Kate trust won't say no more but so good i so recommend this book.

Best friends forever. For the first half a dozen chapters, or maybe 1st third of the book, I had no real direction of where the story was going. It was written well and interesting to have flash backs of something traumatic that happened in the past. But didn't know what we we're trying to solve just yet.
Finally it becomes clear that the best friend died suspiciously and we need to know what really happened and who did it. The book really picked up at about the 80% mark on my kindle when the first of the big twists came. Then the ending. Wow didn't see that coming. It was good and glad finished vs stopping and not coming back.

I had high hopes for the book based on the synopsis, but it fell a bit flat for me. The story line starts off slow. I had a hard time keeping interest in what I was reading. The storyline does eventually begin to pick up the pace, but it takes awhile to get there. Once the story begins moving, it is a good read.

Thrilling! So many twists and turns that will keep you guessing about what really happened and who to trust. I have found another new favorite author and can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley, Shannon Hollinger and bookouture for hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. The reviews for this book were rather high, but I did not find this book in the same regards as those reviewers. It was very slow. I ended up jumping ahead like 4 hours and then it got good. Could be a good book if she cut out some of the middle. The ending was def a shock! overall, very average.

Shannon Hollinger took me on a TRIP - wow. This is my first novel by her, and it definitely won't be my last. I thought I had this fingered out, but boy was I wrong. Best Friends Forever started out a little slower than I like... But all in all this was a fast read. I was turning pages like a mad lady once I got towards the middle of the book. I LITERALLY felt the emotions of Kate. I appreciated the chapters being short and sweet - especially the flashback chapters. It made me want to read more, & get to the bottom of what really happened that night.

I did NOT expect that ending at ALL. Majority of the novels I read being thriller/mystery, I'm pretty good at figuring out the big bang in most novels, but NOT this one. Shannon did and excellent job of taking me around town and spinning me around. By the time I closed "Best Friends Forever" I was staring at my wall thinking "wow....."

Quick Plot:
10 years is a long time to disconnect yourself from your past to try to forget the worst night of your life. Well... That's exactly what Kate did, after witnessing her best friend Emma hovering over a dead body with a blood covered rock. It traumatized her sister, and embedded fear in Kate. So she did what she thought was best... She ran. For 10 years Kate was convinced Emma did it. Until fate forced her to come back to her hometown to face her uncomfortable childhood. A string of murders exactly like the one in the woods 10 years ago have been occurring every year.

Was it Emma? Was her best friend a serial killer?


Thank you Bookouture and Shannon Hollinger sending me “Best Friends Forever” for an honest review!

Best Friends Forever by Shannon Hollinger is a fast-paced suspense novel that builds slowly keeping the reader guessing the entire way!

The dual-timeline makes for an even interesting story.
It kept me interested throughout as I needed to see what was going to happen.
I truly enjoyed the pacing of the story and the well written characters kept me wanting more.
This has all the ingredients for a good thriller
My first time reading this author and I thought the story was written very well.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Bookouture,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

Kate witnessed her best friend Emma kill someone and get away with it. This traumatic event led Kate to move away from her hometown. Ten years later, Kate comes back home and starts investigating multiple murders, believing that Emma is a serial killer responsible for the murders.

The beginning was very slow and quite dramatic. We were told that something terrible happened, but the flashbacks to the event were very repetitive and didn’t really hint towards any new information.

The content matter in this book was definitely adult level, but the storyline was kind of immature, if that makes sense. It read like it was written for a younger audience, even though the content is not for a younger audience.

I’m not a fan of mystery/thrillers where the main character tries to solve murder cases. I always find the plot is a bit silly and far fetched. I was not a fan of the main character, Kate. I found her quite unlikeable.

The ending was not surprising, and I was quite disappointed by it.

Overall, it was alright. It just didn’t keep me very engaged.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a rollercoaster. Once you get into the plot, it flies! It was disturbing and twisty and I had a great time!

oh WOW. about halfway through reading, i was sure that i had guessed how the book was going to end. i was completely wrong. this was a compelling, engaging thriller with twists that left me shocked. i loved the author's writing style as well.

A fast paced read that hooked me right from the start and kept me gripped all the way through. The twists and tuen kept me guessing too.

Best Friends Forever was a first time read by the author Shannon Hollinger and if this book is anything to go by, it will not be my last. I love a good mystery, add to that some really unreliable, two faced, dishonest characters and our main character Kate whom has gone through a serious trauma and maybe isn't remembering everything as it was. Yes, I was hooked, line and sinker!

I don't want to talk about any of the characters (No spoilers here!!), this book is a little hard going. Namely as Kate is suffering from depression (Definitely) and anxiety (Probably a definite too), she feels a lot of guilt for everything that happened. But what really did happen? Although a little slow at the start, I was drawn in by Kate and her family/friends. She isn't one of my favourite types of characters to read but Shannon (Author) made her real to me and I empathised a lot with her. The story all of a sudden takes off and boy what a ride. Did I work out who did it? Actually in partial yes and fairly early on. But did I work out everything? No. And that's why I enjoyed this book. I love a book that surprises me! All the neat ends where tied up, I don't think I was left with any unanswered questions either.

A solid mystery thriller with a good story and characters you will love to hate. Who can you trust? You'll just have to read it to see. I read Best Friends Forever over 2 days and couldn't put it down. A solid 4 stars, I highly recommend this one!

Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for this advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Do we really know our best friends like we think we, do , in this fast pace thriller it goes to show that no matter how hard we think we know someone, we really don't, and maybe that's a good thing in the every end , murder, secrets, lies , it all comes out no matter what or how far you think you can ran from it . And when you think you have it figured out , you find out how wrong you are . Twist and turns that will have your head spinning as well as bitting your nails .

a great fast paced thriller that kept me turning the pages until the very end. Never read a book fast enough. Finished it in two days. Highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Ten years ago, Kate’s life was changed in an instant when she witnessed a horrifying scene: her best friend Emma standing over a dead body with a bloody rock in her hand. Although she couldn’t bear to turn her friend in, Kate fled their small town. When Kate returns, she thinks she will finally get closure, but shortly after she gets back, a shocking death occurs. As Kate tries to unravel the past as well as the current death, she finds herself in increasing danger as someone else out there is intent on keeping her from finding out the truth.

This dual-timeline thriller is a real page turner! I started this book at bedtime and I should NOT have done that, because next thing I knew, it was 2:00 in the morning and I was already halfway through. The plot really kept me guessing, with almost every character being shady or suspicious in some way. That made the reveal of the guilty party a total surprise and extremely satisfying!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me an advance copy of this book.

This book starts off with a bang but I did feel it took a while for me to really get into it after such an abruptly dramatic opening! And once I did get into it, I just couldn't put it down. The characters felt original and didn't just make stupid choices and idiotic leaps in order to just drag the book out another 100 pages. I liked the dual timeliness and multiple pov and although Kate was a bit pessimistic at times, that's still a pretty personality trait to have so why not! I absolutely did not see the twists and turns coming. I do get a bit put off by books set in small towns where the author tries too hard to make everyone in the place seem suspicious and ominous but that wasn't done too blatantly in this book thankfully so it could be forgiven. If you want something that will make you wonder just how well you really know anyone then this is the perfect thriller for you

This one had my head spinning! The storyline was engaging and really pulls you in, with the suspense level increasing as the story progresses.
The characters are realistic and believable, and you can certainly feel yourself sharing in their emotions throughout.