Keep Your Friends Close
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Leah Konen

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and G.P. Putnam & Sons and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Isolated and embroiled in a custody battle, Mary needs a friend more than ever. When she meets the charming and enigmatic Willa at a Brooklyn playground, the women’s connection feels fated. Finally, she has someone on her side. During a margarita-fueled moms’ night out, though, Mary shares her darkest secret about her ex, George, and Willa simply disappears. No calls, no texts, nothing. 

Two months later, Mary’s divorce is almost finalized, and she’s trying to build a new life for her son in upstate New York. On her first day in town, she runs into Willa…only Willa’s name is Annie now, and she’s got an entirely new family in tow. When George turns up dead and Mary becomes the prime suspect, she has no choice but to turn to her only friend in Willa.

As coincidences—and evidence—pile up, Mary begins to wonder whether Willa had something to do with George’s death. Is the other woman a friend or a foe, a confidante or just a con? Mary must uncover the truth before she loses everything.

My Thoughts: This book was described as Strangers on a Train meets The Family Next Door and that is absolutely an apt description of the story. This face paced thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat. Mary is knee deep in a custody battle with her ex-husband, who has money, attorneys, and power behind him. Finally, she meets a woman, Willa, whom she can relate to and spill her problems too. In a drunk fueled night, Willa shares her deepest desire for her ex-husband to Willa. Shortly after, Willa just disappears. A few months later, when the divorce is finalized and they are just working not the custody agreement, Mary runs into Willa, now Annie, in another part of New York. George ends up dead and Mary is suspect number one. As Mary is shifting through all of the evidence and coincidences in her mind, she is wondering if Willa had something to do with George’s death.

The story is narrated by Mary and Willa, in their respective perspectives. Mary is strong, fiercely independent, honest, and focused on her son’s happiness. Willa was a captivating character. Willa embodied independence, strength, and comes across as caring and is very charismatic. Willa has secrets and will do almost anything to protect those secrets. The characters were well developed with depth, charisma, mystery, and were absolutely intriguing. The author’s writing style was complex, twisty, suspenseful, compelling, unpredictable, and brilliant. The characters were built up, character backstory was established, and the plot was delivered in twisty layers with an explosive ending.

I have read thousands of books, my genre is mainly thriller and romance. Since I have read so many, I can usually spot the plot points a mile away, however, this one had some unpredictability for me, which I loved. One of the first thrillers in a while that closed up all plot holes and left nothing unturned. This thriller was gripping, compelling, captivating, twisty, and had me on the edge of my seat until the very last word. This is my first Konen novel but it will not be my last. Konen is a brilliant mastermind at weaving twists throughout the story, and even when you think the last twist is embedded, boom there is another one. I highly recommend picking up this explosive popcorn psychological domestic thriller, or borrowing from your local library.

Keep Your Friends Close will have you wondering how well you really know your friends. This is my first Leah Konen book, but certainly not the last!

"Keep Your Friends Close" by Leah Konen is a gripping and suspenseful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The story follows a group of friends who are forced to confront their darkest secrets and betrayals when a mysterious figure threatens to expose their past. With twists and turns at every corner, Konen expertly weaves a tale of friendship, trust, and deception that will leave readers guessing.

Pokes good clean fun at millennial parenting and the culture of rich Brooklynites. Konen knows how to build suspense, keep her readers turning the pages, and suffer from whiplash when reveals get shared. Had a great time reading this thriller, and am looking forward to her next. Five stars for suspense and the ability to keep me guessing!

This was a decent story, but it could have been much more. Mary is a young mother, divorcing her rich husband. She has no friends and so when Willa shows interest at a playground one day, Mary jumps at the chance to make a friend. They hang out a few times and after too many margaritas, Mary confesses something dark about her husband and the next day Willa disappears.

It’s several months and further into Mary’s divorce, when she sees someone who looks exactly like Willa. She denies it’s her, but why would she lie?

This was a fun book, but the audio got confusing with different POVs. Still very entertaining.

Thank you @putnambooks for my gifted ARC.

I came very close to not finishing this book because it took me several tries to get interested in the story. Once it became interesting I was able to finish it but was not one that kept me compelled to sit and read for a long period of time. It felt like the author was trying too hard to make sure you couldn't solve the puzzle of who did it. It would have been better to build the characters a little better and get you more invested in what you hoped happened. Overall I wouldn't really recommend this book. It was a bit hard to follow with the back and forth in time line. Thank you too the author, publisher, and Netgallery for the advanced copy. I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Separated from her husband, George, and embroiled in a tense custody battle over their 2-year old, Mary needs a friend to support her now more than ever. She realizes, as she tries to put her life back together, that over time she's become estranged from the friends she had before she and George married. He took over her life. He changed her. She feels very alone.

It's at this low point when Mary happens to meet Willa at a playground in her Brooklyn neighborhood. Mary has never connected with another Mom organically like this before, so it feels a bit fated. Willa seems equally receptive. The two become fast friends and Mary feels like she finally has someone she can confide in about everything she is currently going through.

One night though, after too many margaritas, Mary says some things about George that she later regrets. It seems too have turned Willa off as well, because after that night, Mary doesn't hear from her again. Willa ghosted her.

A couple of months later, fed up with all things Brooklyn and with their divorce almost finalized, Mary decides she needs a completely fresh start. She travels to a town halfway between NYC and her hometown, where her family still lives. She figures this will be a fair middle ground when sharing custody of Alex. It's there that she bumps into Willa again, only Willa pretends not to know who she is. Oh yeah, and she claims her name isn't Willa, she's Annie. What the heck is going on? Mary feels like she's losing her mind.

Things go from bad to worse, when George tracks her down to try to win her back. Mary doesn't want any of this. She just wants a new life.
When George turns up dead shortly thereafter, Mary quickly becomes the prime suspect. With no one else to turn to, Mary seeks out Willa again for help. As new evidence comes to light, Mary starts to wonder just how well she really knows Willa, if at all. Is she friend, foe, or something much, much worse? Mary needs to figure it out ASAP before she loses even more than she already has!

Keep Your Friends Close is an entertaining and fast-paced Domestic Thriller. Konen kept the drama high throughout, so it's easy to fly through. You want to get to the truth. I liked the back and forth between Then and Now sections as the full scope of Mary's relationship with Willa, as well as the dissolution of her marriage are presented to the Reader. I actually really enjoyed getting to know Mary.

I think Konen did a great job of keeping me at the edge of my seat with short chapters and several mini-reveals. Just when I thought it was starting to come together, something else would come up that would leave me scratching my head. I also appreciated getting Willa's perspective a bit as well. That helped to fill in some of the finer details of what all had happened in this messed up friendship.

I will say towards the end, it did start to get a little convoluted, IMO. It definitely toed the line into the dreaded, 'one twist too many' territory. However, the ultimate conclusion did leave me satisfied. I would recommend this to Readers who enjoy Thriller, or Suspense stories, involving complicated Female Friendships. Bonus if you love a Twisted Domestic Drama. This one definitely went there as well.

Thank you, G.P. Putnam's Sons, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I enjoyed this and am definitely planning to read more from Leah Konen!

1 star for me. I found the book predictable and it didn’t hold my interest. Took me 9 days to read it.

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam, Leah Konan, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and honestly review this book.

Keep your friends close one of my favorite reads for 2024. This was my first book by Leah and it would definitely recommend any other books by her. I loved her writing style and it kept me guessing to that. I would give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Overall I enjoyed this domestic suspense mystery. I thought it was predictable at times, but just when you thought the murder had been solved, there was a twist. I enjoyed that aspect of it.

The characters were not very likeable, aside from the main character. The pace was good and it was a good page-turner.

I found the plot turned too preachy at times. There was a hatred of men (mostly understandable), but the plot kept referring to the rich and how it all wasn't fair - there were just too many references that made it noticeable and distracting.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an e-copy of KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE to review.

I rate KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE three out of five stars.

Leah Konen is a new author for me. I received an advance reader copy of her latest novel, Keep Your Friends Close and I was hooked from page one. Mary and Willa are two mothers in Brooklyn who become friends as Mary is going through a difficult divorce from her uber wealthy husband. The two women become fast friends and Mary confides her deepest secrets to Willa who abruptly ghosts her. Two months later Mary has relocated to a small town in upstate New York when she stumbles across Willa, who has a whole new identity. A murder mystery is also thrown into the mix and the twist and turns are abundant. This is a really good psychological thriller and it reminded me a bit of one of my favorite authors, Carola Lovering. I will definitely be reading Konen's previous work after finishing this five star read. Thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Great thriller released in advance of Summer! I enjoyed the way the story unfolded and learning how Mary and Willa became friends. While the book revealed plenty of information to keep characters realistic, it also kept you guessing on who would be a murderer. I truly felt for Mary at many points in the story, so well done on character development. I also loved the "character" of the locations both NYC and Woodstock. It was a fun read on the uber rich and the mindsets they hold. It also reads like a feminist piece of the ways that women make men's lives that much easier and how much they might not notice until we're gone. Love how it touches on the pain point of being lonely and the ways we might be manipulated in order to form new connections with both friendships and lovers.

I really enjoyed the twists of this book!
Mary should probably be a little less trusting of those around her.

Willa could have been a better friend.
Cassandra needed help and while her friends helped her one could have helped more.

I need to check out other books by this author.

3.5 ⭐️

This one was twisty! It had me guessing right until the end. It was fun reading from the POV of two characters in two different timelines. But, I didn’t love the characters and had a hard time getting through some of the chapters having to do with gaslighting and arguing due to a messy divorce. Not something I really enjoy reading.

Overall, it was a book that hooked me and kept me reading until the last page.

Mary is struggling through divorce and just looking for a friend- enter Willa. Willa seems picked from a movie to be friends with Mary. However, one night the women go drinking and Mary shares her deepest secret. The next day Willa is gone, totally ghosting Mary. Once her divorce is finalized Mary visits a small town and swears she sees Willa; however, she looks different and goes by another name. Things get weirder when Mary's ex-husband is found dead. Could Willa have been involved and does this have to do with Mary's secret?

While I didn't love both woman this was a quick, easy feed. I was sympathetic to the characters and shocked by the ending.

Unfortunately this book did not work for me. I have enjoyed many of her other books but this one missed the mark. The plot was generic with no twist to add to it. I would say to read some of her other books, they are great. Thank you to Netgalley and the author for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The saying goes to keep your friends close and your enemies closer, which is very good advice, but what if you don’t realize a person is your enemy until the evidence is staring you in the face? Thank you net galley and the pubisher for an arc in exchange for a review

Mary was way to Pathetic to ever root for. i was not feeling it. this book did keep me interested but overall there is nothing that will keep me going back to her books for more!

Female con artist? Sign me up!

Mary is getting a divorce from her Uber rich husband, when things begin to go amiss for her. She meets Willa, seemingly very nice but has some skeletons in her closet. They become fast friends, and than blam, everyone’s lives are falling apart!

I wasn’t a huge fan of Mary’s character, bit of a cry baby. I enjoyed Willa much more and always looked forward to her chapters. The author shifted between their POVs and past/present timelines, seamlessly. I didn’t feel like there was too much jumping around. The time lines made sense when read side by side.

If you like the female con artist and her unlikely “friend,” this is good!!

This was a fast-paced read. The chapters alternate between the pov’s of Mary and Willa’s. I found the shifting timelines and perspectives difficult to follow. I still enjoyed the book overall.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.