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.

Leah Konen’s Keep Your Friends Close opens on a murder, but we don’t know who has been killed or by whom. The novel then proceeds through a series of chapters written in the first person, alternating between past and present and two narrators. One, Mary, is in the process of divorcing her rich husband George, who threatens to keep her in line by seeking sole custody of their two-year-old son. The second, Willa, we come to learn, seeks out rich men with kids for her security,

Willa and Mary become friends after meeting in a park where Mary takes her son to play. After a drunken night, Mary confides her marital problems to Willa, who subsequently ghosts her. Mary later
runs into Willa in Woodstock, where she now goes by the name of Annie and is living with another rich man and his daughter.

The pace picks up substantially after Mary’s husband George is murdered, and she becomes the prime suspect, leaving her with only Willa/Annie to turn to. Wise decision or big mistake? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

My problem with the novel is not its pacing. It’s a quick read and holds your interest. Rather, my issue is with the characters and their lack of depth. The three women in the novel (Mary, her former sister-in-law Cassandra, and Willa) are all dislikable as they share the trait of being wholly dependent on the rich abusive men in their lives, whether for financial or psychological reasons. As for the men, (Mary’s husband George, his brother Henry and Willa’s boyfriends) are all one-dimensional jerks. While there are inklings of female empowerment that occur towards the end of the book, the transformation happens way too easily to feel genuine. 3.0 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary eARC of this book.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I’m backlogged with my ARC’s but working diligently to get caught up. This book felt like one deception after another! The story is told mainly for the two female characters points of view and definitely had unreliable narrators at points. As sad as it is, much of this book felt very realistic, I wish I could say my personal experience of most people has been completely different. If you’re thinking about making new mommy friends, you might think twice after reading this! I would recommend to anyone who likes domestic thrillers/psychological thrillers!

This was an okay book and dealt with a lot of secrets, lie, and deceit. But it was also boring at times. I was hoping for more and it just felt like every other book I have read in this genre.

How well do you truly know your friends?

Mary is recently separated from her husband and working to make a life for her and her young son after getting out of an unhealthy relationship. Unfortunately, Mary and her previous best friend and past sister in law, Cassandra had a falling out and she is feeling a bit like she would like a friend again. She often takes her son to a park close to her old house with the husband she is separated from, and that is where she meets Willa. Willa quickly becomes a close friend and although hesitant she eventually confides in Willa, maybe a bit too much. From there it all goes downhill.

I liked the story and the development of the main character, Mary. I enjoyed the twist at the end as well. I mostly enjoyed Mary and Willa’s friendship because it was natural and fun, effortless and easy!

A windy, twisty whodunnit with multiple time lines and multiple POV's - this is my kind of book. Story centers around Mary who is in the middle of a divorce from a husband with a very well to do family with a small child caught in the middle. Mary meets Willa at the playground one day and thinks she has found a new friend...but has she?? One day Willa disappears and Mary has questions. As Mary gets on with her life and moves forward she winds in a small town upstate and sees Willa...but is it Willa? Things get twisty and turny, there is a murder with multiple suspects. Worth the read.

I loved this book! This was my first book by this author but I will gladly read more by her. The book kept me on my toes the entire time! Bravo to this author. 5/5

I always love reading a novel by Leah Konen and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Keep Your Friends Close. At times it moved a little slow for me, but I was still invested in what was going to happen and I couldn't wait to get to the end. There are dual narrators between Mary (my name!! Not particularly common for MCs) and Willa and the story is broken into parts as well. Little by little our two timelines/narrators connect in an interesting way, and we find out exactly what is going on with these women with some surprise twists along the way. While I did at times feel sorry for Mary, she still wasn't my favorite character, and I did not think anyone was all that likable.

I loved the audiobook, and Reba Buhr & Karissa Vacker did a wonderful job with Willa and Mary respectively. I had to listen to it on a 2x speed due to the publisher's app and while that is normally pretty slow for me these days, it ended up being just fine. Buhr and Vacker each had their pacing spot on, and there were no awkward pauses or weird speech issues. I would highly recommend listening to Keep Your Friends Close if you enjoy audio. There is a lot of rich people drama, backstabbing, and friendship faux pas going on here, to say the least, and it made for an entertaining read. I was perfectly satisfied with the ending on all counts, and I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys popcorn thrillers, slow-burn drama, and plenty of tension!

Keep Your Friends Close was my first book from Leah Konen - and wow, immediate fan. This book pulled me in from the very beginning, with relatable scenes of motherhood and commentary on what it means to be a woman in a man’s world. All the boxes we have to check, spaces we have to fill, mental loads we have to carry. I cannot wait to read the author’s backlog.