Another domestic thriller of fraught marriages, dubious friendships, and rich people behaving badly. Which, is usually a favorite of mine, when done well. The problem with Keep Your Friends Close is that I wasn't invested in any of the characters. Mary, who is trying to divorce her horrible husband, George, is kind of a pushover and doesn't have much character development. She's been dropped by two friends, Cassandra (her sister in law), and Willa, who was a new mom friend whom she bonded with immediately and spilled dark secrets of her marriage. Out of nowhere, Willa ghosts her, but then she runs into her on a trip to upstate New York and Willa ignores her. Willa is a morally ambiguous character, but there just wasn't that fun you have with those kinds of characters. It took me awhile to finish this book, and the end was pretty unsatisfying.

Thank you Penguin Group and NetGalley for the ARC for my honest opinion.

It was okay. Entertaining enough but pretty predictable. I got a little annoyed in the last 50 pages because the main character was so naive and the way some things played out were unrealistic. If the author was trying to portray empowered women standing up for themselves and each other, she missed the mark. It was more like “women come together for each other when it’s convenient for them”. If you read a lot of thrillers, you might not love this one.

Thank you Netgalley, Leah Konen, and Penguin Group Putnum for this great thriller!! This was a page turner with so many crazy revelations that had my head spinning!!! Highly recommend!!

This was a great thriller. I read it in just a few sittings as I could not put it down. Great twists and turns kept me reading way past my bedtime! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

The jury is out for this book. Although it kept be entertained there was something missing.This is a story of Mary who has married into a rich and powerful family. She realizes too late that her husband George, along with the family is very manipulative. She decides to divorce him and try to make a new life with her son Alex. However, there are threats that her husband and family want full custody.
Mary meets a woman as she was settling in to her new life. Mary is drawn to Willa and they begin a great friendship. But suddenly she disappears without any notice.
This story becomes a thriller when her 2 lives bisect. I do recommend to read this book if you like Domestic Thrillers.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

What a wild ride! Full of crazy twists and turns, this book kept me entertained from start to finish. Loved the complexity of Willa and Mary’s friendship and how craftily everything was set up. Really entertaining. *I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Rating 2.5

Why did Mary have to be portrayed as a weak women, who just couldn't manage her smarts. It was incredibly frustrating reading this characters mistakes after leaving her husband. She spends majority of the book in tears coping with one thing or another. Also, how can you mourn the loss of a best friend when you don't even know her last name?

Interested enough to finish, but poor pretty girl marries rich narcissist man as been done too many times as a psychological thriller.

Thank you, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons

This thriller was so amazing I read it in one day, unable to put it down. With twists and surprises at every turn of the page, Mary didn't know who she could trust or who was ready to do her harm. Just when I thought the killer had been revealed, some piece of evidence would appear and change the whole story. I love the way it was unraveled between the past and current, and told with dual POVs for both Mary and Willa. This was the best suspense book I've read this year!

4/5 stars

Thank you GP Putnam and Sons for the ARC!

SYNOPSIS -- Mary has never felt as isolated as she does now, in the middle of a custody battle with her very wealthy ex, George. When she meets Willa at a local playground and they instantly connect, it feels like fate. Two months later, Mary finds herself in upstate New York, recently ghosted by Willa for uncertain reasons and fighting to make a new home for her and her son. When George turns up dead and Willa turns up under a different name, Mary is forced to confront the mysterious coincidences in their friendship and ask herself if Willa was truly a friend, or something else entirely.

This book was SOOO fun, I couldn't put it down! The short chapters made it totally bingeable and the fast-paced drama was unmatched. Mary and Willa had an unmistakable bond, but I couldn't help but be suspicious from the start! My biggest complaint with this book is that it all just seemed a little TOO coincidental in the end. Like I said, things were wrapped up really nicely but some of the supposed coincidences just didn't feel believable to me, and I think that aspect could have been executed slightly better. However, I did love the way that this book played out; there were so many things I was questioning at the start and the author did a great job of wrapping everything up nicely without it seeming too perfect. With multiple POVS, multiple timelines and a world of wealth and glamour, this book was perfect for anyone looking for some gossip girl drama vibes with the complexity of female friendship, motherhood and marriage.

I could really not get into the characters. I really wanted to like this book but found it boring and hard to follow. I felt liek the whole plot was unoriginal and I had read so many books with similar stories that I just felt bored. I usually love a con-artist trope but they are so over done they need something to stand out and this just was not it for me.

I was initially a bit wary of reading this because it's a bit different than the sort of murder mysteries I typically read. However, I found this novel quite enjoyable and was intrigued to keep seeing what was going to happen. I think the alternating timelines and eventual different points of view really served this book well and helped you get a sense of what was going on with each character. It captivated me to try to figure out the truth before it was revealed and I was satisfied with the ending.

I loved this twisty thriller. It’s told in multiple POV and dual timeline. It has a very rich family who think they are above everyone else and a wife that is trying to escape the family. I’ve read this author before and enjoyed her writing style. Even after finishing the book I remember the scenes as if I was there. A great book that will keep you guessing!

Oof. This book had stuff going on everywhere. The bouncing back and forth was a bit confusing until I got used to it. Her husband about taking him back rather than getting divorced is bugging Mary, a woman struggling to get through a divorce/custody battle. As she meets Willa, she starts to come out of her shell and decide she may want to try again with her husband, but before she can do that she finds him murdered. From there we go through how Willa got to where she met Mary, while then jumping to current day and the fallout of George being dead. If you like thrillers that go back and forth with perspective, you’ll definitely like this one!

I loved this book. Lots of interesting reveals and some come early so keeps you engaged. I wasn't sure how it was going to end. The back and forth between the timeliness and multiple POV were done well so I was not confused.

Thank you Putnam group and PRH audio for review copies! Keep Your Friends Close is the perfect escapist thriller, a twisty and addictive sucks you in kind of read. If you like books filled with twists and turns this is for you.

For me, I like a lot of twists but they have to land... they can't be there just for the sake of twists and at times this one got a little too no one could see that coming for me. I need not see the twist but I also can't feel that the author was just putting in twists just for the sake of putting in twists. It undermines what can be a solid story on its own... a good thriller/suspense story doesn't need to rely on shocks and twists to win over a reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC.

Leah Konen's book kept me engaged and wanting to know what on earth was going on with these women! I love short chapters and I love a good who can I even trust style of novel. Really unique one.

This twisty good thriller is told in two time frames and in two voices. Alternating between now and then, we meet Mary, a young mother of a two year old son. Mary is in the midst of a contentious divorce from a high powered man from a very rich family. Willa is married and also has a young son. When the two meet they become fast friends quickly. That is until Willa ghosts Mary. In the now, Mary has left Brooklyn for upstate New York and is looking to start a new life with her son, her husband, George, has finally agreed to letting her have Alex in a different locale after their divorce, but he still thinks he can win her back. When Mary runs into a women she is sure is Willa, she’s confused when the women says her name is Annie. Mary now doesn’t know what to believe. The plot thickens when we start to hear Willa’s story. With friends like this, who needs enemies. When George ends up dead, Mary is the prime suspect, delving in, Mary turns to Willa/Annie as she starts to question everything. Is Willa a friend or a foe. Is her story real or a con? Could she somehow be involved in George’s death? With short chapters and a plot that keeps the pages turning, this was an entertaining read! Thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #PenguinGroupPutnam for the book #KeepYourFriendsClose by #LeahKonen. This book, about betrayal, friendships and secrets, is a nail biter up until the very end. At what length will you go to get what you deserve?

Really fun twisty thriller. I especially enjoyed Part 2, which had alternating chapters between the two main characters, Mary and Willa, one for THEN and one for NOW, as they creeped towards each other. I liked both characters, although some people might judge Willa.

"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."

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

I've been a Leah Konen fan since her debut, All the Broken People, but I think Keep Your Friends Close might be my favorite yet. I thought I had it all figured out more than once, but I was wrong every time. and the true villain was someone that I least expected. which is one sign of a truly good thriller. It's perfectly paced to make it a fun, one-sitting binge, confirming why Leah Konen is one of my must-read authors.