User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Be sure to visit Bantering Books to read all my latest reviews.Secrets abound in Lucinda Berry's latest thriller, The Best of Friends.
So many secrets, in fact, that my head is spiraling a bit -- and not in a good way. Aye, aye, aye . . .
Kendra, Dani, and Lindsey, best friends since childhood and mothers to three teenage boys, experience a tragedy that is every parent's worst nightmare. After a hard night of partying, a terrible accident involving the young boys occurs. In a matter of moments, one boy is dead, another is in a coma, and the third is unable to communicate, having withdrawn inside himself.
It's a horrible nightmare -- one that I, personally, cannot contemplate too deeply as a mother of two young boys. And I would be remiss if I did not forewarn readers that the subject matter of this novel is very disturbing at times and may make for a difficult read, particularly for those who are parents.
So, what happened that night? Well . . . you will have to read the novel to find out.
The Best of Friends opens with a prologue that is dramatic and intense. The reader is immediately inserted into the panic that Kendra experiences the night of the accident, feels her fear. One is very quickly absorbed into the narrative --
-- and then it all, unfortunately, turns into one big mess.
And all the messiness, my friends, is a result of the writing.
First off, Berry’s writing is simple and pedestrian. The novel does not require much thought from the reader, as Berry's writing style lacks any sort of real nuance or complexity.
Secondly, the novel is in serious need of character development and voice distinction. The story is told from the points of view of the three mothers, through alternating chapters, and in all honesty, I struggled to keep the characters' names straight and to remember whose viewpoint I was reading. Juggling three viewpoints and voices should not be this tough to do. But in this case, it is tricky because Kendra, Dani, and Lindsey are basically the same woman, just in triplicate.
Thirdly, -- and related to the above-mentioned problem -- in what I believe is a misguided attempt by Berry to write the novel in a fashion similar to Liane Moriarty's
Big Little Lies, she initially withholds too much information about the women and their lives from the reader. Berry takes her time . . . WAY too much time . . . and s-l-o-w-l-y unfurls the defining details of the characters, their lives, their hidden scandals and secrets. But she doesn’t reveal enough to the reader in the very beginning so that a clear mental image of the three women can be formed in one’s mind. It is extremely difficult to fully connect to the story and the characters because of this.
And lastly, I feel like Berry throws random, out-of-the blue, jarring facts about the characters into the narrative . . . only to then, very oddly, never mention them again. It's as if she wanted to desperately up the shock factor and the scandal, and then forgot to fully weave all the dangling loose ends into the story. For example, almost 3/4 of the way into the book, Berry slips in the fact that one of the women has an eating disorder -- but then that's it. The reader never learns anything else about said eating disorder. AT ALL. Umm . . . really?!?! An eating disorder is not something that should be haphazardly tossed into a narrative, only to then be instantly forgotten.
There is also an allusion to a character maybe, possibly, having a drinking problem . . . but I have no clue as to whether it was ever fully clarified in the story. And at the very end of the novel, a reference is made regarding an event that happened during the women's junior year of high school. But for the life of me, I don't believe we ever find out what actually transpired. I've even skimmed back through the novel and searched, in an attempt to find an earlier reference to that particular night that I may have read and then misplaced in my mind. I have found nothing and am still left scratching my head about it. (If anyone finds another reference or an explanation of the event, will you please let me know?)
And after all that . . . after wading through the novel’s extremely messy and disorganized narrative . . . the big reveal of the who and the how and the why of the tragic accident involving the three teenage boys is a bit of a letdown. It is so anti-climactic, in fact, that I was even taken aback while reading it, not having realized and being surprised that I had, indeed, arrived at the grand finale.
Sigh. ‘Tis disappointing, I know.
Oh! I must also mention the epilogue -- so unbelievable and utterly ridiculous. Even now, I am shaking my head in disbelief.
The Best of Friends earns two stars from me, as my interest was held well enough that I was inclined to at least see it through to the end. But unfortunately, I am unable to recommend it.
I received an Advanced Readers Copy from #NetGalley and #ThomasandMercer in exchange for an honest review. All opinions included herein are my own. Bantering Books Instagram Twitter Facebook
Rating: really liked it
Five tragic, emotionally suffocating, heart ripping, soul shattering, tear jerking, extremely poignant stars!
This is book is about testing your friendships, being a mother and dealing with the grief and terrible loss. How far a mother goes to learn the ugly truth behind the loss of her child? Should she deny the facts to move on or should she still dig more till the terrifying truth comes out and destroy everything she has: including family, friendship and her reputation. I have to repeat famous quote of Jack Nicholson’s character at “A Few Good Men” movie screams at Tom Cruise at the court scene: “You cannot handle the truth!” But it eventually comes out!
An unthinkable tragedy hits hard the suburban lives and destroys everything the families build forever. They were divine members of sisterhood: Lindsey, Kendra, Dani who grew up together, aged together, became mothers and confidantes of each other. Their kids also befriended each other like their mothers did. But one eerie night, the gun blasts tear the silent night apart and too many terrible things happened at the same time. A big tragedy changed the lives of three kids of those close friends: One of them is dead, one of them is in coma and one of them is too traumatized to talk about what happened.
Kendra’s son Sawyer is dead and she cannot deal the fact tells them it is a simple accident. She knows this is so easy to accept. There is something more sinister about the night and as the investigation continues she becomes more frustrated. And Lindsey’s son Jacob is still in coma. Only Dani’s son Caleb may tell them what happened but Dani’s abusive, control freak husband prevents Kendra to talk with his son. So what happened that night? Did one of them try to kill the others or is the truth more complicated they can deal with.
Take a seat and flip the pages to get ready for heart wrenching, devastating and shocking ending. Minor spoiler alert: after truth comes out, three women’s lives will never be the same. They will be haunted with that ominous night’s events forever.
This is fast pacing, intriguing, well-developed, thought provoking, argumentative story is told by three women. They are both flawed and broken characters but it is easy to resonate with each of them separately. The story hooks you up and captivates your attention till the end. I was dying to binge watch new season La Casa Da Papel (Money Height)s new season but this book occupied me so I couldn’t put it down. My fingers were already glued and my mind was already addicted!
I haven’t read the Perfect Child which I read so many great reviews about it and after reading this amazing book, I’ll go back to my frightening Mount TBR and choose it ASAP! I’m so happy to be introduced with a talented author.
So many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas&Mercer for sharing this gripping ARC in exchange my honest review and true feelings.
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Rating: really liked it
This is a heartbreaking story of friendship and motherhood and I would be lying if I said that it didn't bring me to tears. As a mother of a teenage boy, well, this just really hit close to home.
Lindsey, Dani, and Kendra have been life long best friends. They used to fantasize at sleepovers about how they would all live nearby one another, get married, and have children. They would have family vacations, backyard barbecues, holidays, and basically all the milestones that life brings you they would share together. As luck would have it their dreams came true.
Sawyer (Kendra's son), Jacob (Lindsey's son), and Caleb (Dani's son) have grown just as close as their mothers. They are your typical teenage boys that enjoy playing soccer, video games, and partying however one night proves fatal: Sawyer lays dead, Jacob is in a coma, and Caleb won't speak.
Questions and blame threaten everything these women hold dear including their friendship.
For the first 30% of this book I was so confused. The mothers and sons were interchangeable and I had a hard time keeping up with who was who but I did eventually settle in okay and once I was in I couldn't stop turning the pages. The ending I began to see coming and it is just heartbreaking. I had to tissue up for those last few chapters. I do have a small gripe with the epilogue - it seemed a bit too contrived of a twist.
Tragedy can strike anyone in an instant so all I can say after reading this is go home, hug your kids, and tell them how much you love them. 4 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer fro providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
An addictive and emotional tale of secrets, lies, grief and loss3 best friends are plunged into a nightmare scenario after their teenaged sons' sleepover goes wrong,
1 son is dead,
1 son is in a coma,
1 son won't speak.
3 families turn against each other, as they try to find out what an earth happened that night?!
The premise for this was A*, it sounded right up my street, and I requested it as soon as I saw it! The prologue was excellent, drawing me in, and hooking me quickly! I could feel the emotion, and was so tense reading it!
Then it all went a bit wrong! The story was told from the three best friends' POV (Lindsey, Kendra and Dani), and it should have been a great way for me to see all of their thoughts and emotions,
should have been! the problem was, that the three characters were so similar, that I couldn't tell them or their families apart! Their voices didn't differ at all, and I had to write down the name of each woman, their husband, and their children, and keep referring to it for about the first 30% of the book! That wasn't fun! It was actually really frustrating! Each woman felt like the same character, and none of them felt fully developed. They were also, all fairly unlikeable. They were cruel to each other, and their families, and despite being in such a shit situation, I just couldn't really connect with any of them. I mean, as a parent, this story should have been devastating to me, but it wasn't?! I was invested after it got going, but it wasn't gut wrenching like I thought it would be, and that is 100% down to the way that the characters were written.
Once I got to about 50%, then I admit that the plot became more interesting, the pace did pick up, and the book became a real page turner for me. I wanted to know what happened, and why! There were a few twists, and lots of secrets. I liked the way that Lucinda Berry showed the effect that tragedy had on the three women and their families, how the grief and loss effected all of their relationships! As the story progressed, old rivalries, jealousies and insecurities all came out. These so called perfect families were not all that they seemed, and they were all hiding things!
I was finally enjoying the book, and then came that anticlimactic and unrealistic ending...*sighs* There were also some plot lines mentioned, and then never followed up? For example, the women alluded to something bad happening with Kendra in high-school, but it was then never spoken of again? An eating disorder was also mentioned, as was a drinking problem, but again they were left unresolved? And don't even get me started on that epilogue, I mean come on!!
The Best of Friends was a tragic, heavy and emotional family drama with a bit of a mystery, but it was more about the family dramas. I find it hard to explain my feelings about it, because not much happened, the characters were unlikeable, and yet I couldn't stop turning the pages?! I think, that, had the characters been more developed, and distinctive, then this could've been a really good book, instead of a fairly good book.
Many thanks to NetGalley UK and Thomas and Mercer for the digital ARC, in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Best friends, Mothers, Secrets, Lies, Teenagers, Heartbreak, Tragedy, and Tears....
Three women who have been friends for an awfully long time have their worlds shattered when a tragic accident leaves one of their children dead, another in a coma, and one unable to speak due to trauma.
How do you go on, how do you find the answers, how do you move forward?
Reeling from that devastating night, each woman is faced with challenges not only withing themselves, in their marriages and in learning that no matter how well you think you know your children, there are just some things they manage to keep a secret. As a police officer investigates the tragedy, the reader becomes the proverbial fly on the wall, watching as each woman's world is altered forever.
She sucked me in with this one and initially I had a hard time keeping track of who was who until the women's characters were more fleshed out. I was not too shocked at one part of the reveal, I saw that coming but the reveal in the epilogue was a bit of a shocker for me!
Overall, once I got going, I found this to be a fast and absorbing read. This is an emotional one folks, so be warned. It is also thought provoking. There are a lot of characters that feel the same in the beginning, so if you get frustrated by this, my advice is to hang in there as they do become fleshed out.
**This may have some triggers for some.
Thank you to Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Rating: really liked it
The Best of Friends, eh? With friends like the three women in this novel, who needs enemies? This was a tough one for me to rate. While I enjoyed the premise and was kept mostly entertained, the overall feel of the book was a little sloppy.
I agree with some other reviewers who mentioned the voices of the three main characters, Kendra, Lindsay, and Dani, were virtually indistinguishable. Though the women grew up together and claimed to be lifelong best friends, their relationships remained very superficial. They were, in fact, often cruel, catty, and vindictive...one of the many reasons I didn't particularly enjoy, or root for, any of them.
My biggest gripe, however, were story lines, brought in for shock value, which went absolutely nowhere. We were led to believe one of the women had a substance abuse problem, another an eating disorder, and apparently, there was some big life-altering crisis their junior year of high school...yet none of these issues were ever developed or explained. And why was the cop made out to be some sneaky dude with an agenda? Yet another story line which seemed to just up and disappear.
The conclusion? Underwhelming and predictable.
The epilogue? Dorky.
My overall feeling about
The Best of Friends is one of disappointment, as the writing felt somewhat elementary. It's odd, because I know and love Lucinda Berry's work, and this simply didn't live up to the sheer talent I've read in her other stories. However, if you're looking for something quick and entertaining...and you don't mind gaping plot holes or limited character depth, this is a good choice.
Available for purchase August 18, 2020. My sincere appreciation to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my review copy.
Rating: really liked it
They were the best of friends for most of their lives. Married and bought houses close to each other. In and out of each other's lives and thrilled when they had sons who also became best friends. Until an unforseen tragedy strikes. Now devastated, bent with sorrow and grief,they are determined to get answers. How could they not see this coming? How can their friendship withstand this? How well do we really know our children.?
This was for me a page turners, became quite entrenched in this story. A parents worse nightmare. Needed to know what happened. The author does a good job of keeping the plot moving, revelations in a timely manner. Shortly before books end I did have a pretty good idea of what happened, and I turned out to be correct. Didn't know all the details though. The mother's reactions though and what they chose to do didn't quite, for me, ring true. Still, definitely a page turners.
ARC by Netgalley.
Rating: really liked it
EXCERPT: 'You can't go out there!' Paul yells.
'What if there's a crazy shooter?' Reese asks at the same time.
I ignore them and step outside before shutting the door tightly behind me. Three police cars race down the street and make a left at the corner just like all the others. I take off running. People are coming out of their houses, milling down the street while I sprint past them.
'Dear God, please don't let anything happen to my baby.'
ABOUT THIS BOOK: Best friends Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani endure every parent’s nightmare when a tragic accident befalls their teenage boys, leaving one dead, another in a coma, and a third too traumatized to speak.
Reeling from the worst night of their lives, the three mothers plunge into a desperate investigation of the bizarre incident. How could something so horrible happen in their wealthy Southern California suburb?
They soon discover that the accident was just the beginning, and troubling discoveries lead to chilling questions: Do they really know their children? Do they even know each other? As more secrets surface, a fog of doubt and suspicion threatens to poison their families, their friendships, and the whole community.
With the illusion of happiness and safety long gone, these women must now confront the hazards of heartbreak, the consequences of jealousy, and the dangers of living double lives.
MY THOUGHTS: I failed to become invested in The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry. I have read this author previously, and really enjoyed her work, but this just left me cold. For a short novel, this felt inordinately long!
The characters were interchangeable, lacked definition, and I had difficulty in remembering what children belonged to which parents.
The chapters are narrated by the mothers of the children, Dani, Kendra and Lindsey. But it was easy to forget who was narrating.
There really is no feeling of suspense, and there are tantalizing tidbits dropped into the narrative which are never explored or explained - the most glaring of which is an oblique reference regarding something that happened when these three were at school, but that was it. A scandal waiting to be exposed, or the possibility of one, and there's no clarification, no further reference to it. Frustrating!
Several times I thought of not finishing The Best of Friends, but I wanted to know what these three had been up to. As it is, we never find out. Disappointing, and mundane. Not at all what I expected from the author of Saving Noah, which I loved.
A lot of other readers love this book. Reading is a very personal subjective experience, and not every book is for every reader. So, if you enjoyed the extract, and the plot summary interests you, please do read Final Cut by S.J. Watson. I hope that you are one of the many who love this book.
** depressed stars
THE AUTHOR: Dr. Lucinda Berry is a former clinical psychologist and leading researcher in childhood trauma. Now, she spends her days writing full-time where she uses her clinical experience to blur the line between fiction and nonfiction. She enjoys taking her readers on a journey through the dark recesses of the human psyche.
If Berry isn’t chasing after her son, you can find her running through Los Angeles, prepping for her next marathon.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Best of Friends for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbooksday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Rating: really liked it
In The Best of Friends, Berry starts with a heart-stopping bang—the dreaded middle-of-the-night phone call—then delivers a dark and gritty tale that unfolds twist by devastating twist. Intense, terrifying, and at times utterly heartbreaking. Absolutely unputdownable.
Rating: really liked it
Lindsey, Kendra and Dani had been best friends since childhood. Their husbands were also friends and they lived close to one another in Norchester, South California. The night their lives changed irrevocably began as any other; the three older boys were at a sleepover when shots were heard, then sirens followed and lives changed. One of their boys was dead, another was in a coma and the third was uninjured, but was too shocked to talk.
While the police investigated, questioning everyone thoroughly and more than once, the lives of the three friends slowly shattered. The husbands had secrets, the wives also had secrets. The loss and grief was debilitating and they wondered if they would ever recover from it. Would they find out what really happened that night? They were certainly finding out that they hadn’t known their sons as well as they thought they had…
The Best of Friends is my first by Lucinda Berry and I really enjoyed it. My only problem was the amount of characters and trying to keep who was who straight in my head. The plot was different to anything I’ve read before, and was intriguing, tragic, heart breaking and unputdownable.
The Best of Friends is narrated by the three women and is a psychological thriller which is thought provoking and poignant. Highly recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Wow this book was quite a struggle to get through. It was LITERALLY a drag to get through this. I almost felt like I was punishing myself. I was so excited for this, it sounded so good and the reviews were great. Maybe I read too many mystery/thrillers lately but this was just boring.
The beginning was a dump of characters who all blurred together as one. I found it hard to keep track of everyone and had to remind myself who was who very often. The moms, dads, and even the all of the kids turned into different names but same characters. There wasn't anything that set them apart from each other. The friendship between the mothers were fake and hard to believe. The end didn't shock me but rather disappointed me. Really sad this one didn't work out.
Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the copy of this book. APPRECIATE IT REGARDLESS.
Buddy read with Emma and Massiel.
PS - if anyone knows any amazing thrillers please let me know ty
Rating: really liked it
Gripping, suspenseful, and heart wrenching are words to describe this tale of friendship and family bonds stretched to their limits. It brought me to the edge of my seat and to tears all at the same time. It’s definitely a rollercoaster ride until the last page. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone that wants to take an emotional journey with many intriguing twist and turns along the way. Thank you Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for giving me an ARC of this captivating and emotional story.
Rating: really liked it
The Best of Friends wasted no time in grabbing my attention. The action starts in the very first sentence and doesn’t let up from there. I was captivated, wanting to know what happened, to whom, and why.
Kendra, Lindsey and Dani have been best friends since they were children. They grew up, married, moved close to each other, and had children. Their sons, Sawyer, Jacob and Caleb also became best friends, and life was pretty good for everyone. Except that it really wasn’t. There were secrets in each family that just didn’t seem that important, until one of the boys dies from a gunshot wound, one is left on life-support, and one is intensely traumatized. What happened?
The parents, grief-stricken and looking for answers, find their worlds spinning out of control. As they work with the detective to get to the bottom of that horrible night of the shootings, other problems in their lives start to become important, and their eyes are opened to things kept buried or never known until now.
I was intrigued with this story from beginning to end, as the author, Lucinda Berry, releases only small tidbits throughout to let you know what might or might not be the answer to the what, who, and why of everything. I was never able to figure out exactly what happened until she made it clear, and even when I finally learned the truth, there was one more surprise at the end that I never saw coming.
There were so many pieces to this story, and the author tied them together skillfully, never losing my attention. What a gripping tale!
My thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
4 stars
Rating: really liked it
A tragedy involving three teenage sons of lifelong friends remains an open ended mystery.
We know the end result, but we don’t know what happened or who, if anyone, is at fault. The sole survivor is so traumatized he can’t speak about it.
As each family attempts to grasp the shocking turn of their lives, at the heart is a story of relationships - between friends, family members, husbands and wives, sons and daughters.
I thought this may be too sorrowful to read during these stressful times, but an underlying lifting sentiment was surprisingly affected by the author. That’s talent!
This was a fast read and flowed easily.
My first novel by Lucinda Berry, but it won’t be the last as I’ve happened upon an impressive “New to me” author.
Thank you to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Lucinda Berry for my advance copy.
Rating: really liked it
The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry chronicles a tragedy that affects three teenage boys as well as their families, especially their mothers, who are best friends. Dani, Kendra and Lindsey have their world turned upside down when a sleepover goes completely awry, leaving one boy dead, one in a coma and one struck silent from the shock. The trauma reverberates through the three families, including the siblings. I looked forward to reading this thriller but I have quit after several hundred pages. I found that the many family members were confusing due to the numerous side stories of each person in all three families. I realized that I had lost interest in the characters and was not involved in the book enough to want to know how the story ended. The author, Lucinda Berry, is a trauma psychologist, which could account for the novel reading like therapy notes. Please know that this is only my opinion and I am positive that many will enjoy The Best of Friends. Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
