Cover Image: Her Best Friend

Her Best Friend

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Member Reviews

How well do you know your best friend? How well does your best friend know you?
Psychological twist and turns that leave you dizzy.
Very seldom do i read a book that I haven't figured out the ending. This was a sensational read that had me totally captivated till the end. Then the author did it.....took me by surprise!!
Loved it. Entertaining, titillating, suspensefu! Everything needed in a great novel.
5 Stars

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Her Best Friend is a gripping psychological thriller. The plot had many twists and turns that kept me guessing and glued to this book. If you love a good thriller I recommend this book.

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This is the second book by Sarah Wray. Her first book ‘Reported Missing’ was released in July 2017 and became a bestseller. I read and reviewed ‘Reported Missing’ and I really enjoyed it, so I had high hopes for ‘Her Best Friend’. I was not to be disappointed. In fact I think that ‘Her Best Friend’ is actually better than ‘Reported Missing’ but more about that in a bit.

It took me a little while to take to the character of Sylvie. I really felt for her at the start of the book when she finds out that a body has been found at the lake and she rushes to the lake to see who it is, only to discover that the body is that of her best friend. However, I did think that she was keeping something hidden and that she knew far more than she let on about the circumstances leading to her friend’s death. I also didn’t really understand why Sylvie immediately fled the town where she lived so soon after her friend’s death and why she stayed away for so long. I get that she wanted to escape bad memories but she could have gone on a holiday. Sylvie seems to have cut herself off from anything and everything from her previous life. In fact Sylvie seems to have created a new life for herself- a sort of reinvention if you like. I would have thought that if she thought so much about her friend, then wouldn’t she have wanted to stick around to help support her friend’s parents? I guess everybody reacts differently. Sylvie only returns to her home town following her mother’s death to sort out her estate. Like the rest of the characters in this book, Sylvie seems to have as many layers to her character as you would find on a parcel during a ‘Pass The Parcel’ game at a children’s party. Unwrap one layer and you find a dozen more. I really did feel for Victoria’s parents who have to come to terms with the death of their daughter. No parent should have to bury a child.

It took me a little while to get into the story but once I got into the book, I became addicted to reading it. I was so into the story that I didn’t notice how quickly the pages were turning and it was almost as if they were turning themselves. Before I knew what was happening, I had finished the book, which I was so disappointed about. Don’t get me wrong I was pleased to finish as I knew how the story ended but I was enjoying the writing style and the story so much that I just wanted it to continue. It’s true to say that this book is more of a slow burn and not a fast paced action thriller, but that isn’t such a bad thing. With a story as complex as this one, you need to take time to set the scene and introduce all the characters. Sarah Wray certainly knows how to set the scene, build up a tense atmosphere and then hit you with a whammy of a twist. Reading this was a bit like a rollercoaster ride with the twists, turns, unexpected drops and stomach churning moments. There were literally times when I had to hold my breath and almost read the book through my fingers as I genuinely feared what was going to happen next.

In short I absolutely loved this psychological thriller and it certainly messed with my head. The story will certainly stay with me for a long time to come. I would recommend this author to anybody and everybody. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a well deserved & easy 5* out of 5*.

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This is Sarah Wray’s second book and what a fantastic read! Sylvie returns to her childhood home when her mother dies with her baby daughter. Her daughter, Victoria, was named after Sylvie’s best friend who was found murdered twenty years ago and the killer was never found. A journalist has decided to make a documentary about the murder to try to find the killer and then all new information and secrets are revealed. The book is told mostly from Sylvie’s point of. view and alternates between the past and present but links together perfectly. Her Best Friend is a compelling and engrossing read, with plenty of twists and turns and a surprise ending. A book you won’t be able to put down. Thanks to Net Galley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

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Thanks to Netgalley for my copy. 2.5 Stars

Sylvie returns to her hometown after the death of her mother. She is accompanied by her baby Victoria named after her teenage friend who was found dead when they were 15. No one was ever arrested for the murder of Victoria and the community are still looking for answers.

This book alternates between the past and the present. Sylvie in the present is dealing with the aftermath of her mother's death and a fractious baby. She is overwrought and emotional. A journalist is delving into the death of her friend and the past begins to unravel.

Unfortunately although this storyline is interesting this book is incredibly slow. I felt that nothing happened until about 65% in. By then I was losing interest and starting to skim read. I had little empathy for any of the characters and couldn't wait for it to finish. I really enjoyed her previous book so this was a big disappointment for me.

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This was my first Sarah Wray book.

I have mixed feelings about the book, for me it read very slow and I am usually a fast reader. This book just did not speak to me as books that I have previously read. To me the characters did not do the story justice. I enjoyed the story line but not reading the story. I loved the cover!!!

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3.5 satisfied stars rounded up🌟

How hard would it be to go back home after 20 years of being away? Add in the fact that you left right after your best friend was murdered and your father died.... you had little to no contact with your mother after leaving home and now you are returning home after her death.... and on top of all this someone has now decided to make a documentary revolving around the murder of your best friend.....

Welcome to Sylvie‘s life!

This book was good, but I did have a few problems with it... The pacing was a little slow, and I‘m really not one to complain about this usually.... I really was not completely drawn into the story until probably about 60% and that’s about the point when I started caring about Sylvie....

Sylvie was hard to get a handle on... I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to like her or not and in the beginning this just lead to complete indifference for me.... but then something happened and I began to like her or at least understand her.... Victoria on the other hand( the best friend who was murdered) was not very likable from the flashback scenes.... so really at some point I didn’t care who murdered her to be completely honest.....

The end was satisfying if not a little predictable.... I really did want the very best for Sylvie and her baby.... Best of all the very end of this book was much appreciated!

*** thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ***

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This was disappointing. I found it quite boring and dragged out. Absolutely hated reading the podcast parts. For me they did not enhance the book. The ending was atrocious.

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Victoria Bland, aged 15 years, goes missing. A full-scale search eventually leads to her body being found in a local lake. For her best friend Sylvie, life is never the same. Victoria's death is quickly followed by her father's fatal heart attack so she goes to live with her aunt in Manchester as life in Conley is unbearable. The killer is never found.

Sylvie and her young daughter (Victoria) return to Conley after her mother's death. She is shocked to find how her mother had lived over the past 20 years and saddened that she died alone and was not found for days. It does make you wonder what exactly drove Sylvie away for so long and why she knew nothing of her mother's circumstances.

Sylvie has not been in touch with Victoria's parents in all the time she had been away. Before Victoria's murder, they were two close families. What happened obviously changed all of that for them both. Running into people from her past is inevitable, but is it going to unearth what happened?

Karen Price is an investigative journalist producing a podcast series. This is a multi-layered story that will you guessing for some time. I didn't find Sylvie a particularly nice character, but it worked well within the concept of this mystery.

I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are all my own and completely unbiased. My thanks to NetGalley for this opportunity.

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I’m usually a fan of this type of novel but, this one just didn’t do it for me. The plotline had potential but the characters just fell flat. There were good points in the book but nothing phenomenal.

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Wow, great great read twists and turns and never ever did I see the ending

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This book starts with a big bang and ends with an absolute explosion. Sylvie's 15 year old best friend Victoria disappears after a party and is discovered dead in the lake. There are no leads and when Sylvie returns to the place of her childhood with her baby Victoria to clear her mother's house 20 years later you begin to wonder why she fell out with her mother all those years ago. As time shifts back to 1995 there's a countdown to the day Victoria died when you discover that Victoria is a tearaway teenager - underage drinking, smoking and sex as well as drugs and a spot of stealing. Sylvie is a secondary figure at this time but not as bad news as her friend. I couldn't take to Victoria especially the nasty way she behaved towards Michelle. Sylvie was part of it but at least felt remorse. Michelle is the first to welcome Sylvie back but is so attentive you wonder if she's a stalker-type or a tag. I think Michelle is damaged - a lonely, deadly existence with no friends or family so finally I felt some compassion for her and that she was the nicer friend. Sam arrives in Conley to make a film to get to the bottom of the murder and enhance his dwindling career. It's a slow burner which gives us time to assess the well drawn characters and their involvement and the plot but leaves us totally unprepared for the ending. My only problem with the story at the beginning is that I wasn't clear about the relationship of the characters towards each other until about the middle of the book. There are plenty of red herrings and twists to enjoy. It crossed my mind that recollections of that day like first impressions are not always reliable. A lot of the facts didn't seem to gel as those who were questioned were vague, scared of being involved or defensive. That's what must making policing such a difficult job and why many people are wrongly accused. The ending was truly DYNAMIC!!!! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. it's a gem to post onto Amazon, FB and my blog.

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Prepare to have your jaw hit the floor with Sarah Wray’s book, Her Best Friend!

Sylvie heads home (if that’s what she can call it) after leaving 20 years ago. So much hurt and bad memories surround her home village and you can tell that these memories have scared her for life. Facing it alone and head on I was worried that she would fall apart over the pages but she shocked me. Reliving those memories showed me an inside peek into her teenage years and what led to the death of her best friend, Victoria.

Having ‘met’ Victoria I took an instant dislike to her, especially her attitude to poor Michelle who only wanted someone to latch on to, even though she gave me the stalker vibe I kind of liked her. I felt like Victoria had this ‘everyone owes me’ attitude, even sometimes with Sylvie. I really feel for Sylvie in this book, she’s never really let go of the past and to be honest who can blame her?!

Now I’m usually one for fast paced books where all the action explodes from the get go but this book takes its time, setting scenes, introducing characters and adding detail and at times this annoyed me but I understand why Sarah did it this way, before I knew it I was sucked into the story and eager for the story to unfold….. which it does with a bang! That ending…. seriously?!! May jaw still hurts…. as I sat there chanting no….nooo…..nooooo…..really! I turned back a few pages to make sure I hadn’t misread what I had just read! Did I guess whodunit, yes and no, but it was still a GASP reaction all the same.

All in all this was an enjoyable read, I wouldn’t say I consumed the book in one sitting but when it was put down i felt like the book was still with me, my mind ticking over about what I had just read and had me rethinking what I felt about certain people in the book.

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This is a brilliant thriller. I have been desperate recently for a book that truly captured me and made me want to read on, and this was it.

A compelling story. When Sylvie was a teen her best friend Victoria was found dead in a lake. Now, as an adult with a daughter of her own, Sylvie has returned to where the horror began, to sort out the home of her mother who has passed away. With shady characters at every turn and a twist you didn't see coming, this is a thriller you HAVE to read!

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Her Best Friend by Sarah Wray is a pyschological thriller set in an English town. Twenty years before, Sylvie's teenage best friend was found dead by a lake. Present day and Sylvie returns with her baby daughter to deal with her late mother's estate and is drawn back into the mystery when she finds the dead girl's locket. At the same time a freelance documentary maker is also making a film about the tragedy. This is an intriguing thriller with an unexpected and clever twist.

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Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Two childhood and teenage best friends. One found dead when they were fifteen in suspicious circumstances. The other is now grown up with a baby of her own living away from her childhood home. She has to return after her mother's death to clear out the house and face what happened all those years ago! Brilliant even though I found it hard going in places. I certainly didn't see the ending comu! Definitely recommend!

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EXCERPT: As I step back inside, I see it on the mat and acidic saliva forces itself up my throat.

Another brown envelope.

This time I don't wait. I rip the envelope straight open and shove my hand inside. It's cold, metal; a thin chain. When I pull it out and hold it up, the room feels as if it spins like a fun house. It's the gold chain with the heart shaped locket, the one they said Victoria was missing that night, that never turned up.

My fingers are shaking but I am eventually able to turn it over - the 'VP' engraving is there like I knew it would be.

Before I wasn't sure. Now I am certain. Someone knows what happened to Victoria that night and this is a message.

THE BLURB: Two girls. A murder. And a secret that binds them forever.
As a teenager, Sylvie Armstrong’s life was shattered when her best friend, Victoria Bland, was murdered. The killer has never been caught – and Sylvie has never spoken about what happened that day.

Now, two decades have gone by and after the death of her mother, Sylvie is forced to return to her home town, along with her newborn daughter – only to be confronted by the secrets that she has been running from for twenty years.

But then Sylvie receives the locket Victoria was wearing on the night she died – and it becomes clear that somebody knows what really happened to Victoria.

As Sylvie struggles to discover the truth behind the lies, she finds herself in increasing danger from those who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets. Someone who threatens not only Sylvie, but everything she loves...

MY THOUGHTS: 'Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't going away.'

Her Best Friend by Sarah Wray is deceptive. For around the first third of the book, I thought it was okay, but nothing really special. But what it actually is, is a cleverly crafted, slow burning read. Like one of those fireworks that appears to be fizzing, gives a couple of experimental spurts, then bursts into a beautiful technicolor display of pyrotechnics. The second third of the book had me reading avidly, and the final third? You couldn't have paid me to put the book down.

You may not like the characters, but they are well drawn and realistic. The story takes place over two timelines, now and twenty years previous. Sylvie, the pivotal character, is no more self assured now than she was then. She revolved in Victoria's orbit, followed her lead, was her acolyte.

Relationships between the characters are more complex than they first appear. I had several suspects in mind for the death of Victoria. I changed my mind several times throughout the read. I settled on two, but couldn't make my mind up which of them it was, and was wrong. Completely and utterly way off base. Which pleases me greatly.

4.5 sparkling stars for Her Best Friend by Sarah Wray which came to me in the form of a digital ARC from Bookouture via Netgalley, for which I thank them. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

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Sylvie is dragged back to her childhood home after her estranged mother dies leaving her the family home. Little does Sylvie know that the murder of her best friend Victoria 10 years previous is subject to a documentary in the making. Old wounds are being reopened but will Victoria’s murder finally be solved?

The story packed with suspense jumps between the present day and 1995 when Victoria disappeared. The long chapters drip fed me tit bits of clues of what happened that fateful night right to the end that gave me goosebumps! It possibly didn’t help I was sat against a cold window in November but I think I’d have felt them snuggled up in my bed with the electric blanket on full!!

Despite this book being packed with tension, it’s a dark slow burner. Don’t expect to hit the ground running or to feel like you have been on a rollercoaster but I think that is the beauty of Sarah Wray’s writing. Both in this novel and her debut “Reported Missing” you are taken on a journey but you don’t have the map and the path isn’t lit. You don’t see what’s coming round that next dark corner.

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Sylvie and Victoria seem joined at the hip as children and then teenagers, until Victoria is murdered
Sylvie has returned to her mother's house years later after her mother whom she never spoke to after her dad died
It brings back memories and flashbacks of her life before Victoria had gone all the old haunts the same, same people yet still no one knows who murdered Victoria up at the lake that night or does someone know?

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Gawd you could have blew me down with a feather, an intense thrill ride, produced from a slow burn, a purely explosive psychological thriller, sometimes a secret can’t stay hidden, can you uncover the secret before Sarah Wray calls time on Her Best Friend.

I was captivated by the whole premise of the plotline, but I can say I was a little nervous to begin with wondering can I really get my teeth in this book, but once I started turning the pages, I had nothing to fear but the end itself.

Well where to begin, Sylvie Armstrong has been in hiding, trying to escape her past, her best friend was murdered twenty years previously, now Sylvie has to return home, confront her past, the secrets and settle her mothers estate. Terror grips Sylvie when a locket Victoria wore on the night she died appears as a gift on her doorstep, who knows what happened, the secrets unravel as the truth becomes known.

Her Best friend fluctuates back and forth between 1995 when Victoria died and the present day, the insight into the friendship between Sylvie and Victoria helps set the scene but also starts to reveal the lies which hampered the original investigation. Following through to present day, Sam a journalist, uses his podcast to document the investigation, he interviewed various people uncovering more lies, it drove me batty thinking I knew who was the killer, only for my theory to blown out of the water.

I’m not completely sure if I connected with any of the characters but even so it didn’t do any damage to the plotline for me. They were all in my opinion unreliable, I mistrusted all of them, I never felt any of the characters were able speak the truth. The characters were carefully thought out and planned fitting well with the book but I didn’t really want to side with any of them, I think that’s part of the reason I was unsure about them. Overall the characterisation was spot on but not what I anticipated.

I thoroughly enjoyed Her Best Friend, the thrill of the ride, the slow building pace, creeping up to the rollercoaster high and throwing you deep into the secrets hoping to unravel the lies and find the killer. Wow what a psychological thriller!

Thank you to Bookouture and Noelle for allowing me the opportunity to be part of the Blog Blitz for Her Best Friend, thanks also to Sarah Wray for an advanced readers copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

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