Lots of twists in this book and it did make me consider how far you should trust a friend. With friends like these ...........................

I was unsure about this after the first few chapters, but I am glad I kept going. It gets really engrossing about a third of the way in, and it has a solid twist at the end!

That old chestnut, the secret between friends from years ago.  How close shoud you keeo your friends and how much to trust them? read this and find out!

I have to admit I did skip through rather a lot of pages because whilst I wanted to know what happened I wasn’t particularly taken with how’ve all the angst between Sophie and Naomi. Dramatic ending but characters not very likeable.

This is a gripping thriller that is an easy and enjoyable read. The characters will quickly draw you in and the plot is well developed. 
Clare Boyd has managed to produce another cracking read and I’ll by reading more of her books in future.

I like books about friendships whether good or bad because I have experienced both. This book takes toxic friendships to a darker level. Through Naomi and Sophie, we experience co-dependence turn to obsession.

Naomi and Sophie have been besties since their days in Uni. Now they are in their 40s, they are wives and moms but their lives are far from being the same. One is full of contentment and the other is falling apart. When your life is falling apart, one of the people you need most is your bestie, right? But what if your bestie is busy with her career and family and doesn’t give you much attention?

This was one hell of a twisty ride. It took time to get into the story and the first chapters had me wondering if I’d enjoy the book. I felt like not much was happening and then boom! The cracks in the friendship became apparent and the darkness started seeping out. I was hooked from then on. I wanted to know how far the characters would go. I was also curious about secrets from the past.

There are moments when both women frustrated me and I wanted to shake them but I still couldn’t look away from the mess they called friendship. I also feel like Sophie and Naomi were the only developed characters but that didn’t prevent me from enjoying this book.

With unlikable characters, a dark plot and some secrets along the way, this book ended up being more entertaining than I thought it would be. It made me question the friendships that I have and also think back to ones that I have lost. I also like that one of the women in the story was a blogger. Her blogging predicament was so relatable, I can’t imagine what I would have done if that ever happened to me especially knowing just how attached I am to my blog.

Best friends are what life is all about.  They have your back, in good and bad.  But after this book I've reconsidered my friendship list.... because with friends like these who needs enemies.
Thrilling, gripping from beginning to end.

This book is twisted. 
This shocking tale is dark, shocking and addictive and I couldn’t put it down as I just wanted to read more. 
The ending of this book is out of this world 
An amazing book which captivated me from beginning to end

This book was a thrill ride and not what I was expecting at all!!! I loved the troubled character of Sophie and I look forward to more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this, it was different and twisty and gripping. I particularly enjoyed the two POVs, and that devastating ending!

A book about friendships , with so many twists , turns, chills,  I couldnt stop reading this, I cant wait to read more. Ending was another thing your mind will explode.

This book is both hard to put down, and hard to do it justice in a review! It is simply addictive stuff.

The pace of the book is perfect, it builds the tension so slowly. Secrets from the past are gradually revealed, and you can tell that it’s building up to dramatic ending.

The descriptive passages are very real, it’s so easy to picture the scene, and makes it feel more like you’re living this, rather than reading it.

As the plot builds up to the end, I could feel the adrenaline building, and nothing was going to stop me finishing it.

The pace then dramatically speeds up, and the shocking ending grabs the reader.

A stunning, gripping and absorbing read. The perfect psychological thriller.

WOWWW this one was fantastic! From the first page I was hooked in to read more. I am obsessed with the way that Clare Boyd writes and the characters were fantastic. Such a good thriller and suspense novel and I want everyone to read this one!

Her closest friend was a fast read that kept me on my toes. Each page was beyond awesome and interesting.

I love this author and the way she writes. She knows how to grip you from the first page to the last.


Review by

Country gals book blog

I'm afraid I couldn't connect with this book at all! It just felt like the ramblings of two women! The book did come alive but not until the very end! That ending was something else!! But im afraid i skipped through several pages, something I never do!!

I loved this book despite not liking either of the women with the toxic friendship, but there were  lots of twists,,,,and that ending........what a shocker !

“She was my unsuitable friend. My Achilles heel. She was the drink you reach for when you know you’ve already had too much.”

Naomi and Sophie are friends from way back, though their relationship is... complicated. Sophie’s definitely got issues, but to be honest, Naomi, the apparently more functional one, isn’t exactly free of them either. And both are rather too inclined to turn to alcohol under pressure, so much so that wine is practically a third main character in the story. 

Naturally there’s a Bad Thing in the past, though only Sophie really knows what happened... and firmly believes Naomi owes her for her silence. When secrets begin to emerge, lives will unravel. In a wine-soaked kind of a way.

Her Closest Friend is definitely a good read, which escalated towards the end in a way I wasn’t expecting. There’s also a traumatic scene which I won’t say anything about other than: small dog owners - beware. (I had to go and find mine to give her a hug.)

Well written, often unpredictable, and insightful, especially as regards the characters of the two women and Sophie in particular.

First of all: LOOK AT THIS COVER! I love the colours and contrast!

I often say I love exploring toxic relationships in books. Couples, best friends, twins, you name it, I read it. But few have felt as wrong (in the best way!) as Her Closest Friend. Because there is something terribly wrong between Natalie and Sophie. So wrong that it got me addicted. I’ve never used drugs or smoked cigarettes, but I think reading this novel gave me a similar experience. I wanted to stop reading, my head was shaking from one side to the other – a silence ‘no’ that would last until the very last page, but the urge to keep going, to dig deeper, to see how deep the hole I’d jumped in was, it was all so strong that I literally could not put an end to it. I know it was wrong (that word again) but a kind of voyeurism and the need to find out where the author would swept me off my feet and into the darkness. It takes a brilliant writing style to have this effect on me.

Something else might have put me off the book had Clare Boyd not written so well. Animal mistreatment/cruelty is part of the novel. Oversensitive as I am, I really can’t stand any form of violence against animals. After finishing the novel, I realised this was part of the plot. Was it necessary? Well, everything in one of the main characters, Sophie, is extreme, so yes, I think I can understand the author’s choice to go this way. Still, I had to take breaks from reading because it triggered my anxiety and even had me crying.  Now, not everyone will be as sensitive as I was, and you might just cringe, but I feel the need to let you know. Grab chocolate when you read this book!

Off to the novel itself… Wow! I thought I’d read toxic, but Her Closest Friend is nuclear! Sophie and Natalie have been friends for a very long time, though they are quite different. If their lives were had been on parallel paths forever, when Sophie’s husband wants out, she automatically turns to her best friend, but not just for support. We’ve all been guilty of comparing ourselves to others, even friends or family. For Sophie, Natalie has it all: two girls, a beautiful house, a nice car, a good business, and a charming husband, while her life is crumbling in the little house she lives in with her son, right next to her grandfather’s cottage. When did life decided that Natalie should have it all? Why isn’t Natalie more thankful and understanding towards Sophie after all she’s done?

But… What has she done? There were millions of theories in my head and flashbacks, like a pinball machine, would send me on the right path with heavy shots from left to right. Women friendships are intense and the bonds created sometimes last forever… But we don’t get all the pieces of the two women’s past until the wine in the bottle turns sour. I loved to hate Sophie. She scared the hell out of me! You can’t see it from the outside because Clare Boyd knows how to create wonderfully manipulative and on-the-edge characters, but if I ever meet a Sophie, I hope I’ll run the other way!!!

Yet… Is Natalie as white as a dove? That’s the beauty of Her Closest Friend. Events unfold – small ones at first, then big holes that make you pick a side, pity another, wonder about what can drive someone you love to do something – and you realise love itself can be toxic. Because the force behind the two women is definitely love. But love grows depending on how we nurture it and there is no recipe. Extreme love stems from extreme personalities or traumas, and it never ceases to change, to evolve, to colour the world around us. So did I really hate Sophie? I can’t be so certain. Did I understand Natalie? Not all the way. Do I believe their past is the only reason this book is so crazily good? No. It takes more than one point in that wibbly wobbly thing called time to forge a life, a bond, and what we do with it. Do I make sense? Probably not. It doesn’t matter, as Her Closest Friend explores the grey area and blurs all the lines. I LOVED THIS.

It all comes down to a secret. A secret that has slowly intoxicated Natalie and Sophie’s lives. A deadly secret that sealed their fate years ago.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy watching Natalie and Sophie’s world unravel. I relished the drama, I craved the next chapter for more tears, more lies, more deceit, and yes, more love. I NEVER saw the ending coming. Yet, it felt right. Absolutely right and perfect.

Her Closest Friend is truly addictive and intensely disturbing! Think twice before making someone your BFF!!!

I was really excited to read this story- a book about friendship and manipulation- but what I got was so dragged out and boring. 

Sophie and Naomi are besties from uni and still friends into their 40's. 

Sophie has something on Naomi and when things aren't going her way she uses it to manipulate her. 

I was really forcing myself through this story- and once the big reveal happened- what Sophie held over Naomi- I quickly lost interest. 

I couldn't finish this book

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It is about two friends who met at uni and were still close after marriages and children! But all is not as it seems. A life changing secret is being kept and when it is revealed the reverberations will be felt for generations! A wonderful read that keeps you holding on. 
This is the second book I have read by Clare Boyd. I will be looking for her other title, and am already looking forward to her next book!!!