Wicked good. Very realistic take on three friends whose children are involved with instigating trauma on each other. The entire book tells the story of getting that story out and how this changes the dynamics of the three life-long best friends.

I would have given it 5 stars except for the fact they did not resolve a particular mystery which happened earlier in the lives of the best friends. And that drove me mad as I'm extremely nosy.

I really, really enjoyed this.

The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry is a mystery thriller novel. The plot is full of secrets, and few of them are not revealed until the very last, thus keeping the story interesting.

The simple writing style makes for a very easy read. The pace the story adopts is slow to the point that it gets boring during the middle, the reader in me wishing for something to happen.

The character development is lacking at times. The narration is done by three mothers who are also best friends, and they introduced various characters in such a way that I had to create a family tree for each one of the to keep track of who's who. Though discouraging, this did not affect the reading experience much.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.

Verdict: Recommended.

I had mixed feelings about this reading experience. The plot line - three best friends have the bonds of their friendship tested after a tragedy involving their children turns their worlds upside down - was definitely a compelling one. The riveting beginning completely pulled me in. Berry tackled some tough topics and brought her psychology background into the lives of the characters. There were a few powerful moments dispersed throughout the narrative and the story, itself, was a decent one.

Those positives kept me going, but for a story delving into such heavy subject matter, this really fell flat, emotionally.

The Best of Friends is told from the perspectives of the three friends. The tone of these women’s narratives never really changed, causing them to all blend into one person. They also felt rather one dimensional, making them come across as stereotypes, rather than nuanced human beings.

It’s distressing to consider the driving force of this novel, but it wasn’t especially gripping or emotionally provocative. Despite a mostly superficial execution, I did like the way Berry developed elements of the domestic violence situation and illustrated some of the characteristics of an abuser. But a lot of this story involved the narrators relaying thoughts and feelings without adding any measurable weight to them. I was disappointed by this lack of depth.

While my issues with The Best of Friends kept me from loving it, I think Berry raised an important question for readers to consider: How well do we really know anyone, including our best friends, our spouses and our children? I think the story needed a little more seasoning to it, but what the author aimed to accomplish is commendable.

I am immensely grateful to Thomas & Mercer for my digital review copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I received a free e-copy of The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry from NetGalley for my honest review.

This book was an emotional roller coaster that had me in tears. Having a teenage son, who is truly my best friend, this really tugged at my heart strings.

Three women; Lindsey, Kendra and Dani have been best friends their entire lives. Each one of them has a son. Their sons; Sawyer, Jacob and Caleb are also best friends.

One night, the boys are hanging out at Dani’s house. Kendra hears a gun shot. Their lives, forever changed.

Such a delicious read, I couldn't put it down! I can't wait for more from Lucinda Berry. I found it emotional and thought-provoking. It stayed with me even after closing the cover.

This was such an emotional read. I couldn’t put this down as I needed to know what was going to happen. Finished it one day. Will definitely pickup more from this author in the future.

This was SO EMOTIONAL. It was a deep, thought-provoking story. I flew through this one to see what would happen next.

The Best of Friends is a short suspense novel that takes place after a tragic incident. The story is told through three narratives, each POV coming from the mother of one of the boys involved in the accident. The quality of writing in this story was not the best. I found it difficult to follow along with the plot and remember all of the characters' names. However, I did enjoy reading this title so I bumped up my rating from two to three stars.

This was good overall.

I did find it hard at times keep the three perspectives straight. They seemed too similar in the beginning but I was eventually able to distinguish them. The ending was a bit anticlimactic to be honest. However, I was still invested in the story and it kept me reading.

Three adult friends are parents to three teenage boys, also friends, when an unthinkable tragedy occurs. One evening leaves one of the boys dead, another in a coma and the third unable to cope with the events. As each mother tries to find out what happened they discover more about their children and also about the troubles in their own lives. Intense.

This book was every mother's nightmare. It was emotional and heartbreaking, but oh so good. Lucinda Barry really gets inside your head with her books. Not a light read, but totally worth it.

This book kept you guessing until the very end about how the entire plot played out.
This was my first book of Lucinda Berry and made me want to read all her other books.

Every parent’s worse nightmare comes true in this book. I couldn’t put it down! Told in alternating views by the mothers, the viewpoints were all interesting and each had their own secrets, just like their children. Looking forward to reading another book by this author.

I had a hard time getting into this book because of the writing. The characters were never fully fleshed out and didn't feel different from each other. It made reading the book difficult because I kept confusing everyone. Also, I think the author tried way too hard to be similar to Big Little Lies. It makes sense to withhold a certain amount of information but the amount she held back made the story confusing and hard to follow.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book; however, there were a few things that I struggled with. This book is told from multiple perspectives which is something that is in a lot of books that I read and I usually enjoy. For some reason with this particular book I struggled to keep the three families straight in my mind. Each family was affected by the same tragedy though each was suffering from a different outcome and then each also had a different personal issue that they were dealing with. It might have been these similarities that made it hard for me to keep them straight. The other thing that I had an issue with was that the boys that the story revolved around were high schoolers who partied like college kids and one of the moms was aware but allowed it to continue and didn't tell the other moms. I felt like this was really unrealistic and it felt like a tv show to me.

**Minor spoilers ahead** I also did not care for the minor twist at the end concerning May. I don't want to give too much away but I felt it didn't add anything to the story. The other piece that I didn't like was that the moms in the story had been friends for most of their lives and something happened in college that they never talk about. It was brought up a few times but we never found out what happened. From the references in the story it seemed like something that was very telling of one of the mom's character so I think this was actually something that the reader needed to know about.

I'm really glad I got the opportunity to read this book. I have read other books by this author and have enjoyed every one of them. This was a quick, fun read and I liked the way the main story wrapped up. I didn't see the ending coming.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. This book was absolutely an amazing thriller full of emotional twists and turns. Three best friends and two gun shots that turns the lives of three families upside down. I couldn't put the book down. Utterly engaging.

Lucinda Berry is a firm favourite of mine. She never fails to disappoint, and this isn't the exception. The Best of Friends will leave you questioning everything you once knew and always looking over your shoulder.

How well do you know your children?

This was such a thought-provoking read.

At first, it was a bit difficult keeping everyone straight, remembering who was married to whom, whose child was whose. However, once I got everything straight, I was hooked. I enjoyed reading all perspectives
Gut-wrenching, emotional, and gripping. A great read!

5 Stars!!

I'd like to thank NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

I was able to read this amazing book thanks to NetGalley. I am a huge fan of this author and this book did not disappoint. It was fast paced and an amazing thriller. It’s a must read for all thriller lovers! I will be recommending it to all my fellow book lovers.

I really enjoyed how the lives of these families intertwined between friendships and then a great plot twist at the end with such dramatic tragedy. This book had me ignoring my children to finish it all in a day it was all absorbing and thoroughly enjoyable riveting read.