The Best Friend by Jessica Fellows is a twist, exciting ride of a story. Kate and Bella's relationship explores the toxicity that can happen in some relationships. The darker this story gets, the more I couldn't put this down. What added an extra layer to this story was getting to listen to the author speak. These are not characters you want to turn your back on!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and Minotaur Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I thought this one sounded promising, but unfortunately, it fell short for me. I had a hard time getting used to the chapters that were all dialogue because the author didn’t use any quotation marks or indicate who was speaking. (Swipe to the second pic to see what I mean.) The relationship between Bella and Kate was just…strange. It’s hard to explain, but it felt like nothing ever happened and when something actually did, it was vague and unsatisfying. I’d recommend passing on this one.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I had a lot of trouble getting into this one. i confused the 2 main characters more than once and this did not feel like a thriller even though it is listed as one.

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It had me turned pages without even realizing. It was so good!

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗗 by Jessica Fellowes was a quick read, and in many ways a fun read, but it was not without flaws. It’s the story of two female friends from age 6 to 82. Kate seems to have more family and monetary advantages than Bella, but Bella has more success in her career. Their friendship is both loving and toxic. They sometimes go for decades without contact, yet they always return to one another. In all that, the story had a lot going for it, though still was lacking in some ways. I liked this story of life long friendship more than most, but the problems can’t be easily dismissed. So here goes:⁣⁣
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∙ I could never really pinpoint the story’s place in time and that’s a pet peeve of mine. Never did cell phones or even computers come up, but the story didn’t feel like it could have started in the 1920’s. It felt purposeful that the author wasn’t giving the time frame up, but why?⁣⁣
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∙ There were NO quotation marks and LOTS of dialogue. Now normally this doesn’t bother me, but here there were also never any identifiers of a character talking. (...said Kate, ...Bella replied, etc.) It may have only been a factor in the electronic ARC, but there were also no line breaks between speakers, making it even more difficult to tell when the speaker switched. I had to go back far too often to keep the dialogue straight.⁣⁣
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∙ The many conversations between the two women often felt insipid and more of a space holder than anything else.⁣⁣
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∙ The book is clearly marketed as dark and suspenseful, neither of which it was.⁣⁣
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∙ The “big reveal” was barely an afterthought.⁣⁣
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Because 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 was a quick read and it held my interest I’m giving it ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️💫, but with a few tweaks, it could have been so much better. ⁣⁣
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Thanks to @minotaur_books for an electronic ARC of #TheBestFriend.

Such a different read, Two completely different personalities that are best friends from early childhood until their late 70.s. This is a well written, fast paced book that covers so many different situations spanning the entire years of this friendship. The character development is well written and I felt as if I knew the characters personally.

This was an Intriguing storyline. It was thoughtfully written. Many descriptions were so well written that I felt as if I was a part of it

I am looking forward to reading anything else from this author. I will be recommending this book to several of my reader friends and to my book clubs that I belong to.

Thank you to MacMillan for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

“The Best Friend” follows the relationship of Kate and Bella, who met as children, lost touch as teens, and reconnected as adults. It’s marketed as a thriller, with twists and turns, as well as an intense and toxic friendship between the two women.

Except…nothing really happens in the book.

Well, things happen - a husband goes missing! Friends meet again after years of no contact! A possible affair! And yet…the weight of all of these things is not considered at all, and they are blankly stated as happening and then…nothing. Sure the plot trucks along and the pages turn but all in all, the book is boring. Things that should be a big deal are not.

The characters aren’t fleshed out either, causing another layer on top of the boring-almost-nothing-plot line. We know NOTHING about these characters that give them any personality, or depth, or connection to anyone or anything. It’s hard to care about characters that are so one-dimensional, and don’t really seem to have any personality or connection.

The writing is weird. First there’s no quotations, and that really bothers me, but wouldn’t deter me from reading a book. IF that book was good…which this was not. It was written in a way that was supposed to invoke suspense, but instead, seemed odd, and left a lot to be desired in terms of details (aka…there were none). It reminded me of a puzzle, but instead of the puzzle coming together at the end, there were a bunch of pieces missing so it felt entirely unfinished.

All in all, “The Best Friend” was supposed to be a thriller full of suspense, with characters that were supposed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Instead, the book fell flat, with a boring plot, characters with no connection, and stilted writing that was strange to read.

While the storyline was interesting, I found myself not connecting with any of the characters. This being said I found it quite difficult to stay focused on the actual book. The jumping around was confusing and you barely scratch the surface on who these people are because they don't stay the same age long enough to get a grasp. Also... wasn't this supposed to be a thriller? i didn't really get that. Overall this just wasn't the book for me.

I actually don't know what to say about this book. The writing style was weird. The other reviews I read said you couldn't tell who was talking at some points to which I agree. Until I stopped caring. I usually like her books but this just wasn't for me. I was intrigued at first but For me this was a nothing book where nothing happened and I don't care. I'm not a fan but it was readable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur books for this ARC

I couldn't connect with any of the characters. The friendship was quite toxic and the story wasn't as thrilling as I prefer. I think I was the wrong audience for this book.

Thank you to @netgalley and @Stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @macmilliam.audio for a free download of the audiobook.

The Best Friend intermittently follows the lives of Bella and Kate, covering their lives as they come and go from one anothers. Pretty basic, so I kept turning the page waiting for something drastic to happen. This book left me wanting so much more. I just don’t understand the point.

The narrator of the audiobook was helped keep the story going for me.

2 stars

Thank you to netgalley, SMP Minotaur for the copy to review.

I'm going to be honest here, I almost didn't want to to leave feedback for this one as I'm struggling with the review and what to write. I'm going to start with my Pros.

Pros: Unique storyline and writing. The story is laid out very intricately, and isn't wrapped up until the end, and is put together well. The Best Friend almost reads as if it was a play which I really liked and was very unique.

Cons: Story jumped around a lot, and I was really confused.
Really hard to follow at times, which slowed me down.
Slow pace
Unlikeable Characters.

Again, I appreciate the opportunity, but this one wasn't for me!

I was really excited about this book and I tried to give benefit of the doubt to the publishers, hoping they knew they'd released a book to reviewers without any quotation marks and that we'd get an updated copy soon. They didn't, leaving us with a book that is interesting, but wholly impossible to follow properly without any clarity on just who is actually speaking. I often read lines thinking they were one person, before realizing many lines down that they were another. It left me confused, unable to enjoy the chapters that were written in a typical fashion. Fascinating concept, terrible execution. The stars are purely for how interested I was in finding out just what happened. This book needs a complete re-edit and release.

Bella and Kate became friends when they were 6 years old. Suddenly at 17 they are separated and their world changes. It is not until years later that they come together again, but their friendship dips and swirls in a love/hate kind of way. What could have been a lovely commentary on the joys of friendship turned into a very unlikable story until the very end where the story redeems itself and the true meaning of friendship surfaces. The chapter titles and arrangement was hard to follow and while unique it made for a confusing read at times. I am glad to have persevered to the end but can't give this book more than a 2 star rating. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book

This was a really good book that within a few minutes of reading had me hooked and I could not put it down. It moves along at a really great pace which made for an easy and relaxing read. The characters are amazing and they seem so real that you feel as though you have known them forever. This book is a must read, you will not be sorry that you did.

I was a bit confused by this story. The friendship of Kate and Bella is nothing if not complicated. At times it may be described as toxic…but also not? As we followed their friendship through the years, I felt the story was a bit disjointed and certain things were left open ended that I felt required more closure. I also would have liked more development of the supporting characters who were the sources of tension between Kate and Bella. I was a little let down by this one.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.
This book just wasn’t really for me. The characters were very eh. I almost decided to stop reading less than halfway through but it trudged on. It didn’t get any better.
Not recommended.

I did not enjoy this book. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and the story was very meandering and anticlimactic. I love the idea of following the relationship of two friends over time, but this one just was not successful.

Not sure how I feel about this one. I didn't hate it as much as other readers did, but I also didn't like it either. It was fine. Nothing much happens. It is pretty much a story about two women's friendship with each other, the ebbs and flows of their relationship. It was a fast read due to the majority of the book being dialogue. I didn't mind the no quotations thing. It was pretty easy to figure out who was speaking, especially when you come to realize that Bella is the more cautious one and Kate is more rebellious and outgoing one.

What I didn't like is how the book is marketed as dark and suspenseful. There is nothing along those lines that would ever make me think that. There was only one hint of something bad, which was kind of only talked around, and even then the events didn't really make sense.

The Best Friend follows Kate (charming, gregarious, thoughtless?) and Bella (reserved, focused, thoughtful?) over the course of their 75+ year friendship (yes, really). It’s billed as a thriller, and it certainly is dark and foreboding, but it’s really more of an in-depth examination of a (toxic?) female friendship. Ms. Fellowes commented has said that female friendships at a certain age can almost be precursors to romantic relationships and I think that hits the nail on the head - if you’re a woman, you’ve probably had that friend or friends with whom your friendship has bordered on the edge of too much. If you can relate to that, you can relate to this book.

Fair warning: this book has an interesting writing style. There are no quotation marks in conversations, and that can be a bit confusing. But once you get into the flow of the book, I promise you don’t notice.

This book is unsettling and dark and a great exploration of complicated female friendships. I highly recommend it.