Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I didn't enjoy this book at all. I didn't find it suspenseful at all. It just kept spinning around in circles with the same drama over and over again.

The main characters have this weird on again off again friendship that spans out over almost their entire lives. Their relationship is toxic from the very beginning. There is a strong "queen bee and sidekick" vibe with their friendship and they never get away from it or change. At one point in the book there is a scene where one if the friends is raped and the other blames and gaslights her and nothing changes until they're off again. Their relationship was just exhausting. All the characters in this book were just awful.

One thing I did enjoy about this book is the writing style. When writing dialogue the author doesn't use quotations or anything like that. They just skip a line when someone else speaks. I find this makes the dialogue portions of the book quick to read.

I will give this 1.5 stars because of the audiobook. It was the only thing that helped me get through it, the performances by Antonia Beamish and Lucy Scott were literally the only good thing about this book. I had heard that the book itself contained no quotation marks, which made it nearly impossible for other reviewers to read. The audiobook made the experience much better because I knew when Bella and Kate were speaking and so I could (mostly) follow it a bit better.

It's the story of two women from the time they are six until they are elderly who have a very toxic friendship. There's some gaslighting, lying, sneaking around, manipulation, more lying, more gaslighting, over and over. There are no likable or sympathetic characters except maybe for Bella's daughter, but she's not on the page much.

The storyline isn't a mystery/thriller as it's described, I suppose if you stretch your imagination there's a tiny bit of mystery surrounding a "shocking event" but that honestly turned out to be a non-issue because it's kind of obvious what is going on.

There are skips in the timeline, things hidden that are brought out later, and it doesn't seem necessary at all. I kept listening because I had hoped that the book would get better, would start to make more sense, but it really doesn't.

This is an overall mess and it's my recommendation to skip it if you can. And if you decide to give it a try, most DEFINITELY GET THE AUDIOBOOK.

Kate and Bella. Bella and Kate. A friendship that was off and on since they were six years old. Kate the beautiful, confident, actress and Bella the one who always seems to be left behind. Bella does develop into a confident painter as the years progress. They find themselves together and as friends sporadically throughout their lives. Always ending with a harsh falling out. I had a tough time with this book. I did not connect with any of the characters. The dialogue was choppy and hard to follow at times. It is an extremely quick read. Thank you to Jessica Fellowes, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for gifting me this book.

The Best Friend by Jessica Fellowes left me with what I can best describe is an itchy feeling at the back of my neck; the sense that something is wrong but it's not immediately apparent what it is. The sense that you cannot fully trust either of the two women at the center of the story. The tale of two best friends, Kate and Bella, spanning their lives from girlhood to old age, the story is a definite slow burn. It is not a down the middle mystery or thriller, but not quite a family drama. I loved the honesty (despite the aforementioned lack of trust) of the relationship - friendship, even best friendship, can be fragile and mysterious, and this is illustrated by Kate and Bella's relationship. I would absolutely recommend The Best Friend to fans of Ruth Ware and Janelle Brown. Outstanding writing, cannot wait to read more by Ms. Fellowes!

The Best Friend was quite an interesting read. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and grasping the time frame and setting. I think the way it was written, bouncing between standard storytelling and ping pong conversation without quotation marks or designated speakers, was difficult to follow.

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t.

There was no point.

And also NO QUOTATION MARKS in conversations where entire chapters are back and forth conversations.

I thought maybe it would get better, but it didn’t at all. It just kept getting worse.

I will not post this to my Goodreads or bookstagram. Others may enjoy it and I don’t want to discourage sales.

Bella and Kate have been best friends, on and off, for much of their life. They find themselves closer than any of their other friends, but also wonder how much they can trust each other. When a shocking event occurs, their relationship is test as never before -- and the aftermath shapes their friendship, marriages, and the trajectories of the rest of their lives.

This is a creatively written and structured thriller that keeps you guessing.

Recommended!

If I told you I was prepared for the emotional turmoil this book put me through, I’d be lying! I’m warning you now, get your tissues.

I’m disappointed in the GoodReads rating on this book. I respect the fact that everyone has different opinions so mine is….do not choose whether or not you want to read this book based on its GoodReads rating.

The dialogue structure is unusual because there are no quotation marks and you’ve got to use context clues to determine who is speaking at times. It did bother me at first but I quickly got used to it for 2 reasons. 1) it’s back and forth. One line Kate, one line Bella and so on. 2) The two main characters have such different personalities that it’s easy to discern who is speaking as you move through the story.

Following Kate and Bella’s life from age six to eighty-two, we get a rare look inside an entire friendship. Their different personalities and life choices cause some tense situations and their bond is eventually tested. Can a true friendship last a lifetime? Or does there come a point where you stay in each other’s lives out of nothing more than habit?

This story is suspenseful and shocking but also heartwarming and gut wrenching. I recommend reading it if you are a fan of:
❤️ domestic suspense
💙 short chapters
❤️ unexpected endings
💙 deep content hidden behind page-turning prose.

Thank you to @netgalley @minotaur_books and @author_jessicafellowes for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur/SMP, and Jessica Fellowes for an ARC of this book!**

Have you ever seen a broken Merry-Go-Round?

(stay with me)

I personally haven't, but I can sure imagine it. Horses sort of popping up and down in a disjointed way, at odd intervals that don't match the ride music, which also might sound terribly out of tune. Not to mention of course, since the horses are already in a circle, they aren't going anywhere...and neither will you.

That is EXACTLY the sort of mindless and 'why am I still doing this' feeling I got while reading The Best Friend.

This story focuses on the all-consuming, 'toxic' friendship. Kate is supposedly gregarious and dangerous while Bella is sensible and cautious. (I could not have actually told you that until I re=read the publisher's blurb after finishing this. To me, the characters read like they were pretty much the same person). We start early on in life (at 6!) and somehow work up till these ladies are 82, going through life events along the way, most revolving around boys and later, men. There are plenty of parties and we learn Kate is an actress and Bella is a painter. (Maybe this is how one is gregarious and the other isn't? I honestly can't tell you.)

Perhaps the PRIMARY reason these women (and frankly, most of the characters) are impossible to tell apart?

No. Quotation. Marks.

Not only that, but the characters are written so similarly, if one didn't mention the name of another or another identifying detail, it was WORK to figure out who was talking...and their conversations were so snooze-worthy most of the time, I didn't really care to find out. I don't necessarily HATE this device (though I haven't had good luck with it thus far) but I just don't understand why the author used it in this book. Was this supposed to be the 'mystery' of the book?

Because the other half of my problem with this one is that it is VERY clearly marketed as a mystery/thriller...and once again, like so many others with a leading cover and blurb...thrilling it is not. The only event befitting of that sort of characterization happens when the book is almost over, and isn't particularly thrilling in the way it is presented. It didn't really matter 'whodunit' or even what the 'it' in whodunit was...I felt like it made very little impact on the relationship between Kate and Bella, and ostensibly, that's what this book is about.

Some friendships are truly toxic...and some are just forgettable. This one (and this book) unfortunately managed to be both.

2.5 stars

If you like friendship dramas, then this book is for you! I enjoyed reading about Bella and Kate’s friendship and how it evolved in both good and bad ways over the years. They lose touch, reconnect, and are both navigating marriage and motherhood. There are some suspenseful moments, but I was hoping for more thriller vibes. I felt like there were times during the conversations that you had to pay careful attention to know who was speaking due to the format. There are some things left unanswered and I felt like I was a bit lost in different parts of the book. You’ll kind of have to read in between the lines to decipher what’s going on at times. It was a fast read for me!

Thank you so much Minotaur Books for the gifted copy.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Bella and Katie are best friends from the time they’re six years old, but the challenges of growing up and navigating adult lives and relationships—including dark betrayals—repeatedly pull them apart and push them back together.

I’ve been describing this book to all my friends as "NORMAL PEOPLE but with murder” and I honestly think that’s the best possible description. Given that NORMAL PEOPLE is a massive bestseller with a ton of loyal fans, the description is definitely a compliment…except I’m not actually *one of* those loyal fans.


So, suffice to say, I am unfortunately somewhat middling on this one. On the one hand, it’s super unique and some of the prose is beautiful. It was also an incredibly fast read—I polished it off in less than 24 hours. I also appreciated the commentary on friendship and the entire concept of having a “best” or oldest friend who knows you better than anyone.

On the other hand, it had the kind of plot structure I *really* struggle to connect with, and I wanted a lot more resolution from the ending than I ultimately got. I also feel like classifying this one as a mystery/thriller is way off, though I understand why some would say it falls on that side of the line.

And so, overall — far from a bad read, but also far from a favorite.

Recommended if you like: NORMAL PEOPLE; literary fiction with unorthodox plot structures; reflections on female friendships.

CW: Sexual assault/rape; suicide attempt/self-harm; gun violence; death of a child; drug use/abuse; emotional abuse/manipulation; infidelity; mentions of child molestation.

I'm at a loss with how to rate this. Did I love it? No. Did I hate it? No. I just sort of read it, took it in, and moved on. It wasn't thriller-y, or suspense-y or really anything-y. It was written in a strange style, which I think was the intention, but it didn't necessarily work for me. We get a glimpse of these women at various ages throughout their lives and how they move in and out of each other's orbit, and just how toxic their relationship was an continued to be. You never really spend a lot of time with them getting to know them at any of the ages, and while you are a certain time of their life, a few frosty nuggets of knowledge are doled out to piece the story together.

This book was written in a unique format. I’m one to shake things up and try new things - but someone must have said this book just didn’t work? Surely they did right?!?! This book was mostly written in the form of a conversation, one line sentences back and forth - for pages. It was super hard to follow. I thought maybe audio would be better, but that wasn’t the case either.

This book was about a toxic friendship that started at a young age, and sporadically picked up along the main characters lives. Some of the book wasn’t conversational, but told from Bella point of view. The story was so dysfunctional and the friendship was so toxic that it was hard to figure out how these people kept coming back to each other. Thankfully the charters finally died and the book was over.

This story was as dysfunctional as this book. Nothing about it worked. Also, why this book was labeled a thriller is beyond me, it was more of a contemporary fiction. I really wanted to like this one but I can’t find anything I liked about it. Better luck next time.

I do want to extend my thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy. Sometimes I find amazing books and am always on the lookout for more - that’s why I love receiving books from netgalley so much. This one wasn’t it, but the next one probably will be!

"Reminiscent of Sally Rooney" unfortunately here just means not using quotation marks. Really intriguing premise, but just didn't quite work meshed with Fellowes' writing style.

There really is a thin line between love and hate.

This a a dark and suspenseful read by Jessica Fellowes.

The story follows Bella and Kate and their friendship from childhood to old age. The writing style took a little time to get used to. I can understand the mixed reviews. Definitely a uniquely written novel. I enjoyed this intriguing story of secrets, lies, friendship, and betrayals.

This was my first read by the author. I'm looking forward to going back through her previous books and looking forward to seeing what she writes next.

I saw multiple reviews which criticized the lack of quotation marks and the confusion it caused over who was speaking. I actually thought this was a unique characteristic that led to some of the over arching themes of the book.

Bella and Kate’s friendship spans time but is muddled with secrets, lies, and betrayals. It is then further tested by long stretches of time between their meetings and re connections. I thought the fusing of dialogue without quotation marks added to the sense of blurred lines and boundaries in their friendship with each other and relationships with others, but the book itself was SUPER dark and not uplifting in the slightest. Not necessarily knocking it for that, but man, it was a doozy! Going with 3 stars due to some stretches of slowness/ that I didn’t really love either of the main characters, but did think it was uniquely written and interesting overall.

This book had me hooked from the first page. The story is about female friendship but it has a brooding darkness to it which leaves the reader in suspense. Very well written, I couldn’t put it down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5 STARS

I went into this book thinking it was a conventional thriller. It was not. It is written in mostly dialogue without quotations that makes it very confusing to know who is talking. This did make it a fast read on the plus side.

The story over all fell flat for me. The plot lacked substance. The whole time I was waiting for some twist that would explain the confusion but it never came. To me it was a story about best friends over the years and how they lost touch over minor things and then rekindled their friendship… more of a women’s fiction than mystery/thriller.

These are just my own thoughts and someone else might enjoy the writing style and plot, but it was not for me.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for the advance reader copy! 👩🏼👩🏼‍🦰

Thank you NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review. First word that comes to mind is WHOA! This is the story of Bella and Kate who become friends when they are six. The story ends when they are old women. Their friendship is truly off and on. Bella thinks of Kate often though and feels awkward around her. Kate becomes an actress and seems to breeze through life. Until the two spend time with their children at Kate’s father-in-law’s house. The tension is palpable, coming off the page in small waves. Not enough to make you wince, but enough to make you want to read more. This book would be absolutely wonderful for a book club. Read this book

Wow! Great read by Jessica Fellowes. I loved this quirky writing style! So easy to read and get totally involved in. Amazing job on character development. This book hooked me from the beginning and really made me think. Very tough yet super tender.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book