This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review. The writing style is different. The characters are different…the story is different…I could not become immersed in this book but others might like it. It took too long to get to certain points…events…maybe too many details…

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for sending me an e-ARC of this book to read and review. I didn't really like this one. At first I liked the quick pace of it, but the characters ere completely flat. It felt like a game to see who could be the worst friend. I also hated that the dialogue wasn't put into quotes. It made keeping up with the characters incredibly confusing and it was hard to see who was connected to who as the story went on. I was also expecting more of a thriller vibe and this felt more like a one-note petty drama. There was no suspense or waiting and the details were so vague that I felt like I had no clue what was actually happening. No one was likeable or connect-worthy and the quickness of it was kind of the only redeemable quality. I should have DNF'd.

I enjoyed this one!! It had a very unique writing/story telling style that won’t please everyone, but I found that style a much quicker read. It was certainly uncomfortable at times and hit on some tough topics, but overall I was really a fan of this one!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kate and Bella met at the age of 6. The life-long friend's took a couple of long breaks in their relationship due to discards, but together they shared a life of companionship and secrets.

Bella and Kate have been friends literally forever. They became friends at age six and through bad times and good, through distance and closeness, the friendship evolves. Can an occasional toxic friendship be maintained? This novel is written with many chapters in age-appropriate conversations between the girls from age six to old age. Interesting read

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for an early copy of The Best Friend. How do I describe this book through my tears that will not stop? I did not like one of the best friends at all and it was slow in the middle of the book for a bit BUT my emotions are soooooooo WOW!!!!! I didn’t realize I could have emotions that deep for a book. It was an Awesome and Beautifully written book!!! Thank you Jessica Fellowes.

This book…

I really wanted to like it. The summary instantly caught my attention- but the actual story… not so much.

I was confused as to what was going on 90 percent of the time…and could not figure out why Kate and Bella were even friends… one of them needed more of a personality to make them more interesting. I was not invested in either .

I’ll admit I was a little hesitant about reading yet another book about a toxic female friendship. The fact that it was written by a New York Times best-seller author (The Mitford Murders series and companion Downton Abbey books) who also happens to be the niece of Julian Fellowes trumped my hesitation … and I dug in.

The first thing I noticed was the creative chapter titles! Then the unique writing style captured my attention. However, I failed to bond with a single character and, sadly, in the end, didn’t care what happened to them! I also didn't feel that the plot had enough pull to keep me interested. This is definitely a unique book and I know it will find its way into the hands of those who love it; unfortunately, it isn’t for me.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to experience this author’s writing for the first time. Just because this wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean that there aren’t many others out there who’ll love it.

I was gifted this advance copy and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for my copy of this in exchange for an honest review. Okay so I wouldn't classify this as a mystery/thriller or a psychological suspense novel. I suppose this is for fans of The Push, but similar to that it's maybe a psychological family drama? I would definitely recommend for fans of The Favor.

I did not connect with the characters in this one, I really actually did not like any of the characters in this one. I almost DNF'ed it but I was on a 12-hour bus ride so I ultimately was like what do I have to lose? There's only one related suspenseful part but it's never adequately explained, it's mostly just discussed in veiled comments after the fact and the comments that are made about it only gave me more questions.

I just couldn't get into this book. While I appreciate the subtlety in which she explored toxic friendships, I didn't enjoy the writing style and found the story boring.

I like a unique writing style. And a like a toxic friendship. I’ve had my fair share of those. But The Best Friend was a little to vague for me. I didn’t connect with Bella or Katie and, though their drama had depth, their personal characters were undefined and boring. This is a slow burn, not a thriller, but still a short, quick read. I liked the ending, too, but if you like neat-little-bow endings, this one’s not for you.

The Best Friend by Jessica Fellowes is a poignant tale of two girls who became friends in grade school and carried on their friendship to the bitter end. The tale ebbed and flowed between the on again, off again, friendship. It was an odd telling, often jumping many years at a time. The characters were interesting, but the tale was bland.

The Best Friends has a unique twist about friends reuniting after years apart. Through the years they have had many ups and downs, major issues and reconciliations. The choices each one makes are sometimes hard to understand.
I did think this was going to be more of a suspense thriller from the cover.
This was ok read for me.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book was a struggle to read. I am not sure if it was due to the formatting on the digital copy or if the print version is the same. There are no quotation marks used when people are speaking and there is a lot of dialog in the book. At times it was confusing to figure out who was actually speaking. I found both of the main characters unlikable. The start of the book makes it seem like this is going to be a book about lasting childhood friendships, however both of these women are horrible. I am not sure why they were ever friends or continued to enter each others lives for their either life. This book is labeled mystery and thriller and at no point in the book did I find it to be either.

Thank you to Netgalley for the digital ARC.

This was an interesting story showing a highly dysfunctional relationship between two friends. I think it was a good in depth look about how emotional abuse can affect a person. It shows highly toxic Kate and her relationship with BFF Bella. It was a slow burn. I don't know that I would consider it a thriller, more of a picture of a seriously messed up friendship. The narrators did a great job and had great emotional depth.

This book was just okay for me. I didn't really connect with the characters and I found them pretty unlikeable. I thought it was a quick read and it held my attention overall.

Sadly this one was a bit slow but also in some cases, difficult to follow along with the dialogue. It just wasn't for me. Thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC!

This is the story of Bella and Kate whose friendship begins in early childhood and spans their entire lives. Fellowes provides a character-driven interpretation of a strange, rather unhealthy and, at times, codependent relationship. Other characters come and go in this story but Bella and Kate are always at the forefront. I wasn’t completely enthralled by this but I did find it to be entertaining and definitely original. Fans of Sally Hepworth should find this appealing.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story ran a bit slow for me, and I thought the characters were such flat tropes of characters. The author also designed a lot of conversations on purpose not to show who's speaking, a lot of "You" and "I", it made it quite hard to follow along.

The Best Friend follows Kate and Bella through an intense, toxic friendship that spans through their lifetimes. As children, Bella was more sensible and cautious whereas Kate was a bit more dangerous. Over decades, their friendship ebbs and flows - and a shocking event tests them more than ever.

This book starts with Bella and Kate as children and spans throughout their lifetimes. Looking at the cover I thought that this book would be more of a thriller, but when reading found it to be more of a story of friendship with many highs and lows throughout the years. Towards the end, I actually found myself tearing up! This book is not my usual read, but I did enjoy it. I had both the eBook and ALC and the audio version was really easy to listen to, especially with the frequent back and forth between the two MCs. A quick read and looking forward to seeing what else Jessica Fellowes comes up with!