When I heard about this book back in January I was so excited - and it lived up to its intrigue! A rich and complicated character study; how does love define us and our relationships and who are the people we would do anything for, despite what they do? I really enjoyed the prose and structure- like a sylvan fish darting through glistening water, unexpected and looping, but clarion and determined. I loved the mood setting ability to describe things in a few sentences. Precise and emotional writing that kept me locked in.

**Among Friends by Hal Ebbott - ★★★★☆**

This is not an easy book to recommend, despite its undeniable literary power. Ebbott crafts a devastating portrait of affluent middle-aged friendship that builds to a shocking betrayal, one that will leave readers deeply unsettled. Set during a seemingly idyllic autumn weekend at a New York country house, the novel follows two intertwined families celebrating a 52nd birthday—but beneath the comfortable rituals and decades-long bonds, something toxic is festering.

Ebbott's prose is genuinely beautiful, with the kind of precise, elegant writing that recalls literary masters like James Salter. He captures the insular world of privileged middle age with surgical accuracy—the dinner parties, the shared histories, the comfortable assumptions about their "finely made worlds." The slow build of tension is masterful, as small moments of envy and resentment accumulate toward an "unspeakable act" that shatters everything.

The novel's strength lies in its unflinching examination of how well we truly know even our closest friends, and how class, power, and unspoken resentments can poison relationships we thought were unshakeable. The ending is indeed powerful—a gut-punch that recontextualizes everything that came before.

However, this is literary fiction that demands emotional resilience from its readers. The betrayal at the novel's heart is genuinely disturbing, and Ebbott offers no easy comfort or redemption. This is a book for readers who appreciate challenging, beautifully written explorations of human darkness rather than those seeking escapist entertainment.

A significant literary achievement that will haunt you long after finishing.

It’s almost impossible to believe this is Ebbott’s debut novel. His writing is sharp, layered, and emotionally fearless. It’s an intricate tangle of inner lives that captures just how messy, flawed, and fascinating people can be. He doesn’t just observe his characters; he drops you right inside their heads, where no impulse is too petty, no motivation too ugly to examine. The result is a biting, often dark exploration of friendship, love, jealousy, betrayal, and trust. But what really lingers is how unflinchingly Ebbott dissects the frailty of marriage and the beautiful, bumbling cluelessness of parenthood. His ability to write across gender and age is remarkable. These people are mostly awful and completely riveting. I cannot wait to see what Ebbott writes next.

Best friends Emerson and Amos spend the weekend with their wives and 16-year old daughters to celebrate Emerson's birthday. But when a shocking moment occurs, they must make a harsh decision if they want to save their relationship.

Wow. I had such high expectation for this book and I could not have been more disappointed. The writing was pretentious and laced with too much subtext and metaphors and every adult character was WRETCHED. The pacing was awful, with the "big event" not even happening until 40% through the story. Without giving too much away, the event made me so incredibly mad and the lack of resolution for it ensured I will NEVER read this author again. Do we really need more books about men getting away with that? And especially written by a man just made the whole thing even more disgusting. Gross. I will tell everyone I can to steer clear of this book.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was beautifully written and explored the dynamics between the characters in a very real way, while I did enjoy it I would recommend checking trigger warnings before picking it up. The only thing that is keeping this from a 5 star for me is how some of the mentioned triggering topics were handled, while it did not poison the well for me it did take me out of the narrative slightly, still enjoyed the read though!

What the hell did I just read? Unlikable characters and just left a very bad taste in my mouth. Pretentious and characters more concerned with their social standing and "friendships" than their own daughter. The way Claire treated her daughter was painful - this whole book was painful and I wished I had not read it.

This book is beautifully written, and is one of the most accurate depictions of the thought processes of someone who has been sexually assaulted. In addition, there are keen observations about friendship, marriage, and family relationships. Very well done. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Among Friends is an intensely introspective drama that focuses on family friends who have known each other for 30-odd years. Ebbott writes in sparse prose, as these characters grapple with a shocking event in the group.

Set over the course of a weekend, Among Friends is something of a literary thriller. The writing is top notch but there is a slow burn to a somewhat complicated ending.

I would say this was a great summer read for those who like quiet character studies with a little drama, in the vein of Herman Koch's The Dinner.

Among Friends by Hal Ebbott is an elegantly written, psychologically intense debut set over one autumn weekend at a New York country house. Two lifelong friends, Amos and Emerson, bring their families together to celebrate Emerson’s birthday, revisiting decades of rituals, inside jokes, and unspoken resentments. Tensions simmer beneath the surface until a moment of violence shatters their comfortable façade and exposes deep fractures in their relationships. The fallout reverberates through both families—wives, husbands, and teenage daughters—as loyalties shift, unspoken truths surface, and social hierarchies are scrutinized. The novel closes on an ambiguous note: its characters are left reeling from betrayal, their bonds forever altered, with no tidy resolution to their moral and emotional crises .

Part 1 made me want to take up the mantle of misandry, part 2 had me in my feels, part 3 had me right back at part 1, part 4 had me loving it???? Definitely had some good lines but idk if I liked it overall.

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this novel that focuses on two men, Amos and Emerson, and their families who spend a long weekend in upstate New York to celebrate Emerson’s 52nd birthday. Amos and Emerson have been best friends in college and beyond. They cannot imagine each other’s Iives without the other’s family. The men’s wives and daughters (they each have one) get along well. This book was a slog for me. I was so intrigued about reading about a relationship between two middle-aged men, but it was so painfully overdone and I didn’t care about Amos or Emerson. The female characters were written just as one would expect a man to write them. They did not ring true. I stuck with it until the end, but probably should have abandoned it earlier when I knew it was not for me.

4-4.5⭐️ When two families reunite for a birthday celebration weekend, a shocking event will rock these long-held friendships, and marriages, to the core.

Right off the bat, this book reminded me quite a bit of The Heart of Winter by Jonathan Evison, both in content and format. And then..it veered. While The Heart of Winter is hopeful and romantic, Among Friends is gritty and biting. It’s slow and evocative, but before you know it, there are twists and turns that will have you on the edge of your seat— something not at all common in a work of literary fiction. It is simultaneously beautiful and uncomfortable, steeped in eloquent prose and set in the most picturesque of places. A quick read, with very short chapters, you will find yourself unable to put this one down— at least I couldn’t.

🎧 The audiobook is narrated by one of my faves, Rebecca Lowman, and is absolute perfection. I recommend both formats, but if you enjoy reading via audio, this is for sure the way to go.

Read if you like:
friendship fiction
character-driven stories
dual timelines and POVs
debut novels

Thank you Riverhead Books and PRH Audio for the advanced copies.

This book practically simmers with tension throughout the entire novel until its unforgettable ending. The writing is crisp and clear, the characters complicated and messy. Among Friends would make an excellent book club choice as there is much to discuss!

Ebbott blew me away as a debut author. I was looking forward to reading Among Friends and was thrilled to see it in me NetGalley library. Not everyone is lucky enough to have lifelong friends. Those who do realize how lucky the are and how precious that relationship is. This book explores the value that is placed upon it and the trust the two families have built up between them and have in each other.
Amos and Emerson were friends in college and while vastly different, their personalities compliment each other. As they’ve aged, instead of going their separate ways their families have become closely entwined. Like all families tensions arise with teen daughters and their parents as well as husbands and wives. Ebbotts characters are fully fleshed out.
When there is a situation of sexual assault the question arises of who to believe. Also what would each person be giving up by aligning with one side or the other. The answers are surprising. 5 stars and I heartily recommend this to everyone.
Thank you NetGalley for this amazing ARC and another thanks to Riverhead books for the opportunity to read it. These opinions are my own.

Among Friends by Hal Ebbott is a hard book to like. The narrative examines generational trauma, class distinctions, marriage, parenting and friendship (not necessarily in that order of importance). The characters are clearly drawn, yet because the reader is privy to their innermost thoughts, they morph from one persona to another. The point of view shifts frequently and one gets a sense of the tangle of emotions but also the confusion of whose opinion matters. The crux of the narrative concerns a “he said, she said” moment between Amos’s daughter Anna and Amos’s best friend Emerson. It is surprising that Anna’s mother feels more loyalty to Emerson than she does to her husband or her daughter (here’s where the class distinctions come into play). Amos aligns himself with his daughter while acknowledging his deep desire to pretend it never happened. One presumes that the status quo in maintained though that is left for the reader to decide.

Thank you to Netgalley and Riverhead Press for the eARC in exchange for this review.

Exposition of what happens (or doesn’t) between 2 families who have been friends for years, where the husband in one family molests the daughter in the other family. Characters are well-honed. Social issues include economic class, friendship dynamics and conflict resolution.

I can’t say that I liked this book, but reading it was an experience. Among Friends is indeed about friendship: to know, love, hate, and manipulate someone with only the familiarity a lifelong friendship allows. The writing style is interesting; the reader really has to work for the full picture. Thanks to NetGalley and Riverhead for the ARC! This would be a great book club title because I need to talk it out!

There are books you read and the next week can’t remember the name of the main character. Among Friends is the opposite. These characters get under your skin and embed themselves. Thank you, Hal Ebbott for the beautiful prose and an engaging family drama. I recommend this book to anyone who appreciates fully-developed characters that come alive on the page. Meet Amos with all his insecurities and his college roommate and best friend Emerson for whom attention is the sustenance of life. Now in their 50s the friendship has deepened and the circle expanded to include their families. How they each deal with an unfathomable betrayal of friendship that breaches societal norms ultimately reveals their true character. Does anyone come away a winner? Thank you, Riverhead, for the opportunity to review this winner!

It is a difficult book to read once you get to the part where the trust between two best friends and their families is broken. I was disappointed with how the parents handled the accusation brought by their sixteen-year-old daughter against their male friend. Well written, and characters are complex and well developed.

The writing in this is so gorgeous and unique that I don’t feel like I really need to focus on anything else. The story focuses on two best friends since college, Amos and Emerson, who are now middle-aged, with wives and teenage daughters. The group is spending the weekend together at Emerson’s house in the country. Something awful and violent occurs, which rips apart what these two men thought they knew about their friendship and their own families. Ebbott writes these two characters (who are the dual narrators) in such an interesting way - it’s clear that we’re not getting full transparency from either of them, both are unreliable in their own ways. There’s an ambiguousness to the story we’re being presented, as well. I think some people would probably find this writing pretentious and overwrought, and I’m not entirely sure I’d disagree with anyone who felt that way (it is pretentious, these characters are pretentious!), but I was so drawn in to this story via the writing. Astounded this is a debut because it feels so incredibly assured.