I enjoyed this book. It was written good and was able to suck me in from the start. I love murder mysteries and kit Frick was exceptional

Clare Monroe died on New Year's eve 5 years ago. Her friends are hiding a deep dark secret and they are trying to find out who is guilty.

Quick and fast paced. A thriller/mystery that’s under 300 pages and had me hooked from the beginning. I liked the multi POV and the surprise twist at the end I didn’t love the twist necessarily but other than that the setting etc was so fun. I love a good story about very wealthy people doing bad things

I love a thriller about rich people behaving badly and this delivered. It got way darker and more twisted than I thought it would, and it kept me flipping and reading and racing to the end. I wish the voices of the POVs had been a tad bit different, not that I had trouble differentiating between the characters, but I would've loved a little more variation in the language to delineate their personalities/styles a bit more. But overall a very solid twist thriller.

Thank you for the advanced arc to this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first half but as I kept reading it kind of just became a little too predictable. Although I wasn’t surprised at the ending I still enjoyed the fact that she got her revenge and decided to take everyone with her! But I feel as if now their lives are being controlled.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC! Friends and Liars is written from a multi-POV and duel time line. The plot is focused on the character flaws and the consequences of those flaws. This thriller is a fast paced page turner and I recommend to anyone looking for a quick mystery/thriller read.

Thank you for the advanced reader copy from Netgalley.

I found this book to be very predictable and similar to a bunch of other popcorn thrillers.

Friends, secrets, someone dead, mystery vacation years later..

Great book! I really enjoyed the varying POVs throughout this book, I think that helped me connect with the various characters. Luca, Harper, David and Sirina were really put through the ringer during the short weekend that this book took place during. The impending doom we knew was coming really helped create a layer of suspense throughout the whole book. There were definitely some unexpected twists and turns all throughout, not just at the ending, which I really enjoyed. I felt like I was really rooting for the 4 friends, even though they may not be perfect characters. The ending was shocking and kind of twisted. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it definitely kept me turning pages late into the night! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I jumped into this not knowing what to expect, unfortunately it did not grab my attention like I had hoped, the premise is there and the suspense but unfortunately just fell a little flat for me

Holy wow!!! This book was a whirlwind but in the best way!! In the beginning I was worried about the multitude of characters and being overwhelmed to keep it all straight, but the story flowedso well and it all came together.

But that ending… Wow! Incredible book!

Thank you, NetGalley for the arc.

4.25 stars

Read if you like: buried secrets, shady rich people, guilty consciences, whodunits

Four college friends return to the Italian villa where their best friend died at a party they were all at just six years before. Secrets and lies come out.

This was a good one. I liked the alternating POVs along with the flashbacks to Clare’s diary entries from the night of the party where she died. Not many characters were likable but they were all interesting.

The best part though was the last few pages of the book. I figured out the main twist earlier on but did not see the final one at all. Changes so much of the story and I loved it.

There were a lot of characters to keep track of but I feel Frick did a good job adding it little reminders of who they were to keep you on track with the story.

If you liked this one, I recommend Frick’s last book “The Split” as well!

Thank you to NetGalley and SS Atria for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed it! At times, it felt like the story was going in circles, but the ending made it worth it. About halfway through, I was trying to figure out who did it—but honestly had no clue, which I loved. The author makes it feel like anyone could be the culprit, and I was definitely surprised (and very pleased) with how it wrapped up.

The characters all have their flaws, but not to the point where they’re annoying or frustrating. It was a well-written, easy read that kept me on the edge of my seat!

♡ thank you to atria books for an advanced reader copy of this book via netgalley! ♡

2.5/5 ⭐️ (rounded up)

this book is about a girl who passes away 5 years prior. her family invites her old friends to their estate for a memorial, but each of them have secrets and rely on each other to keep to keep them. they haven't seen each other since the tragedy.

this book has a very interesting premise with a messy friendships intertwined with mystery. Kit Frick is a PHENOMENAL writer, with very vivid descriptions and a strong ability to tie things together. however, i don't think this book was for me. i felt really disconnected from the plot and characters the entire story. the concept had potential, but something just didn’t click. it had twists, but not the kind that left me wanting more.. the kind that made me confused.

📖 plot & pace: we hear from the friends of Clare throughout this book, with each chapter another perspective. i felt there were some holes in the plot and some parts felt extremely unrealistic. it was hard to really get submerged in the story. it felt like the mystery was trying too hard to be shocking but the payoff didn’t quite hit. i can say i wasn't expecting the end, but it didn't hit very hard.

👥 characters: my biggest complaint is the amount of characters in this book. from everyone in Clare's family, all of her friends, etc., i found the characters blurring together. there were a few times i had to go back in the story to remember who someone was. i think emma, in the end, became my favorite character.

🤩 tropes: mysterious death, toxic friendships, secret pasts, rich & bad characters

‼️ content warnings: sexual assault, domestic violence

in the end, while this book wasn't for me, i do really like Frick's writing style and would be interested in future work! this book would be a better fit for someone who can keep up with different characters/timelines, and like multi layered stories.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC.
It started off well, with a group of friends on their way to a memorial for their deceased friend in Italy. They all have secrets they confessed to each other 5 years ago and promised would never speak about. None of them have been in contact with each other since then until this memorial. But someone knows all of it and threatens the group.
At first I enjoyed the read, but it went on and on with so many characters that it became a bit of a chore to keep up. The ending was a surprise, but all in all the book was just o.k. to me

Luca, Harper, Sirina, and David were best friends with Claire Monroe. Sadly, Claire died five years ago. Her family has invited her friends to return to Lake Como( where she died) to celebrate her life. Every one of them has been hiding secrets. But do those secrets concern Claire’s death, or did they all just make some poor choices?
Chapters alternate between each character. We find out that they each did things that hurt Claire. What were those things and were they enough to make her end her life, or was her death just a tragic accident?
When I thought the truth was revealed, I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed. Then, bam, there was much more to unravel. The final reveal was, well I will just say it changed my impression of one character, and I forgot all about feeling underwhelmed.

I enjoyed this book. There were some places that I thought got a little boring and wordy but I was kept captivated by the need to find out the ending. I liked the twists and the ending. I will definitely read more from this author!

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this eARC. I am leaving this feedback voluntarily.

This is a short read, so it’s fairly easy to get through. The writing style is elegant but comfortable, which allowed me to get into the story. Even though it was third person, I really enjoyed that.

I did think there was too much happening in too short of a book and it was unfortunately a bit forgettable and less impactful. I think there are too many characters for me as well (something good for me to know about myself going forward).

I don’t think this is the book for me unfortunately. It just is not a book I loved.

I think maybe it was a lack of character development?

Thank you for the opportunity to read this eARC! I am leaving this honest feedback voluntarily.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

I love stories about friend groups with secrets and death.

It's a tale of friendship, betrayal, death, and a bunch of secrets.

Five years after their friend's death, they are brought back together, and someone wants to reveal the whole truth, which is quite a lot.

This sounds like Pretty Little Liars.

At times, I found it boring, as not all chapters were interesting to read, but by the end, my interest was piqued—there were tons of theories, and I only guessed about 1.5 of them correctly.

It had a great atmosphere, was easy to read, full of intrigue, and had some (or a lot of) shocking moments.

I felt like the reading experience lacked emotion for me (this is just for me)

⭐️3,5/5

• Liars
• Betrayal
• Murder (?)
• Wealthy family
• Group of friends

I didn’t dislike this book, but did find it a bit forgettable. For a rather short and quick read, there was a lot trying to happen. I found it to be a bit predictable (which is what I don’t want in from this genre). I think the many perspectives and time jumping were meant to throw us off but there just became too many character POVs and they didn’t align fully.

Each character had a “dangerous” secret, but the difference in secrets made it hard to believe they were all truly terrified of their lives ending if the secrets came out. One friend was a petty thief, but another had committed vehicular manslaughter while drunk driving (we later find out she actually didn’t kill anyone?), while another had been raped (which we are led to believe for the majority of the story made her a terrible person and friend. Huh??)

The ending twist was both predictable and lackluster, strange and abrupt.

Really liked this book a lot! Really great characters with lots of backstory and who were complex. Great setting! Really well written with a couple of fun twists at the end! Super enjoyable to read. I would love to read more by this author!