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marysues's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
jen286's review
2.0
I hated almost all of the characters. I like Ollie, but he was the only one. I have no idea why these 4 girls were ever friends. I mean really they were horrible to each other and kept so many secrets and lied so much I just didn't get it. Georgina was really snobby and better than everyone, treated everyone like crap. Meg seemed fine when it was just her, but when she was around her so called friends she was horrible! Trying to stir up trouble and offend her friends. I didn't get it. Jen was just...well she seems all poor me, but didn't do anything to try and change anything. She just let things happened and then would just go crazy and make things worse for no reason. I really didn't like her. Jen was my least favorite. I knew all of the twists before the happened. It was just...I found the book kind of boring and I didn't get how these people ever interacted and liked each other.
penalew's review against another edition
2.0
It was like reading Twilight - not because there were any sparkly vampires, but because it was terrible, yet I felt compelled to finish it.
juliaspence422's review against another edition
3.0
Mediocre at best. Dragged on and didn’t care for the characters
wilovebooks's review
5.0
A book about friendship. I loved this. With all the secrets and betrayals, I had no clue what would happen or how things would turn out. It could have easily gone a few different ways, though I had my hunches. There were just enough hints and information that I had to keep reading because I wanted to know more. Serious subjects, yet a fun read. An excellent book and one I highly recommend.
stineniel's review
1.0
Only got 19% into this book on the Kindle app on my iPad and couldn't make it any farther. The synopsis sounded great, but then you get into the book and it's so dreadfully boring. The choice of words just felt like the author was trying too hard to make it be a best-seller.
regencyfan93's review against another edition
2.0
If there was a happy ending, I couldn't see it happening. It was going for despair to worse.
sarah_e_j's review
4.0
I won this through good reads first reads.
I was intrigued by the idea of a romantic/chick lit type easy read crossed with a mystery and I wasn't disappointed. Most of this book does feel like a normal 'what's happening in these stereotypical women's lives, who's sacrificed family for career, who's love life is or isn't working' chick lit fluffy novel, but the extra element of finding out what's happened to the friend who didn't turn up when she arranged to meet them all makes this book stand out from other stories in the genre.
I would say that it felt slightly disjointed at times, hopping between time periods when characters were remembering things and also between different characters points of view. My other criticism would be the amazingly stereotyped women, and men for that matter, who always do what you think they'll do, because they are that much of a stereotype there aren't many suprises in their actions!
Overall the storyline was fun, and makes up for the slight criticisms above, so a solid 4 stars.
I was intrigued by the idea of a romantic/chick lit type easy read crossed with a mystery and I wasn't disappointed. Most of this book does feel like a normal 'what's happening in these stereotypical women's lives, who's sacrificed family for career, who's love life is or isn't working' chick lit fluffy novel, but the extra element of finding out what's happened to the friend who didn't turn up when she arranged to meet them all makes this book stand out from other stories in the genre.
I would say that it felt slightly disjointed at times, hopping between time periods when characters were remembering things and also between different characters points of view. My other criticism would be the amazingly stereotyped women, and men for that matter, who always do what you think they'll do, because they are that much of a stereotype there aren't many suprises in their actions!
Overall the storyline was fun, and makes up for the slight criticisms above, so a solid 4 stars.
leahmichelle_13's review
4.0
When Good Friends Go Bad is writing duo Ellie Campbell’s (Lorraine Campbell & Pam Burks) second book. Meg, Jen, Georgina and Rowan were inseparable friends until a childhood prank tore them apart.
Ten years later Rowan calls for her friends to meet her for dinner but she doesn’t show up. Not only that but Meg behaves embarrassingly, Georgina’s secret comes out and Jen decides she’s finally had enough.
Twelve more years go by and Meg manages to convince both Jen & Georgina to help find Rowan…
When Good Friends Go Bad was an outstanding book. I absolutely loved the plot and found it quite unique. The best thing for me was the writing, although it was written by two people you would never know the writing was seamless and flowed easily. Not only that but it was incredibly well written and Pam & Lorraine managed to keep all of the plots up in the air with relative ease.
Of the four friends I liked Jennifer best. Most of the chapters were about her and I thought she was a fabulous character. I found Georgina a bit snobby but ultimately I thought she was a genuinely nice person. Even though Meg did a lot of bad things, I found that I also liked her, too. Rowan, while mentioned, is not featured in the book at all until the last quarter of the book and it made her quite a mysterious character. Who was this person the friends were trying to track down and why on Earth did she seem to fall off the radar?
I quite liked Georgina’s husband Aiden until the last quarter of the book, too. I really thought he had changed but when it all came out he was just a rat through and through. Once a cheater, always a cheater! Jennifer’s best friend Helen was a great friend throughout the book even though Jen puts her off about going places and Helen feels her nose is out of joint once Jen gets back into her friendship with Georgina and Meg. I loved Ollie, Jen’s (ex) husband. Meg’s son was rarely mentioned but who his father was was always there in the background. I figured it out just before it was revealed and wasn’t too shocked!
The plot really takes off once the three friends get hold of something solid about Rowan. From then on it’s one huge rollercoaster of a ride which had me rushing to finish the book. I also loved all the means the friends used to try and track Rowan down, going to her old hometown, going to a reunion at their old school, until eventually all of their hard work paid off. Rowan’s story completely shocked me and it took me a few minutes to register exactly who it was that had made Rowan the way she was. That was a really good curveball from Pam & Lorraine! Really came out of nowhere, too.
When Good Friends Go Bad really was a fabulous novel and I wholly recommend you read it. It deals with a lot of things which really does test the friendship of the four and even though it’s almost 500 pages, I found myself flying through the book!
Rating: 5/5
I’d like to thank Random House for sending me a copy to review!
Ten years later Rowan calls for her friends to meet her for dinner but she doesn’t show up. Not only that but Meg behaves embarrassingly, Georgina’s secret comes out and Jen decides she’s finally had enough.
Twelve more years go by and Meg manages to convince both Jen & Georgina to help find Rowan…
When Good Friends Go Bad was an outstanding book. I absolutely loved the plot and found it quite unique. The best thing for me was the writing, although it was written by two people you would never know the writing was seamless and flowed easily. Not only that but it was incredibly well written and Pam & Lorraine managed to keep all of the plots up in the air with relative ease.
Of the four friends I liked Jennifer best. Most of the chapters were about her and I thought she was a fabulous character. I found Georgina a bit snobby but ultimately I thought she was a genuinely nice person. Even though Meg did a lot of bad things, I found that I also liked her, too. Rowan, while mentioned, is not featured in the book at all until the last quarter of the book and it made her quite a mysterious character. Who was this person the friends were trying to track down and why on Earth did she seem to fall off the radar?
I quite liked Georgina’s husband Aiden until the last quarter of the book, too. I really thought he had changed but when it all came out he was just a rat through and through. Once a cheater, always a cheater! Jennifer’s best friend Helen was a great friend throughout the book even though Jen puts her off about going places and Helen feels her nose is out of joint once Jen gets back into her friendship with Georgina and Meg. I loved Ollie, Jen’s (ex) husband. Meg’s son was rarely mentioned but who his father was was always there in the background. I figured it out just before it was revealed and wasn’t too shocked!
The plot really takes off once the three friends get hold of something solid about Rowan. From then on it’s one huge rollercoaster of a ride which had me rushing to finish the book. I also loved all the means the friends used to try and track Rowan down, going to her old hometown, going to a reunion at their old school, until eventually all of their hard work paid off. Rowan’s story completely shocked me and it took me a few minutes to register exactly who it was that had made Rowan the way she was. That was a really good curveball from Pam & Lorraine! Really came out of nowhere, too.
When Good Friends Go Bad really was a fabulous novel and I wholly recommend you read it. It deals with a lot of things which really does test the friendship of the four and even though it’s almost 500 pages, I found myself flying through the book!
Rating: 5/5
I’d like to thank Random House for sending me a copy to review!