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henrymarlene's review
3.0
Toxic relationships and when you're too blind to see through them. That, to me, was the premise of Bec and Izzy's relationship. Polly Phillips displays all the aspects of a toxic friendship so well. You watch, first in slow motion and then at breakneckspeed, the decay of the connection between Bec and Izzy. Friends since school, Izzy is the glamour queen with it all, living a very rich life in all matters of speaking. Bec is rich in other ways, newly engaged and about to write her first published feature article. As much as they are long time friends, they have a lot of distance between them. They are long time frenemies. Phillips writes this book to illustrate how and where jealousy gets in the way of a friendship. Both Bec and Izzy are both as bad as each other when you really read into their characters, and they both try hard to top each other as the 'alpha' friend. Some of the scenarios that arise seem a little implausible. They do lead to a twist I didn't expect, which was great to discover.
squirrelsonbookshelves's review
4.0
This was a good, easy read murder. It felt very bingeable were I not reading it on Pigeonhole.
My only real issue is that I didn't LIKE any of the characters (apart from one minor one). It didn't desperately affect me enjoying the book, but it made me far less invested in their outcomes.
My only real issue is that I didn't LIKE any of the characters (apart from one minor one). It didn't desperately affect me enjoying the book, but it made me far less invested in their outcomes.
andintothetrees's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this domestic noir, it has a different structure to many of the genre (as the murder doesn't happen early on in the book) and was also the best "toxic friendship" depiction I've ever read. 4 stars rather than 5 as I felt the last 15% or so lost momentum a bit and there were a few little bits of plot that didn't make sense (like Missy the basset hound being apparently left alone the whole time Bec and Ed were out at work?) but overall a great read and I'm looking forward to seeing what else Polly Phillips writes.
abirhayden's review against another edition
4.0
Ooooo that was so good!!
And that ending!! ahh!! Never saw that coming
This was so captivating and full of drama i loved it! The big death didnt happen until 60-70% into the book but it didnt even matter i was so wrapped up in the drama I forgot a murder was suppose to take place! Hahah
And that ending!! ahh!! Never saw that coming
This was so captivating and full of drama i loved it! The big death didnt happen until 60-70% into the book but it didnt even matter i was so wrapped up in the drama I forgot a murder was suppose to take place! Hahah
thetewaiwizer's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
oliviadeny's review
2.0
Felt very 2014 wattpad fanfic, it’s an easy read (until the end) but I still wouldn’t bother. Everything that happened at the end Ed cheating, Sydney being the murderer felt very forced and rushed. Stupid ending and had to skip the last few pages cos they dragged
deeclancy's review
2.0
Initially, this was interesting and I was awaiting the murder of Izzy with anticipation, on the grounds that someone was going to do it at some stage. We've all met people like Izzy, sometimes as teenage friends, people who think friendship is a game of one-upmanship and whose entire life is a PR exercise. Anyone who has been a teengage girl will agree that the only thing worse than one of these friends is one of these friends who doesn't actually grow beyond their immature values.
But the plot of this book goes awry some time after the murder and just continues toward implausibility (given what we know about the characters) from there, until it seems the narrator's entire narration has been a deception as well. We are suddenly told this in the last few paragraphs, then it's "Goodnight folks and thanks for reading", as if this neatly ties it up. It doesn't; it's completely ludicrous and annoying, and means the narrative threads of the rest of the book are now pointless. As a reader, I don't like being tricked by authors in a way that is facile, and I doubt many others do either. A genuine plot twist would have to be a bit more thought through for me to appreciate it. This could have been a decent mystery/thriller, and the writing is clear, but it lost its bearings somewhere about half-way through.
But the plot of this book goes awry some time after the murder and just continues toward implausibility (given what we know about the characters) from there, until it seems the narrator's entire narration has been a deception as well. We are suddenly told this in the last few paragraphs, then it's "Goodnight folks and thanks for reading", as if this neatly ties it up. It doesn't; it's completely ludicrous and annoying, and means the narrative threads of the rest of the book are now pointless. As a reader, I don't like being tricked by authors in a way that is facile, and I doubt many others do either. A genuine plot twist would have to be a bit more thought through for me to appreciate it. This could have been a decent mystery/thriller, and the writing is clear, but it lost its bearings somewhere about half-way through.
bear_miya90's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0