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msorvella's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexism, Racism, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment
ivi_reads_books's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-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? N/A
3.25
This is a great book for a book club to start conversations about agency, justice and friendship.
Towards the middle of the book I had trouble staging engaged but the author knows how to write an ending!
Towards the middle of the book I had trouble staging engaged but the author knows how to write an ending!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Violence
amyvl93's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This had a really strong start that was slightly dampened by an unconvincing time jump.
Best of Friends opens following Maryam and Zahra, two close friends entering their final years at secondary school. Maryam is drawing men's attention for the first time, and comes from a wealthy family who run a leather company - overseen by an iron-fisted patriarch who sees Maryam as his preferred successor. Zahra is more retiring, makes less of a splash, and whose parents are a teacher and a much-loved cricket commentator. As time passes, their youth coincides with the end of the Pakistani dictatorship, ushering in a world of potential opportunities.
Shamsie does a great job of capturing all the intricacies of teenage female friendship, and of teenagehood in general - where you question how much your parents can really know, and where the world feels so big and so small all at once. The central event in this novel is well crafted at reminder Maryam and Zahra, and the reader - of the realities of being a woman in a patriarchal society - where power may rest with a woman in government, but that may not make much change to women on the ground.
The time jump to contemporary London is less successful. We find Maryam as a tech venture capitalist (there's a fairly heavy handed signpost to this when she mentions programming earlier in the novel) desperate to convince the government not to introduce privacy legislation, and Zahra as running a civil liberties organisation (think Liberty) who views the government as inhumane.
Shamsie introduces a host of other issues into the novel at this point - the asylum process, ethical technology, how we protect young people online and off, surveillance culture, as well as more obvious links to the early part of the novel around female sexuality and the diaspora experience. I found this muddied the waters somewhat, and made the ultimate ending of the novel to fall quite flat. It seemed strange that a formative event could have taken place in the girls' youth, which they never chose to discuss until the 'now' of the second half.
Best of Friends opens following Maryam and Zahra, two close friends entering their final years at secondary school. Maryam is drawing men's attention for the first time, and comes from a wealthy family who run a leather company - overseen by an iron-fisted patriarch who sees Maryam as his preferred successor. Zahra is more retiring, makes less of a splash, and whose parents are a teacher and a much-loved cricket commentator. As time passes, their youth coincides with the end of the Pakistani dictatorship, ushering in a world of potential opportunities.
Shamsie does a great job of capturing all the intricacies of teenage female friendship, and of teenagehood in general - where you question how much your parents can really know, and where the world feels so big and so small all at once. The central event in this novel is well crafted at reminder Maryam and Zahra, and the reader - of the realities of being a woman in a patriarchal society - where power may rest with a woman in government, but that may not make much change to women on the ground.
The time jump to contemporary London is less successful. We find Maryam as a tech venture capitalist (there's a fairly heavy handed signpost to this when she mentions programming earlier in the novel) desperate to convince the government not to introduce privacy legislation, and Zahra as running a civil liberties organisation (think Liberty) who views the government as inhumane.
Shamsie introduces a host of other issues into the novel at this point - the asylum process, ethical technology, how we protect young people online and off, surveillance culture, as well as more obvious links to the early part of the novel around female sexuality and the diaspora experience. I found this muddied the waters somewhat, and made the ultimate ending of the novel to fall quite flat. It seemed strange that a formative event could have taken place in the girls' youth, which they never chose to discuss until the 'now' of the second half.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment and Torture
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Misogyny
kirstym25's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Deportation, and Misogyny
Moderate: Classism and Colonisation
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-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? Yes
4.5
Best of Friends is a novel of two halves. In the first half best friends Zahra and Maryam are 14 year olds living in Karachi. They were well-depicted both as teenage girls and as individuals characters, and I felt myself transported to their world. They shared typical teenage interests and experiences - boys, changing bodies, school and music - but their different class backgrounds contributed to different experiences and expectations. I appreciated the way Pakistani history at this time featured in the plot - particularly the belief and hope the election of Benazir Bhutto provided to teenage girls. The pivotal scene in this section, where a spontaneous decision put the girls in danger, was especially memorable. As an adult reader I knew the decision was a bad one but I could easily understand why it was made. Their fear and sense of helplessness as they realised their mistake was palpable, and sadly relatable.
The second part of the book occurs in Britain thirty years later. Both Zahra and Maryam have influential careers which see them interacting with the government, although their goals are very different. To me the strength of this section was not the portrayal of the women or their friendship, which often seemed a matter of history and habit more than genuine current connection. I felt there was a little too much telling instead of showing. I found the depictions of the behind-the-scenes machinations of the British political system, the way money was used to attempt to buy influence, and the use and abuse of social media to be more compelling, especially when it was combined with issues like race, Islamophobia, and immigration, and the impacts on one individual’s life was highlighted.
Overall I don’t think this is Shamsie’s strongest novel but I still enjoyed it, even if the aspects I enjoyed and found strongest differed in each section.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime and Racism
Moderate: Deportation and Violence
graceesford's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deportation and Sexism
Minor: Classism, Colonisation, and Racism
saestrah's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A free advanced reading copy of this title was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review:
Best of Friends was a relatively easy to read book that I enjoyed from the start, and invites the reader into the world of Zahra and Maryam in Pakistan in the 1980s. Shamsie's writing draws the reader into their lives in an accessible way, and I picked up on each character's motivations quickly without feeling like I was force-fed; it felt much more fluid. The first part of the novel is set when Zahra and Maryam are teenage girls experiencing a taste of adulthood against a backdrop of political unrest, coming to a climax during the events of a party where Zahra and Maryam's decisions effect the rest of their futures. The second part of the novel is set 30 years later when Zahra and Maryam are both living in the UK, and despite the test of time and distance, are still best friends.
What I loved most about the novel is the strongest theme running through the text: that friendship can withstand the test of time and distance, and that a friendship can be the most important relationship in one's life, more than family, more than romantic love. Another aspect of this book that I loved was how fleshed out Zahra and Maryam were as characters. Though their narration styles were very similar and meant I often lost track of which character I was following, as characters they felt very real. Because we are given both characters' perspectives throughout the novel, it's easy to understand where both are coming from, even when they stand on opposite sides of a political or personal issue. This is a book about personal loyalties and values, especially when it comes to relating to other people with upbringings different from our own. I don't think I would reread it, but I'm definitely glad for it to have taken up space on my (digital) bookshelf.
Best of Friends was a relatively easy to read book that I enjoyed from the start, and invites the reader into the world of Zahra and Maryam in Pakistan in the 1980s. Shamsie's writing draws the reader into their lives in an accessible way, and I picked up on each character's motivations quickly without feeling like I was force-fed; it felt much more fluid. The first part of the novel is set when Zahra and Maryam are teenage girls experiencing a taste of adulthood against a backdrop of political unrest, coming to a climax during the events of a party where Zahra and Maryam's decisions effect the rest of their futures. The second part of the novel is set 30 years later when Zahra and Maryam are both living in the UK, and despite the test of time and distance, are still best friends.
What I loved most about the novel is the strongest theme running through the text: that friendship can withstand the test of time and distance, and that a friendship can be the most important relationship in one's life, more than family, more than romantic love. Another aspect of this book that I loved was how fleshed out Zahra and Maryam were as characters. Though their narration styles were very similar and meant I often lost track of which character I was following, as characters they felt very real. Because we are given both characters' perspectives throughout the novel, it's easy to understand where both are coming from, even when they stand on opposite sides of a political or personal issue. This is a book about personal loyalties and values, especially when it comes to relating to other people with upbringings different from our own. I don't think I would reread it, but I'm definitely glad for it to have taken up space on my (digital) bookshelf.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Hate crime, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Deportation, Xenophobia, and Racism
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