Reviews

The Best Friend by Shalini Boland

corinne82's review

dark mysterious 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? No

3.5

🎧 I found this listen similar to another book I’ve read recently but I still enjoyed it. Told in a past and present timeline that keeps you guessing. It flowed well and the narration was perfect. Likeable characters that you could get on board with. I would have liked if there had of been some more twists and turns along the way as it was a little predictable at times. and the I found the outcome a little rushed and underwhelming as it could have gone so many ways. Enjoyable enough read. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen to #TheBestFriend 

alilovesbooks4170's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

cassiecat's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This is a new author to me with this psychological thriller. I had the audiobook version narrated by Katie Villa who is excellent. She does a great job with different voices for the main characters. She adds a good level of emotion and tension, she gets the balance just right. 

The book is set in Dorset. Louisa’s son Joe has moved school and makes a new friend Tyler, the moms soon become best friends too. Darcy has it all, a rich opulent elegant lifestyle that Louisa and Jared can’t keep up with, but it’s a lifestyle which Jared desperately aspires to. 

Louisa’s family quickly become very intertwined and reliant on Darcy both emotionally and financially. 

Most of it is from Louisa’s POV, but we are taken back to 1996 with Callum and Nicole, we don’t know how the past fits with the present until the end. 

Louisa and Jared are naive and trusting. It feels believable though. The level of threat and suspense escalate, I was well engaged with Louisa’s plight as she was struggling to be taken seriously. 

The plot utilises a traditional trope for psych thrillers, it has multiple twists and reveals which are dispersed throughout the story, and the personalities are developed with their layers also gradually being laid out for the reader. 

I feel that the narrator has really added to this book. I really enjoyed it. 

tracybmc's review

3.0

I bought this book to test the waters for this author. I must say that I was disappointed. I found this to be a predictable story about a woman who is befriended by another woman who then proceeds to try to destroy her life. There were no big surprises. It just felt tedious overall, but I did want to finish the book.

day_dreaming_vampire's review

4.0

Great quick read, can't wait to read more by this author. Can imagine this being made into a film, had a satisfying ending. My only gripe was some of the stupid, frustrating things the characters did in certain situations, but it's usually the case in books like these!

lesliewright34's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

kiercarnahan's review

3.0

It was a pretty quick thriller and it really moved from the beginning BUT I didn't believe the reason behind it all. The rest of the story was fine but the whole motive seemed weak and distracted me from the story.

electraheart's review against another edition

2.0

I'm in the vast minority of people who didn't like this book, but I also have a feeling most people are hooked on any thriller that tries to say it's similar to Gone Girl. Which is...all of them.

But The Best Friend is so ridiculously predictable. There are alternating chapters that are about a girl and her brother growing up in foster care, and as soon as this history was introduced I was able to guess the plot, mostly because I've already read a book this year with almost that exact same premise. Could I tell you what book it was or which was published first? No, and it doesn't really matter because my point is that all of these B-list thrillers that are popping up are all the same.

The biggest problem with this book though is not its predictability, but how completely naive and stupid the main character is. She doesn't grow a backbone until it's too late and she's in way too deep, and then of course no one believes her. But here's the thing: if you don't want your husband spending time with a woman you think is trying to take over your life, do not offer your husband up to go jogging with her, especially when she's apparently vulnerable and grieving. If someone is stalking you for months and then tells you to drop eight grand on surveillance equipment for them, do not open another credit card and take out more loans to do so. If you think someone is manipulating you, do not keep accepting every single offer of help from them.

Honestly, if the main character was a lot smarter about the choices she made and acted early on instead of letting her suspicion build for the sake of the plot, this might have been a better book. Instead, it's a cheap knock off thriller that will get buried among the others.

turningpagesmm's review

4.0

You’ll be happy to know that this is a much more positive review than my last. I loved this book! It’s not a long one ( 247 pages) but it has got everything you want in it. So many twists and turns, some of which that I guessed early on but others that I never would’ve guessed. •
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Loved the time jump so we could actually find out what happened to the characters in the end (I’m never happy until there is closure) and here is the weirdest thing I have written in a review- I love the physical copy of the book I borrowed and ended up so the. The pages are a nice quality, different to any other book I’ve read and the font is perfect. There are also a lot more words to a page. •
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

jamikrut's review

1.0

formulaic. horrible. predictable. guessed the ending around page 25. one of the worst "thriller" books I've read in a while.