Scan barcode
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.
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. •
•
•
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. •
•
•
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
•
•
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. •
•
•
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/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.
ni_'s review
5.0
A page turner
Surely a page turner. Twists and turns I couldn't predict. I love a suspenseful thriller and this one hit the five star mark. Great read. Once I picked it up it was hard to put down.
Surely a page turner. Twists and turns I couldn't predict. I love a suspenseful thriller and this one hit the five star mark. Great read. Once I picked it up it was hard to put down.
meggyroussel's review
OMG. So much to say, not enough words. Review as soon as I can think properly!!!!
carat's review
3.0
Ok, I enjoyed this book, sort of, and read it in one evening. The characters are fully realised and they are absolutely despicable and made me so angry, which is the reason I read it in one evening, as I needed it resolved. A good look into toxic friendships, and the behaviours are extremely relateable to anyone who has very had/has a friendship like that.
My amazon version has the title The Best Friend: An Utterly Gripping Psychological Thriller with a Breathtaking Twist. Gripping because of anger yes. Breath taking twist, no. I guessed exactly what would happen in chapter 5, it was a reveal but def not a twist in any sense of the word.
I did like there was a satisfying resolution at the end.
My amazon version has the title The Best Friend: An Utterly Gripping Psychological Thriller with a Breathtaking Twist. Gripping because of anger yes. Breath taking twist, no. I guessed exactly what would happen in chapter 5, it was a reveal but def not a twist in any sense of the word.
I did like there was a satisfying resolution at the end.
arieldeborah's review
I openly admit that thrillers are not the first bookshelf I reach too on any given day, but that is no excuse for how utterly underwhelming this book was.
The story was frustratingly predictable, with unlikable characters that never felt that three dimensional to me. These two facts combined to make the story downright boring.
This books saving grace was Boland's set up with alternative timelines, but even that felt somewhat underutilized and in the end lacked the impact she likely intended it to. So many other elements of this story, such as the protagonists unclear past, felt like they had a lot of potential but were ignored in favor of the more obvious "plot twists."
Overall, this story gets a resounding "meh" from me.
The story was frustratingly predictable, with unlikable characters that never felt that three dimensional to me. These two facts combined to make the story downright boring.
This books saving grace was Boland's set up with alternative timelines, but even that felt somewhat underutilized and in the end lacked the impact she likely intended it to. So many other elements of this story, such as the protagonists unclear past, felt like they had a lot of potential but were ignored in favor of the more obvious "plot twists."
Overall, this story gets a resounding "meh" from me.