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A review by weekatsie
The Friend by Dorothy Koomson
2.0
Normally I love Dorothy Koomson books, and find them real page turners, so I was looking forward to reading this. The fact that I read it in March but actually forgot all about it until now probably gives you a good idea of how I found it.
Too many characters are introduced very early on, with no real distinguishing features - I found myself having to make a real effort to paint a mental picture of each character, to avoid confusing them with another of the dull characters we're introduced to. I didn't warm to any of the characters, at least not their present-day, wealthy, materialistic selves. I didn't even find them as well-drawn as Dorothy Koomson's characters normally are. Something about the way they spoke and interacted just seemed off. Maybe that was intentional, given all the secrets they were hiding, but with so much unattractive falseness on display, I didn't like, or root for, any of them.
The second half of the book was better, as back stories were revealed, but it still wasn't enough to keep me interested. Honesty, the only thing that kept me reading was the desire to finish the book, as I hate to give up halfway through.
Even the ending was pretty disappointing, and unrealistic. Such a shame, as I had been looking forward to this one.
Too many characters are introduced very early on, with no real distinguishing features - I found myself having to make a real effort to paint a mental picture of each character, to avoid confusing them with another of the dull characters we're introduced to. I didn't warm to any of the characters, at least not their present-day, wealthy, materialistic selves. I didn't even find them as well-drawn as Dorothy Koomson's characters normally are. Something about the way they spoke and interacted just seemed off. Maybe that was intentional, given all the secrets they were hiding, but with so much unattractive falseness on display, I didn't like, or root for, any of them.
The second half of the book was better, as back stories were revealed, but it still wasn't enough to keep me interested. Honesty, the only thing that kept me reading was the desire to finish the book, as I hate to give up halfway through.
Even the ending was pretty disappointing, and unrealistic. Such a shame, as I had been looking forward to this one.