A review by toesinthesand
A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein

1.0

I hated this book, it went along quite well until the end, you have your suspicions of what goes wrong, of what Pete does, but ultimately the reveal is not only a let-down, it’s incredibly disturbing on top of it. Laura is a psychopath who should never see the light of day and Alec is a spoiled brat. It makes me laugh that his dad is so angry that he won’t attend college... what do you expect when you do everything for this kid but chew his food for him? My dad would have kicked me out of the house with nothing but the clothes on my back if I acted the way he did.
And the accusation against Pete, from the fact that he’s living over the garage you think it must be something awful that he’s done, and while the accusation is horrible, if Elaine believes for a second her husband is capable of that, she needs to get divorced immediately, not because he did it (he didn’t) but because what does it say about your marriage if you believe it’s possible?

Also, on a shallow note, I was completely distracted by the fake NJ towns. Round Hill? Hopwood? Bergentown? Come on.

and to the author: the sun does not set behind Riverside Church if you are looking at it from NJ. NYC is to the east. Buy a map.