Have you ever wanted to kill your best friend? Anna was the perfect wife. Perfect mother. Perfect woman. And now she’s dead. Leaving behind her husband, David, and two young children their lives will never be the same. But Vicky will make sure life goes on… These two women have been best friends forever, a lifetime of secrets lies between them and now Vicky is ready to step up into Anna’s … step up into Anna’s perfect shoes. But not everything is as it seems and as David begins to question Vicky’s motives for walking into his life things might just get a little murderous.
The question on everyone’s lips is, who killed Anna? And what actually happened on the night she died?
Perfect for fans of The Rumour, The Silent Patientand The Suspect.
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BFF’s is the story of two toxic women in a lifelong toxic friendship. Dawn Goodwin takes us back and forth between Anna and Vicky as they grow from children into women in their early thirties. Neither are necessarily likable, one a lot less than the other, but still watching their train-wreck of a co-dependent relationship was a bit unnerving and entertaining at the same time.
Anna and Vicky are the epitome of polar opposites. They come from the other side of the tracks from each other with Anna growing up privileged and “entitled” ( a trait I loathe). Vicky has little to no opportunity with most of her joy coming from her friendship with Anna. As the young girls develop into young women Anna suggests a sinister plan to help Vicky escape from the abuse she endures at home. With that, Vicky is bound to Anna in a wholly new way and Anna never misses the chance to hold it over her.
The story is told in past and present with the reader witnessing the transformation of their relationship. At one point my heart broke for Vicky ( and broke, and broke, time and again) and it was easy to empathize with her and understand how she comes to love and resent Anna in the same breath. I had little feeling for Anna. Not true – she would be fine one moment, then a complete witch in the next. So my feelings 95% negative.
But this is not just about them. There is a triangle with Anna’s husband David and as Vicky takes over Anna’s life (in her absence), you can see she’s learned a lot about deceit and manipulation from her friendship with Anna. This all plays out in a stunning way as Vicky gets too close, too obsessed, and takes things too far. She makes made choices that left her secrets open for discovery. Long after Anna’s death, she’s still being influenced by Anna’s misdeeds.
This is a well written and well-executed thriller story with characters that are easy to feel. The stress oozes off the page with an ending I never saw coming. 4 Stars and recommendation.
Favorite Quotes:
He smiled at her and everything around them seemed to hold still for a moment, like a caught breath.
Brian had a squashed face like a fat troll, all folds and furrows. His gut hung over his well-worn belt and his shirt strained at the buttonholes. Vicky had never liked him.
Secrets and lies. That’s what friends are for.
My Review:
I am still vacillating in how I feel and in how to rate this twisty and complex story of retribution, manipulation, lies, and secrets. The characters were not admirable or all that likable as people, yet I had empathy for several. Sometimes poor choices started out as no choice, and then continue to mushroom until they pervade every inch, breath, and thought. That is but a part of what happened in this slippery brain-burning tale that kept me on edge and off-kilter. I devised and cast off and reworked a multitude of theories. My curiosity and cynical nature were so active they may have overheated, and I fear the poor little pea in my brain may have been scorched.
Anna was all kinds of wrong and simply vile, beautiful, yet rotten to the core. She was a cruel, volatile, vain, and a manipulative and narcissist sociopath. She had been toying with others and honing and steadily progressing her deviousness since childhood. And Vicky was her perfect victim, needy, eager to please, lacking in confidence or self-control, and able and willing to take abuse. And David, well, David was an idiot, completely under his wife’s spell. In real life, I would not willingly share air with either of them and found them to be heinous and exasperating individuals, yet their encounters and exchanges made compelling dicey storylines that I just couldn’t seem to get a grip on or leave alone. Dawn Goodwin is a crafty minx and led me on a merry chase. So while the ending was not as satisfying as I would have desired, I have to concede to her advanced level of craft – she had me well invested and kept me guessing to the very end.
(3.5)
Anna and Vicky have been friends since school. Dysfunctional for sure, one is the ring leader, the other a follower. Vicky is dealing with an abusive situation which leaves her with little or no self respect. Anna, to put it nicely, is a manipulative rich bitch, who will hold things over Vicky’s head, and does what she wants with no worry to anyone else’s feelings. She can get Vicky to do anything. Vicky also knows Anna’s secrets, and covets Anna’s life! When Anna dies in a crash, did Vicky have enough? Did recent events finally open her eyes? She moves in with Anna’s grieving husband and children, in essence she starts living Anna’s coveted life. But, things are far from perfect.
While I liked the premise of the book and the story flowed easily, the ending was disappointing. The author was very good at making your opinion of Vicky teeter from one extreme to another. Very few likable characters in this book. This would be a good beach read for sure…entertaining, fast paced, easy to read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Aria Publishing for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.
Solid suspenser about a lifelong and very toxic friendship and the ensuing fallout. Well paced and held my interest all the way though. The writer’s easy style made it quick to read yet not be confused about all the characters introduced.