An unthinkable tragedy forever changes a group of teens and turns family against family in this edge-of-your-seat thriller that begs to be read in one sitting. Best friends Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani endure every parent’s nightmare when a tragic accident befalls their teenage boys, leaving one dead, another in a coma, and a third too traumatized to speak.
Reeling from the worst night of their … worst night of their lives, the three mothers plunge into a desperate investigation of the bizarre incident. How could something so horrible happen in their wealthy Southern California suburb?
They soon discover that the accident was just the beginning, and troubling discoveries lead to chilling questions: Do they really know their children? Do they even know each other? As more secrets surface, a fog of doubt and suspicion threatens to poison their families, their friendships, and the whole community.
With the illusion of happiness and safety long gone, these women must now confront the hazards of heartbreak, the consequences of jealousy, and the dangers of living double lives.
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It certainly is not a happy go lucky book but is very suspenseful and holds your attention. It keeps you guessing until the end.
Thank you NetGalley for the book.
Kendra, Dani and Lindsey have been best friends since they were girls and are now married and with families of their own. Their teenage sons are best friends and all three families live in the same neighborhood and the boys attend the same private school. Then, one night their lives are completely shattered after a horrific event takes place leaving one son dead, one in a vegetative state and one unwilling and unable to talk about what happened that night.
As each mother tries to figure out what happened they night, other secrets bubble up and they each begin to wonder if they really know their friends and their spouses.
The story alternates between Kendra, Dani and Lindsey telling their stories. At times, it was a bit confusing trying to keep all of the characters straight especially since each of the 3 women were so very similar.
Three perfect families. Have all been friends for years. Their children are all about the same age…. until now.
One tragedy … one boy dead … one boy in an irreversible coma… and one who is too traumatized to speak.
The story is told by each of the three mothers. But do these parents really know their children? Do the families even know each other? Are they all keeping secrets?
I’m torn between calling this a psychological drama and crime fiction. Yes, a crime has been committed, but the families reaction to each other … and to their children… address loss, heartache, envy, jealousy, and the fact is there is no perfect family.
As with her other books, the author has done a fine job with character development in the middle of an intricate plot that is compelling and riveting from start to finish.
Many thanks to the author / Thomas & Mercer – Amazon Publishing / Netgalley for the digital copy of this thought-provoking book. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
This is the first time I have taken the time to review a book, this book is that good. I read it in one sitting and have not stopped talking about how unpredictable and heartbreaking the story was for me. As a mother it made me wonder, no matter how much I think I know my children, do I really? This book is worth the time.
The tragic death of a teenage boy, who dies while hanging out with two friends, has ramifications that cause even starker pain.
Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani have been friends since girlhood, and now they each have sons who, too, are friends. One of the boys dies while with the other two, but his mother is not convinced that it was an accident. She refuses to consider suicide, which leaves only murder as the cause. This means that one of her friends’ sons is the killer.
Lucinda Berry’s story is more than a psychological-suspense, though. Berry takes you deep into the grief, confusion, guilt, and relief of the three friends. She also lets you learn, along with the mothers, how little they knew about their sons. With each revelation, the three are brought nearly to breaking.
This is a compelling book, one you won’t be able to put down. But there are holes. There are some elements that receive repeated mentions, yet they never pay off or are never explained. There are also a couple of conveniences, but to Berry’s credit, they don’t feel contrived.
I’d love to know your thoughts about this book, which I also think would make a fantastic choice for a book club. There is so much to discuss!
The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry is an emotionally stirring, and thought provoking drama, part mystery/part thriller. A story of friendships being tested when tragedy strikes one catastrophic night and things will never be the same again for these friends.I
The characters are well developed and the story is so realistic that it will have you wondering if this is really a fictional story at all!
I would recommend this book!
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The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry is an emotionally stirring, and thought provoking drama of friendship being tested during the aftermath of a shocking turn of events.
The multi-perspective writing transitions smoothly from character to character. As the dark plot unfolds, secrets and lies are revealed. Nothing is as it seems, and nothing will be the same ever again.
Part mystery/thriller, part women’s fiction, this well developed and highly believable book will leave you wondering if it is entirely fictional.
*Thank you Netgalley, Lucinda Berry, and Thomas & Mercer Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
“He gazed up at the ceiling, eyes unfixed, unseeing, as I washed away the blood of his best friends since preschool.”
Three women have been friends since they were in preschool and now their sons are all the same age and have also been friends since preschool. They live in the southern California suburb they’ve all grown up in.
One night the unimaginable happens to the three boys – one is dead, one is in a coma, and one has quit speaking. How do the three women – and their husbands and other children – deal with such a tragedy?
The story is told in alternating chapters by each of the three women as friendships and marriages are tested and each must come to grips with the new reality they face.
I have two sons and I can’t even imagine something as terrible as this happening. But then I can’t imagine having the parenting “skills” these couples do.
This was a fast, hard to read story that brought a lot of “what ifs” to mind. It moved along well, kept the suspense ratcheting up, and I especially liked the ending.
I recommend this book if you like thrillers, psychological dramas, or women’s fiction.
I received this book from Thomas & Mercer through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
Wow, this book is an emotional roller coaster. Be prepared for a heartbreaking read, especially if you are a parent. The story revolves around three women who are best friends, and their teenage sons, who are also best friends. A tragedy occurs that damages the lives of all of the families in so many ways. Kendra’s son Sawyer dies, Lindsey’s son Jacob is in a coma, and Dani’s son Caleb won’t speak a word, even though he is the only one that truly knows what happened. Because the events of the accident are unclear, it leaves the families in a sort of purgatory, unable to properly grieve and move on.
Not only do the parents have to come to grips with what happened, but they need to find a way to support their other children and try to maintain normality with their spouses. It is of course too difficult and more than one marriage appears too broken to fix. As desperate as Kendra and Lindsey are to know if Caleb is responsible for what happened to their sons, they know he is suffering, as well, and don’t want to push too hard, for fear that he will never be able to tell them the truth. Because the women are so close, they want to believe they can pull through this, but can any friendship survive such a tragedy?
It is a deeply emotional story that at times I had to step back from. There is so much sorrow and loss, but you keep hoping that somehow the characters will persevere. At times brutal and raw, this story makes you reflect on the strength of the human spirit and the love that guides you through the worst you will ever experience. Truly a story not to be missed.
This book centres around 3 women who have been close friends since childhood and their sons who have been close friends since birth. A shooting occurs leaving one son dead, one son on life support and the remaining son non verbal. The ensuing investigation opens all sorts of issues.
Many twists and turns and secrets right up until the very end. The secrets just kept getting deeper and deeper. Nothing is never as it seems.
This book has tons of promise but for me it fell a little flat for the simple reason that it was hard the keep the families separate. Which son belonged to which mother. Whose son was dead or whose son was on life support. I had to go back to previous chapters to check who was who. The names were not similar, I’m not sure why this happened. I will assume that it is my problem, not a problem with the book. But, it took away some of the enjoyment of the book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for a review.
Once I was able to get the characters straight in my head (I did have to restart after a couple of chapters because I couldn’t keep the families straight) …. wow! Could not put this one down – read it in just a few hours. With that being said, it’s not that I liked the characters, I really didn’t, but I did want to know what happened. I was completely invested in the outcome.
This is the 2nd book I’ve read by Lucinda Berry and I look forward to reading more.
Thank you #netgalley and #thomasandmercer for the rARC.
The Best of Friends tackles the effects of grief and trauma on the bonds of friendship. Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani have been best friends since they were little. Now their oldest sons are best friends, spending their time together on the soccer field and at each other’s houses. Until one terrible night, shots erupt and now one is dead, one is a coma, and one is so traumatized he doesn’t speak and suffers from night terrors. The tragedy uncovers secrets in each family and tests both friendship and loyalty. Full of loss, trauma, and acceptance, for a page turner that leaves your heart on your sleeve and you reading way into the night. Lucinda Berry is definitely an author to check out! My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.
The first thing that drew me to this book was the blurb. It just pulled me in. Tragedy, mystery and lies within seemingly perfect lives. But everything is never what it seems, right?
The story is told from 3 different mothers’ point of views. Dani, Lindsey and Kendra. To be honest, toward the beginning, I had to keep the mothers’ associated with each kid straight (Hint: Dani-Caleb, Lindsey-Jacob and Kendra-Sawyer). Since you have multiple POVs but also are dealing with a huge tragedy that happened to their kids, each family had something so different going on behind the scenes of what happened the one night to their 3 kids. One died, one is in a coma and one is so messed up that they cannot speak. It is a mother’s worst nightmare. But how do they handle what happened to their teen boys when they have other kids to take care of and issues within their own lives that they are hiding from one another? And what exactly happened that night? No one knows and the only child left that can talk is NOT talking.
This story is one of secrets, lies and flawed characters that make you want to know more. The 3 mothers have been friends since they were young and now their kids are friends. It’s a perfect life for them. But their family lives are far from perfect. They keep secrets from one another to protect themselves. And when the mystery of what happened that night between Sawyer, Jacob, and Caleb comes out, these women will never be the same.
Lucinda Berry did an amazing job with this fast paced, yet detailed story. She brought the reader into the lives of 3 different families that had been connected for years living the dream in the suburbs of California. She dealt with a parent’s grief in losing a child. She dealt with marital issues and with abuse. All while focusing on the night the three boys got their hands on a gun. I never felt like there was too much going on, but everything seemed to be an integral part to get us to a conclusion.
There is a lot to take in with this dramatic family mystery and the story had me flipping the pages to find out what was going to happen next. It was a true page turner. While there wasn’t a lot of action per se, I wanted to know the secrets. I wanted to know why. And I wanted one particular father to…let’s just say I wanted him to take the place of Sawyer.
Be prepared for an epic conclusion and a wonderfully woven plot between these families. It will definitely be one to pick up if you like the twists of a dramatic family suspense. And while some of the ending didn’t seem to completely wrap up, we got our answer of what happened to the 3 boys. I’m satisfied with how it concluded and am giving it 4.5 stars.
Lucinda Berry is my favorite author these days! As a (former) Psychologist, she knows how to get inside the deepest parts of your brain. While her books are not meant to be a causal beach read, they definitely make you feel like you’re right there, with the families, as the complex friend/family dynamics unfold. Some things were easy enough to figure out, while others took the majority of the book to demystify. The only thing I wish would’ve been described better was the “unspeakable event”, between the Mom’s, 20ish years prior.
3 stars
The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry
The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry starts with an intense prologue that made me think I would be up all night reading. Really tense! Kendra and Paul Mitchell have the night to themselves. Snuggled in bed they hear a loud noise, then another from the street behind them. Then, endless sirens. Their oldest son, Sawyer, and one of his best friends, Jacob, are spending the night at their other best friend Caleb’s house. Kendra takes off running across yards being stopped by police and not allowed to go into Caleb’s house. This book has my rapt attention at this point.
This is the story of three best friends since childhood Kendra, Dani (Caleb’s mom), and Lindsey (Jacob’s mom). Something horrible happened at Dani’s house. The story is told through the eyes of Kendra, Dani, and Lindsey in alternating chapters. I had a hard time keeping track of the narrators and frequently had to look back. I finally started keeping a chart of all of the characters. Soon the story started to drag.
So many different plot clues (were they real) were given. For example, something happened to the moms in school but we never find out what it is. The Detective also went to school with the moms and it is mentioned many times..We never find out why this is important. Jacob is brain dead and we are told that his father is a rheumatologist. However, he never is included in medical discussions about Caleb. There are so many plot lines that could be used for several novels.
For me, this book was a first draft and needed lots of revision for plot. This book started with lots of promise and ended with an epilogue that made me roll my eyes.
Thank you Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
As it’s my first book by the author I didn’t know what to expect but the blurb surely got my full attention and needs to read this story asap.
It’s heartbreaking and really edgy, it touches so many topics from friendship to families to how we perceive life and how some people actually live theirs.
Grief and the need for justice and truth have three mothers trying to find out what really happened in that tragical night when one of them lost her son and the others aren’t going to have a normal life either.
I must admit that I was hooked from the beginning and it felt real to the point of bringing tears in my eyes and making me more aware that I have a teenage son and what’s to come in his life.
Unknown secrets are unveiled and although I felt like parts of this story were predictable, some were very unexpected and I can’t recommend it enough.
4.5 stars
Lindsey, Kendra and Dani were childhood friends who married around the same time and settled down in the same neighborhood. The families had 7 children between them with each having teen-age boys who were best friends and were on the high school soccer team. One night after crashing a sorority party and getting drunk, when back home a gun is fired and one boy is dead, another one is in a coma and the third one is in a catatonic state and cannot speak. The story is focused on trying to find out what exactly happened that night that destroyed these three families. This was a very good story line although sad one. I did not like any of the characters as the women all seemed rather shallow and somewhat catty and the men were not much better.
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC of this very interesting but sad book in exchange for an honest review.
Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani are best friends and have been friends for years. Their 3 teenage boys are also good friends. One night while the boys are together, something tragic happens. It leaves one boy dead, one boy in a coma, and one boy is so traumatized he can not talk about what happens. As the mothers try and piece together what happened and why it happened, many many secrets come to light. How well do parents really know their children? As a mother, this book was heartbreaking to read. I truly felt everything the mother’s were going through. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.
“Becoming a mom birthed my biggest fear -losing him.” Lucinda Berry’s description of motherhood and loss ripped straight through to my core. Utterly heartbreaking.
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Childhood best friends, growing up together, getting married, falling pregnant, and raising their children altogether, it’s no surprise that their eldest sons all became the best of friends as well. But what happens one night when misguided and influenced minds go sideways is every mother’s worst fear: the dreaded phone call that something has happened to your child.
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Lucinda Berry certainly knows how to set the mood for a breathtaking, tearjerker of a read! I was hooked right from the prologue, aching to find out what really happened that night. Berry has just the right touch, digging into your psyche in the darkest ways possible, not that I’d expect anything less from this ‘former clinical psychologist and leading researcher in childhood trauma.’
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I will admit, The Best of Friends took me a little longer to read because, quite honestly, it’s a difficult topic – especially as a mom. Berry forces her readers to acknowledge that these situations could happen to anyone; we don’t always understand our kids as much as we’d like to believe, and we usually haven’t a clue what goes on behind closed doors. I even had to take a few mental breaks to sort myself out, but mostly to hug my children close and remind them that they’re loved and mean the absolute world to us.
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I did find myself getting slightly lost at a few points as I had to swipe back to remember who was who, I ended up taking a few notes and writing down character names, relatives and feelings. However, I do see and value each narrative and character for what they brought to The Best of Friends. The only other aspects of the story that felt slightly amiss were mentions of an eating disorder and a former prom, I’m still not quite sure how they related to the overall storyline. Character-wise though, each had their quirks and relativity. Although Dani drove me crazy, I just could not understand her and Bryan. The way Bryan treats his family is entirely inexcusable, and the fact that Dani puts up with it, to a point, is unfathomable to me. Yet again, I know, relationships like this do exist, and I feel that Berry did quite well at detailing pieces of what these lives, and experiences might look like.
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Bottom line- I was quite intrigued and mesmerized from start to finish! The Best of Friends’ explosive prologue grips readers. It leads right into the aftermath of the investigation and the effects that each woman’s grief has atop of their already chaotic lives. Lucinda Berry’s craftily articulated writing further goes to exemplify the very idea that things aren’t always as they appear. What remains of the lives of these teenagers and their families are forever changed. One thing’s for sure, nothing will ever be the same again.
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I would recommend this book to fans of the psychological thriller genre. I’m looking forward to adding The Best of Friends to my paperback collection come August 18, 2020! I simply cannot wait to see what twisted tales this brilliant mind comes up with next! Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers at Thomas and Mercer, and the author Lucinda Berry for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of this title in exchange for my honest review. #MistysCornerReviews
The Best of Friends is a domestic thriller, that takes place in Southern California. Lindsey, kendra, and Dani are childhood friends, and their sons (Sawyer, Jacob, and Caleb) are best friends. One night at a sleep over, a horrible act of violence occurs with the boys, leaving one son dead. The story continues with many secrets revealed, friendships are tested, and many other twist and turns.
The book was faced paced, and intense!! Lucinda is one of my favs!! Have tissues ready!!! Thanks @Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for this ARC.