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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In The Best of Friends, Berry starts with a heart-stopping bang—the dreaded middle-of-the-night phone call—then delivers a dark and gritty tale that unfolds twist by devastating twist. Intense, terrifying, and at times utterly heartbreaking. Absolutely unputdownable.
The Best of Friends, by Lucinda Berry, is a heart-wrenching story of friendship, love, and loss. It’s also a story of lies, secrets, and flawed characters. Let me tell you, I was hooked from the prologue! Berry managed to write a book that’s raw, tragic and beautiful all at once.
Three childhood friends have their lives torn apart when an unthinkable tragedy strikes their families. This story is heartbreaking, but it’s also an eye opener in many ways.
Berry was bold in having this story unfold from the perspective of 3 married friends with sons. I thought I would have a difficult time keeping track of who was who, and which child belonged to which mom, but it only took a little effort in the beginning and the rest flowed well for me. I felt the characters were well developed and distinguishable enough to keep them separate after a few chapters, and the effort spent in the beginning was well worth it.
This was a total page turner for me. While I can’t say there were any real twists or surprises for me, I loved the authenticity of how each character handled the tragedy. After doing a bit of research on Berry for my upcoming blog post, I discovered she’s a former clinical psychologist and leading researcher in childhood trauma, and that undeniably shines through in the book. The Best of Friends is my first book by Lucinda Berry and I now want to run out and buy her previous books!
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this one and highly recommend this to anyone who likes family suspense/drama and is prepared for a real tear jerker.
*CW domestic abuse, depression, suicide, drugs
Many thanks to @netgalley , Thomas & Mercer, and Lucinda Berry for providing me with an e-galley and the opportunity to share my thoughts.
Devoured this in a day.
My first Lucinda Berry novel, won’t be my last.
3 best friends have sons who are best friends too and when there’s a fatal shooting, their secrets begin to unravel.
A page turner.
That ending makes me want more of that story line!!!
Three bestfriends, three sons, three families. They thought nothing could ever come between them. That is until one son is gone, one is not well and another can’t cope.
We follow these families, mainly the mothers in how they all react to secrets and betrayal.
But is it ok that after the ending, I want another book based on that story line? Why end it that way if you’re not gonna give it to me.
This book is a good story that really makes you think. How well do you know your children? How well do you know your friends and what may be going on behind closed doors? The story centers around three teen boys, who’s mother’s have been long-time friends; who suffer a tragedy and things unravel from there. Thought provoking, timely and issues familiar to many this story brings up issues with secrets, domestic violence, affairs, jealousy, sexuality and murder. I chose this book for my book club and highly recommend it!
The Best of Friends is a a dark yet compelling read as tragedy strikes the three best friends Dani, Kendra and Lindsey and their families.
In addition to trying to make sense and come to terms with this devastating life altering event, all of them and their spouses are hiding secrets from each other and even themselves.
Yet I found the book compelling and hard to put down as I got lost in each of their story lines.
Certainly a read not to be missed.
After tragedy strikes three best friends, they wonder how they can move forward and go in search of answers to why. Lindsey, Dani, and Kendra have been best friends forever and all mothers to their three teenage boys. Growing up they often talked about living near each other, going on vacations, having children together, etc. But when the boys are involved in a horrible accident after having a sleepover, things start to unravel. With the accident causing Sawyer to die, Jacob to be in a coma, and Caleb not speaking about it – the women go in search of answers after their lives are shattered. Lies start to come to the surface as the mothers try and figure out what happened that fateful night. The womens’ friendship and their marriages are tested.
This book is about the test of a friendship, marriage, and the rollercoaster of being a mother while trying to handle grief and loss. How far would you go to learn the truth about your child? As a mama myself, I would go to the end of the earth to find answers. Tragedy can strike anyone at any time. Never take life for granted. Go hug your babies! <3
Definitely not a tutorial on good parenting! The kids are messed up and behaving badly. The parents are too busy to notice. Tragedy follows, and the story unfolds. There are 3 sets of parents, with multiple children. Each one has their own share of tragedy or blame. I found it hard to keep up with which spouse belonged to whom, and whose kid is this one. A simple cheat sheet would have helped immensely and probably would’ve helped my appreciation of the story. Overall, a good read.
Three spoiled/entitled cheerleaders grow up to have three spoiled/entitled soccer star sons. Everyone is best friends — in both generations. The parents can’t control their kids: drugs, drinking, discipline; and they don’t even try.
The premise for the story — an incident with a gun that leaves one dead, one in a coma and the third unwilling to speak — is a good one, but the execution falls flat. Generally, I like a first-person point-of-view, it allows the reader to get into the character’s mind. But this story is told from THREE alternating first-person POVs. Each chapter is headed with the character’s name, but I had to stop and think each time; which one is she” Which family is hers?
And the ending: neither the main story line nor any of the subplots are resolved. The reader is left hanging on so many levels.
This is one of the books I borrowed from Amazon Prime. I was having trouble putting into words how I felt about this book and then I saw a post by Author Mary Stone written by Joanne Harris.
Some Books You Read Some Books You Enjoy But Some Books Just Swallow You Up Heart and Soul
That is exactly what this book did to me. I actually had to stop reading it every once in a while-it was that heart wrenching. It is essentially the story of three best friends who are each married and still live in the town they grew up in. They all have children. One of the husbands is psychologically abusive-but she is afraid to leave–until he hits their daughter!
Their sons are all friends–and then one is shot by one of the others-and a second is in a coma. The third can’t or won’t utter a sound. The police officer slowly gets at the truth-it is This is one of the books I borrowed from Amazon Prime. I was having trouble putting into words how I felt about this book and then I saw a post by Author Mary Stone written by Joanne Harris. Some Books You Read Some Books You Enjoy But Some Books Just Swallow You Up Heart and Soul That is exactly what this book did to me. I actually had to stop reading it every once in a while-it was that heart wrenching. It is essentially the story of three best friends who are each married and still live in the town they grew up in. They all have children. One of the husbands is psychologically abusive-but she is afraid to leave–until he hits their daughter! Their sons are all friends–and then one is shot by one of the others-and a second is in a coma. The third can’t or won’t utter a sound. The police officer slowly gets at the truth-it is devastating. Parents don’t always truly know their children. The last couple of words will certainly throw you for a loop–I never saw it coming! . Parents don’t always truly know their children.
The last couple of words will certainly throw you for a loop–I never saw it coming!
I wanted to like this. The premise sounded good, but it’s slow and the characters are terribly bland. Three women – lifelong friends – their husbands and kids. Life seemed so perfect until there was a tragedy, and then life wasn’t perfect. Points for dealing with grief and loss, love and betrayal – but I had trouble keeping the characters straight. Each of the women’s voices were alike. They even repeated each other’s thoughts spoken in separate POV scenes. Will their friendship survive? Will their marriages survive? Earnest questions that will keep many readers with it, and I can see the appeal there. But the biggest fail for me is the ending that left me confused and annoyed. Sorry, this one was a disappointment.
There were some interesting twists and the characters were well developed
Very good read kept my interest throughout the book!
Here’s what you can say about Lucinda Berry: This woman definitely knows how to plot a book at a breakneck pace. I really felt like I had whiplash after reading THE BEST OF FRIENDS, a condition that was only made worse when I followed up (almost immediately) by reading THE PERFECT CHILD.
Both of these books speed along thanks to well-crafted short chapters, multiple points of view, headline-grabbing plots (or maybe plots derived from actual headlines), and main characters who happen to be mothers with children they love and want to protect. If you want a great read for a long plane ride (remember those?), the beach, or a couple of long soaks in the tub, either of these books will do. Reading these Lucinda Berry novels is the equivalent of binge-watching crime shows with a glass of wine.
HOWEVER, bear in mind that these books both have pretty wimpy women with husbands who are either cheating on them, blind to what’s going on, abusive, or just plain idiots, like Christopher in THE PERFECT CHILD, who is supposed to be a surgeon but, um, doesn’t believe for a second that the child they’ve adopted is seriously troubled, EVEN THOUGH HE HAS SEEN HER IN ACTION.
If you’re looking for an exciting psychological thriller that is just as fast-paced but far more profound, try THE HUSBAND’S SECRET by Liane Moriarty or THE SANITORIUM by Sarah Pease.
Wonderful read!
Heartbreaking, beautiful story about the emotional impact of a terrible teen tragedy on friendship, family and community. Really intimate and brave look at this difficult topic. Terrific book and I would definitely recommend.
I was fortunate enough to have won this book through a Facebook giveaway. This is the first book I have read by Ms. Berry and I am sure I will read more.
Lindsey is married to Andrew (their children Jacob, Wyatt, and Sutton).
Dani is married to Bryan (their children Luna and Caleb).
Kendra is married to Paul (their children Sawyer and Reese).
This story is told in three voices, those being Lindsey, Dani, and Kendra. There was a party that Sawyer, Caleb, and Jacob went to. There was alcohol. There were drugs. There was a gun. There was an accident resulting in Sawyer’s death, Jacob’s vegetative state, and Caleb pretty much going catatonic. There are marital conflicts intertwined. There is domestic abuse of the emotional sort (which may be a trigger for some folks). There are so many layers to this story being told as the three mothers just want to get to the bottom of things … the why of what happened. The interesting thing is that these three ladies all went to school together and thought nothing could break up their friendships. Is this the final straw for them or will the truth ultimately bring them back together? Will the truth destroy these families?
If you like twisty psychological reads, I highly recommend you get yourself a copy. This book will keep you turning the pages as more than one truth unfolds.
As the mother of two grown sons, the premise of this book was the stuff of nightmares for me. The event between Sawyer, Jacob, and Caleb was one of the very things I worried about when they spent time at friends’ homes when they were young.
The author has weaved a story full of secrets, anger, guilt, and blame, and the reader is left wondering if anyone will emerge unscathed. The answer is no, no one can, not the parties involved, not the parents or even the siblings.
Many characters resided in this story and narrated from multiple perspectives; it may take some time to get it all straight. I was mesmerized, however, from the very beginning up until the very end. I recommend this book to anyone interested in a good whodunit or people with children. You need to read this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read The Best of Friends. I gave it four stars.
The reviews have gone on and on about how beautiful it is…not really. It comes across as a drama and mystery when 3 best friends from high school get together and one ends up dead, one in a coma, and one can’t or won’t speak.
It starts off very fast, explosive, and scary. You feel the fear of all the parents and its raw. It’s a moment that upends families, and brings up a multitude of questions. You want to keep turning the pages as fast as you can and that is a problem. I had to stop and decipher which child belonged to which parent and keep the siblings with the correct family.
It was hard not having any background going into the situation but maybe that was the intent. Maybe to see people stripped and dealing with shock, grief, lies, deceptions, and guilt. I needed to put these families into their homes, their siblings and relationships. And how did all the boys become friends and how do the families get along. Instead you are thrown into a chaotic mess of hospitals, police, lack of information and lots of questions.
The author makes you a neighbor, standing by and seeing just bits and pieces of a “bad accident” and you want to turn away but you can’t. If you trigger over guns, suicidal thoughts, death….skip this book as there is no closure or resolution. You are left thinking about these boys, the destruction of families, the dropping of illusions about “our boys” and the life they all have to face afterwards.
Does anyone really know their child? Their deepest thoughts, fears, loves and secrets? This book lays it bare, the truth that even great parents aren’t, that some children are favored over others…the golden child. The parents trying to be hip or cool, the strict one, the working parent versus the stay at home….it all comes into play.
Meet Kenda, Dani and Lindsey. Meet Sawyer, Jacob and Caleb. There is character development over time but I don’t relate to their lives, lifestyles, and in particular, the way the remaining children are treated. Maybe that is the way it is, but it left this reader a bit depressed. 3.3
stars.
A hard piece of fiction that is not chick lite !
This book is going to make you do some serious thinking. So very serous crying. And bring out some serious anger. This told from the three main people affected, Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani. Each a mother who is dealing with loss. In different ways but still the same too.
After a horrible accident, which may not even be an accident, three best friends have to deal with the fallout. What happened that horrible night. Did one of their sons shot the others or was it truly a freak accident. With Sawyer dead, Jacob in a coma and Caleb not able to speak, will anyone ever know what really happened? Was a girl involved? Or was it something deeper? Or was it just truly an accident?
While I did guess totally at why one of the things happened it was still an excellent story. It was a deep story that will have you turning the pages to find out what happens next. I never guessed who did exactly what though and that was ok. Three mother’s lost their sons that night. Even though one is alive they all lost them no the less. Sometimes in life you lose.
This book is told from three different POVs. You find out about each woman’s life and how their families are affected when the unthinkable happens. One woman is in a very hurtful, cruel marriage. I wanted so bad for her to get out. Leave that excuse of a man. Each of these woman have secrets. Secrets that will come out. Their husbands have a few secrets also.
These families will never be the same. They won’t ever get over the losses they have to face. But they can learn to be there for each other. Learn to forgive each other. Learn to forgive their boys for the crazy night that turned all of their lives upside down forever. This is a deep book. One that will make you feel so many things. Mainly the pain of loss. The emotions of what it’s like to let go. One family has to make a lot of very hard decisions. One has to bury their son. One has to try and break through the wall that theirs has built around himself. This is a very painful book. But it’s also good. Very realistic. But good. So so very emotional… Yet so good.
What would you do? Could you do what these mother’s did? Can anyone ever go back to who they were before? I doubt that one very seriously. This book pulls at your heart in a way that no other book ever has for me. It made me cry some big ugly horrible tears. The ending really got to me. When the truth comes out, it’s not that it’s a huge surprise, it’s how it’s told. This author captured this book tp perfection. Such raw emotion.
Thank you to #NetGalley, #LucindaBerry, #Thomas&Mercer for this arc. This is my own review.
I had to give it a big 5/5 stars. It’s so worth each tear. A big 5 box of tissues. A high recommend.