Best Friends

Product Information

The author slowly loops in how each friend’s nature creates the chemistry around their relationship, sometimes positive, but at other times, a recurrent darkness pervades, just under the surface—those subtexts that convulse and threaten to rupture. This was a tough one for me to rate. While I enjoyed the premise and was kept mostly entertained, the overall feel of the book was a little sloppy.

Not quite a DNF for me, I found The Best Friend to have a solid underlying story coupled with an interesting choice in writing style that made it harder to follow and relate to. Leigh D’Alessandro fought to escape her dysfunctional family and now she’s fighting to keep the community hospital she works for afloat. What she’s tired of fighting is her attraction to her best friend’s playboy brother with a notorious reputation. So y'all know the drill about a thriller book but since I really hated this book I'll just go ahead and describe how the book was with gifs. That is EXACTLY the sort of mindless and 'why am I still doing this' feeling I got while reading The Best Friend. Friends to lovers books can also include a slow burn love story where the love between friends grows slowly over time. I love that!It feels like this second half of the book is going to investigate interesting issues around racism and politics. It sets a woman fighting against the government’s treatment of refugees against a woman courting government favour for a technology that could allow a government to keep closer tabs on its population. But to me the exploration of this felt a bit contrived and also played second fiddle to the tensions in the relationship between the two main characters. It felt a bit like the book didn’t really know which direction it wanted to go and fell between the two.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur/SMP, and Jessica Fellowes for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 9.13!** Additionally, the book had so many domestic thriller tropes imaginable. The abusive husband, a secret affair, the drunk parent, the random plot twist that did not make sense at all, and of course, the “good wives but bad mother” trope. I am tired. Shamshie‘s novel is a contemporary look into today’s society globally in which politics often shape and determine the longevity of a friendship. In this evocative, mesmerizing, and thought-provoking novel, Shamshie asks us to reflect on whether we can be friends with someone who holds different and often opposing views. In 2019, both of them migrate to London but lead very different professional lives. Maryam works as a successful venture capitalist with ties to the right wing government while Zahra is an advocate for human and civil rights, who is appalled by the same government’s treatment of immigrants and the rise of populism.The writing, the characters, the emotional arc, the spiciness and the beauty of the words shared is just amazing making this one of the best friends to lovers books I’ve ever read and one of my all-time favorite romances. This is fast pacing, intriguing, well-developed, thought provoking, argumentative story is told by three women. They are both flawed and broken characters but it is easy to resonate with each of them separately. The story hooks you up and captivates your attention till the end. I was dying to binge watch new season La Casa Da Papel (Money Height)s new season but this book occupied me so I couldn’t put it down. My fingers were already glued and my mind was already addicted!

The first thing I noticed was the creative chapter titles! Then the unique writing style captured my attention. However, I failed to bond with a single character and, sadly, in the end, didn’t care what happened to them! I also didn't feel that the plot had enough pull to keep me interested. This is definitely a unique book and I know it will find its way into the hands of those who love it; unfortunately, it isn’t for me. The line between love and hate really can be thin sometimes. Not usually, but it is in this case. A strange codependence even when out of each other’s lives. It was very depressing but hauntingly interesting.Zahra and Maryam are wonderful characters, both so bold and powerful in their own ways, both living a life that is fulfilling and rich, but also still carrying the baggage of an experience that happened to them when they were teenagers. Something that changed their perspective on the world. I loved the way that their different perspectives on this were written. This author can pinpoint particular moments and write about the emotions that her characters feel so well, but she also writes great supporting characters who are full of life and who feel incredibly real. One New Year’s Eve the two share a kiss but for the year since that fateful night have stayed only friends. Yet that doesn’t mean that Lane hasn’t lusted for Matt from afar or that Matt hasn’t developed his own feelings. As a book about friendship (exclusively around female friendship) it is a story with universal appeal, and one that fosters discussion. We all have some insight in this field. First friendship? Life long friendship? Challenges and threats to long held friendships? In this respect “beach read” is applicable, and not simply as a pejorative description. The best part is when one character has that moment where they see their friend in a completely different light, and are curious about taking their lifelong friendship in a new direction. This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but it was original and I wasn’t expecting it. This is more of an observation of two women throughout their lives than a mystery and definitely not a thriller. Just keep an open mind!