Friends Like These

A really good Y.A novel about toxic friendships. Always one of my favourites and this was really great. Dark and twisted at times, a thoroughly enjoyable one xx

Phew. What an intense and gripping book! I was on the edge of my seat and rapidly devouring the book to get answers. The twists and turns, the intrigue and the suspense. It definitely made for entertaining and exciting reading.

I love these kind of books. Teenage drama, mystery and murder. A whodunnit at it’s finest with a story that will keep you guessing.

Tegan throws a house party that rapidly spirals out of control. Jessica and Jake are flung onto a path that sees them in police interviews, accused and on a mission to clear their names from any wrong doing. It was so good and honestly had me hooked. If you love a murder mystery, you won’t regret reading this.

Friends like these is a book full to the brim with twists and turns. This book follows Jessica and her boyfriend Jake, their relationship falls apart at the last party of the summer but when a body is found the next morning, and no one can remember exactly what happened they have to uncover everyone's secrets before someone pins it on them. I did see some of the plot twists coming, 1 or 2 small ones, but this book was really well written I think having multiple povs was a really good choice for this book. Overall this is a fantastic mystery and perfect for any murder mystery fans!!! (PUBLISHED 1ST NOVEMBER)

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟(5 stars)

Rating 4.5/5

After reading Lies Like Wildfire by this author last year I was excited to pick up this book and see if it had that same all-consuming energy, I didn’t think it would be possible but this book was even more intense and maddening and heart-breaking than I imagined. Honestly once I got started reading I didn’t want to tear myself away, this author manages to get that captivating tension just right and then holds you with it for the entirety of the book.

I never thought this would be a sentence I would write but this book is toxic friendships at their finest. I think what works so brilliantly about them in this book is that all the characters are flawed and because we get to see events from multiple POVs it’s hard to hate any of the main characters even when you are desperate for them to make better choices. Each one of them makes a mistake in some way and I thought it was so clever how the catalyst of some seemingly small events could work themselves up into such a horrible result.

This author can certainly send me on an emotional rollercoaster, the main cause of it in this particular book was Jake. The perception of his character switches from villain to victim a few times and as a reader, you are never quite sure where he is going to land, I was angry at him and then heartbroken for him in what felt like a cycle. His storyline was handled so well and did a great job of encapsulating the torrent of emotions that that kind of situation could cause in any young person, but especially a young man.

Friends Like These really packs a punch from the beginning and has a lot of dark and difficult subjects but is written with care. There were a lot of unexpected surprises in this book and I enjoyed that even when one answer was revealed there were still so many to uncover, also that Jake, Jessica, and Tegan were narrators that you weren’t always 100% sure you could trust.

Another brilliant book from Jennifer Lynn Alvarez with a story and characters that will stay with me for a little while, and I am looking forward to what will come next already.