Interested in murder mysteries? Check this one out!
Similar to books like ‘They Did Bad Things’ by Lauren A. Forry and ‘In My Dreams I Hold A Knife’ by Ashley Winstead..
A group of old college friends are soon threatened by a mysterious figure bent on revenge for past misdeeds.
This is the first book I’ve had the pleasure of reading by Kimberly McCreight and I was pleasantly surprised. It may not have been the most original story but it was a interesting read.
Trigger Warning! Drug abuse, Graphic violence, Murder, Stalking, Bad liars
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Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight
Publication date: September 7, 2021
Pages: 314
Genre: Domestic Thriller, Mystery, Psychological Thriller
Standalone
First line: You were the one who started it. So, in a way, you’re responsible for how it ended.
A group of friends, a series of unfortunate events, who will make it out alive?
After losing one of their own in college, another gets lost in drugs to numb himself, escaping the reality of what happened so many years ago. Now the others have devised a plan to get him into rehab before he loses everything.
Using a bachelor party as their cover for their intervention seemed like the perfect plan.. until all hell breaks loose and, once again, they’re faced with choosing to protect the group or tell the truth.
Who needs enemies.. When you have Friends Like These.
Three and a Half Stars!
“Best friends are supposed to stand by you, no matter what. They disregard your occasionally disagreeable nature and off-putting eccentricities and accept the whole of you. That’s the beauty of real friendship. But close friends can also let you get away with too much. And what feels like total acceptance, what masquerades as unconditional love, can turn toxic.”
Characters:
Alice was a genuinely nice girl.. It was Alice who felt the most conflicted about what happened with their group and wanted to tell the truth.
Detective Julia Scutt is the best detective in her department.. but too female to actually be taken seriously. Her sister was murdered when she was younger and, while it still haunts her, she hasn’t let the grief take over her life.
I felt like she allowed the group to get away with far too much BS. There were moments when she would let something go and I would shake my book in frustration, cursing, and calling out directions like a backseat driver in a horror movie.
Maeve is a glass half full kind of girl who may be a little too focused on looks, money, and fitting in. A people pleaser. I didn’t particularly like her.. something about happy, friendly, and upbeat people make me nervous.
Stephanie is blunt, entertaining, and beautiful. She was neglected as a girl by both of her parents, who were always too busy to care, and now she focuses on work to avoid dealing. Stephanie was the most likeable out of the bunch. Logical, calm in a crisis, and loyal to a fault.. She’s probably the only reason they made it so far without getting arrested.
Keith is the real reason the group has gathered. He dated Alice in college, turned to drugs, and is now in it up to his eyeballs. He may lose everything if they can’t talk him into rehab.
Jonathan is ridiculously rich and surprisingly generous.. He appears to be the designated leader of the group and takes watching over his friends very seriously. There isn’t a person there who hasn’t been on the receiving end of Jonathon’s benevolence.
Peter, Jonathan’s partner and fiancé, a social butterfly to Jonathan’s more quiet, introverted personality.. is annoying, ungrateful, and careless. I didn’t like him at all.
Derrick is what Stephanie calls a “disapproving literature professor.” He and his opinions are largely ignored.
Finch.. Keith’s star artist is easy on the eyes but is also an arrogant, insufferable asshat. He acts like he owns Keith because, without him, Keith would supposedly “have nothing.” I spent more time than I like hoping someone would just deck the guy.
Seven POV’s that switch between the present and ten years before.
Liked: The group here is solid.. A living organism that has survived on shared history, tragedy, and closely kept secrets. Each member counts on the others to act, do, or be whatever the group needs.
There was a lot happening, both directly and in the background, that worked as a great distraction but.. the book was predictable.
Fortunately enough the author’s skillful writing and ability to keep the reader invested overcame that.
Disliked: Many parts of this story all had the singular, irritating habit of blending together. The character’s individual voices would occasionally get lost in the messiness of it. For me? It was easily ignored.. but it was noticeable.
I also wasn’t pleased with the lack of originality. Compared to other novels with a similar storyline, this one was just average.
Quotes I Liked:
“What was never complicated, though, was our love. We were fiercely devoted to each other from the very start.” – Maeve
“The truth is, I loved Jane more than I will ever love anyone. Whatever actually kills me, it will always be her loss that stopped my heart.” – Julia
“I wondered if this moment with my friends was the beginning of my salvation. If I could just claw my way back to a place where we were all fucked up to the same degree, everything might be okay. I didn’t need to be perfect for my friends. I just needed to be less of a complete and total disaster.” – Keith
“I know this: people change. And what starts out as a story you made up about yourself can eventually become the truth of who you are—if you want it bad enough.”
Okay.. that’s done. *phew*
Thank you for stopping by today’s review, I hope you enjoyed it!
What did you think?
Have you read anything by Kimberly McCreight before?
Very good review.
I’m glad I didn’t read this one now.
Thank you for sharing.
It wasn’t a bad read.. Just a little repetitive if you tend to read a lot of mysteries.
And thank you for checking out my review! ☺
I hope you have a beautiful week!
I do not like when a book is repetitive at all.
Sorry I’m just getting back to you. I’ve had a crazy week.
I don’t particularly enjoy repetition either. It’s fine if the author can make it their own but.. it’s usually just disappointing.
And no worries.. We all have lives offline and sometimes they’re going to get busy. I hope all’s well and calmed down.💕