Reviews with content warning for Blood - Keep Your Friends Close

I listened to the audio for this book in one day, it was so enthralling. My brain had turned to mush by the end of it, but it was worth it. I loved everything about this book: the pace, the characters, the twists. Five stars from me and definitely another great book by Lucinda Berry. If you’re looking for something with rich people drama and a bunch of plot twists, pick this one up.

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djcarter's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The ending fell flat for me, but overall this book was good and I enjoyed it!

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misshrider's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

There are a lot of characters, and I struggled to keep them straight. I mainly just kept the storylines in mind, and didn’t really pay attention to the names. Are all friend groups full of this many secrets? Are my friends lying to me about every day things?

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bookburdy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

"Keep Your Friends Close" by Lucinda Berry is a good book for fans of messy rich people drama (which I am). The story revolves around an exclusive club of wealthy moms. During a party, one of the moms is found dead in a pool, and the investigation begins to uncover the culprit. The book delves into the messy lives of each character, given their wealth. This book took me by surprise! I was so engrossed in one of the storylines (Brooke's) that I didn't even try to figure out who the culprit was for most of the book. It may or may not be predictable, but personally, I found some unexpected twists that I enjoyed. Overall, I liked it, especially the twists. However, I had a couple of issues with the book. Firstly, the language used by the characters was a deliberate exaggeration of how one might mock a rich person's way of speaking. For example, they said "Omigosh" too many times and used "like" excessively. While I understand the intention, I felt it was a bit excessive and took me out of the story at times. Secondly, I found the book to be slightly too long. Some parts dragged on unnecessarily.

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snapeygan's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

As always, I hated the characters. Like, none of them would have been my friends in real life. That’s the annoying thing with a lot of thrillers that I read: I don’t like the characters. They’re all bad. Anyway, for the story part, it was great, as always. And the twistS at the end??? I felt like I was being attacked by them! Falling out of the sky they were! So, liked reading the book, but the fact that the characters weren’t lovable didn’t help.

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triggs4780's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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astoriareader's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

SYNOPSIS:

Kiersten, Whitney, Jade, Brooke, Natasha, Taylor, & Colleen are all part of a boogie Mom’s Club in West Hollywood.
Kiersten drowns in the pool, while hosting a party for the Club. Was it an accidental drowning, or was this a murder?

MY THOUGHTS

Lucinda Berry is my girrrrrl & I love her books👏🏼
Multiple POVs + alternating timelines (past & presents)
Lots of twists & layers
Fast paced & didn’t want to put it down
Some of it was a little unbelievable, but it didn’t bother me
Satisfying ending
Although some of the characters weren’t likable, they were still well written
Only negative was the use of the phrase “omigod” constantly by all the characters
Love a neighborhood suspense/drama filled with secrets & twists

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Wealthy moms in neighborhood suspense. Well written & fast-paced. Finished in 2 days.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. It will be published on November 7, 2023.

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