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Saturday, August 21, 2021

#ATBR2021: Review: How to Kill Your Best Friend by Lexie Elliott

How to Kill Your Best Friend
by Lexie Elliott

Thanks so much to Berkley for this free book!


Publisher: Berkley Books
Publish Date: August 17, 2021
Hardcover
320 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Mystery, Thriller

If you suspected your best friend, the person you were closest to in the whole world, was a murderer, what would you do? Would you confront her? Would you help keep her secret? Or would you begin to feel afraid? Most importantly, why don't you feel safe now that she's dead? From the author of The French Girl comes a novel full of secrets, suspense, and deadly twists.

Georgie, Lissa, and Bronwyn have been inseparable since dominating their college swim team; swimming has always been an escape from their own problems, but now their shared passion has turned deadly. How can it be true that Lissa, the strongest swimmer they know, drowned? Granted, there is something strange about Kanu Cove, where Lissa was last seen, swimming off the coast of the fabulous island resort she owned with her husband.

Lissa's closest friends gather at the resort to honor her life, but Georgie and Bron can't seem to stop looking over their shoulders. Danger lurks beneath the surface of the crystal-clear water, and even their luxurious private villas can't help them feel safe. As the weather turns ominous, trapping the funeral guests together on the island, nobody knows who they can trust. Lissa's death was only the beginning....

My Review:


Ummmm.......

With this title, how could you NOT be intrigued?! Y'all know your partners that see you reading all those thrillers and horror are a little bit afraid of you. 😉 Unfortunately, for me, the story didn't quite work.

Resort, GOOD.  Reunion of friends, GOOD. Celebration of life. NICE. And then about a quarter through.... a... monster/serpent in the water? WHAT. I legitimately had no idea what was going on and at that point, couldn't figure out why or what this would mean.  But color me intrigued and so I continue to turn the pages.  To be quite honest, I didn't like where the serpent part of the story went.  I don't think we would've lost anything if it wasn't included.  And admittedly, I don't mind suspending reality and you certainly need to with this storyline but I found myself side eyeing a few things along the way.  I also figured out the "who" within the early chapters (GO ME!✌) but really wished I had been wrong. Ah well, win some, lose some!

The author does keep you on your toes.  Everyone is a suspect and, as always, secrets start to surface and strange things start happening around the resort.  The story is fairly slow paced and I found myself wanting more of the snarky narrator who popped in occasionally talking about various ways to kill people.  

I think reviews are going to be all over the place with this one, and personally these kinds of books, whether they end up working for me or not, are my favorite... I love seeing which side I'm gonna land on.  So, if this book sounds intriguing, don't let this review deter you.  Elliott can definitely write and I enjoy her writing style alot.

★★

Jessica's Review:


I'm pretty sure this title will make anyone stop and take a second look. HOW TO KILL YOUR BEST FRIEND is my third book by Lexie Elliott and I will say that I love her writing and the way she weaves together a good suspense read. Despite this one not being my favorite of Elliott's so far, I think this was still a solid read that I'd recommend!

My favorite parts of this book were the little sections from a mysterious narrator that gave us different methods of how to murder someone and how effective they are. I would have loved a lot more of that throughout the book. They were fun and the tone of the narrator was great. The rest of the book was good but much slower moving and fairly predictable for those who frequent the thriller genre. 

It wasn't bad but it wasn't my favorite in terms of suspense/thrillers. There were parts that I feel could have been removed entirely and the plot would have continued without issue, but that's just me. I think that this will be one of those books you either love or it just doesn't work for you. So if the synopsis catches your eye, then I still recommend giving this one a chance! 

3 stars


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