NetGalley Top Reviewer

NetGalley Top Reviewer
NetGalley Top Reviewer

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

The Perfect Friend by Barbara Copperthwaite

"We all have locked boxes inside us that only certain people get the keys to."

A dark and twisty psychological drama that starts slow and builds to a suspenseful climax.

Alex Appleby is 44-years-old. She lives alone, works as a dressmaker, and attends a support group for all sorts of trauma victims. She's a recovering anorexic, and she admits that she is a great liar.
Alex used to be married and she had twins -- a girl and a boy -- but no one knows exactly what happened though she admits that she is at fault for them being out of her life now. Alex has a lot of love with no place to express it, so she befriends a fellow group member, 24-year-old Carrie. Carrie is there because she just got a terminal diagnosis as her cancer has come back. Though there is a 20 year age gap, they become friends outside the group. Alex wants to "mother" and Carrie needs one. And that's when the trouble begins... NO SPOILERS.

The narrative, told from different points of view and a THEN and NOW as well, starts to build in the middle of the book. Little by little you learn the secrets that Alex and Carrie are hiding and start to see the nature of their bond. Although neither character really resonated with me, or compelled my sympathy and understanding, I must admit that I was not sure what was truth and what was a lie as both were unreliable. I stayed up well past my bedtime frantically turning the pages as fast as I could read in order to get to the end! I enjoyed the surprise of the unanticipated turns as Alex and Carrie are fully revealed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.

This is a standalone and not part of a series.

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