The Best of Friends

If you enjoy emotionally intense, character-driven novels with twists and moral complexity, this is for you. Lucinda Berry, a former psychologist, draws on her background to deliver chilling realism in how trauma unfolds in families. It’s perfect for those who appreciate slow-burning mysteries that delve into secrets, trauma, and identity with honesty and nuance.

Themes:
- The fragility of friendship
- The dark side of parenting
- Teenage mental health and peer pressure
- Grief and guilt
- Secrets within families and friendships

Three mothers. Three families. One devastating night that changes everything. When tragedy strikes their sons during a sleepover, Lindsey, Dani, and Kendra are forced to confront secrets they never saw coming—and show more truths that threaten to tear their lifelong friendship apart.
The Best of Friends is a gripping psychological drama about love, loss, and the fragile ties that bind us. How far would you go to protect the ones you love? And what happens when everything you thought you knew falls apart

Jacob, Caleb, and Sawyer are best friends, caught in the middle of a devastating incident. The story slowly peels back their secrets and private struggles—things their moms had no idea about. Their friendship is just as complex as their mothers', showing how pressure, secrets, and fear can build in teenagers.

The book is written in alternating chapters from each mother’s point of view, which adds depth to how each of them processes the trauma.

The mystery surrounding what really happened is slowly revealed through layers of tension, grief, and emotional reckoning.

All three women—Lindsey, Dani, and Kendra—are deeply flawed, deeply human, and beautifully written. Their friendship, tested by tragedy, forms the emotional core of the novel.

The novel deeply explores how friendship, especially long-term and close friendships, can be both a source of support and vulnerability. Lindsey, Dani, and Kendra have shared decades of connection, but the tragedy exposes the cracks beneath the surface—especially how much they didn’t truly know about each other or their children.

Secrets are central to the breakdown of their friendship. The boys’ hidden struggles, relationships, and the events leading to the shooting were all unknown or ignored by the mothers. Similarly, the mothers harbor their own secrets—emotional infidelities, struggles with control, and unspoken resentments—that strain their bonds. These layers of secrecy create distance, mistrust, and blame.

However, the story also shows that while secrets can fracture friendships, the shared grief and the quest for truth force the women to confront their flaws and vulnerabilities together. Though their friendship is forever altered, there is a tentative movement toward understanding and healing by the end. The novel portrays friendship as imperfect but vital, especially in the face of trauma.

The Best of Friends reminds us that friendships and families are often complicated and imperfect, especially when faced with trauma. The novel’s honest portrayal of grief, guilt, and healing gives us much to reflect on about the power of empathy and forgiveness.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ (4/5 stars) show less

In all honesty, I probably would have given this book a 4.5 star rating if not for its dreadful, trite, and contrived "Epilogue".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A tragedy that strikes, seemingly out of the blue, leaves three families shattered as they contemplate the seemingly inexplicable. Just how did a commonplace sleep-over between their teenage sons end with one dead, one comatose from a bullet to the head, and one so traumatized that he cannot even describe what happened?

That’s the question posed in the opening chapters of Berry’s contemporary and generally well-written novel. The mothers, in this case, have themselves been friends since middle school, and the three boys had been friends from the cradle as a result. As each family tries to cope with show more the tragedy, multiple levels of secrets are revealed, strengths and weaknesses simmering just below the surface erupt, and each grieving parent must decide how they can go on.

There’s a lot of baggage to unpack here, and Berry pulls it out a piece at a time, looking at the complex dynamics of a friendship that, while deep and generally sincere, is far from perfect. Every family has secrets. Some are the kind you don’t tell the neighbors. And some are the kind you don’t even admit to yourself.

It’s a genuinely affecting journey with complex characters who struggle with their own kinds of loss even as they attempt to protect the people they love. The criminal investigation into the event adds another level of trauma, as questions about the boys’ hidden lives continue to pile up. The final resolution is both surprising and shattering.

Then comes a really crappy and contrived “epilogue” that pretty well knocks this work from involving and heart-rending into “oh, gimme a break” territory. Do yourself a favor, reader – close the book after page 268. show less

Trigger warnings: Two counts of Bury Your Gays Trope. One of the characters is in an abusive marriage.
At first, I misunderstood the premise. I reread it and thought, "Okay. Having it from the three moms' POV could be interesting." Wrong. The author wrote them all with the same voice, similar finances, similar worldviews...their kids especially blend together characterwise. One cannot stop going on about how her son, Reese, has a huge head. He's a huge weirdo with a huge gead, she says inwardly every time he's on the page. It's clear she doesn't like him, especially when she finds out he's been selling pills. Another's son, Jacob, is in a coma. My worldview doesn't match hers, but I could still understand the sadness. She's stated as show more being able to kick nurses out of Jacob's hospital room and uh...no. Bad choice, and the nurses were clearly only humoring her. The third woman is in an abusive marriage. This type of character is much more effectively explored in the novel "Black and Blue" by Anna Quindlen, which was later adapted into a Lifetime movie that was a pretty good adaptation from what I saw. In this book, the wife cannot stand conflict, can't stand up for herself, is terrified of everyone; just a walking cliche. I disliked her on the page, and ninety pages in, considered skipping her sections. People in abusive relationships are dealing with a lot, and the author chose to make a stereotype. Gross!

All three women are shocked that people hide things. I was annoyed. They're beside themselves that they'd be questioned in a murder investigations involving their sons. Do police procedural dramas such as "Law & Order: SVU" exist in the world this book is set in? Parents are regularly questions, especially when kids die in their homes! None of the women are aware that they are probably persons of interest, especially Kendra, whose name I had to double-check. Kendra forces herself into the investigation and badgers Detective Locke. This is stated on page ninety of the edition I was reading. She can't understand why he's hiding things. IT'S AN ACTIVE MURDER INVESTIGATION, YOU OVERBEARING WOMAN. He isn't hiding anything; you're badgering! You're casting even more doubt on yourself and your kid! Lindsay, earlier in the book, wonders if she can call Locke by his first name since they grew up together. Something tells me she wouldn't be thinking that if he were a judge and not a cop. And I'm anti-cop. I just watched a few police procedural dramas over the years. Detective is an earned title. Onward.

This book started to wear me down when one of the moms insisted teen boys talked to her as a result of a midnight fridge raid. (groans) This novel was written by a child psychologist, and she has an adult character legitimately think that. Contrivance. Two pages later, the author expects me to believe teenage girls would take photos of a classmate giving birth in the gym shower while her friend helped her. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. I GUARANTEE someone ran screaming for an adult once they saw the mucus plug come out. The book continues to pile on plot contrivance and melodramatic cliche until it finally freakin' ends. UGH.

And the thing is? I'd be up for reading a queer teen "Romeo and Juliet" if I didn't hate Bury Your Gays so much. This, in reference to one of the moms howling about "the two of you (other moms) are writing the next one." What a horribly inconsiderate thing to say. Rrrgh. Skip this book, please. show less

It’s actually a bit hard to think and write this review after finishing this book. I’ve really enjoyed previous books by Lucinda Berry, but this one... heartbreaking and emotional...did I say heartbreaking?
The book starts off with a bang...literally. Lindsey, Dani and Kendra have been besties forever. They also happen to have boys who are the same age. Of course, the boys are good friends also, but there are some big differences underneath the seemingly strong friendship.
The event that takes place in the first chapter has repercussions that will last a lifetime for everyone involved. As a mother, this is a truly heart shattering moment and I can’t imagine the pain these women endure. One woman has her choices taken away from show more her. Another woman must make a choice that no mother should ever be asked to make. The third woman is left not knowing which choices she has any longer. Yet throughout they try to maintain their strong bond.
I read this book pretty much straight through, stopping only for few quick breaks. The characters are well written and completely believable which make it so easy to feel their pain. The story is a very real look at an event that could easily occur to anyone at any time. Five emotional stars!
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced ebook arc in return for my honest opinion.
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Best friends Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani endured every parent’s nightmare when a tragic accident befalls their teenage boys, leaving one dead, another in a coma, and a third too traumatised to speak. And as all eyes turn to him, hoping for answers, a maelstrom of emotions and pain is unleashed that pulls you in.

This is a heart-breaking story written with so much depth that I had to pause at certain moments throughout the emotional hurt these women experienced.

According to the author’s bio, she is a former clinical psychologist and leading researcher in childhood trauma; and it shows within the story. Each character’s responses and growth touching and heartfelt. Her understanding of these traumas shows in every action and word show more written to bring us a step closer to the very heart of the plotline.

“They write us off as a pair of grief-stricken mothers. It’s easy to do, but just because I’m mourning doesn’t mean I’ve lost the ability to reason. And here’s the thing—suicide is an impulsive act, and Jacob never did anything without thinking about it first.”

All the stages of grief eloquently captured for the reader to understand the full impact of this horror tale. The brother’s and sister’s coping mechanisms and the spouse’s own grief are an added layer to the painful events. As they relieve the teenage boys’ lives and what had brought them to that fateful night.

“We decided to bring Jacob home so that he could be more comfortable and around people he loves when he goes to heaven.”

“But he was already supposed to go to heaven.” She sticks her lip out in an exaggerated pout. “He was.” A pounding headache grows at my temples. Where is Andrew? He’s supposed to be back by now so he can get Sutton out of the house. I don’t want her sitting here staring at Jacob and watching him die any more than I wanted her to do that when he was in the hospital. We never considered how any of this would work when we made the decision to leave the hospital, and we’ve been figuring it out as we go along, the repercussions of our decision weighing heavily on us.

“He’s going to heaven. It’s just taking him a while to make his journey.”

The acceptance of loss cutting through you as you felt the hands of death choking every member of the family.

This is a book I will definitively recommend regardless of the four stars. Why the four stars? The story was drawn out at times. The story line drag out but in the bigger scope of things I can also understand the detailed writing. show less

Even though the subject was completely heartbreaking and terrible to think about I found it intriguing and hard to put down. We have three teenage boys who appear to be the best of friends, and then this tragedy happens, and suddenly secrets come to light. Each set of parents starts to wonder if they actually knew the boys as well as they thought they did. If that wasn't enough we also have the three moms who have been best friends and this event begins to strain their friendship in a variety of ways. I think the book did a marvelous job of showcasing the way each woman experienced grief from the accident. It also does an amazing job of showing the way that impacts their friendship, marriage and relationship with their other children. show more

I loved the way the book slowly gave us information about the events leading up to the accident. We also start to see other secrets in each of the families come to life. I think one thing that was done well was how the author showed that even though these women had been friends for a long time they didn't know each other as well as they thought. Each twist in the story really made me more eager to learn what happened that night. I have to admit that I didn't see the ending coming. I think it was an interesting choice and really fit the theme of the novel well. I just wish we had less characters to keep track of and that it had been a little more intense. show less

The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry is a highly recommended drama that follows three families after a tragedy.

In a wealthy southern California neighborhood best friends Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani are devastated after a tragic incident with a gun involving their three sons, Jacob, Sawyer, and Caleb. The teens were having a sleepover which resulted in the death of Kendra's son, Sawyer, and left Lindsey's son Jacob in a coma. Dani's son Jacob was not shot, but is uncommunicative but has nightmares and breakdowns. Do they really know each other and their sons? Is their friendship going to withstand the tragedy and resulting investigation?

Alternating chapters are told from each woman's point-of-view as they try to deal with the tragedy and show more figure out what happened and why. Everyone has secrets, shortcomings, and questions which, as they are revealed, put a strain on relationships. Detective Martin Locke questions the couples and their other children, but they all know he is keeping some information to himself (obviously).

The plot is well done, creating tension and questions, as these women face the nightmare their lives has become. The Best of Friends is a straightforward story. It is focused on these three women after a tragedy involving their sons and the disclosure of secrets involving each family and their sons. This isn't a thriller. We aren't looking for a suspect. We're looking for answers as to why this incident happened.

Berry slowly provides clues and reveals secrets about the night and the teens. The writing does have some flaws. The individual voices of the three women are not as distinctive as clearly defined as individuals as I would have liked. Reading did require paying close attention to who was talking to avoid confusion. The characters are portrayed more like caricatures rather than complex unique individuals. The plot, however, and seeking out the truth about that night is what will keep you glued to the pages.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Thomas & Mercer.
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