Member Reviews
A great book. really good well written characters and a great storyline. I really enjoyed the twists. Recommended.
This is the first of Jane’s novels that I’ve read in a long while so it took me a minute to get into it. The story follows main character Amy who finds out her fiancé is cheating on her. She discovers who his other woman is and the story spirals from there into a mess of head games, deceit and revenge.
Overall I thought this went a little too far, I couldn’t imagine friends actually doing this to each other for such a protracted length of time and it really just made Amy as bad as Melissa.
I listened to this one on audiobook as it has been sitting on my netgalley shelf for quite some time. I’m planning to listen to My Sweet Revenge soon, what’s your favourite from Jane’s back list?
I really enjoyed this especially when the POV of Mel came into the story. I love it when a book is dual POV so that was such a good surprise in the second half of the book. For me that's when I got to the point where I didn't want to put the book down as I was so intrigued as to where the friendship was going to go and who was going to do what.
I also loved that we got another timeline where we got to see there relationship in the past. This helped give it another dimension and to see that the signs for toxicity in the relationship had been there from the beginning, I can't wait to read something else by this author. I am so sorry that it took me so long to pick it up!
Well my first book by this author and to be honesty probably won't be my last. I won't bore readers with the synopsis as that can be found in the book description, however what I will say is that I thoroughly enjoyed this book! No it isn't a totally original idea and it's a tried and tested formula that works...but for a reason. Amy is our lead character and she is extremely likeable if a little naïve. Her best friend Melissa along with Amy's boyfriend Jack form the main storyline. In a nutshell (and trust me it's not a spoiler) Amy finds out that Jack is cheating on her with her best friend Melissa. Amy decides that revenge is the order of the day and this is where the book comes into its own.
The writing flowed easy enough and although this wasn't necessarily an original idea I liked that fact that the characters were totally people I can draw from in my own real life. Everybody knows a 'Melissa' and it makes the revenge element of this story all the more enjoyable. I must say I was surprised at a couple of threads where the story went, and was even more pleasantly surprised at how it was all wrapped up. This is exactly the sort of book that is so enjoyable to read, just cuddle up somewhere and take your mind to a witty, funny and enjoyable place with one of Fallon's stories!
Don't think I've read a Jane Fallon book that I haven't adored - really good plot, very gripping and keeps you turning until the very end.
Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book
My first JaneFallon read and I will definitely be buying more from this author, I just loved Faking Friends so much and am telling all my friends to purchase it. An absolute must read.
Jane is one of my all time favourite authors. Faking Friends has everything you need in a book; a stellar cast of characters, an addictive storyline and writing that leaves your eyes glued to the page. I loved it.
I've read several books written by Jane Fallon and now I 100% stand behind my state that her books are perfect pick for book clubs.
There's so many things that can be discussed and interpreted in different way, based on one's look at life, and Faking Friends is no exception.
Out of all Fallon's books, this one was my favourite.
The story pulled me in immediately, and it didn't let go until the very end.
The main reason for that is beside the interesting things that happened the whole time, amazing writing style.
Since Fallon is well known and respected author for years now, it didn't surprise me.
It is written in first person, from Amy's POV, with some parts narrated by her frenemy Mel.
This book explores the topic of toxic friendships and I like how it gives perspective from which the reader can see signs of one being fake friend from the very beginning.
I'd like to believe that it will help some readers recognize toxic people around themselves.
This novel is women's fiction in all it's glory.
It talks about relationships, old ones and new ones, friendships, toxic and healthy ones, and one's strength within herself.
This is not a love story or romance novel, so keep that in mind.
Overall, I really, really enjoyed reading Faking Friends and I can't wait to see what else Jane Fallon has in store for us.
I highly, highly recommend it!
I don’t normally read humorous women’s fiction, but something about the blurb just hooked me instantly, and I’m happy to report, that the rest of the book delivered. I was enjoying it so much, I kept my rather un-enthusiastic, non book reading other half in the loop about what was happening, keeping him updated with the twists and turns that the novel took, whilst he nodded along patiently.
Although it covers a somewhat serious subject, it does so in a lighthearted way, therefore, on the surface, I wouldn’t have thought this would have worked for me; if I found out my fiancé was cheating on me with my best friend, I would be devastated, wouldn’t I? Why of course I would be. But it seems that our protagonist Amy, isn’t exactly devastated. In fact, she doesn’t seem overly phased at all. Her feelings and internal monologue don’t reflect the shock, horror and devastation I would have expected, but for some reason, this book still works, and it works well. Her internal voice is hilarious, and had me laughing out loud occasionally, which is not something I normally do when I read. It takes a lot to make me laugh!
I liked how the present storyline was interweaved with the backstory plot line, which served to expertly explain character motivations, relationships and dynamics. Friendships are complicated; Amy and Mellissa’s friendship is no exception.
Overall, a fabulously entertaining read and a good introduction to a new-to-me genre!
I read this on holiday and it was exactly what I was wanting for a quick beach read - thoroughly hooked from the start and finished it in 2 days!
A very enjoyable and light read. The story of a betrayed actress, torn between moving on and exacting revenge on those who have wronged her. Entertaining and easy to read, but it did feel a little too long and also the ending was rather too neatly tied up. However, I would certainly read other books but this author when I want something entertaining and light.
I really loved this book. It had me hooked from the start, it was funny, realistic and had the right amount of revenge in it.
The characters are really well fleshed out and you really route for Amy and Kat & Greg. I don't want to give any spoilers but I love the overall message about what friendship actually is and I highly recommend this book!
I'll be looking for other books Jane Fallon has written.
I am currently working on expanding our school library's senior section after years of a dismal and uninspiring selection of books that our older readers never checked out. My job has been to seek out much more diverse, gripping and modern books that will get them into reading by appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible. This really appealed to me because of its fantastic and engrossing narrative combined with believable characterisation and its page-turning nature. It's hard to get young people into reading and if the library is not stocking the kind of book that they might grow up to buy as adult readers then we are not really meeting their needs. I can imagine this provoking lots of discussion after finishing it and a long queue of people trying to reserve it as they've heard so much about it. Will definitely be buying a copy and know that it's going to be a very popular choice. An engrossing read that kept me up far too late to finish reading it. It certainly stood out from the other books that I was considering and I look forward to converting more Jane Fallon fans in future!
I read Faking Friends over the weekend. It’s a story of betrayal, deceit and revenge. I did enjoy the book and there were some good characters but I felt it just lacked something. I much preferred My Sweet Revenge.
Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin UK Michael Joseph and the author for the chance to review.
3.5 ⭐️
This started off a bit dull for me and then it slowly got better and I found myself enjoying it. I did like the characters such as Amy and Kat although I can't say I loved them and that Amy especially is a memorable character.
It had a good story, decent plot but it just lacked a little. It wasn't so much about thrilling revenge situations, the revenge ideas were more petty if anything.
Anyway, it wasn't that bad, maybe just missing some vitals that were necessary for me to fall in love with it.
Received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Jane Fallon is an author who you know you can rely on for a good read. This is in no way a reflection of the book or the author, but I just couldn't get into this one. Maybe it was just the wrong time for me to read it. Still a good 3* read.
I have liked this authors previous books so wasn't surprised i liked this one. I started it as an audio book and finished thr rest on my kindle. Loved it.
I have read a few books by Jane Fallon many years ago, and always particularly enjoyed them. Sadly, I was hugely disappointed by ‘Faking Friends’; I don’t know if that’s down to the book itself, or my tastes having changed, but here’s what I couldn’t get on with:-
The storyline consists of Amy who discovers that her fiancé is having an affair with her best friend. The whole book is the drawn-out process of Amy messing with her ex and her best friend, without letting on that she knows about their secret affair. It’s very drawn out, and includes a hell of a lot of filler content about Amy and Mel’s (the best friend) earlier years, which to me just didn’t seem at all relevant. The book would have been much more succinct and relevant without all the background informtion.
The use of brackets in this book drove me barmy. There were brackets that had WHOLE paragraphs of text inside them, so by the end of the bracket you haven’t got a clue what the start of the sentence was. Technically, I just think this is a really poor way of writing.
There were alternating perspectives, between Amy and her friend Mel, however instead of alternating chapters, this happened withIN the chapters. So one paragraph would be Mel, and then the next would be Amy, but with no indication as to whose perspective it was coming from. This took a lot of re-reading to work out what was going on.
The story itself was pretty dull, none of the characters were likeable, and there didn’t really seem to be a climax to the plot. I’m sorry to say, this isn’t a book that I will be recommending.