This is the first book I have read by this author and at first I thought it was a bit slow going but it soon changed into a fab twisty thriller. It was a little predictable in places but still worth a read.
Thanks to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars

This has a really gripping beginning, and had me hooked from the first page. Radio producer Cara is on her way home when she finds herself caught up in a terrorist attack and is pulled into the safety of a coffee shop by a stranger, Amy.
Frightened, in shock, and still a little drunk from her evening out, in the hours they are hiding, Cara finds herself confiding her darkest secrets to Amy.
This sets the ball in motion for a twisty thriller, told from both Amy and Cara’s points of view.
The writing is really strong, and each scene adds to the slightly surreal, claustrophobic nature of the story. It’s a clever tale, and really intriguing. I got so frustrated with Cara at times, for not being able to see what was under her nose – proof of a storyteller that knows how to keep her reader engaged!
It’s a good, solid, well written thriller, and I’d definitely read more by this author.

This book was extremely well written with lots of twists and turns and not a hint until the end of the truth behind it all. Brilliant - love books that keep you on your toes!

Cara is caught up in an unexpected terrorist attack on the streets of London. She is rescued by a stranger, Amy and dragged to safety in a coffee shop storeroom. Following the attack life will never be the same for Cara. She befriends Amy and even invites her in to her home. Cara shares her deepest secrets with Amy, things she has never told another living soul. Soon after Amy moves into Cara's house strange things start to happen, Cara begins receiving threatening messages and soon her life descends into chaos. There are twists and turns with every page turn. The ending gives the biggest shock of all!!!

I started reading Your Closest Friend a while ago (maybe six months or so?) and I had to stop; there was just something about that opening (wow, that opening!), that got me. It's pretty full-on, and not in a bad way, but in light of certain events (no spoilers) it was a bit of a tough read. This is down both to the subject matter, and also Perry's amazing writing, which transported me into the novel and made everything a little too real. That being said, I recently picked up this novel again and read it in a few hours.

Perry's style is very 'me'; I like short, snappy sentences, first-person POVs and no 'waffle', which is one of the reasons I flew through it so fast. This, coupled with a tense, high-conflict and fast-paced plot, makes it an easy and compulsive read. In terms of characters, the two main protagonists are well-drawn and the two POVs are distinctive and believable, but I have dropped one star because sometimes I did feel that Cara, one of the POV characters was acting a bit dim! Despite this, it was a very enjoyable read and I would definitely recommend!

This book started very well and the chapter about the terrorist attack was painted in a very realistic, credible way. Unfortunately the book ran out of steam half way through and failed to capture my attention until the end. Sadly I could not be bothered to finish it.

This was my first Karen Perry book that I read and not my last. This book deals with a scary situation, being stalked by someone that you trusted before. This is a book that will keep you glued to the pages until the end. Recommended.

This is a perfectly good book, but it didn't grab me, sorry. The first person tense means the narrative stays too much in the heads of the two characters, and those characters just weren't that interesting. Overall, a plod rather than a ride.

The opening of the book was great. It was terrifying and totally kept me hooked. I was able to relate to the situation because it can happen in reality any day. However after the midway, I found the story to be slow and boring. The character development that was needed wasn't there. The story dragged and I wish it would have ended earlier. It would have been better if it would have been more thrilling.

Your Closest Friend started off as an intriguing and interesting psychological thriller, but sadly it just didn't work for me. It was well written, but I felt there was just too much going on at times and, towards the end, the storyline just became a bit too far fetched for my liking.

As others have stated i thought the plot line of the book seemed good so i downloaded it. The book started off well but as i got further in it just got too unbelieveable and somewhere in this i lost interest so I didnt finish it. I liked the previous novel from this author so maybe just a case not every book can beat the last one

Your Closest Friend by Karen Perry explores the compulsive obsession of one woman with another, stemming from the extraordinary circumstances they were thrown into.

Provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

I’d like to say that I enjoyed this book. I didn’t. It started off well and actually, I can’t really pin point where it started to not work for me, but it got to the point where I was shaking my head on disbelief at many points.

It was meant to be scary and thrilling. Instead, I couldn’t wait to finish the book so I wouldn’t have to read any more.

It’s done now. I won’t be recommending it to anyone, sadly.

Imagine yourself the MC of a thriller. At every turn you either make the considerate decision or the stupid rookie move nobody ever would consider. You choose the stupid move. Always.

Read the first chapter, rolled my eyes, skimmed the rest of the book.

Never have I ever met such stupid characters. It hurts.

I absolutely loved this book, I thought it was fantastic. The storyline was well thought out with lots of surprises, twists and turns I haven't seen it coming. The book is well written and excellently plotted right to the last page.! Love it!

This book started off well - Cara and Amy meet when there is a terrorist attack and Amy drags Cara to safety - while together she tells Amy all of her secrets thinking she would never see her again. They reconnect and bizarrely she asks her to look after her daughter. Amy wants to get closer so agrees. I found the whole story dragged on and became unbelievable. I finished it but it wasn't easy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I have previously enjoyed books by Karen Perry and was excited to be given the opportunity to read this book before the release day.

The premise of the story was interesting and very current. It started off quite intriguingly; I was quite surprised when the story deviated into something very different to what I was expecting initially. I still enjoyed it. I felt it was a little unrealistic in parts. The characters didn't behave in ways that you would expect in a similar real life situation. Everything happened too conveniently for the story's progression. The main character was dumb.
All these factors aside, I enjoyed the story. It was very easy to read and get lost in. The suspense was ramped up in the correct places and it held my attention.

For some reason I had this sat on my kindle for some time and never got round to reading it - I have no idea why, as I really enjoyed it once I did.
Lots of twists and some great characters, some dark secrets and plenty of suspense.
I will be looking out for more by this author.

I really enjoyed this book, particularly at the start during the terrorist attack - the tension in the room was gripping.

There were certain decisions further into the book that were questionable to say the least, and the protagonist seemed naive at times but it was a very enjoyable read.

I really did not enjoy this book and I struggled to finish it. It started out well, with the tension of the terrorist attack and then Cara started receiving creepy messages. The story soon went downhill for me becoming very slow and unbelievable.
It seems really unlikely that someone would trust a stranger to look after their child. Cara invites Amy to stay in their home and look after her young child without knowing anything about her. I highly doubt that this would be something that any parent would do. I think from this moment you know that something terrible is going to happen but it isn’t really surprising.
I didn’t like any of the characters in this book. I have a feeling we aren’t supposed to like Amy but I feel as if the author wanted us to like Cara. I, however, did not like Cara’s character she made some really questionable decisions. Also, I didn’t feel that the characters were particularly memorable.
I liked the idea for this book but unfortunately, it didn’t work for me.