Wow! What a book! I was pulled in from the start and was held by the story with its twists and turns. Telling the story from the 2 main characters’ points of view was a very clever way to tell this compelling story of 2 women who meet by chance and become part of each other’s lives. It’s hard to know what to believe or who to trust right up to the very end. Loved it!

In an age where we can discover a lot about one another at the click of a button and befriend people we do not know at all, by trusting them on face (and profile) value alone, then it’s not too big a stretch to see how easy it might be to trust a real life stranger whose path we accidentally cross. Especially one who has acted heroically toward us.

Amy rescues Cara from being caught up in the throes of a terrorist attack in London. Her quick thinking and direct action helps to keep them safer than they were on the streets. It creates a bond of sorts in Amy’s mind at least, one she elevates far higher than it actually is.

Before long, she stalks her new found friend, inveigling herself into the family and infiltrating every aspect of Cara’s life. Only Cara fails to see how dangerous Amy can be, as a person who cannot cope well with perceived rejection and is looking for far more than casual friendship. She is also adept at seeing where Cara’s weaknesses lay and quick to spot opportunities to exploit them.

I was captivated by this gripping and well written story and intrigued to see how it would all end. But I was also rather irritated with Cara at times, because she seemed blind to the obvious and too naive and trusting for words. Though that built suspense and believability into the characterisation.

The author throws in enough clever twists and turns to keep you guessing right to the end. The action heats up to a breathtaking finale. A real page-turner with much to say about issues of trust, friendship and relationships in general. One that will haunt you after the last page has been read.

Amy arranges to meet an ex-boyfriend one evening after work, leaving her child at home in the care of her husband. On her way home she becomes involved in a terrorist attack and is confronted by a man with a gun. Suddenly she is pulled into a doorway to safety with another man – Cara a waitress has saved them and they hide in an upstairs storeroom. The man, Alex decides to try and escape whilst the women remain hidden. Alex is killed. This is the explosive beginning and from the outset the drama is high. Amy and Cara hidden together for hours form a bond, and Amy shares a secret. These events leave Amy somewhat traumatised and she begins to struggle.

The plot unfolds between Amy’s point of view and Cara’s point of view. What should have been a one-off encounter develops into a merging of their two lives, slowly and invidiously. What is Cara’s end-game?

The characters are very well drawn. I find it difficult to understand Amy and I am not sure I have much sympathy with her or her husband. Her step-daughter, she is a nightmare but Cara? You need to read it to see what you think.

The tension is palpable; the plot unexpected and a totally unexpected ending. My review just doesn’t do it justice.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

Sadly I seem not to have been as enthralled by Your Closest Friend as everyone else was, and I can't quite figure out why. This story follows Cara, who gets caught up in a terroist attack in London and is saved by Amy, a young, American girl, still looking for her place in the world. The characters make dubious decisions that at times frustrate me, and I just didn't click with them, get affectionate towards them and as a result, really invest in them.

I think what got me, was that I guessed pretty much every single thing that happened. I say pretty much, for anyone who has read the book, I'm sure you'll know which part I didn't guess. But was it enough to make me love the book? Unfortunately not. Would I recommend people still read it? Definitely, if only for that one part that you just didn't see coming.

Psychological thriller which explores exposure to emotional danger. The writing keeps you on the edge of your seat and not knowing the outcome until the very end.

Absolutely awful in too many ways to describe.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

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

Cara is rescued by Amy when she is plucked out of harms way from a crazed terrorist out on the London streets. Cara is at a vulnerable point in her life and opens up to Amy revealing far more than she probably would have, had it not been for the situation they found themselves in. From there on out their lives seem to become all-out entangled, one with the other, as Cara's life begins to unravel and Amy is conveniently there to "pick up the pieces."

With perfect pacing, complex characters, secrets, mystery and mounting tension, I eagerly turned the pages, being led to the point where I knew one of these woman would crack under the immense pressure, but who would buckle at the knees first and what would the fallout from that be?

Admittedly, I had to suspend belief at some of the jaw dropping shockers, but that was doable considering how fear, anxiety and stress can make the best of us behave questionably at times, let alone situations where menacing obsession is at play.

A thrilling read right up until the very final twist.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.

I love it when I think I have a book figured out and I'm so wrong. In the right way. This was a fantastic read!!!! Absolutely loved it.

I am a huge Karen Perry fan, and Your Closest Friend is another brilliant read for me that ticks all the boxes - interesting characters, secrets, and mystery mixed with a real sense of atmosphere.

I liked that the beginninf really left me wondering where the book was going to go - I had purposefully not read the synopsis again right before starting the book, so the sense of confusion and havoc surrounding the terrorist attack which takes place right at the start of the book really threw me! I wondered how this would all tie in - but everything soon kicks into action! 

The story strikes just the right balance between believable relationships, such as Cara and Jeff's, and the more 'unusual' bonds and ties that hold other characters together. Some characters I warmed to, others seem to be completely mad, but every page left me wanting to move onto the next. I liked that you know some aspects of what's happening before Cara herself, as you read the novel from two perspectives: Cara's and Amy's - at times I wanted to shout out to Cara and warn her!

I never found myself getting bored; the pacing was just right and the way Karen Perry describes Cara's thoughts and feelings felt very convincing. I love her writing and I am so pleased that Your Closest Friend is another hit for me!

The movies Single White Female and Fatal Attraction launched the phenomena of crazy chicks for my generation. Both were shocking at the time of their release and set the bar for obsessiveness. Indeed, 20-30 years on we still talk about SWFing someone or 'bunny boilers'.

It probably means books involving characters obsessed with others are less surprising than they once were. Or perhaps less horrific (rather than predictable) because we've become inured in some way. Your Closest Friend by Karen Perry explores such an obsession, though it's borne of a very unlikely situation.

In some ways Cara meets Amy at the most inopportune time. For her. It's good timing for Amy, but for Cara... she's feeling fragile after being confronted by an old love and with an old secret. Being caught up in a terrifying terror attack compounds that fragility and means she's probably more vulnerable than she'd normally be.

And unfortunately for Cara, the turmoil comes from several sources. Not just Amy.

Amy's backstory unfolds throughout the novel and I appreciated that Perry didn't cast her as a complete crazy. She's sympathetic and - mostly, or initially - kinda likeable. Similarly Cara was happily complex. She's fallible and we're in her head (as well as Amy's) so know that she's struggling with her conscience over the spate of recent events.

Perry also paces this novel well so there's a tension building and (though there's an element of predictability) we're not quite sure 'who' will blow first or what the repercussions will be.

3.5 stars

A creepy phschological thriller that at times made my skin crawl. Cara is saved from a crazed street killer by Amy and their lives then seem to intertwine completely. I couldn’t warm to Amy she seemed manipulative from the beginning and was obviously damaged psychologically,so much so that I found myself wanting to warn Cara off her. As the story unfolds the various twists and turns keep you guessing . The device of using the two women as narrators makes it even more tense at times. I admit there were a few times when I had to suspend my disbelief at some of the things Cara did , but then fear ,stress and trauma can make people behave in an odd way

Your Closest Friend

I loved the idea of this but it didn’t grab my attention as I had hoped it would. It took me well over a week to finish which is a long time for me. I carried on with it in the hope it would get better but unfortunately for me it didn’t.

Excellent story line which was gripping from start to finish. Great characters. I would highly recommend this book.

I liked the idea behind the book but I didn’t find it as gripping as I thought it would be. The characters were well written and intriguing. I liked the final twist but felt there could have been more twists and red herrings along the way

An intense and riveting read. Cara is caught up in a terrorist attack in London and is rescued by Amy. As they hide out in a storeroom Cara shares her darkest secrets with the woman she has just met.

This is a story of total obsession told with menace and pace. The narrative switches between Cara and Amy and it apparent very soon that Amy is a woman with issues. As Cara's world begins to fall apart it seems that Amy is there to pick up the pieces. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you.

I really wanted to enjoy this novel and I felt it started strongly. I liked the drama of the events and the occassional flashback to Amy's other life but then i felt the plot was just too unbelievable. There were too many chances for Amy and Cara to be found out. I really wanted to know a lot more about Amy - I felt she was a bit two dimensional and Cara was quite irritating - why was she so obsessed with her ex - they clearly had a weird, messy relationship.

I think this could have gone better but it wasn't for me.

A chance meeting during a freak event leads to a frightening chain of events.
Cara is yanked to safety from the street during a terrorist attack in London, her saviour is Amy who shelters with her in a storeroom where she works until the event is over.
They shouldn’t meet again but their paths do cross and Cara employs Amy to look after her daughter Mabel. Is Amy really hat she seems? Can she be trusted? Cara has shared secrets with her told on the night of their ordeal, secrets that could destroy her and those she loves.
Cara begins to get strange and worrying texts signed from YCF, she can’t work out who they are from and events seem to be spiralling out of control. Her marriage and her job are under threat and she is determined to keep both.?
Really enjoyed reading this through to the last little twist.

An interesting and unique story leading to a good psychological thriller. Told by Cara and Amy who were caught up in a terrorism attack together. Cara opens her heart and tells her secrets. Amy then wangles her way into the family as Cara's closest new friend. Then the destruction begins and a family starts to fall apart. A good twisty tale with an array of characters.

I'm left speechless.

What can I say except, what an ending!!

A book broke down into three parts and told from two POV.

Very cleverly written and just when you think there is nothing left hidden... well I won't spoil it for anyone.

The saying keep your friends close and your enemies closer definitely comes to mind when reading Your Closest Friend.

Karen Perry has executed her ideas amazingly and I highly recommend this novel to everyone.

The first act of Your Closest Friend is so promising that I'm disappointed with how the story develops. Terror in London is a hot button issue and I really felt that the author made a brave decision in using such a terrifying situation as a plot device. Amy is immediately threatening as a character, complete with voices in her head and allusions to a dark past. The secrets that she promises to keep for Cara are an obvious ticking time bomb, and I was completely invested very early on. Unfortunately, everything begins to unravel as the book plods on. I am ok with suspension of belief to a certain point, but the decisions that these characters make are beyond poor. I can never enjoy a book when the characters, initially written as intelligent and capable of some degree of critical thinking in everyday life, are left to make ridiculous decisions and roam in circles before finally coming to a predictable eureka moment. This is a real shame, because the rest of the book becomes merely about wasting time until the clueless characters catch up to a now obvious conclusion. There's a mild attempt at a final twist, but it simply doesn't save the text as a whole.