I really wanted to love this one, but unfortunately the writing just wasn't for me.

The premise sounded so interesting. A group of friends with deep dark secrets revisiting the island where their best mate died? Count me in! I loved how this book showed the darker side of friendship, and how you accept people despite all their flaws out of loyalty.

However I found myself getting confused at multiple points - both at the plot and the character's bizarre behaviour.

First off, it took a long while before I could work out how the main characters were all linked. Having spoken to other friends who have read this book, I realised I was not alone in this. Sure the main few are friends, but when countless side character names came up I honestly had no clue for a long time how they were related to the core four. It also didn't help that the POVs where both really similarly written.

I also couldn't understand so much of what they did. Why would you want to swim in waters where your friend died? Why does Jem seem to be carrying on totally as normal, like he didn't lose his wife? Why would you not get help for a friend who's clearly severely mentally ill?

Even the final twist which promised to be huge could be seen from early into the book, so sadly this just left me feeling disappointed. I wanted more drama, without the farfetched plot and consistently vague dialogue.

A brilliant story set in paradise. I loved this, I loved the relationships in the group. They were real and believable. Twist and shocks galore, this is the perfect Summer read xx

A foreboding and dark thriller. This well structured thriller is set on a luxury resort on a remote island which creates an engrossing sense of unease and claustrophobia. The characters are well developed and the plot is fast paced, very engrossing. A really enjoyable fast paced read

How to Kill Your Best Friend - Lexie Elliott

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Georgie, Lissa, and Bronwyn have been inseparable since dominating their college swim team; swimming has always been an escape from their own problems, but now their shared passion has turned deadly. How can it be true that Lissa, the strongest swimmer they know, drowned? Granted, there is something strange about Kanu Cove, where Lissa was last seen, swimming off the coast of the fabulous island resort she owned with her husband.

This book is told in alternating chapters by Bronwyn and Georgie. Everyone in the group seems to have a secret to hide. I very much enjoyed the mystery of this book, but in places I felt like the story was moving a little too slowly.

This book is a wild ride, filled with mind games and surprise. All of the characters are well-developed, and the action mostly comes in the second half of the book but nevertheless this is still a book for you to get lost in if you enjoy physiological thrillers.

Rating 4/5

Thanks to Atlantic Books, NetGalley and Lexie Elliott for the ARC of How to Kill Your Best Friend.

The synopsis for this book really drew me in. I love an unsolved mystery, a who dun it and a 'trapped and in danger' style thriller. Initially the concept reminded me of The Guest List by Lucy Foley which I loved, so was excited to see what this one had in store.

The book drew me in almost instantly - Lissa (part of a group of friends from a swim team) is missing assumed dead - drowned in a dangerous cove. Why she went swimming alone at night no one really undrerstood, but at her memorial on the island where her second husband runs their hotel business, the friends all gather together for one last time to say their goodbyes.

As strange events and threats start to appear on the island, it becomes clear that there is more to Lissa's death than meets the eye. Told from different perspectives and an unknown narrator considering ways to kill their best friend, we slowly learn the truth about what really happened to Lissa and why.

I feel like I should have loved this book, but it fell a little short for me. The pace at times became quite slow, and at times I found myself really having to concentrate to remember all the names and relationships, which took away from some of the action for me. It's quite a slow burn, and I didn't find some of the reveals or shocks as shocking as perhaps I should have done.

Lucy

How To Kill Your Best Friend by Lexie Elliott is a tense thriller and a gripping read. My first book by this author but I'll definitely be looking for her others.

Georgie, Lissa and Bronwyn have been best friends since university, brought together by their love of swimming. They are still close although their lives have started to grow in different directions. Bronwyn is now a stay at home mother of two, Georgie works in New York, and Lissa and her husband Jem have opened a luxury resort on a remote tropical island.

When the story begins, Georgie is on her way to the island for Lissa's memorial service after she disappeared while swimming in the notoriously dangerous Kanu Cove near the resort. The rest of the group, apart from Georgie, were staying at the resort when Lissa went missing, but Georgie wants to investigate further and can't accept that Lissa could have drowned in those circumstances since she is such a strong open water swimmer and would have known to avoid the area.

As the group is reunited we learn more about each of the characters and the group dynamics, especially when strange messages start appearing and old secrets are revealed which put them all in danger.

A great thriller with the tension gradually building to a chilling cliimax.

How To Kill Your Best Friend by Lexi Elliot is a fantastic thrill ride of a book! This is the type of perfect thriller that you just cannot put down.

How To Kill Your Best Friend centres on Georgie, Bron and Lissa, three women who have been best friends since university, only now Lissa is dead. Georgie and Bron are brought together, along with their close friends and swimming buddies, to the luxury resort owned by Lissa’s grieving husband for her memorial. But questions begin to surface and strange things start to happen. How did a star swimmer seemingly drown, what is the story or the mysterious Kanu Cove and who, if anyone, can they trust?

This story is told from the differing perspectives of Georgie and Bron which I really enjoyed. Though best friends the women are very different in themselves and so they’re differing narratives really brought the story to life. Without giving anything anyway, it was brilliant reading their differing views on what was happening and who or what they suspected was happening. Throughout the book we are also given the different ways that you might try to kill your best friend, which were fascinating and oddly funny asides.

The characters in this story are well built and all feel very real, especially Georgie, Bron and Lissa. What we learn about Lissa throughout the book certainly paints a very interesting picture of what was once a very troubled woman. The male supporting characters of Adam, Duncan, Jem and Steve are well thought out and also add a lot to the story individually. For a story with so many central characters you never lose site of who is who and each have they’re own distinct personalities.

This story really builds in tension and intrigue until you hit that point of no return where you simply cannot put it down. It’s also a story that kept me guessing throughout which I always think is the sign of a great thriller. It’s my first book from Lexi Elliot but I’ll look forward to reading her first two novels and will be looking out for what she writes next.

How to Kill Your Best Friend is my type of book. I love it when they are set on remote islands which seem idyllic at first then become claustrophobic and victims of the ever changing weather trapping the characters on the island.
This one had plenty of secrets, twists and turns and characters that caught my interest instantly.
I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for my ARC.

This is my first book by Lexie Elliott and I will be looking for more of the novels that she has written.

We meet three friends who have a passion for swimming and tragically on of them ends up drowning!! Lissa is the unfortunate woman who ends up losing her life and her friends Bronwyn and Georgie are the main characters in the book and they go and meet up at the private island that was owned by Lissa.

I liked reading about this story plot and the dysfunctional friendship of these women.

Both of these women have deep, dark secrets and deception lies within this friendship. Georgie questions why a strong swimmer like Lissa has met this death - there are so many twists and turns in this novel - I enjoyed it.

Thanks to Lexie Elliott, NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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<p><em>Georgie, Lissa, and Bronwyn have been inseparable since dominating their college swim team; swimming has always been an escape from their own problems, but now their shared passion has turned deadly. How can it be true that Lissa, the strongest swimmer they know, drowned? Granted, there is something strange about Kanu Cove, where Lissa was last seen, swimming off the coast of the fabulous island resort she owned with her husband.</em><em> Lissa's closest friends gather at the resort to honor her life, but Georgie and Bron can't seem to stop looking over their shoulders. Danger lurks beneath the surface of the crystal-clear water, and even their luxurious private villas can't help them feel safe. As the weather turns ominous, trapping the funeral guests together on the island, nobody knows who they can trust. Lissa's death was only the beginning....</em></p>
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<p>We follow the story through the POV’s of Bronwyn and Georgie who both have some big secrets. I always love multiple point of views purely because we get to see the story through a range of people’s eyes, this works especially well in this book as it is a mystery thriller and we get to see what Bronwyn and Georgie think. The other characters Jem who was married to Lissa, and Duncan who went to school with Georgie, Bronwyn and Lissa, were also really good and interesting.</p>
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<p>What I really liked about the book was the openers of the chapters. There is an undisclosed narrator who is describing different ways on how you might want to murder your best friend: Accident, Poison, Hire a Hit Man, Electrocution, Shooting, Hit and Run, Strangulation and Drowning. I feel like this was really unique and it helped to keep my interest in the story.</p>
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<p>I did find the pace of the book really slow, sometimes I wish that they skipped certain parts and just went right into the nitty gritty parts, but I guess some of this was needed for the plot. If you can keep your concentration then this is a really interesting mystery and I didn’t find it predictable at all.</p>
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<p>Overall, if you are looking for a quick and easy read then this is not the book. You do need to concentrate and really take it in, if you can get through the slow (and slightly boring) parts then you will be able to appreciate it.</p>
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<p>Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. </p>
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A tale of secrets and revenge, all set on a paradisiac island with a dangerous cove and a mystery serpent. I can't help but be attracted to stories that end up feeling claustrophobic and that keep me on the edge of my seat — this did just that!

This one is a solid 4.5 stars for me. The plot was perfectly paced, not too fast and equally certainly not slow. Everything was written so so well and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. There was excellent humour and it was very funny at times!! The characters were equally complicated and interesting - each one was never quite as they seemed. The plot had you guessing right until the end and I enjoyed attempting to work out who killed who! I’ve read quite a lot of murder mystery books and this one is one of the good ones, definitely at the top of my list!
I will definitely check out more of Lexie Elliot’s books because this one was amazing!
It was not 5 stars for me because something was missing - the only con - I didn’t feel like I really connected to all the characters individually - I would have liked to see more POVs - especially Jem or Adam. Furthermore it maybe would have been interesting to see what happened further down the line - even further than the last few chapters — maybe 10 years?
Overall I really really enjoyed it and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who has read One of us is lying :)

I found this book to be too slow paced. And I just did not connect with it or the various characters. .I see that I
am in the minority and other readers enjoyed it more. I hope it does well.

3.5 🌟
Murder mystery lovers - this one’s for you. A group of friends gather on a beautiful island for their close friend Lissa’s funeral. But the circumstances of her death just aren’t sitting right for one of our narrators, Georgie. And someone else seems to think so too...

This setting of this novel is perfect; a seemingly idyllic resort that becomes chillingly eerie after the death of Lissa, an owner of the resort. The resort becomes even more unsettling as the book moves on, with the author slowly weaving in minor details. I really enjoyed the setting and the use of the sea in different points of the book, as the characters were all strong swimmers; it gave a nice added contrast and drama.

The characters themselves were all well developed and interesting, particularly Lissa and Georgie’s bond. I wish we could have gotten more of their back story rather than just the snippets we had from what people revealed in conversation, but I enjoyed how you knew little about Lissa and it was slowly revealed to you. The pacing for me was a little too slow. I always appreciate being drip fed information to keep me interested, but there is such a thing as too slow. I also felt they revealed the twists with such a buildup that you could anticipate them, whereas if the pacing was a little tighter I think they might have a had a little more impact. The one right at the end I didn’t expect, though!

Overall, a beautifully crafted setting and a great poolside mystery, but I think it was a little too slow paced to be classed as my usual thriller style novels.

This book stole a night's sleep from me! I had to find out how this concluded, and it became impossible to put down. I read this in one sitting! I was captivated by the twisty plot, full of intense suspense, with a jaw-dropping ending that did not disappoint!

A handful of intriguing characters, this offers character analysis throughout as we learn how the group's dynamic alters and evolves within the story. This author's commendable writing style makes her one to look out for in the future.

The only thing that didn't really sit well with me was the references to swimming within this story. I am not a swimmer, so didn't really get it, but this is only my personal preference, and has not put me off recommending this to other thrillers fans. Most definitely worth the read.!

The thriller of this story was well written. I like the fact you don’t see all the twists that lie in the story. Look forward to more from this author.

Thank you for allowing me to read pre release date. I really enjoyed the story particularly as it had a swimming link as being a swimmer myself I liked this slant. It was interesting to hear how such a close group of friends had their relationships changed and the insight into this and the troubles it led to along the way.

I love thrillers, I love luxury holidays and the 2 combined are a perfect combo.
Set at a luxury remote resort this story tells the tale of a group of friends that been close since their college years. But how close are they really? The twist and turns are great and you feel right there with them.
I pride myself on guessing twists on thrillers before they happen and impressively it did take me quite some time to guess the biggie before the reveal but I just managed it. However, the final twist at the end of the book I did not see coming which is my mark of a very clever author.
Only marked down 1 star due to the very lengthy technical swim talk which if you’re not a pro (which I assume majority of readers won’t be) it’s a bit too much and I wasn’t too keen on “the serpent” aspect.
Overall a great read and I will be looking out for this author in the future. #Netgalley #HowToKillYourBestFriend
I will add my review to Amazon and Waterstones nearer the publication date

Amazing!! I can't say enough good things, this book will have you hooked!! The twists and turns are so out of the blue and unexpected that you'll be guessing right til the end. It really was such a pleasure to read and I'm kinda gutted that I got through it so quickly and it's over now

This was a brilliant twisty thriller that I motored on as I was keen to know what happened to Lissa.

The setting was dark and atmospheric and I loved all books that had a locked room feel to it. This had the ominous feel of locked island where answers had to be sought during a storm emotional and otherwise.

The author's writing kept me keen where a single chapter soon became the end of the book. A great entertaining thriller.