This was a good read overall, but it had its ups and downs. The premise of two couples, Mark and Harriet, and Gary and Yvette, living together after years of friendship had potential, especially as cracks start to show in both marriages. The story is told from the perspectives of all four characters, though it took a while to sort out who was who, which made the beginning a bit slow.

While the book is readable, I did hit a slump around the 70% mark, though it picked up again toward the end. The characters are likeable in their own ways, and the north/south references and music nods were enjoyable. However, it loses points for some believability issues—like an unqualified teacher being offered an acting deputy head post early in their career, which felt unrealistic.

The excessive swearing was also off-putting at first, and didn’t seem to add much to the character development. Thankfully, the author seemed to move past it as the story progressed. Though it’s marketed as a thriller, it’s more of a story about friendships and how life changes them—definitely not the fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat experience I expected.

All in all, it’s a solid read if you can overlook some flaws, but it feels a bit overrated with no real resolution. Worth a read, but not a standout.

When you dislike all of the main characters, it doesn’t help with your enjoyment levels of a book. This is what I found with Everett’s novel and it really put a downer on the story. Second to this, I was expecting more of a thriller style read; instead this is a drama exploring two families and how they are linked.

Although the blurb describes these two close families moving in together, this does not happen until over halfway through the plot. The first half sees the writer establishing the connections and contrasts between the two couples. Furthermore, secrets are building up between husbands and wives; friends and family – it’s not going to be smooth sailing when they come to live together. Maybe on paper it was a good idea, but practically? Not really having your own personal space, sharing so much and there always a quest for dominance in the property is a recipe for disaster.

None of the characters were likeable because they were all self-absorbed. They certainly would not be on my friends list! Instead, I felt quite sorry for the children of the families and I think they had more admirable qualities compared to the parents. Addicts, arrogance and cheaters, the parents hardly set an example worth following. As the story concluded, it felt like the next generation were bringing optimism to the families where the parents had failed.

Old friends become new enemies in this story that is ultimately about betrayal and zero trust. The story didn’t deliver on my expectations in terms of plot development and I wish the writer had made the characters have some redeemable qualities instead.

With thanks to HQ and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A really intriguing thriller with enthralling characters and an ending not to be missed. Fantastic story that I would highly recommend.

Mark and Harriet seem to have it all - happy marriage, successful careers and twin boys. One twin doing very well in school, the other not so well. Their best friends, Gary and Yvette are not so well off and have been unable to have children.
They have been friends for years and when Mark decides to leave his high pressured job and Gary tries to reinvent his rock career, circumstances change where the two couple end up living together. This is when the cracks started showing in the relationships in the marriages and each other.

The book is written by the perspective of each of the four main characters and does take quite a while to follow who is connected to who. It doesn't grab you from the start like a good book should.

I wouldn't call this a thriller as it really is just about friendships and how life can change these connections.

First of all that you to @hqstories and @felicity_everett for this tour opportunity.
This is the first book by Felicity that I have read ( I have the people at number 9 on my tbr 😅)
It was certainly an enjoyable book and was kept at a steady pace. Not going to lie I found it a bit tricky to begin with to keep up with who's who, but to be fair when there's multiple characters i do normaly find it a bit of a struggle, it's hard for my little brain to keep up 🤣
I really did enjoy it though and had made me keen to read Felicitys other books 🥰

I enjoyed this; however it was nothing like I expected. More family drama than thriller.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Brilliant twisty little thriller had me hooked from page one and the ending was not to be missed, will look out for more from the author!

I think this book suffers because it is being marketed as a thriller, and it's not a thriller at all but a family drama. There are a few twists but it certainly isn't sharp and dark, as promised by the caption on the front of the book. As a thriller it entirely fails to deliver.

The story is more character-driven than plot driven, and the characters are very well rounded and believable, other than some of the supporting cast, which are somewhat cliched. (Meadow and Declan). But not a great deal actually happens - the big move up North mentioned on the blurb doesn't take place until a good halfway through. It's a likeable enough story about relationships between family and friends, but ultimately the big dramas don't take up nearly enough pages and it falls a bit flat as a result.

After reading the blurb and being sucked in by the brilliant cover, this just wasnt6what I was expecting! I expected a thriller but it ended up as a more 'family' drama.

Written from the PPVs of 4 characters wno are also couples.Mark & Harriet and Gary & Yvette, each characters also has their own story and in all honesty there was so much going on at times I struggled to actually grasp the fundamentals of the actual plot.

I think because it was marketed as a thriller I was constantly waiting upon the twists, turns and shock element to happen but they just didnt come and the momentum just never picked up enough. This for me was a major negative, because I was expecting some form of twist throughout it ruined the whole thing for me. Had it been marketed for what ot actually is .. a drama.. I think of have enjoyed it more as I wouldn't have had the expectations.

The book is basically set out in three parts.. Part One is the character development and plot set up, thisnwas a slow going process and seemed to just bog down a massive part of the book. Part Two is where the couple end up loving together as a group, this is where it got interesting but was a shame that it was so far into the book. Part Three is the ending and in my opinion the biggest disappointment., it just felt so rushed and left me with feelings of pure disappointment.

Sadly just not for me.

Thanks to netgalley and HQ for the ARC.

I liked this story of friendships, family and relationships. It was well told and did keep my interest but it wasn't really what I expected from the blurb.

This was a story about two families who became close friends and also very interlinked, with all the problems that this entails. Some really good characters, most of whom were fallible and a fascinating storyline which was very realistic. Interesting read..

This was just ok - it didn't really hold up to the promise of being a gripping thriller. I finished it but it was pretty unmemorable. Sorry but not for me.

When I seen that this book was available for review and after reading the synopsis and the raving reviews from authors such as Adele Park, I knew I had to read this book. The cover of the book drew me in as well as the premise of this story.

Four friends move to Manchester to start an adventure that they all thought was a great idea, but two couples living together, that just screams out drama!

The house in this story sounded beautiful and a masterpiece and one that Harriet was very proud of. I did find it hard to gel with some of the characters, I found Gary quite obnoxious and Harriet as stuck up, kind of wished that Yvette and Mark would have stood up for themselves a bit more, although we did see these two shine at the end of this book.

I loved the fact that the son was seen as this school drop out, waste of space but he proved them all wrong, I found this quite refreshing.

This book wasn’t what I expected it to be, I thought it was going to be a thriller and it didn’t come across as a thriller for me. It was more of a family drama kind of story, but I still read this book quickly and devoured the story, I just would have preferred a bit more suspense I guess. None the less, this was a quick read and if enjoy a story about family drama, friendship dramas and drama about life in general then this book is for you. It has characters that may come across as relatable due to being normal people, living in towns we all know and recognise.

Thank you to HQ Stories for gifting me a copy of this book for my honest review.

"Sharp, dark and twisty" it sadly wasn't.
I don't like giving negative reviews, but unfortunately this book did not live up to the promises of the blurb, instead delivering a dull tale of two couples who were not that interesting or likeable.

I persevered with the book, looking forward to some drama, some massive event, some secrets, or even just a decent story, but disappointingly none of these materialised ... and then it just ended rather limply with lots of unanswered questions.

Four friends, living quite different lifestyles. Mark and Harriet have successful careers, and twin sons - one doing well, one more reclusive and difficult to fathom. Gary had a music hit sensation years ago, but having done too much drinking and drugging, they now are not well off, and he works as a music teacher. Yvette, leaving school early pregnant, never really had a career.

Then events turn and Mark jumps off the wheel in the rat race and Gary ditches his teaching job for one last attempt to reignite his music career. Somewhat improbably the four then leave London to live in Macclesfield in a warehouse that Harriet had been redesigning, originally as affordable housing. However, each marriage has to undergo some re-evaluation during their time together.

An interesting book; some of it rather unbelievable, but it makes for a good tale. Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Old Friends is the story of two couples living in London who have been best friends for years who decide to up sticks and move in together up north.
Mark and Harriet have successful careers and twin sons who have just graduated and are entering into adulthood.
Yvette and Gary live less glamorous lives on the other side of town.
Gary enjoyed success with his band in the 90s and is hoping to make a comeback and quit teaching. They have two daughters and are about to become grandparents for the first time.
Each chapter is from a different character’s perspective and we also move about in the timeline too so we get a real sense of how domestic life can actually turn chaotic and dramatic and things can quickly change in an instant.

As the story progresses we learn more and more about the couples and the secrets that lurk beneath their seemingly happy lives.
I think it’s safe to say they are all having individual midlife crises.
With the chance to start afresh and do something differently by moving up to Manchester what could go wrong
At times the chapters moving between different times (pre move, post move, when the kids were younger) could be a little confusing and perhaps the order wasn’t quite right sometimes.

There’s twists and turns in the book for both families but it wasn’t the drama I had anticipated it would be from the synopsis.
I enjoyed Old Friends nonetheless.
With thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a domestic, family drama told over three parts... before the move, after the move and two years later. The concept itself is very believable (especially given the cost of living nowadays!!) and I appreciated that the author didn't go over-the-top with the events that took place.

I love that it was told from the point of view of each friend... we really delve into the minds of each character, and discover their various secrets! I can't say I found any of the characters particularly loveable... but there's many that you love to hate!!

Although I enjoyed the ending, I wish the events took place earlier in the book so we could have read more about the aftermath, and everyone's reaction to it!

Old Friends follows two couples: Gary and Yvette, Harriet and Mark. With a friendship that began when their children were young, they are all dealing with their own, quite different issues, both personal and professional. At a crossroads in their lives, they decide to leave London and move in together closer to Gary and Yvette’s roots in Manchester. But communal living proves not to be quite the panacea they had all hoped.

This is an engaging character-driven story about family and friendship, told from the perspective of all four main characters. We get to know them all, as well as their grown-up children who have their own issues, and I enjoyed the complex dynamics of two very different families whose bond goes back over a number of years and yet seem like quite unlikely bedfellows. All flawed and not entirely likeable, they are nevertheless interesting and the reader really does get to know them as we discover how much is going on below the surface. There are some real-world issues dealt with, but there is a good sprinkling of humour as things unravel towards a surprising ending.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for the ARC copy of this book.
I found the first part very boring as none of the characters were particularly likeable especially Gary. It picked up a bit in part two but it was not as sharp and twisty as it was portrayed was just another family drama.
Not something I want to read more of.

Took a few chapters to take off did this story but by the end I needed to know what ultimately happened to everyone.
The characters were very well described and true to life while the plot was more of a slow burn but interesting all the same.
I couldn’t believe how things panned out, even if not quite expected!t