I´ve read two of Kamilas´previous books and liked them. And that´s why I had such high expectations of this new novel. Unfortunately, something didn't work here.
The title suggests that this is going to be about friendship. And it is to some point. The book starts in Karachi in 1980s where two girls are besties and talk a lot about their future and what this unique friendship between them means, how strong it is. But it also has a deeper meaning. Friendship as a word is used in a cynical way in the political context of the relationship between Britain and Pakistan. This may seem to be smart, but honestly, it left me dumbfounded. I honestly don´t understand what Kamila wanted to say in here. What are or were her expectations? Every country defends its own best interests and a friendship between humans cannot and should not be understood in the same way as between countries! Look what has happened to the glorious UK! The Great is a thing of the past.

The characters didn't speak to me at all. I found them boring and annoying.
The writing also didn´t appeal to me.
I´m sorry, I really wanted to like it.

Kamila Shamsie's latest offering is not one that has gone down well with some readers, with its examination of the complexities of long term female friendship, from a childhood in Karachi in 1988, and their adult selves in a 2019 Britain run by a government hostile to migrants. Pakistan in 1988 is under the military dictatorship of General Zia, the fear and paranoia associated with that, with corruption, criminality, abductions, surveillance, a religiously conservative patriarchy with its class divisions and where a conscience can be a dangerous thing. 14 year olds Maryam Khan and Zahra Ali attend an exclusive school, the protected, wealthy, ambitious Maryam confident in a future in running the family's leather company, and the bookish Zahra, an intelligent grafter, daughter of a celebrity cricket commentator, intent on escaping Karachi for university abroad.

Like teenagers the world over, the girls are becoming sexually aware, Maryam more overtly than Zahra, with strong urges to explore and experiment with boys who have become much more aware of them. However, it is not a level playing field culturally when it comes to girls, to whom close attention is paid, even if they come from well off backgrounds, it is all to easy for reputations to be damaged beyond repair, to be publicly disgraced and humiliated. Maryam tells a lie as the friends impossibly speculate over the endurance of their continuing friendship when they are much older. As Benazir Bhutto is elected, they attend a party which ends with Maryam feeling 'girl fear' for the first time, her life to change for good, as she protects Zahra, ending up in a boarding school in England. The narrative then picks up the friends, still close despite their political differences, in 2019, who have established successful careers, Maryam as a successful venture capitalist and Zahra, as the Director of the Centre of Civil Liberties, a constant thorn in the side of the government.

However, both are flawed women who come to be haunted by the trauma of their past, the consequence of which will threaten the very fabric of their lifelong friendship and underlines that you can feel like you know someone inside out but still be shocked by what emerges and the differences in perspectives. What really resonated with me was the stress and pressure on the Karachi school girls and women when it comes to their gender and their sexuality, so often repressed, heavily policed, and which we know can result in deadly consequences. In comparison, the lives of the friends in London felt more difficult for me to relate to, although it shines a welcome light on the shameful treatment of migrants. Despite the flaws, I have no hesitation in recommending this to readers interested in Karachi life in 1988 and like reading of long term friendships between women. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I absolutely loved Home Fire, so I was very excited to receive an eARC of Shamsie's newest release, Best of Friends.
Unfortunately, I really did not enjoy this story at all. Neither of the two lead characters were written well enough for me to find engaging or interesting and the story was just boring. By about the 40-50% mark, I found myself becoming detached from the story and then I eventually lost all interest.
Sadly, Best of Friends definitely wasn't the book for me. My opinion seems to be in the minority here as other reviewers gave more glowing reviews.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

It’s been more than half a decade since Donald Trump and Brexit changed the 21st century as we knew it. The sharp sword of politics has since torn across families and friendships, leaving wounds so deep that they might well never heal. After all, how close can “close” people really be if they see the world from spectacularly different sides of a fault line? This question looms in Kamila Shamsie’s latest novel Best of Friends like a large boulder threatening to roll over a long and loyal friendship with the slightest tip of balance.

We first meet Zahra and Maryam as teenagers in Karachi, preoccupied with all things teenaged: music, boys, first kisses and friendships. From the very beginning, they are, what one would call, poles apart. Zahra is street-smart, while Maryam is a bookish nerd. Zahra comes from a wealthy family who wield money and power to get their way; Zahra’s parents are progressive and politically active middle-class Pakistanis. The girls come of age when Pakistan elects its first woman prime minister, and the world suddenly feels like an oyster for these two young Muslim girls.

Best of Friends is as much coming-of-age novel, as it is a bildungsroman. We follow the journeys of Maryam and Zahra from Karachi to London, where they become incredibly successful women in their middle-age, occupying the highest seats of power in their respective fields. We see them deftly navigate the West with all its attendant phenomena of structural racism, xenophobia and white supremacy. However, their lives and worlds remain ever so different -- Maryam is a venture capitalist, flirting with all kinds of things that Zahra, a civil rights lawyer, stands against. We wonder how they continue to be friends, even best friends, until we remember our own old friendships. We say to ourselves, this is the kind of friendship possible only if formed in childhood, for no adults with such divergent worldviews would seek each other out as best friends.

Like in Home Fire, Shamsie’s Booker Prize-shortlisted novel, this one, too, is set in a social churning. Shamsie, after all, is not new to situating her novels in big political moments, whether in Pakistan, her home country, or the United Kingdom, her country of residence. She does not shy from asking big moral and ethical questions either: What is goodness? What is evil? How do you discharge duty and filial love in the face of wrongdoing?

The enormous themes of our day are distilled through our small, everyday lives. Friendships are made and unmade on the large and frantic canvas of the world passing us by. Best of Friends, then, makes us pause and ask ourselves: Who are we in relation to our closest people? Who did we think we were going to be?

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me this book in return for a fair and frank review.

Initially I loved this book. I loved all the descriptions of life in Karachi and some were so well written I felt like I was there. I loved both characters, their similarities and their differences, especially their social class. Both girls were so well written and I read up to 68% when I lost interest. Both girls were now women living and working in the UK but their characters were just boring. I was so disappointed in this as I was so enjoying it. The pages and pages of narrative about places, gardens, outdoors and other such things went on for so long the book could have been half the size. I feel let down by the author.

Easy reading, thoughtful and well written book. It makes you question your friendships too! Following them from childhood to adult it shows friendship and betrayal.

As ever Shamsie writes a story that you want to read. Brilliant story telling that I wish wouldn't end.

I loved Shamsie's previous novel, Home Fire, and this one was equally thought-provoking and fascinating. Thank you for the ARC!

I absolutely loved the first section of this book. The story starts in Karachi with best friends Maryam and Zahara growing up under the shadow of General Zia’s dictatorship. I learned a lot about the political history of Pakistan and was inspired to read more in order to better understand the story. There was so much brooding menace I was almost afraid to turn the pages.

For me, the momentum fell away in the latter sections when the girls and their story moved to London. The tension and sense of impending doom that had been building didn’t really seem to go anywhere. Perhaps that’s not what the author intended.

As a novel which focused on the importance of female friendship this worked well. It was interesting to see how Zahara and Maryam managed to maintain their friendship throughout their very different lives but I would have liked more of Pakistan because for me Karachi was by far the most interesting character.

'A new Kamila Shamsie novel is always worth celebrating, but Best of Friends is something else: an epic story that explores the ties of childhood friendship, the possibility of escape, the way the political world intrudes into the personal, all through the lens of two sharply drawn protagonists'

This novel deserves all the praise it is getting. It was moving, deft, clever, kind and funny. I loved the characters, their relationship, and what the novel said about friendships and their importance in our lives. Incredible

This is my first book by this author and I enjoyed it, perhaps the first third of the book more, the pace did dip after that and I didn’t feel overly invested in the main characters which was a shame as it was a really good start.

The story of two friends from school days in Pakistan to their adult lives in different parts of the world, this is a heart-warming and poignant tale of how our experiences shape our lives. It is so beautifully written that it brilliantly evokes a sense of time and place, and represents the changing dynamics of a long-lasting and at times sorely tried friendship. I loved it and would heartily recommend it. It was my first experience of reading a Kamila Shamsie novel and I will be looking out for the rest of her novels in our local bookshops.

Interesting to some extent. But I didn’t really feel convinced by the characters or the plot. Disappointing as I’ve loved her other novels.

I loved this book; especially the first part set in Pakistan. The tension created by Shamsie was palpable as the country went through profound political turmoil which had a profound effect on the girls and their family and friends.
I felt the second part, set in London, was not as gripping, hence the 4 stars.

I enjoyed this novel about two friends from Karachi, both from wealthy families. It’s 1988, and a time of great change in Pakistan. The dictatorship is over, and Benazir Bhutto is set to become Prime Minister.

Maryam and Zahra make a poor decision after a party that has consequences for many years.

Thirty years later both women live in London. They both have the best educations that money can buy, and a Oxbridge degree each. They’re both hugely successful in their chosen professions, and regularly see the seedier side of their professions (mainly corrupt politicians).

But when someone from their past reappears, questionable decisions are made once again. I was mentally shouting at the character involved for her utter stupidity, and I was really surprised that Maryam and Zehra’s friendship survived this at all - I don’t know as I would be as forgiving. There was a point where I wasn’t so sure that the friendship would survive though.

I liked this, and I’m aware from reading other reviews that it’s very much a marmite book. Love it or hate it: I loved it.

This novel follows the lives of two best friends from Pakistan - Zahra and Maryam - who attend the same school despite being from very different backgrounds. Their childhood together is described through key events such as the assassination of the military dictator, school parties and their changing bodies. The second half of the novel is concerned with their lives as adults, and both women have now relocated to London. Beautifully written, this is a thoughtful and evocative novel rather than a plot-driven page turner.

First things first, this is not Home Fire, but it’s really good! Some similarities to Home Fire, but a much deeper look at friendship and the love that runs within families and chosen families. I really enjoyed the writing, the pace of it and the familiar setting of London alongside their childhood story in Pakistan. Really readable.

Set in Pakistan and London, Best of Friends tells the story of childhood friends, Maryam and Zahra, growing up in Karachi in the 1980s. This is Shamsie's first novel since winning the Womens Prize for Fiction in 2018 with Home Fires, a book I really enjoyed.

Pakistan in the 1980s was a time of great political and social turmoil. Dictator, General Zia had just been overthrown as President and replaced by Benazir Bhutto, becoming the first Muslim woman to lead a democratic government. Its this tension and uncertainty which forms the backdrop to the early part of the story. Maryam and Zahra come from comfortable middle class background. However the conservative city of Karachi is not a safe place for two teenage girls who are drawn to danger and excitement. Fast forward 20 years to London where both women now live and work. Maryam is a very successful venture capitalist, Zahra is Head of the UK Centre for Civil Liberties. Both are at the top of their game and very successful in their own fields. Yet both are still affected by a pivotal event which took place when they were teenagers.

While I generally enjoyed the book, it felt too long, especially the chapters relating to the girls teenage years. The "central event" which both women referred to constantly was overplayed and melodramatic, There were also far too many coincidences in the final chapters in a clumsy attempt to wrap up couple of storylines. A good read but underwhelming. Perhaps my expectations were too high after the joy of "Home Fires"

The book is set in the late 1980s in Karachi and then 30 years later in London. There is no flip flopping, it's a linear timeline.

We first meet Maryam and Zahra as 14 year old best friends. I learnt quite a few things I didn't know about life in Karachi in the 80s but I wasn't really drawn into the characters of the two girls.

I felt like giving up reading this book, but decided to wait and see if the book was different once the girls were older. I'm pleased to say that for me it did improve but I still didn't love it. The writing was good and certainly highlighted political and social media issues. It covered the friendship that lasted 30 years. However, for me it moved far too slowly. I felt I wasn't progressing in understanding the lives of the two girls as I turned each page.

The book has had many rave reviews, but for me it didn't hit the spot.