The complexity of late childhood friendships are explored well - the shifting power dynamics between the girls was really intriguing, although concerning/odd that there had been no parental intervention before?
The relationship between the narrator and teacher was not particularly interesting - the (many) sex scenes were also incredibly unsexy. I found myself wanting to skip through any scenes when it was just the two of them together! I think this sub plot could easily have been dropped without the book losing anything.
One minor point - would Never Been Kissed be a cultural reference point for eleven year olds today?

I really enjoyed this book. The author manages to explore serious issues in a way that is insightful, fun, and surprising. I was fascinated by how the author explored females friendships at the tween level and the adult level. These relationships are so complex - deep and intense - and I found myself completely caught up in the story and the complex dynamics. There are huge lows in the book - then comedic moments, and a hot romance. All bases covered. And many twists. At the same time, it was a fun, pacy read with lots of twists.

It’s a great take on a true dynamic of the ways girls behave these days. It’s a gripping read. Loved it!

I picked this book up, I couldn’t put it down and stayed up way too late. Tween dramas impacting drama between moms. Dealt with serious issues but was also very entertaining. Highly recommend

This wasn’t what I was expecting as I thought it was going to be more of a thriller. With that said, I did enjoy most of it but there were a lot of heavy topics dealt with at the same time. I also enjoyed the fact that it took place in Boca Raton as I spent every summer there visiting my grandparents.

I absolutely loved this book! The mother daughter relationship resonated with me on many levels, and I enjoyed the romance aspect as well.

Weekend Friends delves into the complex world of middle school, where it can feel like a battle not only for the girls attending but also for their mothers. Rebecca, a food photographer, and her tween daughter, Willow, relocate from Alaska to Boca Raton, carrying a hidden secret about the death of Rebecca's husband. Their move is an attempt to leave the past behind and to help Willow overcome her night terrors. However, Boca Raton doesn't provide the fresh start they were hoping for. Willow falls under the control of the popular group, enduring bullying and isolation. Meanwhile, Rebecca forms a dangerously close connection with Mr. Brady, the charismatic head of the school. Their relationship, though passionate, is fraught with uncertainty. As lies, deception, and secrets weave an intricate web, chaos takes over, and both mother and daughter find themselves on the wrong side of their gated community, facing severe consequences.

Weekend Friends is a rollercoaster of dark twists and turns, portraying the challenges faced in the turbulent world of middle school. It explores the dynamics of both mother-daughter and romantic relationships, taking the reader through a tumultuous journey filled with secrets, drama, and the struggles of middle school life.

It is a gripping and emotionally charged novel, focusing on the complexities of mother-daughter relationships and the trials of adolescence. The book promises a rollercoaster of emotions, dark secrets, and intense drama that will keep readers engrossed from start to finish. It is a gripping exploration of the trials and tribulations that both mothers and daughters face during the tumultuous middle school years. This book delves into the challenges of relocating to a new environment, as Rebecca and Willow leave behind their past in Alaska for the warm embrace of Boca Raton, Florida. Rebecca, a talented food photographer, seeks to provide her daughter Willow with a fresh start and escape the haunting memories of her husband's tragic death.

As the story unfolds, readers are drawn into the complex world of middle school dynamics, where popularity and bullying are at the forefront. Willow's struggles with the popular group cast a stark light on the challenges many tweens face, and Bella Ellwood-Clayton portrays these difficulties with authenticity and empathy.

The narrative takes an unexpected twist as Rebecca becomes entangled in a compelling yet uncertain relationship with Mr. Brady, the charismatic head of the school. Lies, deception, and secrets further entwine mother and daughter, propelling the story into a rollercoaster of emotions. They soon find themselves on the wrong side of their gated community, facing devastating consequences.

Full of dark and unpredictable twists and turns, Weekend Friends keeps readers on the edge of their seats as they navigate the tumultuous world of adolescence. Ellwood-Clayton's storytelling skillfully captures the challenges and secrets faced by both tweens and their parents, making it a poignant exploration of the intricacies of mother-daughter relationships during these trying times. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to delve into the ups and downs of middle school and the complex world of female friendships.

A novel of domestic suspense
Rebecca and her tween daughter, Willow, move from Alaska to FL after the death of her husband.. His death is shrouded in mystery although he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Willow is embraced by the "IT" girls but they are mean girls. Rebecca finds herself trying to navigate the new normal and protect her daughter while someone is watching her. Is her past catching up with her?

I was really excited to read this due to the lovely cover and that this did not fully conform to a specific genre, mixing contemporary fiction with thriller. it is more contemporary fiction than thriller though I will say just as a warning.

After finishing this book I couldn't fully understand how I felt about this book. I enjoyed how the various forms of female relationships are portrayed and enjoyed the plot twists but did find that there may have been too many and that this impaired the characters and plot slightly.

The book covers bullying within the younger generations and also subtle ways you can be groomed. both of these points I thought were well written and explored. They also were relevant to the plot and not just there for the sake of being controversial.

Thank you for this ARC in exchange for giving a review.

As a mom—a Florida mom of girls—this book about mean Florida tweens and their mother-role models hits all the triggers of what makes the middle school phase one we’d all rather leave behind. Add to the normal angst, that of being the new girl in town, different from the others by having a dead father, and the roles of being a student and that student’s mother are made even harder.

This book is a page-turner with just the right amount of mystery and romance to keep you wondering who’s a friend and who’s a frenemy. The author nails the setting, plot, and characters, making this book one you won’t want to put down.

There is a lot to unpack with this. Bullying, potential stalking, terminal illness, euthanasia, grooming you name it.

Following the loss of her husband, Rebecca and her daughter, Willow up sticks and move to Florida where Rebecca bumps in to a friend from her youth and becomes immersed in suberbian socials and Willow is accepted in to the KISS friendship group... or so it appears.

This book highlighted the viciousness of bullying effectively and is well written if not a bit uncomfortable to read at times, least of all the sex scenes!

Overall, I really enjoyed how Weekend Friends mixed genres, with a lot of elements of a thriller but also a lot of elements typical of contemporary fiction. The book was a casual enough read but also covered a fair amount of heavy topics like terminal illness, mental health, the trials and tribulations of female friendships at any age, and complex relationships. I liked that this was a suburban thriller without leaning on the typical domestic thriller tropes where we are always seeing spousal discontent that ultimately leads to the main conflict of the story. I’m excited to recommend this one to friends when it comes out!

This book was unfortunately not for me. I did not realize that it was about so many traumatic things and not a thriller. I thought it would have a bit of mystery and suspense but it did not. There was also a lot of sex scenes in here that I did not like. I really dislike that in books.

I don’t think this was a bad book. It started strong but it is not my kind of book. I think people who like women’s fiction will enjoy this one.

Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest opinion!

Friendships between women of all ages can be fraught and sometimes toxic, and the author captures that perfectly in this novel about a mum and daughter who move to Florida for a fresh start and soon find themselves embroiled in the politics of school girls and school mums.

There are plenty of twists and turns in this book and it is eminently readable. I’d 100% recommend it.

Weekend Friends by Bella Ellwood-Clayton—women’s fiction with a dash of suspense—tackles complex themes of grief, fitting in, and bullying.
Rebecca and her daughter Willow are new to Florida after moving from Alaska following the death of Rebecca’s husband. The rich plot, full of twists and turns, follows mother and daughter as they try to make friends. In Rebecca’s case, she learns to fall in love again. Their fresh start is encumbered by ghosts of the past, relationship problems, and fears for the future.
Bella has a knack of exploring her character’s vulnerabilities and following their mistakes as they learn and grow. She tackles romance with gusto, and Rebecca’s blossoming crush on the young headmaster of Willow’s school is a sensual treat.
If you love Liane Moriarty and Sally Hepworth, this page-turner will keep you reading until the early hours of the morning.

This book started out a little slow. My biggest takeaway is just how bad bullying with kids has gotten these days. I would use the book during a unit on bullying and it's consequences. I would also use it to show how subtle grooming can be.

I went into this book almost completely blind and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was hooked.

The characters were written in such a way that it was hard not to be invested from the get go.

However, the pacing really lost me at some points in that things were moving way too quickly and this made it feel too overdramatised and unbelievable at times.

The story was wrapped up nicely in the end and it was a fun read, just not 100% for me!

I we t into this expecting a thriller so was disappointed that there wasn't really any twists and turns or tension to the story. It's more a women's fiction that touches on some sensitive triggering topics and navigates those. I did cringe at a few parts but I'm sure fans of contemporary fiction will love it

sorry, but i really did not enjoy this, i think before publishing it's best to fix the blurb, because a lot of people (on goodreads, mainly) were expecting an intense thriller and were disappointed to find that it had a huge sprinkle of contemporary fiction in it. i personally did not mind the cf, but the writing wasn't very good, the pacing was off, the sex scenes made me cringe (maybe they were supposed to be unappealing? because he was younger than her etc?) but if they're not meant to be unappealing, i really recommend re-writing them and maybe not use the word p*nis or s*x to describe our reproductive systems in a sex scene.

becka's internal monologue also made me cringe, and at one point the kiss girls and their mums just lumped into one figure i couldn't discern from the other or run away from. when things started to get real in the third act i really could not care for what was happening to the characters and i don't think that's a good thing. odella was stereotypical and i saw her coming from a mile away.

The blurb led me astray, as I expected a thriller and got something that was less thriller and more contemporary fiction with a dash of every sensitive topic that exists in today’s world. I didn’t love this, as I think it was just doing too much.