⭐️⭐️⭐️✨✨ (3.75/5)

This one has an 𝙪𝙣𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 FMC. Seriously, I was like OMG when will this end, she was so needy and whiny and just the 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙎𝙏! I was literally speeding up this story because she was so awful, I just wanted to get ON with it.

Then things get interesting especially toward the end. The MC is still terrible but her character is much more bearable towards the end.

Read if you enjoy…

☠️Unreliable Narrators
🪦Mistrust / Trust No One Vibes
☠️Seedy Individuals
🪦Numerous Suspects
☠️Karma
🪦Characters You’ll Love To Hate

Overall, this one was good. I wish it had a bit more to it than the constant craziness of the MC…it wore me down. I think that was the goal with the MC, but I was just so exasperated with the spiral of the MC and her mental state.

I definitely think it could have been tightened up a bit more but it was still entertaining.

**A warning!! There will be spoilers in this review because I'm angry and need to rant!!*

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the way this book ended at all. I really vibed with the atmosphere and the suspense of this book up until about 70% through. Once I started to be able to piece together where this book was headed, I lost interest and just started to feel super gross about it. My biggest question is this...why, in 2024, the year of our lord and savior, Taylor Swift, are we using psychosis as a plot device? The literal twist to this book is that our main character, Mia, is being poisoned by her supposed best friend, Carrie, who has tricked Mia into believing that Mia killed her ex-boyfriend, Marco, who is actually dating Carrie because Marco and Carrie tricked Mia out of 25,ooo pounds because they hate her for being rich and, therefore, Mia believes that she is going crazy and having a mental health crisis. Why is this a plot device? Mental health is not a trope. It's disgusting to use mental health and psychosis as a plot device in order to further your plot. And then when you also throw in that we are supposed to believe that Carrie pulled off this elaborate scheme for 14 years (from the ages of 12-26) without being found out and simply because she hated that fact that Mia ended up rich due to a tragic accident that resulted in receiving a settlement in life insurance from her dead parents, I will never read another book by this author. I'm literally so disgusted by this entire book. I have no more words.

A book of twists and turns that is also very much a page-turner. Gripping psychological thriller about a murder and the thought that who you murdered is not really dead. Wow, this is certainly a book that you don't know what is going to happen next. From page one I was hocked so this did not take long for me to devour. So much tension and emotion and the ending was not what I expected. This is a must read.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Reading Between the Wines book review #30/130 for 2024:
Rating: 3 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book: Keep Your Friends Close
Author: Joanne Ryan
Available now!

Sipping thoughts: As the saying goes keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Another one that this book can live by is with friends like that…This book’s plot was clear as to where it was going but the aftermath was pretty surprising and just evil enough for my liking. The ending will have you happy or upset depending who you were rooting for.

Cheers and thank you to @BoldwoodBooks and @Netgalley for an advanced copy of @KeepYourFriendsClose.

#KeepYourFriendsClose #JoAnneRyan #BoldwoodBooks #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

This is the second book by Joanne Ryan and the second one in which I think the protagonist is an award-winning ding-dong. Yet despite that, a fact that usually is the precursor to my hating a book, I don't mind it. I'm like, keep muddling through, you beautiful doof! I don't know what it is. I guess it's just a testament to Ryan's writing that even though, outside of the protagonist, we can all see catastrophe looming, I enjoy the stories.

I liked this book and loved the blurb as soon as I saw it, I wanted to read it. Unfortunately, it was just too predictable. It was an easy read, I liked it, but I couldn't say I loved it.

Title: Keep Your Friends Close
Author: Joanne Ryan
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Pub date: 1/25/2024

Mia needs her friend Carrie to keep her deadly secret. But, now she thinks she’s losing her mind. Her nightmares are fueled by her guilt. Can she pull herself together before it’s too late?

I found the book fairly predictable which normally I don’t mind but, the lack of common sense of the main character just made it more difficult for me to get into. However, the twists at the very end, were the best part of the storyline.

Thank you #NetGalley and #BoldwoodBooks for the opportunity to read this story.

What an exciting and suspenseful story! This book was filled with so many twists and turns that I was kept guessing throughout it's entirety and the ending was something that I wasn't expecting at all! This fast paced book hooked me very early on and, not being able to put it down, I finished it very quickly. This was my first book by Joanne Ryan and I'm now looking forward to more from this author.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Joanne Ryan for the opportunity to read this advance copy in exchange for my opinion.

1.5 Stars
"Keep Your Friends Close" by Joanne Ryan starts off with a tantalizing premise: Mia sees her ex-boyfriend, whom she's certain she killed. The story unfolds from there, with Mia and her best friend Carrie navigating the fallout of that fateful night. But does the execution match the promise of the blurb? Unfortunately, no.

The editing of this book leaves much to be desired. Apostrophes are haphazardly thrown around, and spelling mistakes abound, making it difficult to fully immerse oneself in the story.

As for the plot, it's a tired tale of friendship and betrayal. Mia and Carrie's relationship feels contrived, and the so-called 'twist' is glaringly obvious from the get-go. Additionally, the believability of certain plot points, such as hiring a hitman or the disappearance of a substantial sum of money, stretches the limits of plausibility.

Moreover, the predictability of the book is a significant letdown. From the poisoning incident to the overall plot twists, everything feels telegraphed and lacks the element of surprise. It's like watching a movie where you can predict the ending within the first five minutes.

Furthermore, despite some claims that this book is a short, quick read, I found it to be quite the opposite. The pacing was sluggish, with little happening in the middle to keep the momentum going. What was advertised as a fast-paced thriller felt more like a leisurely stroll through dullsville.

The characters are equally uninspiring. Mia comes across as needy, while Carrie is portrayed as little more than a doormat. Their dynamic lacks depth and authenticity, making it hard to invest in their journey.

In summary, "The Couple's Revenge" fails to live up to its potential. It's a forgettable addition to the psychological thriller genre, best avoided in favor of more compelling reads.

Excellent book! I really enjoyed this book. It had great characters and was easy to follow. I would recommend it to all my book friends.

Well, this has been a quick read and fabulous introduction to @authorjoanneryan books.

This book is filled with great writing. The twists are well placed to make the reader gasp. This has been fast paced and pulled me in quickly.

This is a book which has been an easy read. I was pulled in and completely unwilling to put this down which resulted in just one sitting.

Ryan has managed to shock me. But also made me think about who can we really trust? I have adored this book from the very beginning. Mia has killed her abusive ex-this is very on point as I’ve been loving a female killer recently.

Ryan has kept me on the edge of my seat. This has been everything I hoped for and so much more. This book is brilliant from beginning to end.

I can’t wait to read more by this author. I absolutely recommend this one.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

She knows your darkest secret… Can she keep it?

It’s a normal sunny day when Mia sees her ex-boyfriend on the street where she lives. But she knows that’s crazy. She knows it can’t possibly be him. She knows… because she killed him.

Mia and Carrie have been best friends since school. They share everything: clothes, shoes, a home… and their secrets.

Only Carrie knew what Mia did that night. Where everything went wrong and Mia’s boyfriend attacked her, so she attacked him right back.

Carrie made the problem go away. Like she always would for her best friend. They’ve got on with their lives. Mia’s even met someone new – a man she thinks she could be with forever.

But now it looks like her ex is back. Alive and well. So either Mia is losing her mind, or somebody very close to her has been lying…

Another perfect thriller. I was trying to predict how this would end and I was well you're gonna have to read the book to find out. Will recommend this book to others.

Great thriller that keeps you guessing from the very beginning. I loved all the characters in this book.

This is my first book by this author. I really enjoyed the main character, though half of the twists were overly predictable so that bothered me a bit.
The thing that won me over was the total wow of the final twists. I didn't see it coming at all.
Definitely a thriller worth reading. 4 stars from me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

Keep Your Friends Close by Joanne Ryan is the first book I have read from this author and I really enjoyed it. It was a book that got me hooked within the first few pages and I ended up reading it till the end (with coffee breaks etc in between!) It was full of twists and turns throughout that will have you turning pages to find out what happens next - just like I did.

She knows your darkest secret.........Can she keep it?

and then I was gripped! Just excellent and I highly recommend Keep your Friends Close.
Excellent book and will be reading more from this author.

Big Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for my ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley, Boldwood Books and Joanne Ryan for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Joanne has a fantastic writing style that draws you straight into the story. I read Keep Your Friends Close in one sitting.

I loved the storyline, the twists and the characters, especially Mia, she was a great main character. She was a bit oblivious at times though.
Carrie was an intriguing and complex character too.
I wasn't a fan of the ending, I thought it was a bit rough, as I was on Mia's side completely.
Other than that, this was a fantastic thriller and I definitely want to read more from Joanne Ryan.

4 stars from me.

Mia and Carrie are best friends. They will do anything for each other. Or so they think. These two women are on a collision course. They can only trust each other so far. Book was a quick read and kept my attention. I wasn't sure who was the nice person in all of this. Very enjoyable read.

The first half of this I felt was quite a slow burn with a lot of repetition, which got a little frustrating. The second half was much better (in my opinion) once the main character finally started to take action and there were a few unexpected twists. And the ending - NICE! Definitely didn’t see it coming. I don’t want to spoil this for any future readers, but I 100% feel like everyone got the ending they deserved, including Mia 😈

The writing felt a little immature at times, however it is written from Mia’s perspective - almost like a diary where we hear her thoughts etc - so perhaps it was intentional.

For me, the first half of this book let it down a bit, if the whole thing could have had the pace of the second half I would probably have rated it higher. However I still enjoyed it, it’s a very easy read and the ending (probably unintentionally!) definitely amused me.

⭐️3.5⭐️ (will round up for Amazon so it’s still classed as a positive review 😊)

Thanks to @rachelsrandomresources, @theboldbookclub and Joanne Ryan for the chance to read and review Keep Your Friends Close 🙏🏻

A really tense thriller which starts at great pace.
Great ending with a phenomenal twist
The writing style is really good with an absorbing plot

#KeepYourFriendsClose #NetGalley
Only her best friend Carrie knew what Mia did that night. Where everything went wrong and Mia’s boyfriend attacked her, so she attacked him right back.
Carrie made the problem go away though. Like she always would for Mia. They’re best friends who’ve always stood up for each other. Now they just need to get on with their lives. Mia’s even met someone new – a man she thinks she could be with forever.
But now it looks like her ex is back. Alive and well. So either the two best friends are losing their minds, or somebody is lying…
Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for giving me an advance copy.