Emotional and full of difficult conversations and situations like grief, depression, abandonment and others. I think it was very thoughtful and honest, and while so many times it was so heartbreaking, it was done in an inspiring way, giving an opportunity to see how important friendships, love and forgiveness are, and what it looks like when that’s missing.

4.5 ⭐️s rounded up. This was well rounded and had some great mystery and suspense. While there were a lot of characters, they were all compartmentalized well and I didn’t have trouble keeping up with them at all.

I enjoyed the cross over with the different family members and the slow unfolding of the mystery and suspense as well as the bits of romance tucked in. It had me wanting to keep reading to find out what was next. The different authors blended their characters together well and I enjoyed it a lot.

Really heartwarming, as the story revolves around 3 generations of women in the Demarest family. A great story about forgiveness, community, and learning to work thru grief, shame and judgement rather than holding on to prejudice and bitterness. Loved the tenacity and strength of the women in the story as well.

3.5 ⭐️s rounded down. Honestly the first 3/4 of the book just felt so devastating and sad. Like a misnomer of the title. It was 2 people who love each other but refuse to be honest and vulnerable and instead constantly either push each other away or try to make each other miserable because they’re so hurt. Add to that, even the best friends couldn’t talk to each other and be honest. Which isn’t deep friendship.

The last 1/4 turned around and had some great nuggets about not living for other people or making yourself into what you think someone wants, but fighting for what’s important. And that real friendship should be honest. The writing was also excellent, as Emily Henry’s always are. I love how she is able to make the dialogue fun, witty and clever, but also deep, thoughtful and vulnerable when called for.

But the book just held such a sad and heavy note thru most of it, I struggled to enjoy it. I wanted to shake everyone and tell them to just freaking talk to each other instead of either assuming things or being a punching bag.

A lot of great information on parenting teens and young adults. This brought great perspective and tools. The audio version was a little mechanical to listen to the way the narrator read it but the content was good.

Great thriller/mystery with some things I figured out and then a bunch of plot twists that I didn’t anticipate. Well written and made me really think about what was going on or why. Enjoyed it a lot.