Betray Her by Caroline EnglandMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 1 day
Pages - 368
Publisher - Piatkus
Source - Netgalley
Blurb from Goodreads
Best friends forever.
That's the pact you made.
You'd do anything for her.
(And you have)
She has it all.
If you could take it for yourself . . . would you?
My Review
Jo and Kate met at boarding school when they were little girls, Kate coming from a more upper class and money type family, Jo a bit scruffy and feeling out of place. A friendship cemented and now we are decades later, the ladies are in their thirties and living very different lives. Kate seems to have it all, Jo struggling personally and her icy exterior and chip on her shoulder still impacting on here life choices/happiness. As Jo spends more time with Kate she realises her friends perfect life may not be so perfect and just how well do they know each other?
A psychological thriller that focuses heavily on friendship and family. We go between present and past getting more of a feel for the girls and how their friendship cemented and endured their hard times at school. There are a lot of twists along the way and lets the reader see sides of the ladies that helped shape who they are now.
In the present day, even though the ladies are close, some of their interactions, how they spoke to each other, for me there seemed an undercurrent. Supportive words but just a hint of something being a bit off but I couldn't put my finger on what it was exactly. For me I really didn't like Jo, she seemed to look down on people and have a massive attitude because of her experiences as a kid which you can understand to a degree but still. Kate I flipped a wee bit about as she seems like the sweet one, caring, housewife, family orientated but was it because I disliked Jo so much. I flipped back and forth on both the characters as England gave a bit more on one, then the other, then flung a curve ball every now and again. A book that keeps you on your toes, the timeline jumps are done well and flow so as not to distract from the flow of the story and gives you more insight into why they are as they. 4/5 for me this time, I have another of this authors on my tbrm, I need to bump it up, a story that will keep you guessing to what is coming next.
Old friends who have contrasting personalities can make for interesting fiction. I am also OK with unlikable characters. I think that such fictional characters unfortunately are reflective of real life.
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