Friends and Other Liars

This book starts off in a very Pretty Little Liars-esqe way. Ten years ago, Ruby, Ally, Emmett, Murphy and Danny were best friends called “The Crew” who made a pact to always be honest with each other. Now, Ruby is forced to return home after a decade to attend Danny's funeral and confront all the issues that made her leave Chatwick in the first place. But Danny's surprise will force all of them to acknowledge that they have never truly been honest with each other.

The story unfolds in two timelines - ten years ago and now, told in multiple POVs. This gives us a chance to know the truth about what happened decades ago in small bursts and I liked the anticipation of figuring out their secrets. Ruby is kind of the main protagonist here and it was difficult to read about her struggles in teenage years with a bipolar mother and an absent father and I could empathize with her need to escape from the stifling life of her small town and get lost in a big city. Her relationships with Murphy and Danny were messy and complicated but also relatable. Ally feels like this typical small town girl happy with marrying her high school sweetheart and leading a quiet life but as the book goes on, it was interesting to see more facets of her and she rediscovering her friendship with Ruby. Murphy may seem like an indecisive coward who doesn't want to step out of his comfort zone and fight for what he wants but we later realize that there is more to him.

The characters are not all very likeable at first glance but slowly we start looking at them in a different light. But the author always keeps us on our toes - just as we start liking someone or feel like we have figured them out.. BAMMMM they go do something totally out of whack. The plot has all the entertaining elements - friendship, love, drama, secrets but also the tough topics of parental abuse, drug addiction, mental illness, murder and how all of these affect our relationships. Even though this book is essentially a mystery, I think it's most important message was that sometimes, we keep secrets from our best friends too because we want to show them only the best version of ourselves but that doesn't make us bad. This might even create distances between friends and we should probably communicate better with them because, ultimately our friends love us and only want the best for us.

I think the epilogue was a very nice touch and though the ending is tad bittersweet, it's also hopeful with a sense that everyone will be okay.

PS: I received the review copy of this book through Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark but it has no way affected my opinion.