2024 the best of friends review

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(as of Nov 17, 2024 04:33:10 UTC - Details)

“A profound novel about friendship. I loved it to pieces.” —Madeline Miller

“A shining tour de force about a long friendship’s respects, disrespects, loyalties and moralities.” —Ali Smith 

From the acclaimed author of Home Fire, the moving and surprising story of a lifelong friendship and the forces that bring it to the breaking point

Zahra and Maryam have been best friends since childhood in Karachi, even though—or maybe because—they are unlike in nearly every way. Yet they never speak of the differences in their backgrounds or their values, not even after the fateful night when a moment of adolescent impulse upends their plans for the future.
 
Three decades later, Zahra and Maryam have grown into powerful women who have each cut a distinctive path through London. But when two troubling figures from their past resurface, they must finally confront their bedrock differences—and find out whether their friendship can survive.
 
Thought-provoking, compassionate, and full of unexpected turns, Best of Friends offers a riveting take on an age-old question: Does principle or loyalty make for the better friend?
 
 
 

From the Publisher

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Riverhead Books (September 26, 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593421833
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593421833
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.14 x 0.85 x 7.98 inches
Reviewer: Amy Watkins
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Strong Start
Review: The 1988 portion of the book is very well written, building what portends to be a complex friendship on the backdrop of the end of military rule in Pakistan.Unfortunately, the characters lose that connection with the reader in the second half, and the book ultimately devolves into what feels like a forced good vs evil with a weak ending.Overall, it was a worthwhile read, but I was disappointed with what could have been a powerful book.

Reviewer: D. Howard
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A moving story of friendship
Review: From Pakistan to London, the book traces the arc of two women’s deep friendship. It intermixes the details of schoolgirl life in Pakistan with London’s high society, but never loses the reader’s interest in the lives of the main characters.

Reviewer: Megathy
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Will update when I finish, but I found it much easier to get into Home Fire.
Review: Not grabbing me the same, but I’ll give it more time.

Reviewer: Kathy J. Phillips
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: delightful to read, then painful to read
Review: There are many moving and profound passages and also an intriguing plot that circles back to a central event. However, the two friends also know each other's vulnerable points, and, boy, when they want to wound, they do so with epic battle.

Reviewer: V
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Interesting
Review: Different viewpoint from one we don’t hear of often. Enjoyable and current

Reviewer: Lytton A. Grey
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: failed to properly connect
Review: I dived into this novel with great anticipation after reading Kamila Shamsie's earlier novel Home Fire which was a modern retelling of Antigone dealing in power, terrorism, fire and ice; a novel which left me breathless with the writer's ability to show me events and actions from a completely different perspective. Best of Friends begins with a wonderful story of teenage girls in Karachi bathed in privilege whilst enduring cultural restrictions.I got on board for the next part of the story with the same girls as adults enjoying living in London as successful professionals. We see their private lives, their interests and their concerns. Somehow I never really found my seat and I failed to properly connect with the adult characters. I will still look forward to reading other Kamila Shamsie novels as her writing is powerful and brings her settings to life.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title: too wordy
Review: I felt that this could have been a 75-100 page short story. So many characters were introduced with little impact on the storyline.

Reviewer: J.C. Mach
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good read, terrible end
Review: Good read overall but that ending was terrible. It seemed like they author just decided the book was over. I was disappointed.

Reviewer: Ian Hobbs
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Beautifully written, with an elegance of style that compels you to turn the page.A searing account of a lifelong friendship, the characters imperfections subtly explored, the ending both shattering and hopeful.I'd highly recommend this book.

Reviewer: Avid reader
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: An interesting and enjoyable read about the complexity of friendship

Reviewer: Tracy Stanley
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This is my first encounter with this author and I am loving the book. The first half is set in Karachi in the 1980s and there is a real sense of place and time, and of being a teenage girl there and then. The author deals with friendship, family, feminism and patriarchy in a really clever way, because the story and the characters come first. Really well written and gripping. It made me think about what it means to be female and the concepts of shame and reputation attached to women. A fantastic book.

Reviewer: Sally O'Brien
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Shamsie’s In detailed account of a friendship over many years and the changing social landscape for women had me hooked from cover to cover.

Reviewer: pamela jones
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I was rather disappointed with this book - too much detail on the protaganists' love affair with all things digital - boring!