Book Reviews of Best Friends

ISBN 1573229350 - I really, really wanted to like this book. A "valentine to the staying power of women's friendships" sounds like a book that, as a woman, I ought to like. I am still dismayed to realize I basically finished it only because I started it - proving that it is, at least, a valentine to the staying power of my stubborn streak.

Clare and Sally met as roommates in college in 1973 and their friendship spans the rest of their lives, through husbands and kids and divorces and tragedies. Clare is from Ohio, Sally from California. It is Clare, as the voice telling the story, whose point of view the reader sees everything from. She is dazzled by the wealth of Sally's family and by California in general, but that wears off as she finds out the secrets of the Rose family. Each time Clare comes into possession of one of the family secrets, she is tempted to run to Sally with the information, knowing it will ruin Sally's relationships with her family members but not particularly caring - if it helps her keep Sally to herself, it seems to be fine with Clare.

First, there's not a single character in the entire book over the age of 10 that I didn't absolutely despise. That's a problem that the book never gets past, because the storyline isn't good enough. It suffers from an almost ridiculous level of drama - the "crimes" (both legal and moral) of both girls' fathers, the way the various characters die, Clare's not-quite-gay attempts to push everyone else out of Sally's life, it's all just too much to be interesting and becomes laughable. Clare's weird love of her roommate comes out in strange sentences - "...trying to make up for my obvious disappointment at seeing her pregnant again. I couldn't believe it. It was almost more than I could stand, that she and Peter had thrust themselves together again." Who thinks of their friends' pregnancy in those terms? Who even thinks of their friends in those terms at all??

If high drama were the only problem with the storyline, it might not have been as bad... but it's not the only problem. The storyline seems to be summed up with "they met in college and stayed friends all their lives". Big deal, that's not a novel, it's a sentence! Even Clare's dedication to her AIDS patients doesn't do much to make up for the fact that she comes off as a terrible, selfish person surrounded by lots of other terrible, selfish people. The best that can be said of the book is that Moody made excellent use of events (the beginning of AIDS awareness, the OJ trial, the Godfather movies) to set the timeframe clearly for the reader. I'd read something else from her if I came across it, but pass this one by, it's not worth the effort.

- AnnaLovesBooks

Let me start by saying that my friend loved this book and gave it to me to read. Unfortunately, I thought the two characters were a couple of idiots and I wouldn't have even finished it except that my friend wanted me to. Maybe you'll like it as much as her.

The story tracks two young women who meet as dorm roommates in college in 1973. They are from different regions and backgrounds but forge a strong friendship. The years pass, the women become professionals but still maintain a friendship, with one always going to visit the other in LA. Secrets in the LA family threaten to ruin one of them.

Although I read the whole book, I didn't really “get into it.” (I have a hard time leaving books unread even if I don't really like them.) There just wasn't enough depth to any of the characters…they seemed so two-dimensional. Although the book is supposed to be about the staying power of women's friendships, my thoughts are that Sally and Clare are friends because no one else would really like them.

If you are focused on worldly things, I guess this book fills the bill. Very depressing for those of us who want more. I am ashamed that I had to finish it. This author could do better if she left out the pure nastiness in several parts of the book.

I was so disappointed to see such negative reviews on this book. I really liked this book and recommend it to anyone. I thought this book was really enjoyable, well-written and absorbing.

Yes, the protagonist is annoyingly focused on her work and unmotherly. I guess I like having to search for the good in characters. Sally, however, was real and fully drawn and was someone I would totally want to befriend.

Some of Moody's turns of phrase are still whirling around my little brain.

Also, the drama? That's probably what made it a bestseller. People generally eat that sort of thing up. Me, included I guess.

A great beach read or anytime read. I really enjoyed this book and I feel badly that some of these reviews are so vitriolic. I think the author is talented.

This book was okay but if you really want a book about enduring friendship, read Between Friends by Debbie Macomber.

A wonderful read about friendship over the years.

I really liked this book. Some of it is predictable but you don't mind because it is fun and the story pulls you in. A great summer read.

Such an entertaining and heartfelt book

Loved this book! It's great how two friends meet in college and are from such different parts of the country, but still remain friends. Through thick and thin. This was a great read and I loved how it traveled through time telling the story.

it hasn't quite grabbed my attention yet...maybe it will grab yours?!

This book is very good. It's a different kind of story than I might've read or that anyone might have written when I was growing up. The characters are very well developed.

Interesting summer beach book

I loved this book from the first page. I loved how the characters change as they mature and age. I thought the author did a great job of showing how our perceptions of individuals change as our understanding of the world at large emerges. The characters are wonderfully flawed but realistically so. If you like character driven stories, this would be an excellent choice.

I enjoyed this book, but the author stole my own title. I have always wanted to write this book. The lives of these women were fascinating. A real page turner!

A good book

I was pleasantly surprised at how well written this book was...I enjoyed the writing and thought the storyline was good. I liked both the characters in the book, and could relate to some of their problems.

This is a pretty good book. It's about 2 women who come from very different backgrounds one who is poor and one who is rich. But they become very good friends all through college and long after college. They both go through a lot and their friendship is tested many time. A very good book, not a lot of action involved tho.

Weird. I liked it at the beginning but towards the end I just wanted it to be over.

Loved this book. I didn't want to put it down.

Makes you want to call your best friend to come over for a glass of wine and talk for hours on end.... great book to pass to girlfriends!!

Wow! The things they go through and stay friends through all the years. An interesting story. It's a book you should share with your best friend, mail it to her and then call to chat!

You'll definitely see elements of yourself and your girlfriends in this terrific novel. Like many close friends, Claire and Sally sometimes lose touch for months, but they can always depend on each other when times are tough, and isn't that what friendship is all about...
Martha Moody's first novel, Best Friends bodes well for the future of
this talented author..

I didn't think it was a very good book.

Great book !! Explores the friendship of two women from college through adulthood ~ on so many dofferent levels ... a must-read !!

Great read! A book about close friends. That friend that knows you inside and out.

Engaging, easy read with just enough humor thrown in.

An interesting story with some juicy secrets!!

First book by this Author, very interesting relationship of 2 women who remain best friends throughout their lives starting when they met in college.

Moody's first novel examines the dynamics of friendship between two very different women, Clare Ann Mann, a small-town Ohio girl, and Sally Rose, who hails from Los Angeles. Meeting as college roommates, the girls are surprised to learn that, paradoxically, Clare Ann is the worldlier of the two. Despite their many differences, the two form a bond that will last a lifetime or at least until the end of the book. Pared to one-third its length, this might have been a valid study of friendship. However, the drama disaster, disappointment, revealed lies, childbirth, drug abuse, AIDS, and so on continues ad infinitum and strains credibility. Expecting some form of closure at the end, the reader is left wondering where the next page is.

A great story of a rare female friendship and how it solidifies over time. Interesting read, good characters and character development. I really enjoyed this book.

I loved this book. The characters' lives are very interesting...much more drama than I could ever imagine. A lot of surprising moments, and a few fairly predictable ones. Kept me entertained...had to keep reading to find out what happened. I didn't get much sleep for a couple nights once I started reading.

This is a good book about friends with some interesting twists.

for anyone who has a best friend, the kind of friends like sisters.I was completely absorbed by the character's choices and didn't want it to end. this book is emotionally complex, smart, and holds up a mirror to our own lives.

A story of best friends, tha begins in college, and remains through their subsequent lives. Slow start, but good story.

With characters you won't forget, this is a believable account of female friendship.

When Clare Mann arrives at OBerlin in 1973, she's never met anyone like Sally Rose. Rich and beautiful, Sally is utterly foreign to a middle-class, Midwestern Protestant like Clare-and utterly fascinating. The fascination only grows when Sally brings her home to L.A. Mr. Rose-charismatic, charming, and owner of a profitable business shrouded in secrecy-is nearly as compelling a figure ot Clare as he is to his own daughter. Californis seems like paradise after winters in Ohio. And Clare begins to look forward desperately to these visits, to carefree rides in Sally's Kharmann Ghia and lazy poolside days. As the years pass, Clare becomes a doctor and Sally a lawyer, always remaining roommates at heart, a plane ride or phone call away. Marriages and divorces and births and deaths do not separate them. But secrets might-for as Clare watches, the Rose family begins to self-destruct before her eyes. And the things she knows are the kinds of things that no one wants to tell a best friend.

Good story about the lives of two women, how their lives intertwined and how their friendship endured and thrived through all the twists and turns of life.

This is a really good book. I like how it goes from their friendship in college all the way through the stages of adulthood.

Great book, I read it twice.

first novels that track a pair of friends from collete days through their subsequent lives. this book never loses its edge, at once compassionate and humorous.

Pleasant to read. It isn't so gripping that you can't put it down but it's intriguing to read how the friendship develops. I like the transformation of the protagonist Clare into a grown-up.

A great novel that kept my interest. Completely different than what I expected when I started.

Had a hard time staying intersted in this book - and actually didnt even finish reading it.

A heartfelt book about two college best friends as they grow up and move through their lives.

This was a fabulous book about two women who were friends from college and remained friends, across country though thick and thin.

It was an enjoyable read and difficult to put down.

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Note: there is a bookcrossing.com sticker inside of the book.

This was a wonderful read....I was sorry when it ended and really missed the characters!

Unusal friendship but it takes all kinds

My sister gave this book to me several years ago, so it's been a while since I read it. I think it took me a while to get into it, but I eventually started to like it. Some twists were predictable, but not in an "oh how lame" sort of way. This is the kind of book to me that is good to read during a "resting" phase. You know, the book you read AFTER you've finished a book that was emotionally exhausting? It's an easy read, not too deep.

A good read about a lifelong friendship of two VERY different college roomates.

This was a fine book.

A great story about two friends with an intriguing plot line with twists you would never expect

Unexpected plot. Well drawn characters.

Well-written, interesting story of a friendship beginning in college and spanning many years. The characters are interesting and the story moves along well.

A novel tracking the lives of two best friends, Clare and Sally.

A good story about 2 best friends that begin their friendship in college and continues on through the years......

Character-driven first novel about college roomates growing older.

Nice read!

When Clare Mann arrives at Oberlin in 1973, she's never met anyone like Sally Rose. Rich and beautiful, Sally is utterly foreign to a middle-class, Midwestern Protestant like Clare-- and utterly fascinating. The fascination only grows when Sally brings her home to LA to Mr. Rose-- charismatic, charming, and owner of a profitable business shrouded in secrecy--is nearly as compelling a figure to Clare as he is to his own daughter. California seems like paradise after winters in Ohio. And Clare begins to look foward desperately to these visits, to carefree rides in Sally's Kharmann Ghia and lazy poolside days.

As the years pass, Clare becomes a Dr and Sally a lawyer, always remaining roommates at heart, a plane ride or phone call away. Marriages and divorces and births and deaths do not separate them. But secrets might-- for as Clare watches, the Rose family begins to self-destruct before her eyes. And the things she knows are the kinds of things that no one wants to tell a best friend...

I tried to read, but too slow for me. The story is about 2 best friends growing up through college to adult life.

I loved this book! I started it the beginning of a weekend and finished by Sunday night! I could not put this one down.

A complex story about two women who became best friends during college, and no matter what life threw them since meeting (and life threw themplenty!), they always remained faithful best friends.

Clare and Sally become fast friends and this novel portrays their frienship through their youth into the later years. very easy read.