REVIEW: The Loyal Friend, A. A. Chaudhuri - 5/5

We all have secrets, don't we? Well, Natalie, Susan and Grace definitely do. When the three women join the same fitness club, run by the seemingly perfect Jade, it seems things are going smoothly. However, Jade's disappearance threatens to release the demons from all three women's closets...

After reading A. A. Chaudhuri's previous book, She's Mine, last year, I was more than excited to see what else she had in store; and I was utterly blown away.

I struggled writing this review a little, not because I didn't know what to say, but because I had too much to say.

The first thing I felt while reading The Loyal Friend was that it felt like Chaudhuri. She has kept her incredible author voice, and transferred it to yet another phenomenal tale.

Her voice is one of the best I've ever read, in both thriller and otherwise. This book is immensely clever, genuinely shocking, and simply incredible.

The plot was something unlike anything else I've read. I loved getting to know each character, and speculating what their secrets might be (I could never have guessed!), and Chaudhuri always made sure to make every character a suspect.

The way in which the story was set up was so clever; I would read a sentence thinking little of it, then a few chapters later, that sentence has become something significant to the narrative; I loved this as it allowed me to try to connect the dots for myself.

Within less than 30 pages I was obsessed; Chaudhuri has an incredible talent to create gripping characters with complex backstories, as well as linking everything together in an understandable yet truly thrilling manner.

Each conversation flowed perfectly, each chapter held its own secrets, and the way Chaudhuri planted a sinister sentence in the midst of what seemed a regular paragraph, genuinely impressed me.

The first twist I came across genuinely had me shook; I won't spoil it, of course! It was shocking, thrilling, and has me glued to the book until I had no idea how late it was.

Chaudhuri writes from a few different perspectives in The Loyal Friend, and each had such a clear voice and personality; I was honestly so excited to keep reading as every character was different, but each had their past to face up to.

The way the story's dots are joined was nothing less than magical. The characters' secrets are revealed, skeletons come out of closets, and those we thought were innocent have confessions to make.

I could never have guessed the ending, and that is solely due to Chaudhuri's ability to write the unexpected, which is an incredible talent of hers.

The narrative was sensational, the characters were perfect, the intrigue, thrill and genuine awe never let up, and I cannot praise this book enough.

Chaudhuri has, yet again, crafted something utterly incredible, and I was definitely honoured to have gotten a limited proof copy.

The Loyal Friend is out on June 23rd, 2022!










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