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When We Were Friends
by
Elizabeth Joy Arnold (Goodreads Author)
Lainey Carson and Sydney Beaumont were the closest of friends—until they reached high school and Sydney’s burgeoning popularity made it easy for her to leave the contemplative, ungainly Lainey behind.
Eighteen years later, Lainey, who lives at home caring for her mother, is an artist who’s never found the courage to live her dreams. When Sydney shows up on her doorstep wit...more
Eighteen years later, Lainey, who lives at home caring for her mother, is an artist who’s never found the courage to live her dreams. When Sydney shows up on her doorstep wit...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
March 22nd 2011
by Bantam
(first published March 14th 2011)
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After years of not seeing your BF from high school and the two of you left on a bad note and one day you see your BF at her job. Would you have turned back around or would you stand there and had conversation with her.
This happen to Lainey with her to nice self…she was pulled in by her BF Sydney once again. She tells her a whole lot of lies to get her to take her baby girl Jacqueline for some days. She agrees to this and turns on the television to find out that Sydney has reported her daughter a...more
This happen to Lainey with her to nice self…she was pulled in by her BF Sydney once again. She tells her a whole lot of lies to get her to take her baby girl Jacqueline for some days. She agrees to this and turns on the television to find out that Sydney has reported her daughter a...more
This book is the reason I love to read! If you only read ONE book in 2011, this is the ONE you should read. What a gripping story of a woman in her thirties, living with her mother because her mother needs her. She has agoraphobia; the fear of going outside, or open spaces the definition says. She is an artist, painting murals for people, just existing. When she runs into Sydney, who used to be her best friend in grade school before things changed in their friendship, a domino effect happens. Wh...more
3.0 out of 5 stars Predictable melodrama..., March 8, 2011
This review is from: When We Were Friends: A Novel (Paperback)
This novel, the first I've read by this author, was a fast-paced but predictable and totally unbelievable story. Two women who were best friends as teenagers before they had a falling out in high school conspire in a plot that involves kidnapping, accusations of child abuse, infidelity, and a love triangle.
Lainey and Sydney were "blood" sisters during childhood. During their hi...more
This review is from: When We Were Friends: A Novel (Paperback)
This novel, the first I've read by this author, was a fast-paced but predictable and totally unbelievable story. Two women who were best friends as teenagers before they had a falling out in high school conspire in a plot that involves kidnapping, accusations of child abuse, infidelity, and a love triangle.
Lainey and Sydney were "blood" sisters during childhood. During their hi...more
Lainey and Sydney are best friends all the way until high school, when Sydney betrays her trust in a big-time way in front of the entire school. Seven years later, Lainey goes to an occult store and finds Sydney as the clerk behind the counter. They get together to have coffee, and Lainey is stunned to find a beaten-up Sydney. Sydney then tells Lainey she's caught up in an abusive marriage and she fears for the life of her one year old daughter, Jacqueline. Through a series of highly manipulated...more
Freebie from Amazon Vine and recommended by Tonya here on goodreads. I needed a break from the research I am doing about burn victims. "When We Were Friends" starts with sharp characters and a collision of wills.
Review tomorrow--class today. Surprising book!
In the first chapter of "When We Were Friends" by Elizabeth Joy Arnold, I kept stopping my read, shaking my head, saying, "No way." How can anyone be that foolish, gullible, naive, self-centered. Don't they watch Law and Order and other cop s...more
Review tomorrow--class today. Surprising book!
In the first chapter of "When We Were Friends" by Elizabeth Joy Arnold, I kept stopping my read, shaking my head, saying, "No way." How can anyone be that foolish, gullible, naive, self-centered. Don't they watch Law and Order and other cop s...more
This book is the reason I love to read! If you only read ONE book in 2011, this is the ONE you should read. What a gripping story of a woman in her thirties, living with her mother because her mother needs her. She has agoraphobia; the fear of going outside, or open spaces the definition says. She is an artist, painting murals for people, just existing. When she runs into Sydney, who used to be her best friend in grade school before things changed in their friendship, a domino effect happens. Wh...more
Two stars is probably too high but I hate to rate a book with one star that I actually spent too much time reading and that I finished but it was dumb almost from the beginning. I wish I could say it was great because I read an interview with the author and she loves books and is very sincere about her writing but this one certainly didn't do it for me and I doubt I wall try any of her others after this experience.
The whole story was unbelievable from the very beginning and I kept hoping it woul...more
The whole story was unbelievable from the very beginning and I kept hoping it woul...more
Too over the top for me.
2 likes · like · see review
Lainey and Sydney were best friends until high school when Sydney made fun of her to get in with the popular kids.
18 years later, Lainey is taking care of her agoraphobic mom Star and painting murals. She comes into contact with Sydney and Sydney tells her her husband has been abusing her and her 1 year old daughter Jacqueline. Then she leaves her with Lainey to keep her safe. Then Lainey turns on the news and finds out Sydney has gone to the cops, claiming Jacqueline was kidnapped. She tells L...more
18 years later, Lainey is taking care of her agoraphobic mom Star and painting murals. She comes into contact with Sydney and Sydney tells her her husband has been abusing her and her 1 year old daughter Jacqueline. Then she leaves her with Lainey to keep her safe. Then Lainey turns on the news and finds out Sydney has gone to the cops, claiming Jacqueline was kidnapped. She tells L...more
I've read this author before and I enjoy her style and voice.
The positives: The story doesn't drag as some do, it's progression feels natural. Characters interact naturally with each other and come off as believable.
The negatives: And this is just me, but I like epilogues even less than I like prologues. I realize that not everyone would agree and who knows, maybe one day I will find myself in the position to have to finish a novel that way, but until that time, did I mention I r-e-a-l-l-y hate...more
The positives: The story doesn't drag as some do, it's progression feels natural. Characters interact naturally with each other and come off as believable.
The negatives: And this is just me, but I like epilogues even less than I like prologues. I realize that not everyone would agree and who knows, maybe one day I will find myself in the position to have to finish a novel that way, but until that time, did I mention I r-e-a-l-l-y hate...more
I have to say I really did not see the twist in this book coming! The twist could not bring it up from a three-star review for me because other parts of this book were just way too fluffy, including the epilogue, but I still give major props to the author for throwing a ringer in there that I didn't see coming!
Overall, this book was a pretty fluffy read. Definitely did get cheesy at times and did anyone notice that the author repeatedly used the phrase "eyes filled" to describe when anyone was g...more
Overall, this book was a pretty fluffy read. Definitely did get cheesy at times and did anyone notice that the author repeatedly used the phrase "eyes filled" to describe when anyone was g...more
I'm about halfway through the book and can't wait to see how it ends. The characters are interesting. Lainey seems desparate to create a new life for herself & is a bit dilusional (I think) in beginning to think of "Molly" as hers. Sydney seems to be just a big bitch, but who knows what lies under that. And who knows what Alex's agenda is. I think that he knows more than he lets on... for a while, I thought he was some kind of plant from David or Sydney to keep an eye on Lainey & Molly??...more
Where do you begin with this emotional roller coaster of a book? When We Were Friends packs an emotional punch where it is sometimes hard to choose sides between what is right and what is morally wrong. Author Elizabeth Joy Arnold has written a story that ropes you in from the get go and keeps you hanging on till the last page with a storyline so moving it is hard not to enjoy and embrace this book.
Matilda
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More
Full Review: http://coffeetimeromance.com/BookRe...more
Matilda
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More
Full Review: http://coffeetimeromance.com/BookRe...more
I enjoyed this book for a quick, easy read. The main character, Lainey, was likeable, if not a bit naive-going-on-stupid, and Sydney was the girl you love to hate. Lainey's mother, too, was a likeable character. I really liked how Lainey helped take care of her mother and loved her so much despite her flaws, and I loved the evolving relationship between Lainey and Alex. The book was captivating enough to keep me turning the page to find out what happens next. Although I had pretty much figured e...more
I know I have to beware when a book is marketed as "great for bookclubs!"
Oy, this was silly. Two best friends had a falling out in high school. Years later, they reconnect, and one asks the other to pretend to kidnap her baby (to prevent the father from hurting the child). The "kidnapper" develops a bond with the baby and starts enjoying her new life as a mom. Plus, she meets a cute guy!
The main question seems to be, "Would you kidnap your ex-friend's baby if she asked you to?" Errr....no.
Oy, this was silly. Two best friends had a falling out in high school. Years later, they reconnect, and one asks the other to pretend to kidnap her baby (to prevent the father from hurting the child). The "kidnapper" develops a bond with the baby and starts enjoying her new life as a mom. Plus, she meets a cute guy!
The main question seems to be, "Would you kidnap your ex-friend's baby if she asked you to?" Errr....no.
Odd story. 2 girls were BFFs until they were 15 when one became popular and mean. Years later the ditched friend runs into her again and her life is in shambles. Mean Friend asks the main character if she'd watch her baby and then she reports the baby kidnapped and the main character has to go into hiding (Mean Friend wants custody, her ex may or may not be abusive, it's crazy). As improbable as the events are, you get into it and want to know what's going to happen next.
I really enjoyed this book. It was given to me as a gift, so I thought I’d try it. I was pleasantly surprised and what a page turner it was. There were parts of this book at the beginning that I had a hard time trying to believe but thought to myself...take it with a grain of salt and keep reading. I’m so glad I did. This story had so many twists and turns in it, right up to the very end. I had no idea how this story would end. Thank you Dawn for the gift and I will definitely look up this autho...more
This book was a disappointment in that the plot was just too unrealistic. However, I did enjoy the chapter development of Lainey/Leah, the main character of the story, the author did a good job of portraying what it feels like to be the victim of childhood bullying and how that affected Lainey in her adult life. The character portrayal of two of the other primary characters was so inconsistent that it made you feel like the author couldn't make up her mind.
I really enjoyed reading this book I had been waiting so long for this book I read it in about 3 days. It sent a powerful message of both good a bad. It shows you that you can love a child so much with all of your heart and with every breath in your body. That child doesn't even have to be yours or even related to you and you would do anything to protect her. That is why I decided to read this and I was glad that I did.
This was a book club read. It wasn't a bad book but it wasn't a great book either. The story just seemed kind of far fetched and I am not sure I liked the resolution at the end. The author seemed to start with some characters story lines and then didn't follow through. The author also used the same phrases over and over again. Had I been in college I could have made a drinking game out of it.
I've loved Elizabeth Joy Arnold ever since her first book, Pieces of My Sister's Life, and this novel was every bit as engaging. Her characterizations are so realistic, dialog is sharp and funny, and the book (like PoMSL) was full of twists and suspense which swept me away into this other world and often had me on the edge of my seat. I also liked that the book had a set of interview questions, where she talked about her writing process (which I as a writer especially appreciated), and where she...more
This book started out rather sluggish, but as the end get nearer the plot thickened. The author did very good not releasing any secretes until the end, however there was so much revealed at one time that a reader could be easily confused. I didn't think that the epilogue was necessary she should have just left the story as t was, but over all not a bad read.
It was kind of slow, but the ending was not what I had expected so that was nice. The story line was somewhat unrealistic, and I hated almost all of the characters names. I'm not sure why that erks me so much but I just get annoyed when authors pick crazy names or names that I think are not pretty.
thought it would be a good read....first 50 pages good but kept getting more deillusional (referring to baby as hers and then meeting a guy...) if you like cheesy rommance novels that are predictable sappy where main character is dumb and needs s hit to save her than this book is for you
OMG! This story is ridiculously good! Seriously when people ask about book recommendations this is the first one that comes to mind. What would you do if one of your closest friends you hadnt seen in years comes blowing into town, with a story of domestic abuse, asks you to watch her baby while she gets things taken care of (mind you you havent seen her in forever, hell you didnt even know she had a baby!), then next thing you know that baby is posted all over TV as a missing child!?!? You go on...more
This book went on a little too long for my liking. It was very improbable but I liked the ending when it started to get a little exciting. I loved the visualization of the baby. I could picture this very cute little toddler. It was good but not great.
WOW! WOW! WOW! A round of applause goes to Elizabeth Joy who created this stunning, gripping story! This is why I love to read! This is the type of book that you say you'll read two chapters and end up reading eight. Beautifully written. This book holds many surprises and has surprised me as well. Definitely worth reading.
When I picked this book up I was looking for an easy read to pass the time. However, the more I read the better the book got! This books takes so many twists and turns it's almost hard to keep up. Excellent read.
I stayed up late last night reading this because I just had to know how it would end. It's about a woman who asks an old girlfriend that she has lost touch with to help hide her baby from an abusive husband. It's sooo good!
This book was very slow until almost halfway through. It picked up and got more interesting but I never really cared about the character or her life choices. The plot twist was unexpected and I was mostly pleased with how the story concluded.
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Mar 21, 2011 08:38pm
Mar 22, 2011 07:53pm