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Monday, September 27, 2010

The False Friend: Review and Giveaway

By:  Myla Goldberg
Publisher:  Doubleday

Leaders of a mercurial clique of girls, Celia and Djuna reigned mercilessly over their three followers. One after­noon, they decided to walk home along a forbidden road. Djuna disappeared, and for twenty years Celia blocked out how it happened.



The lie Celia told to conceal her misdeed became the accepted truth: everyone assumed Djuna had been abducted, though neither she nor her abductor was ever found. Celia’s unconscious avoidance of this has meant that while she and her longtime boyfriend, Huck, are professionally successful, they’ve been unable to move forward, their relationship falling into a rut that threatens to bury them both.


Celia returns to her hometown to confess the truth, but her family and childhood friends don’t believe her. Huck wants to be supportive, but his love can’t blind him to all that contra­dicts Celia’s version of the past.


Celia’s desperate search to understand what happened to Djuna has powerful consequences. A deeply resonant and emotionally charged story, The False Friend explores the adults that children become—leading us to question the truths that we accept or reject, as well as the lies to which we succumb.

My initial reaction was "WOW"!  The end was a surprise.  I don't even know what to say about it without giving away the whole book.  There was another interesting development with one of the characters, Leanne  I thought Leanne's character was fascinating and I felt so, so bad for her during the flashbacks.

This book deals with "mean girls".  This group of girls were the ones that tormented and terrorized the other ones around them.  I found it interesting the way the various characters viewed their behavior, particularly Djuna's mother. 

Overall, I really liked this book.  I wasn't super long, and it was easy to read.  I thought the cover was very cool.  It works so well with the story.

This book will be available on October 5th.  Thanks to the fantastic people at DoubleDay, I have 2 copies to giveaway.  This will be shipping from the publisher so there are a few rules:  US addresses only and NO P.O. Boxes. 

To enter just leave a comment below with your email address.  If you would like an additional entry you can tweet about this contest and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment.  I'll randomly pick a winner on October 4.

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review which I have provided.  I was in no other way compensated.**

28 comments:

Andrea I said...

Your review has me intrigued about this book. I want to read it.

andrea.infinger@gmail.com

Andrea I said...

Tweeted.

http://twitter.com/lillieblue613/status/25694270447

andrea.infinger@gmail.com

Asenath said...

Looks interesting!

arallison at gmail dot com

Linda Henderson said...

This sounds like a very intriguing book, I would love to read it.

seriousreader at live dot com

Linda Henderson said...

I tweeted this giveaway.
http://twitter.com/BookOwner/status/25695535456

seriousreader at live dot com

Bonnie said...

An interesting premise. I'd love to read/win it!

~Bonnie (bonniesilva@cox.net)

Unknown said...

Thanks for the giveaway! Great Review!
bookbookie820@aol.com

Anonymous said...

It sounds like a good one, I'd really like to read it!
jessicasue90@gmail.com

Put it on Paper

Jinky said...

Interesting ...please count me in! I don't Tweet but I put this on my sidebar Jinky is reading

Thank you.
ldsmomof03 at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

I tweeted this one!
@jessicajoh123

M.A.D. said...

Mary D
zenrei57 (at) hotmail (dot) com

I've been very curious about this book, now you've got me wanting to read it for myself :)

Tiffany said...

I'm dying to know what happened!
booksforbears at gmail dot com

Heather said...

this sounds interesting!
recklesslyreading@gmail.com

Mrs. DeRaps said...

Sounds like a great read...I actually knew a woman who experienced something like this. Scary.

mrsderaps @ hotmail . com

nfmgirl said...

Sounds great! Please count me in. Thank you!

nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com

nfmgirl said...

Tweet:
http://twitter.com/nfmgirl/status/25750482835

nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com

Julie said...

I've been reading about this and think I already have it on my wishlist at GoodReads! Thanks for the chance to win!

Julie @ Knitting and Sundries

knittingandsundries(at)gmail(dot)com

Linen and Silk said...

Oh, you've made me want to read it!

melantha.chimera at gmail dot com

debbie said...

The past always comes back. I would love to read this book.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

Julie G said...

I've been dying to read this one!
cla37619 at gmail dot com

Theresa said...

Thanks for the giveaway!

+1 tweet: http://twitter.com/Theresa_9/status/26204489012

theresa9854@gmail.com

Nancye said...

Sounds like a great book! Thanks for the chance.

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Nancye said...

Tweet! Tweet!
@NancyeDavis

http://twitter.com/NancyeDavis/status/26233092712

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Dawn M. said...

Oooo, this sounds good. Count me in, please. I would love the chance to read it. :0)

Thanks!
librarygrinch@gmail.com

Dawn M. said...

Tweeted!
http://twitter.com/librarygrinch/status/26245660524

librarygrinch@gmail.com

Julie said...

Tweet! http://twitter.com/#!/jewelknits/status/26314642647

knittingandsundries(at)gmail(dot)com

Tara said...

This story sounds great! Love the cover illustration! We used to make those in elementary!

TaraTagli at gmail dot com

Tara said...

http://twitter.com/TaraLin/status/26391654694


I tweeted about the giveaway!

TaraTagli at gmail dot com