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.**