Title: My Sweet FriendAuthor: H.A. Leuschel
First Published: December 6, 2017
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 87
Genre: Contemporary, Short Stories
Format: Ebook
Source: Blog Tour, NetGalley
Rating:
Synopsis:
A perfect friend … or a perfect impostor?
Alexa is an energetic and charismatic professional and the new member of a Parisian PR company where she quickly befriends her colleagues Rosie and Jack. She brings a much-needed breath of fresh air into the office and ambitiously throws herself into her new job and friendships.
But is Alexa all she claims to be?
As her life intertwines with Rosie and Jack’s, they must all decide what separates truth from fiction. Will the stories that unfold unite or divide them? Can first impressions ever be trusted?
Buy the Book: AmazonReview
I feel that most people have been friends with a toxic friend at least once in their life. My Sweet Friend is a character study of unhealthy friendships and the way that it harms both parties. It shows the dual perspectives of both Rosie and Alexa, and showcases each character’s vulnerabilities. Many I’m sure will relate to Rosie, who steadily finds herself breaking down after being gaslighted by someone she perceived to be a friend. Alexa is a pathological liar that is doomed to continually make the same mistakes because she becomes so deeply invested in her lies yet is completely reliant on other people for validation.
I think I would have liked the characters to be a little more nuanced; it is obvious from the start of the first chapter what sort of friendship Alexa and Rosie would have. There was no complexity to the characters, they were either all good or all bad. I don’t like it when things are so black and white because real people are not like this. I think the synopsis also sort of gives things away and I would have been more surprised by some of the events in the book if things were a little more ambiguous. Overall not a bad read, but there wasn’t enough substance for this story to be all that memorable to me.
Quote
“Behind the façade we were all human, fragile, and sensitive to judgment.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About H.A. Leuschel
Helene Andrea Leuschel gained a Master in Journalism & Communication, which led to a career in radio and television in Brussels, London and Edinburgh. She later acquired a Master in Philosophy, specializing in the study of the mind. Helene has a particular interest in emotional, psychological and social well-being and this led her to write her first novel, Manipulated Lives, a fictional collection of five novellas, each highlighting the dangers of interacting with narcissists. She lives with her husband and two children in Portugal.
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