The book follows a group of women who have been partaking in a questionable game since their college years. As roommates they started playing a game dubbed the Circus, a fake killing game where the last person left alive is the ultimate winner.
This made for a very tense read at times as the game played out and the friends each hunted one another and it kept me completely invested in the story and in seeing who would be the winner in the end. The stakes are also super high as the women learn of a large prize pot for what is to be their final Circus, and this brings out the darker side of the women who could all use the money for their own reasons.
On the more mysterious end of things, Sara, the protagonist, finds herself haunted by what seems to be the ghost of their roommate who died while they were in school during one of their games. She believes she is seeing her in odd places all of a sudden, and as more dangerous events keep taking place for the women as they play their final game, their left wondering if it could really be Claudine somehow, or if someone else is out for revenge over her death. Between the game and the threatening circumstances, this book really became a fast-moving page turner that I really got invested in. Once I really got going with the book it was difficult to stop reading as I wanted to know who would be the winner of the final Circus, and who might really be behind putting the women in real danger and why.
I did have a hard time getting into With Friends Like These initially and was very close to deciding to put it aside for the time and move on to something else. It took me a few chapters to really get into the story, but once I did it was more than worth it. If you end up like me having a hard time getting into the story initially, push through because it’s more than worth it.
With Friends Like These ended up being a really great book and I’m glad in the end I kept going with it because I was really pulled into the story in the end. I cannot wait to see more from this debut author because this was a fantastic first book and I highly recommend it.
