34. Best Friends Forever

Jenifer Weiner's lasted, Best Friends Forever was a pretty good read. I liked the story line, though it was fairly predictable and (shocking for me to say I know) wrapped up a little too neatly at the end. One thing I wish would have been different... the chapters switched perspective and it would have been nice to have the character telling that section's name printed at the start of each. It was generally clear who it was fairly quickly, but that still would have been helpful.

Here's a description from B&N:

Addie Downs and Valerie Adler will be best friends forever. That's what Addie believes after Valerie moves across the street when they're both nine years old. But in the wake of betrayal during their teenage years, Val is swept into the popular crowd, while mousy, sullen Addie becomes her school's scapegoat.

Flash-forward fifteen years. Valerie Adler has found a measure of fame and fortune working as the weathergirl at the local TV station. Addie Downs lives alone in her parents' house in their small hometown of Pleasant Ridge, Illinois, caring for a troubled brother and trying to meet Prince Charming on the Internet. She's just returned from Bad Date #6 when she opens her door to find her long-gone best friend standing there, a terrified look on her face and blood on the sleeve of her coat. "Something horrible has happened," Val tells Addie, "and you're the only one who can help."

Best Friends Forever is a grand, hilarious, edge-of-your-seat adventure; a story about betrayal and loyalty, family history and small-town secrets. It's about living through tragedy, finding love where you least expect it, and the ties that keep best friends together.