The Best Of Us by Sarah Pekkanen

Along with Jennifer Weiner and Emily Giffin, Pekkanen falls into a catergory that I call Comfort Reads, books which are very well written and which deal very realistically with life issues but are not too taxing, I don`t class them as Chick Lit. These books are life savers, they pick you up after a heavy read or in my case get me going again when I am in a slump. I love these authors and their work.

The Best Of Us which centres on the lives of 4 College friends who reunite for a weekend of unparalleled luxury in Jamaica was simply put.. a great read. The characters drove this narrative and drove it well, the back lighting of their stories painted a very well rounded picture of each as an individual, as part of a couple and as part of a group, as the weekend unfolded so did the characters. There were some very serious issues tied up in this story and they were handled realistically and with empathy, the story flowed well, there were plenty of twists and turns and lots of humour. What made the book extra good was the fact that this author knows her stuff and where she didn`t she got help as pointed out in the acknowledgements.

This is a very well written book that is easy to read,hooks you in from the beginning and doesn`t let you go, it takes you on a journey that becomes unpredictable as it moves along, you meet people and places that are lively and interesting if a little exasperating at times and you find that sometimes the way you think you might go, given certain circumstances isn`t the way you actually would go if reality bit.

A great read with particularly good characters, Sarah Pekkanen`s books are available in some shops in New Zealand, its a shame that there not available in all, however they are in the Library System nationwide and worth seeking out.