andotherworlds's review against another edition
no rating // The New York Public Library came in clutch with a large Greek, French, and Albanian section which I shall be exploiting starting now lol
shereadsbookssometimes's review against another edition
4.0
How can you not love a book about an over imaginative child? Who wouldn't!
Gemma is an over active, crazy, naughty behaved child. She has a vast imagination and loves her best friend Alice. But when Alice moves away Gemma believes that her heart has been literally torn in two. Gemma is an amazing character for younger readers to connect with, especially those who would throw cake in someones face! Alice is Gemma's complete opposite, shes polite, kind, quiet. And she can make friend easily.
Jacqueline Wilson is an amazing children's author who writes these great books for a child of any age. I would definitely recommend her book to any younger reader.
Gemma is an over active, crazy, naughty behaved child. She has a vast imagination and loves her best friend Alice. But when Alice moves away Gemma believes that her heart has been literally torn in two. Gemma is an amazing character for younger readers to connect with, especially those who would throw cake in someones face! Alice is Gemma's complete opposite, shes polite, kind, quiet. And she can make friend easily.
Jacqueline Wilson is an amazing children's author who writes these great books for a child of any age. I would definitely recommend her book to any younger reader.
hyacinthed's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Biscuits the OG.
The HEA for Grandad + Granny McVitie was the icing on the cake.
The HEA for Grandad + Granny McVitie was the icing on the cake.
ellastar's review against another edition
4.0
Lovely, bittersweet story about friendship. 4 stars
Jacqueline Wilson is still holding on as one of my favorite childhood authors. This was for younger kids, but I still found it sweet and quite sad. I could identify more with Alice, but the character of Gemma was sweet too.
I definitely didn't like any of the mums in this book thoguh! Sad how they treated their kids :(
Would I recommend this book? Yes. I found it helpful growing up and can appreciate it even now that I'm older.
Jacqueline Wilson is still holding on as one of my favorite childhood authors. This was for younger kids, but I still found it sweet and quite sad. I could identify more with Alice, but the character of Gemma was sweet too.
I definitely didn't like any of the mums in this book thoguh! Sad how they treated their kids :(
Would I recommend this book? Yes. I found it helpful growing up and can appreciate it even now that I'm older.
ambababy's review against another edition
4.0
A thought provoking book . And as a child at the time moved me to tears .
rachelizx's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
backpackingbookworm's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I've been a JW fan all my life and have enjoyed rediscovering her books again as an adult. In Best Friends, Gemma and Alice have been together since birth - literally, they were born on the same day and have been inseparable ever since, despite being complete opposites (Gemma is loud, selfish, and bossy, while Alice is timid, meek, and sensible). When Alice's dad gets a new job in Scotland, Gemma is distraught and does everything she can to keep Alice for herself, scared that she'll find a new best friend in Scotland and forget all about her.
This wasn't my favourite JW novel, however, I did appreciate the allusion to other books (Tracy Beaker and Biscuits from Cliffhanger). There were too many things I didn't like though:
- The characters - other than Biscuits and grandad, I found the characters unlikeable and hard to put up with. Gemma was actually a horrible friend and too self-absorbed for my liking. Her mum was also awful, as was Alice's and I couldn't stick them as JW would say.
- That brings me to the writing - I normally really like JW's style but this one felt repetitive and exaggerated - perhaps I was just more aware as I listened on audio at 1.75x but it all just felt a bit overcooked.
- I didn't really like the morals in the book - feeling like you can't move on from a friendship or have other friends, eating everything in sight to the point of throwing up because you won't politely say no, an unwillingness to share, etc.
It's not one I'll be passing down to my future child but there are more than enough others I've loved that make up for it.
Rating breakdown
This wasn't my favourite JW novel, however, I did appreciate the allusion to other books (Tracy Beaker and Biscuits from Cliffhanger). There were too many things I didn't like though:
- The characters - other than Biscuits and grandad, I found the characters unlikeable and hard to put up with. Gemma was actually a horrible friend and too self-absorbed for my liking. Her mum was also awful, as was Alice's and I couldn't stick them as JW would say.
- That brings me to the writing - I normally really like JW's style but this one felt repetitive and exaggerated - perhaps I was just more aware as I listened on audio at 1.75x but it all just felt a bit overcooked.
- I didn't really like the morals in the book - feeling like you can't move on from a friendship or have other friends, eating everything in sight to the point of throwing up because you won't politely say no, an unwillingness to share, etc.
It's not one I'll be passing down to my future child but there are more than enough others I've loved that make up for it.
Rating breakdown
- Plot/narrative - 3.3
- Writing style/readability - 3.2
- Characters - 2.2
- Diverse themes - 2
- Ending - 3
Overall - 2.7