Mystery• Thriller

Review: The Toxic Friend by Nicole Trope

July 12, 2026

Synopsis:

Keep your enemies close… and your best friends closer.

I watch Victoria and Reese leaving their favourite coffee shop arm-in-arm. They like to go there to catch up, brag about their perfect husbands and their perfect children.

But I know the truth. Behind those big smiles, Reese and Victoria have kept each other close so they can watch each other. Their friendship is toxic. And their lives are built on one big lie.

I carefully snap another photograph to add to my collection. Neither of them knows I see everything they do. They’ll find out soon enough, when I bring their lies out into the open. Then it will be just the three of us, together again after all these years.

Because the past is coming back to bite these two women…

It’s me. I’m the past. Here I come.

Review:

The beginning sets the tone immediately. Someone is taking pictures and following another person. It becomes clear that this person has a purpose and will not back down. I was immediately curious about the meaning behind this.

We meet two friends who have known each other for a long time. While their lives are similar, they are also very different. It becomes clear early on that, upon closer inspection, their lives are not as picture-perfect as they seem. When someone from their past begins sending threatening messages, it also becomes clear that their friendship may not be as perfect as it appears.

We get multiple POVs, telling the story of both the present and the past. It was very intriguing for me to learn what events led to this person threatening their lives and what they had done to that person in the past.
My initial concern that the friendship wasn’t as strong as I was initially led to believe is confirmed, and the distrust between them comes across clearly. As the events of the past paint a clearer picture, I became increasingly curious and eager to learn how everything would unfold. While I saw some of the twists coming, I wasn’t expecting the ending at all.

That was a pleasant surprise. While it started out feeling like something I had read before, once it took a turn, I was fully invested. It had me glued to the pages and was a very enjoyable read.

🌙 Recension: The Toxic Friend by Nicole Trope
📚 Genre: Mystery Thriller
📅 Release Date: June 26, 2026
📖 Publisher: ‎Bookouture
📗 available in various formats – included in Kindle Unlimited
📱 Read as: Kindle
💸 I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 339
⭐️ 4/5