My Sweet Friend by H. A. Leuschel

A perfect friend … or a perfect impostor?
Alexa is an energetic and charismatic professional and the new member of a Parisian PR company where she quickly befriends her colleagues Rosie and Jack. She brings a much-needed breath of fresh air into the office and ambitiously throws herself into her new job and friendships.
But is Alexa all she claims to be? As her life intertwines with Rosie and Jack’s, they must all decide what separates truth from fiction. Will the stories that unfold unite or divide them? Can first impressions ever be trusted?
In this original novella, H.A. Leuschel evokes the powerful hold of appearances and what a person is prepared to do to keep up the facade. If you like thought-provoking and compelling reads with intriguing characters, My Sweet Friend is for you.

I think it’s safe to safe that among book bloggers who are familiar with Leuschel’s work, the author has established herself with a particular theme. I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I see Leuschel’s new work, I immediately know what I am going to get, I have no hesitation about reading it eagerly, and I like that an author has managed to find a strong footing with me. Makes one happy reader!

My Sweet Friend explores the consequences of manipulative relationship in a working environment, as well as on personal level. Who of us hasn’t judged a newcomer based on appearances? Well dressed, oozing confidence and seemingly 100% organized- does that not scream established and trustworthy professionalism? Likewise, a friendly, quiet colleague may seem like the one who always ends up with the longest to-do list because they’re aiming to please, help and generally say “Yes!”… Appearances are deceiving though! Appearances can lie, and never really convey the full truth about a personality.

The novella is short but it fits a lot on its pages. Every chapter reveals a bit more about the story and the background of our two main characters- Rosie and Alexa. I can’t exactly recall the point in the book it was clear who in this case was the victim and who was the manipulator, but for a while, in the beginning of the story, I was definitely hesitant to take a firm viewpoint. I enjoyed that it wasn’t automatically clear and that Leuschel muddied the waters a bit.

And then, a third character got involved in the complicated web in between Alexa and Rosie. A man! It definitely added that extra layer of intrigue and opportunity to beef out the story.

It’s important to note here that I found the characters well fleshed out. They fit their roles without leaving any shadow of a doubt about who they were as ‘people’. Not to mention the fact, that the whole plot, the whole scenario, was delivered wholly through actions and dialogue. A whole lot of show, very little tell. Nicely done, indeed!

And yet, there was one instance of dialogue that felt forced, or a bit textbook, if I may say so. The dialogue took place in between Rosie and Jack towards the end of the novella. It felt just a little bit forced. But to counteract my very own point here, which you may wish to keep in mind as you might read this story yourself, is that awkwardness at this point is more than well-founded and perhaps this kind of dialogue is exactly what the situation would call for in reality.

As a bystander, reading how all of the events unfolded, it often made me feel on edge. You know that feeling when you wish you could warn one of the characters? To watch out and beware! This feeling made me want to read faster and faster. To see the outcome of this well-crafted scenario. Funnily enough, some of the work-related scenes I could relate to so much, it scared me a bit. I also believed that since I was finding it quite relatable, I was sucked into the story even more.

If you have an hour or so to spare and are looking for a quick, intriguing read, I can easily recommend you try My Sweet Friend. I really enjoyed my evening spent with this novella and I look forward to reading future works by Leuschel.

My Sweet Friend on Goodreads ¦ Amazon UK ¦ USA