Mhairi McFarlane

A group of friends gets together for a weekend in a country home. A decade ago, they all worked together at a bookstore and they have remained close friends, although the cracks are beginning to show. Some of them have high-powered and high-paying jobs, others are just making ends meet. Roisin and Joe, who have been together since those bookstore days, are at the end of their relationship. As Roisin makes decisions about where to go from there, she's drawn in several directions, from returning to help out her problematic mother back at the family pub, as well as seeing an old friend in a new light, although maybe Joe will figure out what to say to fix their relationship.

Mhairi McFarlane writes fun Chick Lit novels, except in hers the secondary characters have their own full lives and don't just exist to showcase the main character. This is normally one of the best things about her novels, but here there were so many secondary characters, with so much going on in their lives, that the book felt simultaneously over-packed and thin. It was still fun, and all the individual elements were very interesting, but the whole did not add up to the sum of its parts here.… (lisätietoja)

I won't give this a star rating because I only made it 12%. I usually really like Mhairi McFarlane even though her books are of that genre where women find their inner power, a genre that normally I find hokey and annoying. This though has been completely unenjoyable, somewhat shrill in tone (especially that awful opening), an absolute chore. McFarlane's books are ones I read only for enjoyment and empathy (don't we all have problems focusing and getting our lives on track, gaslighting exes, people we mourn, and family or friends who are snobs?) I am not feeling any of those feels or that fun so I am not going to waste any more time. I will still read the next Mhairi McFarlane book because usually they are lovely.… (lisätietoja)