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As per usual, her characters and stories are completely immersive and what you may typically think of women's fiction or romance, is always elevated by her in a masterful way. She's so ridiculously talented . . . consider this recommendation my personal gift to you and your life' EMILY HENRY When Joe and Roisin join their group of friends for a weekend away, it’s a triple celebration – a birthday, an engagement and the launch of Joe’s new crime drama on TV.
I love Mhairi McFarlane's books and this was no exception . . . it's clever and engrossing and sharp' LOUISE O'NEILL I didn’t even take the time to read the synopsis for Between Us when I saw it, trusting that bestselling author Mhairi McFarlane would deliver on a heartfelt romance with an edge. Somewhat unexpectedly, and despite what the cover may suggest, she doesn’t, exactly. That doesn’t make Between Us a bad book at all, just not one I was anticipating. It is a short (and fast?) conclusion but very very sweet and says everything that needs to be said. The protagonist, Roisin, has been in a relationship with Joe, a screenwriter, for almost ten years, although things have been cooling off for months. Both are part of a group of friends who met working in a bookstore in their early twenties and call themselves The Brian Club. As the story begins, the group has gathered to celebrate an engagement and to view the premier of Joe’s new television series.This isn't my favourite Mhairi McFarlane and at the start I didn't actually know if this was going to be for me, but I persevered and I'm very glad I did because I ended up enjoying this quite a lot. So funny and smart. She's brilliant at writing characters you really fancy, and characters you love to hate' DAISY BUCHANAN Many thanks to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for sharing this lovely book's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Speaking of Joe, I liked that as readers we knew something wasn't adding up about his behaviour but you didn't know exactly what he was up to. Having him be a TV writer where it appeared that he'd allowed life to inspire his work, was really interesting too and I was just waiting for him to be found out and called out by Roisin. When Roisin and Joe join their friends for a weekend at a country house, it's a triple celebration--a birthday, an engagement, and the launch of Joe's shiny new TV show. But as the weekend unfolds, tensions come to light in the group and Roisin begins to question her own relationship. And as they watch the first episode of Joe's drama, she realizes that the private things she told him--which should have stayed between them--are right there on the screen. And Matt, well it was lovely to just have my heart warmed any time that he was with Roisin, as you could tell that, despite how Joe was trying to depict him, he was genuinely a nice guy. Over the next few weeks, Roisin becomes a bit of a sleuth, begins to heal her estranged relationship with her mother and begins to realize she has feelings for a long-time friend. While I found the storyline engaging, I felt the character development was uneven among the members of The Brian Club. The descriptions of Roisin’s interactions with her students added a touch of levity to an otherwise serious novel. The flow, as I said, was not good. As other reviewers rightfully noted, this is the slowest book ever. It takes almost to the 40 percent mark for Roisin and her long-time boyfriend, Joe to even have a conversation about the state of their relationship. The weekend away took til the 40 percent mark! That could have been cut in half. And even then, things don't get resolved until the 77 percent mark, and even then we get a twist/reveal at the 84 percent mark.
Summary
While I wished for more spicy romance parts, the author's brilliant mind charmed me enough to round up my rating from 3.5 stars to 4! I never dare to give any of her works less than 4 stars. At least I easily got into the story, enjoying the friendship drama, self-growth, and second chances theme. I really enjoyed the way this was laid out and especially enjoyed the relationship between Roisin the other women in their friend group. The open and honest communication they had was a 180 from the way Joe spoke to Roisin throughout most of the book. I really, really loved this book. At times, it's charming and witty, whilst also being rash and unforgiving. The thing I've come to find about McFarlane's novels is that they are all character driven, and this trait shines through again with Roisin and the gang.
When they arrive at the weekend away, I did start to wonder whether this would be the main focus of the story but I loved seeing Roisin (and Matt) return to where she had grown up while helping out in the pub and interacting with her mum.Many of us have stood in Roisin's shoes at some point in our lives. We take as gospel truth everything our partners or loved ones tell us, only to have the rug pulled out from under us when we discover that we've been handed the booby prize behind door number 3 in the Game Show of Life. Roisin has known her friend group since they all worked at Waterstones together ten years ago. They’re all gearing up for a weekend away to celebrate an engagement, a birthday, and the premiere of her boyfriend Joe‘s new show. Over the past year, Roisin has felt Joe pulling away from her and their relationship, but the breaking point comes when she realizes he’s used her painful secrets as a plot line in his show. Even worse, the show is centered around a serial cheater, leaving Roisin to wonder just how much truth he’s written into this show. Roisin finds herself searching for clues to the truth – about her life, their history, and the man she thought she loved. And it’s then that Roisin finds the most unexpected plot twist of them all. Among those same old friends, there’s a surprising potential for new beginnings . . . EVERYONE LOVES BETWEEN US
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