Another McFarlane book that I couldn’t put down and that probably says it all! This was a great easy read but with depth and emotion. The characters were great and I was instantly invested in Eve and the story.
A strong 4 stars, thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I've read all of Mhairi's books and loved them, this one is no exception.

I realise I've been reading Mhairi's books since the first one in 2012 - so it should come as no surprise that her writing style has evolved. It's still Mhairi that's for sure. Unable to pin her into a neat genre, she has one all of her own. Not really chick lit, although you always get girly gossip, a nice run down of outfits including shoes etc, there is also always some very down to earth event and a need to look up the meaning of a minimum of three words she's used. But with this latest book her writing and plot development has grown so much. I felt it from the first page.

Eve has been in love with Ed for years, just waiting in the wings. We get a couple of flashbacks to how and when they first met and their circle of friends formed. Then something happens, Eve is changed forever in more ways than one. The book is very much in the here and now with little flip flopping about. Set in my home city but also in a city I love, Edinburgh. It was a nice little road trip.

The book covers some very serious issues such as dementia, child abuse, loss and grief with sensitivity that had me reaching for the tissues, but it also has some very funny laugh out loud moments. I found myself telling anyone who would listen about them, and they thought they were funny too! I don't want to say much more as I think you need to read it straight from Mhairi.

This book did not go where I thought it would. It was a surprise, a revelation and one I enjoyed so much, I couldn't put it down. I defy anyone to say that they guessed what would happen in this book! The only awful thing for me, is I now have to wait for the next book...

Same great narrative story that we’re used from the author.
A story about lifetime friendships, trust and what will the future hold if some decisions are not taken especially after a night that changed all perspectives.
A sad story overall but perfectly crafted with some great humour or pop references sprinkled around when needed.
A very reliable character in the end with so many interesting thoughts especially for someone that didn’t had a chance to go through some of the same incidents or live similar moments as the heroine. Yes, it’s fiction but it could easily be reality and the author has this gift that makes you read just one more chapter until the last page and maybe, just maybe, you’ll want to go back and start it all over again from the beginning, if you’re like me and want to get lost in a book that deserves a reread for sure.
This book made me feel so much and the emotions were overflowing throughout the chapters.
I couldn’t recommend this book enough!

I have read a number of McFarlane's books and I believe this is my favourite. Whilst comfortingly predictable, Last Night dealt with slightly more serious topics such as grief and family estrangement and handled them beautifully and with authenticity.

McFarlane's writing has a magic of pulling you in from the first page and keeping hold of you until the end and you get truly invested in the characters and their happiness.

As always, I look forward to her next book.

This book was so good that I pretty much devoured it in a day. Centred around Eve and her group of close knit friends Susie, Justin, and Ed and one night that changes everything. I was really struck by Mhairi McFarlane’s handling of that last night and the aftermath of it on the whole friend group. It felt very real, emotional and painful at times. The interactions between the friends were very well written but I especially had a soft spot for Eve and Finlay and how they grew to understand one another. No spoilers but there are a few good twists in this and although some of the characters are not always likeable the ending was very satisfying and the journey there was wonderfully compelling. Another brilliant effort from Mhairi McFarlane (5 ⭐️)

A story that starts off as a total drunken lark on a night out at the pub quiz for 4 close friends, Eve, Susie, Justin and Ed, which then completely turns around to uncover the back stories to the characters, and something shockingly different.
What a fantastic book, deep and considered, well written with great insight into family and friendship. The characters unfold brilliantly to reveal their hidden depths.
Really enjoyed reading this fantastic book, highly recommended, I loved it!!!
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the early read, this was an absolute joy to read.

The trouble with any novel written by Mhairi is that I just can’t put it down. Eve, Susie, Justin and Ed - a thirty something foursome who have been inseparable since sixth form. But in a mixed friendship group some sparks are surely going to fly?
This book is hilarious - Eve our protagonist reminds me of myself - she’s hanging on to her goth roots despite the trend being long gone. Then an unimaginable tragedy strikes the group - and nothing will ever be the same again. Funny, heartbreaking perfection. I loved it.
So grateful I got the chance to read this book.

Every time I read the new one from Mhairi McFarlane I decide unequivocally it's her best ever, and Last Night is no exception. So hats off to Mhairi for surpassing her own dizzyingly high standards. I get vertigo just thinking about it!

Last Night has everything you want from a Mhaira McF book: a strong group of characters, fabulously witty asides and heart-breaking insight into love and friendship. And of course a smokin' hot love interest.

What I didn't expect was a jaw-dropping page-turner. OMG. Do not get spoiled before you read this! I thought I would spend a couple of hours over a few days reading it, but no, I was glued to my Kindle the whole of my Saturday. It's almost reads like a domestic thriller - while obviously still being a romcom - the plot wrong-footing you at every turn. I had to stop and explain to my other half just how gasp-inducing the reveals were. (He couldn't really follow my babbling, but I had to tell SOMEONE! #thankslockdown)

Absolutely no hesitation in giving it five stars. It's a tour-de-force.

There are few authors I know I can just pick up their books and get everything I need: good characters I can relate to, belly laughs, feeling a sense of cathartic cleansing when I read it, genuine friendships; and Mhairi McFarlane is one of these rare jewels.
Uplifting, funny, poignant and so well written this book is on a par with all her previous books that I've adored and will be recommending to all. I adored the juxtaposition of friends, lovers, enemies and especially how our own interpretation of situations and events hold something both unique to us as well as mistruths at times.
This book is soul cake

Loved getting to know the characters, exploring their tricky relationships and delving into the secret world of a close knit group of friends. Lots of background stories to deal with and emotions to handle, which make for an emotional roller coaster and a book you will not regret reading.

In this book Eve discovers what is important in her life and who her friends really are. As events unfold following a dramatic occurrence, secrets are revealed and allegiances change. It is difficult to say too much without giving away the plot, so read this yourself and enjoy Eve's tale.

Thank you Harper Collins and NetGalley for my ARC, this review is my honest opinion and completely unbiased.

I have to admit that I'm a great fan of the author Mhairi McFarlane's, I consider this to be her best.

Set in Nottingham, Last Night is about four friends who have established a very close relationship for nearly twenty years. Each of the friends is witty and a delightful character, the book reads like a romantic comedy full of snappy dialogue.

Then everything changes.

Something unthinkable happens, resulting in secrets becoming exposed with damaging consequences for the friends. More and more information emerges that could tear their long friendship apart.

That’s all I’m going to tell you, you’ll just have to read this for yourself. A very emotional book that I thoroughly recommend.

Beware when you start reading Mhairi McFarlane's latest novel, you are going to have a hard task putting it down until it is finished. You can't have a much better recommendation than this in a story of navigating friendships, loss, grief, secrets, abuse, and personal relationships. Quirky 34 year old goth, Eve Harris's best friend since primary school has been the unstoppable, sardonic and witty Susie, their circle expanding at sixth form with the addition of the organised and supportive Ed Cooper, and the gay, irreverent clown, taboo breaking Justin. The group could not have been closer in the years since then, coming together for their weekly pub quiz evenings at The Gladstone on Thursdays, never winning but that has never been the purpose of their evenings together.

This time has been bittersweet experience for Eve, she has been in love with Ed throughout the years whilst he has been with his girlfriend, Hester, for all that time, a Hester that has never been liked by any of them. After a painful and despairing night in which Ed and Hester get engaged, a devastating tragedy has Eve breaking apart, laid low with an unbearable grief that she cannot see beyond, how can she possibly begin to reconstruct her life? In a box of journals and letters Eve comes to acquire, she inadvertently finds herself reading a letter and learns a secret that rocks the world as she knows it. She may not yet be aware, but this secret is to open the path to come to terms with her grief, understand her flawed friends and herself better, see perhaps that Susie's perspectives and thoughts might not always have been accurate, and ultimately welcome the entry of someone in her life she has not seen for some time, resulting in a surprising change in her perception of who she is and shift the entire direction of her life.

McFarlane is shaping into a writer of great emotional depth, sparkling humour and wit, and with the capacity to create and develop charismatic characters that feel so authentically real and who have issues that will resonate with almost all of us, having either experienced them personally or become acquainted with them through family and close friends. This is a beautifully written and enchanting read, it's not often I say this, but I liked almost every character with one of the exceptions being Susie's dementia suffering father after what is revealed near the end of the book. This is the perfect escapist read for our times, although I should warn that you might need tissues, there could well be tears. Highly recommended. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. Ed, Justin, Susie and Eve have been close friends since sixth form. Now in their thirties, they are still close. Eve has always been in love with Ed, even though he is with Hester who he met at university. Eve believes that Ed thinks of her as more than a best friend. Then one night tragedy strikes and one of their group is gone forever. This is a story of loss, friendship and secrets. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Eve, Justin, Susie, and Ed have been best friends since they were teenagers. Now in their thirties, they still get together for weekly quiz nights at the pub. Though their relationship is platonic, Eve’s been in love with Ed for years. However, her hopes shatter when Ed proposes to his girlfriend, a woman that the friends don’t like.

When one of the friends dies in a tragic accident, the other three are grief-stricken, and their lives are irrevocably changed. As the friends deal with funeral arrangements, family members, and their own grief, they also must face secrets that are revealed. A story of love, loss, hope, and healing, Last Night is a beautiful homage to friendship.

The friendship between Eve, Justin, Susie, and Ed is long-standing and wonderful, and each friend is dynamically developed. I loved their witty banter and easy comradery with each other. You can tell from the beginning that this foursome has a special and close friendship, and it is devastating to see how the death of their friend affects them. It is such a crushing and all-encompassing loss for all of them, and their grief is raw and real and honest. McFarlane has a special gift for creating relatable, realistic, and well-rounded characters, and this book is no exception.

Eve is a great protagonist. She is witty, loyal, and kind – definitely the kind of person you’d want for a friend. I also love how introspective Eve is. Her character growth is the focus of the story, and as she examines her life, Eve has to decide what it is she really wants. She also reflects on the past and how her relationships affected her. Fear of rejection and lack of security have hindered her, and, as she faces some of her issues, she becomes more self-aware and willing to let go.

Eve also realizes that maybe she didn’t know those closest to her as well as she thought, which is fascinating. Eve goes on a powerful emotional journey riddled with grief and betrayal, but she comes out stronger and more confident in herself. There is a bit of a love story, but it is not the focus of the novel. It is more prominent later in the book, and it is lovely. I think the love story shows just how much Eve has changed and grown.

An engrossing and moving story about friendship, finding oneself, grief, and forgiveness, this is a beautifully written and deftly-layered novel. I love the characters, setting, and dialogue, and there is also a lot of humor and some great pop culture references that I appreciated. Thanks so much to Mhairi McFarlane and Harper Collins for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

(Will post links closer to publication date.)

Eve, Susie, Ed and Justin is a group of close friends, they have known each other for years. They believe they know everything about their friends until some secrets resurface.

A lot of things can change after one night and Eve's is about to understand just how true this statement truly is. 

This wasn't the book I was prepared to read. It is an emotional rollercoaster,it involves very sensitive themes which are presented in a very open and honest way.

The romance isn't the main consideration, without it being less important. It's present but in a more subtle way. I am not sure how to describe it without making the experience any less enjoyable for anyone. 

The story is very well build. The characters are complex with the ability to create many feelings to the reader.

It is a story about friendship, love, personal grown and acceptance.


*I received an ARC from HarperCollins UK through Netgalley and this is my honest opinion.

This is the first book by Mhairi McFarlane that I've read and I was hooked from the first page! I didn't read the blurb and just threw myself into the story. What a roller coaster ride! The author managed to make me cry and laugh on the same page and took a piece of my heart as I read the last page. I loved the characters, the strong friendships, Eve's personal development and the evolution of her relationships throughout the book.
It's not a typical romance but rather focuses on friendship and empowerment although I enjoyed the romance (it started quite late in the book) very much. Mhairi McFarlane had me at hello and I will definitely look her other books up.

Highly recommended!

Thank you to the publisher who kindly offered me an e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is such an emotional book which will make you laugh and cry. The way that the perception of a family and how it behaves is really interesting and the secrets we keep to protect ourselves from the pain of a family. We can choose our friends and not our family is written beautifully here. The love story was believable and heart felt. This book made me cry but good tears. Full of genuine emotion. The best book I've read this year. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

I loved this. Mhairi’s best yet, I think. Big real issues and real characters and real what-might-have-beens. Mhairi is queen of what-might-have-beens! Some of the stuff around inciting incident was quite difficult to read given the news in the last couple of weeks, but that probably meant I needed to read it - like, I assumed she had got out of the cab early so as not to show the cabbie where she lived, but was wrong about that, which was a relief.

I'm a big fan of Mhairi McFarlane's writing and with 'Last Night' we once again see her recognisable down to earth realism with humour.

Eve, our main character, is a true individual. She's witty and engaging, loyal and kind. The friendship group she is part of is just wonderful to read, with smart dialogue and obvious love for each other.

What makes this my favourite McFarlane story to date (this is my fifth) is the subject matter of the story around this wonderful group of friends, which is grief. It's written so damn well.

Eve's grief is raw and painful to read but written beautifully, showing how her life as irreversibly changed. Alongside the grief there is also betrayal to contend with and we follow Eve and the rest of the group on an emotional journey concentrating on forgiveness and change.

Taking a backseat to the more deeper topics, there is also a really sweet slow burn romance that warmed my heart.

A moving, funny story that I will be recommending to a lot of people.