Last Night, Mhairi McFarlane

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: General Fiction

I've really enjoyed some of Mhairi's reads in the past, but its been a while and maybe that's why I expected more romance in this, that's what I recall from past books but maybe that's just faulty memory ;-) It happens!

I enjoyed this, very real and relatable characters and issues, and it shows us just how fragile life is, how quickly it can change. I didn't like Ed, or Hester, but maybe she had it tough with Ed, he wasn't quite as nice a guy as he portrayed, in some ways.
I loved Eve's revelations about herself at the end, and about Ed. Perfect.

The story itself was great, very real, very emotional. Life has this way of throwing things at us, and Eve's life was totally turned around. She thought she knew her friend inside out but discovered she had secrets that had a huge impact.
I was waiting for more romance though, but it doesn't really happen until near the end. That's on me though, its not billed as romance, something I missed. I just saw authors name, remembered I'd enjoyed her books in the past and requested. My bad.

Stars: Three, It didn't quite hit the spot for me, but due to my expectations not the book itself.

Arc via Netgalley and publishers

Relationships, friendships, love, romance, heartbreak, grief it’s all covered in the fabulous romcom. I laughed out loud at parts and cried at others.
This book has it all. Well worth the read.

Brilliant from start to finish.
Such an emotional, funny, inspirational story.
We follow Eve and her three friends from school/university.
When they get some devastating news, they must all pick up the pieces and carry on as normal. A story of revealed secrets, unrequited love and of course new love.

I don't normally read this genre, but I wanted a bit of light relief from the psychological thrillers I'd been reading and I was also getting a bit bored with them.
This looks like a rom com from the cover and blurb but it's a lot more than that. The themes are really more about bereavement and friendship with a bit of romance thrown in. What I liked most about it though was the humour. The author has a wit which makes you laugh even in the face of tragic events and betrayals.
It's not the deepest book you'll ever read but it is highly entertaining.

A tale of four friends & their trials & tribulations. Beautifully written, look forward to more from the author

This book was an emotional read. We follow a group of 4 friends in their early 30s, who have been close from around 16/17 years old. They meet weekly for a Thursday night pub quiz and are as close knit as ever. However, one of their group dies and this book is about grief and learning to live with the loss of one of their best friends. There’s a lot more intricacies but I don’t want to give away any spoilers!

As always, Mhairi McFarlane’s writing is great and hooks you in so it’s tough to put the book down. There’s a bit of romance and a 16 year long crush thrown into the mix too. It’s not my favourite book of the author’s but it’s still a good read.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are my own.

Mhairi McFarlane's debut novel is one of my absolute favourites of this genre and I still feel that it's her best novel to date. This was an enjoyable and heartwarming read. A wonderful portrayal of friendships, sadness and grief and loss. It is still recognisably a McFarlane novel with her trademark wit and romance and I adored it. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC.

I’m a big fan of McFarlane’s previous books and Last Night definitely didn’t disappoint- I flew through the book. I won’t go into the synopsis too much, but the story follows Eve and her three friends- Susie, Ed and Justin who have been a close-knit group since college (Eve and Susie having gone back even further and were practically sisters). A huge, life-changing event occurs and everyone’s life is completely shook.

Last Night is both funny and sad, offering insight into friendships, grief and missed chances amongst other things. This started off in a different, darker tone to previous works by McFarlane (although still very good) and initially I was worried that it wouldn’t match her usual trademark humour and writing. However, this worry was entirely misplaced as it was a great and poignant read with turns of phrase and witty comebacks which we tend to see in her works.

I love how McFarlane creates her characters with such realism- no one is perfect or completely awful, they are all flawed in some way (like all of us) and just living their lives and trying to do their best. Even when life-changing secrets are revealed, the people involved still had good qualities and it wasn’t a case that the reader automatically hated them. I was also glad that there was a small epilogue (as such) but naturally I would welcome more novellas such as After Hello to get a glimpse of how things have panned out!

Thank you to Harper Fiction for providing me with this gifted copy.

Last Night is a book you will not put down. It's an emotional rollercoaster. It will make you laugh, smile and everything in between. You will become invested in the characters, the romance, the betrayal, the heart ache, the laughs. All of it. A fantastic read.

A funny, sad, compelling read that will make you want to hug your friends that bit tighter. It is beautifully written with warmth and compassion.

I did feel there was a bit too much focus on death to be classed as a rom com though so 3.5 stars from me as I was expecting something a bit lighter, A good read though.

This story does act as a reminder to nominate someone to clear your browsing history, and throw away that shoebox under your bed without opening it 😏😂

I loved this! The plot is a bit like Pride & Prejudice / Bridget Jones's Diary in the best possible way. The characters are really well drawn, and I was right there alongside Eve for every step of the way; unrequited love, grief, friendship, and even a little tour around Edinburgh Highly recommended.

What a beautiful, bittersweet story of love, both unrequited and otherwise; friendships and families. We follow Eve, a single goth with a cat called Roger (how could we not instantly fall in love with a character like that!), as she navigates her way through some extremely tough life events. All of the characters are well written and the friendship group makes me long to be out with my friends again after this long lockdown. Now that I’ve finished reading, I’m missing the characters like I miss old friends.

Fantastic and realistic writing.

Great premise which doesn't follow the usual tropes in romance. I loved how she had such an abundance of self worth. The characters are well drawn and realistic.

At times this is laugh out loud funny and scattered with relatability.

A good read with clever observations of modern life.

Four friends - Eve, Ed, Justin and Susie - go to the pub quiz every week, part of a friendship which has lasted since high school. Eve's in love with Ed, but Ed's got a long term girlfriend. Then Ed and his girlfriend get engaged suddenly, and that night, with questions and comments still unanswered, one friend doesn't make it home after a car accident. Eve is left negotiating funerals, secrets, and her best friend's complicated family relationships.

The book covers grief so well, and the feeling of betrayal and loss of not being able to talk to people. There are changes of perspective, and some additional family problems beyond grief - for example Susie's dad has alzheimer's. It's ultimately a book about rebuilding life after tragedy, with Mhairi McFarlane's usual readability.

I loved this book - its about 4 friends who have been friends since they were at school together and are now in their 30's but the main story follows Eve. She has been in love with Ed, another in their group, since they were teenagers - he knows it but is in a long term relationship with someone else. A fatal accident turns Eve's world upside down - a significant loss for her but the things she finds out afterwards act as another blow. At this point the story changes direction for a while and Eve is dealing with her own grief, looking out for a man with dementia while also noticing someone new... but what about her hopes for a relationship with Ed?? Well, we find out in the end...

This book has everything - grief, sadness, abuse, dementia but also moments that make you laugh out loud - a situation Eve gets into leads to a discussion about public hair and I laughed so much! Eve js just so lovely - she's so sensitive and kind and yet so lost. She lacks confidence in herself but doesn't realise it. I really found myself investing in her because I liked her so much!

So why only 4 stars?? Well... the end. I was loving how this was going right until the very end when I found I wasn't quite satisfied... I wanted a bit more for Eve... but don't let that out you off - its a brilliant book. I really loved it. This author is just fantastic at forging real friendships - even between characters that can be quite quirky. Despite the heavy themes, its not a heavy read as its balanced out with some lovely humour and a lead character that is brilliant!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

It took me a couple of chapters to get into this book but once I was hooked I couldn't stop reading!

I loved Eve as a character and her development throughout the story. This is the first Mhairi McFarlane book I've read and I definitely need to get stuck in and catch up on what I've missed!

‘Two best friends. One missed chance. And a night that changes everything.’ - cover tag line.

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Last Night’ by Mhairi McFarlane in exchange for an honest review.

While I don’t often read romantic comedies, I have loved Mhairi McFarlane’s previous novels and so had confidence that this would also prove a great read. I read it with little foreknowledge about the plot and was glad that I read ‘cold’, so I will only touch on its plot.

Eve and Susie have been friends since primary school. Then in the sixth form they met Ed and Justin and the four have been friends ever since. Now in their early 30s they meet up weekly for a pub quiz night. However, Eve has been secretly in love with Ed since they were eighteen though he’s been in a relationship with another woman for sixteen years and they have just announced their engagement. So, Eve loves from afar. Yet one night, in an instant, all of their lives are changed forever.

This proved a more serious novel than I had expected though was deeply moved by its themes. Yet while there are bittersweet aspects there was also humour and uplifting elements. I found myself especially relating to Eve’s Gothic identity with her love of rain and “evocative ruined abbeys”.

Once I started reading I was completely captivated and read in a single sitting.

Last Night is one of those stories that completely consumes you from the very beginning and makes it impossible to think of anything else but the characters within this emotionally driven story.
I have been a fan of Mhairi's for quite some time now, and every book she releases is refreshing and totally different from the last.

Last Night is full of heartache and drama, with an added dose of laugh out loud moments intertwined throughout. I found myself really rooting for Eve from the very beginning.... that poor woman has certainly had more than her fair share of difficulties thrown her way hasn't she?!. The courage she shows whilst battling through her own grief for Suzie - her best friend, is so incredibly moving and shows that Eve is in fact a strong, capable woman who can do whatever she sets her mind to.
I adored the tentative relationship that formed between Eve and Fin, despite it being rather hostile to begin with, as the pair of them start lowering their walls and allowing the other to see who they really are, they discover that they have much more in common than they initially thought.

I could talk about this book all day long, but I really don't want to give too much away!. I will finish off by saying that this story has well and truly secured a place in my heart, and I can't wait to read future releases by Mhairi McFarlane.

I loved this. Great well written characters and some serious issues tackled in a really well-informed way. I was completely drawn into their world. Highly recommended.

Ed, Justin, Susie and Eve have been friends for years, and even Ed’s relationship with Hester, and Eve’s unrequited feelings for him, don’t spoil it. But then one night, on the way home from their pub quiz, Susie is knocked down and killed. Dealing with the grief, and the reappearance of Susie’s estranged brother Finlay from America, Eve starts to learn things about herself and her friends that will change the direction of her life and love.

I enjoyed last Night immensely. At times very emotional, obviously, but in a way that didn’t linger unnecessarily. Eve’s gradual realisations about Ed and her feelings for him, together with the revelations about Finlay and Susie, all add up to an engaging and entertaining story. A great read and one I would recommend highly.

Another masterpiece, as expected from such an accomplished author,