Births, Deaths and Marriages by Laura Barnett is a beautifully crafted story about friendship, love, and the passage of time. The characters feel authentic, and their intertwining lives are filled with warmth, nostalgia, and emotional depth. I enjoyed this heartfelt and engaging novel and rated it five stars.

I got really cross with this book, I just found it that it built up several times through the story only for nothing to happen. Was not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley & publisher for the book.

I just couldn't invest myself in any of the 6 main characters' back stories and their unique links to each other. It all became confusing who was who, what their 'past life' was and how it fitted together as a whole. This might work as a screenplay along the '3 Weddings' route but I could find nothing substantial to keep me reading I'm afraid. Many thanks for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Six friends - Rob, Yas, Indie, Rachel, Zoe and Al - and their spouses, children, intertwining stories and messy relationships make up this book. I found it so easy to read and enjoy, following the ups and downs over the years. All the characters are simple with their quirks, some I loved, some I enjoyed disliking (Mark).

It was a bit One Day-esqe with the back stories and reconnection element within the group. A great summer read, easy to dip in and out of during busy days.

A group of friends formed at University, Al, Rob, Yas, Zoe, Rachel and Indie. A story through their lives and all the relationships and up and downs. Rob and Zoe end up marrying, having a child, but divorcing in the end as Rob cannot cope with the commitment. He is also drawn to affairs some with men. Yas is a successful Dr and driven by work, though eventually wants a child. Al was infatuated with Zoe initially but realizes that Rob has won Zoe's heart. He eventually marries, but his wife dies early in their marriage and he is left heartbroken. He is a funeral director taking over his father's business. Rob gets together with an older successful man and is under pressure to marry this man.
All 6 of the characters get together after a long space of time when Rob wants them all to attend his wedding. Al and Zoe rekindle their early relationship. But Rob being the commitment phobe, takes his own life eventually, unable to say no to his pushy partner, Gesualdo.
A story of how friendships endure through time.

Both my wife and I read this and enjoyed it. The different situations and timeframes the main characters went through were well written and believable, and I would recommend it.

I had been looking forward to this one as the premise had intrigued me and initially I was quite enjoying it!

However, I just found it hard to really connect with any of the characters enough to make me want to pick this book up and it just felt like a bit of a slog after a while.

Such a delightful story, really enjoyed it.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was fortunate to receive an ARC of this book from Random House publishers and NetGalley.

I loved Laura's previous books and have always been on the lookout for a new release, so I was very excited to see this one being published this year.

Set around six friends who are brought back together properly, twenty years since they were at university together, we get an insight into each of their lives and any overlaps in these. This felt particularly nostalgic to me as it is always 20 years since I started university (😨) and it was a similar time period for these characters too. In the present day, it is set just after the pandemic so there are a few references to that. Particularly relevant as some of the characters are in the medical field.

This novel reminded me strongly of Cold Feet as I was reading it, and also Four Weddings and a funeral.
This is very much a "friendship saga" and although there are some shocking moments, it is not a fast paced read. I did feel I needed something more from the story, I found Yas and Indie's characters weaker for me than the other four.

My favourite quote:
"Before them is a luxuriant stretch of time; or at least the belief in this, which is, it seems to Zoe now, so essential to us all, such a beautiful, necessary fiction."

Hugely relatable and enjoyable book.

Love books about relationships and people, especially about aging and the changes involved.

Well written and easy to read.

I’m usually a crime or psychological thriller reader but thoroughly enjoyed this step outside my comfort zone into Births, Deaths and Marriages. I didn’t go to University and although extremely happy with my life, have often felt I missed out on the experience and the lifelong friendships it often brings. I therefore loved immersing myself into the stories of Zoe, Rachel, Yas, Indie, Rob and Al and switching between their time at Uni and their individual lives since. There were some surprises along the way, one in particular shocked me so much I gasped out loud (I was not expecting to do that while reading it!) and, as in real life, there were certainly some of the group that I preferred to others. Births, Deaths and Marriages was a really solid book with clever storytelling which kept me going back to it wanting more. I was sad to finish it.

I’m definitely going to read more by Laura Barnett.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and Transworld Publishing for an ARC of this book.

I didn't actually get far into this book the first time I picked it up, and I think that stuck when I picked it back up the second time. It took me so long to read this one, and I just didn't connect with any of the characters. I honestly thought that I would really enjoy this one, but I don't think that I read it at the right time to do so.

I really enjoyed this book. Six friends from university, all with secret and not so secret passions from back then They've gone their separate ways over the years with intermittent contact. Now one of the group is having an engagement party and they'll all be back together again. I love this premise for a story. It's ordinary people living different kinds of lives and it's very compelling. I recommend this book as a great read.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

This book follows the lives of Rob, Indie, Yas, Al, Rachel & Zoe.
A tight group at University each has a crush on one of the others.
I have read this author before and enjoyed her book Greatest Hits.
This took a bit of working out as to who was involved with who but I got there as the book went on.
Four weddings and a funeral vibes.
It was well written as always and I read it quite quickly. Worth reading.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC copy.

A novel-in-stories about love, loss, and everyday magic. It’s more reflective than plot-driven, but the vignettes build a quiet, emotional arc. The writing is intimate and observant.
If you liked Olive Kitteridge or One Day, this hits that soft spot.

This was a book that I found was a slow starter for me but once I got into it I couldn't wait to finish it! A group of six old pals get together and I loved the dual timelines explaining what happened then as compared to now.

Thank you to Doubleday publisher and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really liked the way the novel was crafted into the different sections of birth, deaths and marriages, it helped to blend the stories of the group of friends well. A great way to explore all of life’s emotions of love, sorrow, excitement, remorse, expectation, sadness …… and different characters responses and reactions to these. It’s well written in a way that evoked some of those emotions in me as I read about the six friends journey through life, I always enjoy a book with believable people. The story spans about 20 years from their university days, so plenty of time for them all to develop and grow - or not. I recommend this novel, it’s a mostly easy read that flows well.

Births, Deaths and Marriages, Laura Barnett's fantastic latest novel is Friends meets One Day meets Four Weddings and a Funeral.

The gang of six - Ai, Indie, Rachel, Rob, Yas and Zoe, having met a funeral during their university days are thrown back together several decades later at Rob's engagement party as they all face 40. Immediately their closeness, their secrets and their lies come back as the bonds from before become stronger than before.

This is a great book on long term and long-lasting friendships, the ebbs and flows of staying in contact, and sometimes the resentments that bubble under the surface of friendships. I love that Laura Barnett explores second chances between friends and romantic relationships as these characters look towards the second half of their lives. There are marriages making up and breaking up, there are deaths and there are births both good and complex - this novel stretches across all of these and more to show the complexities of life. Having an ensemble cast allows Barnett to explore different classes, parenthood, vocations and relationships that surround the gang. I felt fully invested in their lives.

This is a great book about lasting friendships, moving between the past and present with ease. This would make a great TV series!

A story about a group of friends who initially met at a fellow students wake and ended up sharing student accommodation. We follow their lives and how they are thrown together again later in life. Its an engrossing read with many twists and turns which I found engaging.

I have loved Barnet’s books before, but just did not feel ready for an ensemble story at present.

The opening at University, with lives ahead full of promise and then cut to decades ahead was jarring in a good way, but I wasn’t feeling able to complete this and didn’t find the pace/plot what I wanted right now.