A book about a group of 6 friends who navigate life, death, marriage and divorce after the pandemic specifically.
Gosh when I tell you this book was a struggle to finish. I could not have cared less about any of the 6 main characters. The character development was minimal at best. You weren’t really surprised by the ‘twist’, and the general vibe felt like a gloomy England Monday. Just not my favourite, style or story-line.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

3.75 ⭐️

This was a nice read. It was quite slow paced, and at first it was a bit confusing as to who is who since there’s six characters but it does get easier once each of their storylines develop. I think those who are fans of ‘four wedding and a funeral’ would enjoy this! Overall a good character driven book.

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy!

First of all I would like to say thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book as nice cosy read, it wasn’t heavy or had any major plot twists it was just pleasant to read and had some well written characters within the story.

It is typical British book so if you think of the older British romance films like Four Weddings and a Funeral or Love Actually then you will get the vibe of this book. I do have one negative which is just a me thing that it mentioned COVID and lockdown, I understand that this is just a part of history but I hate it being included in books as I don’t want a reminder of what I lived through and have to read it all again.

Overall a lovely book and would recommend for people to read if you want an easy quick book.

A hugely enjoyable book. It is about friendships and relationships that started way back at university. The story is indeed about births, deaths and marriages. Reconnections and relationships. I loved the characters and loved the book.

Thank you so much for providing me with an early copy of this book I really enjoyed my time reading it. When I first started this book I felt concerned that I would not be able to follow the plot as there were so many characters to concern myself with I was convinced that I would not be able to build the necessary connections and understand each subplot. However this was not the case. Laura Barnett has the special ability to write many characters, all of which are unique and hold a key significance to the story meaning that they are easy to follow and identify. It was such a lovely cosy read and something I definitely needed in between the heavy fantasy that I read. I absolutely adore Al and I need him in my life immediately. I liked the ending but I think it was missing something. I’m not sure why but I couldn’t help feeling a little bit let down. I would recommend this book and I will be telling my friends to read it! Definitely looking for more books by this author now.

This book follows 6 main characters and their personal development from University students to 40 (ish) year olds, through their experiences of love, loss and life in general. The book is not a linear story, often jumping to new perspectives, introducing new characters and focuses on individual events in each person's life rather than having an overarching storyline. This sometimes made it difficult to keep a track of who is who and what is happening in their life. That being said, it is very well written, with believable stories and true to life events, I feel I just prefer a book that has an overall storyline to keep me engaged and fewer characters to keep a track of. Perhaps it would have been useful for a list of characters at the end and their relationships to each other (at their introduction to the audience perhaps). Overall would recommend it to anyone who likes a character based story with great descriptions of real life, not suitable for anyone who likes a huge storyline driven story

A story of lifelong friendships made at university. It follows the lives of six individuals as they navigate their way through marriage, divorce and death.

It opens at Al’s 20th birthday party at his rundown university house which he shares with Rob, Zoe, Indie, Rachel and Yas. It becomes apparent that he is in love with Zoe when the two kiss later that night. However, he is quickly relegated to the friend's zone. Fast forward to the Spring of 2023. The group receives an invitation to an engagement party from Rob, who seems to desperately want to reunite the group. He is to marry a much older man having married Zoe previously and with whom he has a son Gabe. As the group reunites, we are given storylines from each of their perspectives and what emerges is confusion, conflict and fear as each character reveals their own problems.

To say I enjoyed this book is a bit of an understatement, it was warm, funny at times but also tragic. Barnett breathed life into each character making each relatable. It’s a nostalgic story that will remain with you long after the final page.

Thank you NetGally for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication.

This novel follows the lives of six friends who first crossed paths at the funeral of a fellow student during their first year at university. Over the years, their connections shift—sometimes deeply intertwined, other times barely present—but the constant thread running through their story is love in all its different forms.

I truly enjoyed this book. It beautifully captures the natural ebb and flow of friendship, woven with the highs and lows.

This book tells the stories of 6 friends who first met at the funeral of another undergraduate in their first year of university. Sometimes their lives are completely intertwined and at other times they are barely in contact but the thread that binds them is love in its various forms.

I really enjoyed this book, the ebb and flow of friendship interspersed with the high and low points of each of their lives..

I found myself drawn more to some characters and their story lines than others but really enjoyed the book overall. The themes of love and grief and the vagaries of attraction were handled really well and I liked the feeling of dipping in and out of different points in time and people's lives.

I was interested to read this as compared to a modern Four Weddings and a Funeral - I thought that was not that long ago until I realised the film was release 31 years ago!!

So thank you to NetGalley for letting me review this fun story.

This story focuses on 6 friends university friends, and where the story begins then moving on some 20 years to the present day. Each of the 6 friends has a story to tell and some had stayed in touch more than others. Then they reunite to celebrate an engagement for one of the friends.

This is a light hearted book with real characters we can all relate to.

Recommended summer read due for publication Jun 12 2025.

Reading this made me come to the realisation that I desperately need a plot to keep me engaged with a book. While the characters in this, six friends who meet at university, are all well developed, multi-faceted people with great interlinking back stories there's just no plot to carry the story through. It's a meandering, slow paced novel that is laser focused on the characters, how they feel in the moment and their thoughts and actions. Beyond that there's very little going on. I loved that this feels so intrinsically British though. Straight away you know these people, or know of people just like them, if you live in the UK. And that made them immediately relatable for me, and made me feel connected to them. However, I just found as time went on that nothing was happening and my mind was wandering.

Great character development but, personally, I need more plot and a faster pace. If you enjoy tight knit character studies though, you'll love this one.

A brilliant book! I absolutely loved the intricacies and dynamics between this friend group. Beautifully written, funny, emotional, witty, and everything in between. I felt like a part of this group and I did not want it to end. Rob, Al, Indie, Zoe, Yas and Rachel will live on in my brain rent free for a while. Highly recommend this book!

Overall, this novel is a poignant exploration of friendship and adulthood, touching on themes of loss, resilience, and the bonds that shape our lives. While its multiple perspectives may not appeal to everyone, I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys character-driven stories. I was sceptical when I realised it was six different characters, but it is well executed.!

A good one for fans of David Nicholls or Dolly Alderton.

This is a book rich with wonderful characters.
It’s a story of the intertwined lives and romances of a group of five college friends many years on. They are written as real, flawed humans. No-one has it easy, and none of them have their lives “sorted” - even if they appear to have. They are proper true-to-life characters that you come to understand and truly care for. That is what I look for in a book and this one really delivers.

Not my usual type of read, but this was so good! I can totally see this working so well being turned in to a movie. It definitely reminded me of a modern day version of some popular romance movies

Births, deaths & Marriages explores how dreams and plans can change and go a different direction 20 years down the line

Although the book follows six friends, it was not difficult to keep up with six people and their stories, as I was originally a bit worried about this

The book takes you on a total emotional rollercoaster

Definitely worth adding to your ‘25 reads!

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from Netgalley. Although this book was interesting, unfortunately it didn't grab me, and I found it quite slow going. There were too many characters to keep track of, and it jumped between the six protagonists, and between events, too quickly, making it quite confusing at times. Despite the confusing writing, I was engaged in the characters' stories, especially Zoe and Rachel's. A great concept, but unfortunately its execution mean I can't score it as high as I'd like.

The writing is excellent and engaging but unfortunately I didn’t especially warm to the characters and this made the book a hard read. It’s the second book I’ve read recently along similar lines, exploring the relationships between a group of old friends, so I think it was simply a case of reading this at the wrong time. I love Laura Barnet’s storytelling so I’ll try this again another time.

This is a very chilled, Sunday laidback cosy kinda book which was a nice change of pace as I tend to fly through thrillers/ horrors etc but I LOVE a good real life, friendship, love and loss kinda book to sink into also.

We follow 6 friends (don’t let that put you off, I know at times a high character count can be overwhelming and a struggle to keep up with however this isn’t the case here. We get plenty of chance to get to know our characters and we get to know them well).

They met in university and regroup in their 40s , as I say this is a nice slow paced vibe so if you’re into the twists , turns, big reveal kinda book (also love these myself) you may or may not struggle with this one as it’s not a twisty whodunnit.

The writing style is lovely, the characters likeable & the story is such a warm fuzzy cosy kinda book and honestly I really enjoyed it.

I’m always super cautious to not reveal much about a story as I hate spoilers but think four weddings and a funeral 2025 style 🙂 would absolutely recommend.

Realistic and relatable characters carry this story through the complications, hardships and trauma that started when they met at university and are still there twenty years later. None of it is straightforward but there is eventually a sense of hope and future happiness for each person making a satisfying read through to the last page.