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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.
Everything you want from a rom com and satisfyingly knotty with proper, recognisable characters. She just gets better and better’ JOJO MOYES 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 USMhairi McFarlane has been an auto-read author for me since 2016, and any of her upcoming books automatically make it to my most anticipated releases of the year list. To say I dropped everything once I got an ARC of this book is not an exaggeration. While Between Us isn’t my favorite of her books, I still really enjoyed it! Between Us follows a woman who discovers her long-term screenwriter boyfriend isn’t who she always thought he was, amidst the implosion of their tightly knit friend group.
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. stars** The curse of high expectations from one of my favorite authors who I mostly rate 5 stars, or, less often, 4 stars.
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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'm giving this four stars, the downgrade because so much of this was, I don't know, McFarlane flavored? I mean, I predicted a bit too much based on knowing the author's other work. It's still very much my cuppa, but without any off-setting highlights to thrill me. Also, the humor was much more understated and banter is one of my favorite things about this author's work. My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I want to write a very long review that truly lets people know how I feel about this but it’s late and honestly I don’t think I could put it into words anyway. Roisin, eh. I was very luke-warm on her throughout the book. I think the glacial flow of the book was the main reason. All of her thoughts on Joe, her friends Meredith, Gina, Matt, Dev, her mother, her brother, her father, etc. I think a way to fix this honestly would have been to have the initial meeting of the friend group as the prologue honestly. Get a sense of the characters and their motivations. That way when we jumped to 10 years later and they are hanging out, it would have meant more. Instead the prologue starts off with Roisin finding out about her parents affairs and her mother having an abortion. I was just wondering um okay, and then we shift to a teaching scene, her worry about Joe, and then her going away for the weekend.
Unfortunately, some of the narrative did feel a little bitty. The depth of the feelings of the new love interest appeared so very suddenly and there are some awkward conversations which could be avoided by people just being honest with each other. I guess that this does chime with the repeated refrain 'slow but then fast at the end' which pretty much sums up this book! The book really centers around the end of their relationship, albeit just in Roisin’s head at first. A lot of the beginning is her considering whether or not it’s right to end things, given the new revelations. It’s no small thing to break up with someone she’s built a life with, and she wants to consider all her options. I liked that while she turns to Gina and Meredith for advice, and then to Matt for help, they all support her while also maintaining a realistic tone. By that, I mean it’s easy for Roisin to spiral in this situation but the three of them keep her on a more sane path. Mhairi writes with such magic, I am completely in awe . . . smart, funny, compelling – all things I’ve come to expect from Mhairi McFarlane’s books and more’ LUCY VINE 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. Buoyant and funny and warm, but still with enough realism and wryness to satisfy the cynic . . . A total treat!' NIAMH HARGANWhen 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. This one starts out with the group of 7 friends (they call themselves The Brian Club-I won’t explain) coming together at a rented country estate to celebrate a birthday, an engagement, and the fact that Roisin’s boyfriend Joe, has just had his script made into a highly touted Hollywood miniseries. Their relationship has been foundering for some time, as the more successful he has become professionally, the more cold and dismissive he has become to down-to-earth schoolteacher Roisin. Roisin has been starting to see Joe in a new and not pleasant light and that there is much in Joe’s character and ways that she doesn’t like at all. It is only a matter of time for her. On the last day of the party, time becomes up. Joe screens the first part of his new 3 part series for the group and to her horror, Joe has incorporated a traumatic and painful incident from her childhood into his plot that she shared with him in the strictest confidence. Without permission, warning, or, initially, remorse. So funny and smart. She’s brilliant at writing characters you really fancy, and characters you love to hate’ DAISY BUCHANAN 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. McFarlane does have a formula or methodology she tends to follow: highly attractive female characters who have been deeply wronged and wounded by those they loved and trusted. The conquering hero tends to be out-of-this-world attractive.
The story is about Roisin and her boyfriend Joe and their group of friends. I do not even want to touch on the storyline as I don't want to give anything away. However, for me, this was a very different book for Mhairi and unfortunately it didn't live up to her past stories.
I had higher expectations for this book as a devoted fan of Mhairi McFarlane, but don't get me wrong, I still devoured it and enjoyed her brilliant writing style. This book delves into gaslighting, exploring dysfunctional and manipulative relationship patterns that blend into emotionally consuming family dynamics. 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 She’s so ridiculously talented . . . consider this recommendation my personal gift to you and your life’ EMILY HENRY 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.
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