"There's something exceptional about friendships with friends you've known since you were young. They know all the versions of you. They know how you were built. They have a map for you. There's a shorthand between you, and a love that is as strong as any blood tie".
This beautiful quote is from Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane, a book that completely took me by surprise. If you're following my bookstagram, you might remember I picked this up from a supermarket bookshelf having seen it advertised everywhere one week.
The front cover description:
"Two best friends
One Missed Chance
And a night that changes everything"
...fooled me into thinking this was a romcom focused on two best friends. Thaaat's not really it. It's in fact, a much meatier story about love, loss, trauma, healing and friendship all bundled up into one glorious page-turning package.
I loved it. Entertainment Scene Copy Writer Eve is a great central character - likeable, witty, kind, and real. We live the events of the story through her eyes and feelings, which creates this really rich and immersive quality to the story. It almost falls into two distinct parts separated by a journey to Scotland, and I liked the road trip and way in which it mirrored the journey of self discovery on which two characters find themselves (no spoilers).
The relationship between the four friends was also portrayed really well, the use of interspersed messages and phone calls helping you to get the sense of how this foursome came to be. Though the story explores difficult subjects, overall I found it a funny, heart-breaking and sweet read all rolled into one. There's a really strong underlying message about not taking anything or anyone for granted as well.
I hate spoilers so you need to read it to find out a bit more. I will say if you enjoyed Me Before You or One Day this will be right up your street.
Synopsis:
Two best friends. One missed chance. And a night that changes everything.
Eve, Justin, Susie and Ed have been friends since they were eighteen. Now in their 30s, the four are still as close as ever, Thursday pub quiz night is still sacred, and Eve is still secretly in love with Ed.
Maybe Eve should have moved on by now, but she can't stop thinking about what could have been. And she knows Ed sometimes thinks about it too.
Then one night, in an instant, all their lives change forever. And, as Eve learns she didn't know her friends as well as she thought, she also discovers she isn't the only person keeping secrets...
Trigger warnings for: Grief, loss, Alzheimer's
#LastNight #LastNightBook #MhairiMcFarlane #Fiction #2021reads #BookRecommendation #BooksAboutFriendship #BookReview #HarperCollins #REALbooktingz
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