Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane

41 reviews

adiloretto's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"This is what I never knew about loss—it’s also about what you gain. You carry a weight that you never had before. It’s never behind you. It’s alongside you."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Dementia, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Chronic illness and Drug use

erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I loved this story. Heart-wrenching, funny, poignant, and desperately sad. I cried multiple times and thoroughly highlighted passages. The characters felt so textured and the emotions they felt and reactions they had seemed realistic and meaningful. I loved all the scenes with the core friend group—their friendship felt so real and their dynamic so lived-in. I definitely want to read more from this author. 

Read if you like emotional, funny, poignant stories about love and friendship and growing up in adulthood. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

capmorrow's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Dementia, and Grief

marycage's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Infidelity

gabrielastbr's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

k8lynn's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

sgrifgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I almost put this book down 8 chapters in because it was marketed so badly and the plot twist completely took me by surprise, and not in a good way. I’m glad I kept reading, because it ended up being a good book with lots of insight into all kinds of relationships: romantic, familial, friendships, and even with oneself. However, there are definitely things I would say people should know going in. 

In the back-of-the-book description, it mentions “in an instant, their lives are changed forever.” This is a sudden, tragic, and traumatic death of a loved one, and main character. A good portion of the book is spent describing, in vivid detail, the grief experienced by the narrator. The grief is very realistic and well written, and under different circumstances I probably would have appreciated the perspective. But I was expecting a fun, breezy romance, and this is quite serious content matter. As someone who recently experienced a similar unexpected loss, it was very hard for me to get through and I would have appreciated more of a warning. In my opinion, the book should have been marketed differently, or at the very least mentioned that grief is a main theme.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Dementia, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

Minor: Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

abiigrl's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

carla20's review against another edition

emotional funny sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, and Car accident

jg34's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

I most definitely judged this book by its cover. I had heard of Mhairi McFarlane and based on the context and later seeing she has written many books all with cartoon covers, I came to the conclusion that she must write mindless lighthearted romance books. That is what I was in the mood for when I picked this book out but I got way more than I bargained for!

Yes this book ultimately was a romance (very good one at that) but it was much deeper than that. It was a journey of grief and how to navigate life after tragedy and what happens when you learn secrets that change how you see those closest to you. It was poignant and honest. But also very funny!

The main character Eve is what you could call ‘quirky’ but there is a line between unbearably and embarrassingly quirky vs just a bit silly. Eve is the second. Each character in this book had layers and it was so interesting watching everyone interact and learn and grow. 

And the romance! So good. I don’t want to give too much away but the way these two character banter and handle each others grief with such grace and brutal honesty was what made me fall in love with this. We love mature adults, no silly miscommunication or anything here. Also no spice! Which I usually prefer an under-seasoned romance myself but idk why I really expected there would be, I guess because I thought this would be more like a Tessa Bailey romance book. It was not do not let the cartoon cover fool you!

I also loved how well everything concluded. There is always room for some ambiguity but I felt every loose end that was important got tied off by the end which is so pleasing. Specifically I really really liked Eve getting to tell another character exactly how she felt after she had been mistreated for years. Maybe it went too well to a point where it was unrealistic but it felt very cathartic to me it’s really refreshing getting to see a character spell out exactly how she feels and for it to be a conversation not a fight. Like I said we are mature adults here!!

Maybe the 5 star rating which I rarely give out is in part due to my admittedly low expectations being blown out of the water, but I stand by it. This was a great book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Dementia, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse and Car accident

Minor: Infidelity and Panic attacks/disorders