Scan barcode
A review by olawunmi
Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane
4.0
This is a hard book to rate.
This should have been named and marketed differently because while it has heavy romantic influence, this is not a romance book. The romance manifests in a way you would expect it to in a slice of life story. This book is first and foremost about Georgina.
Not to say that that’s a bad thing. The main reason Mhairi McFarlane—as well as Allison Ashley, Christina Lauren, Emily Henry, Beth O’Leary, Cara Bastone, etc—write some of my all-time favorite books is precisely because of their ability to write stories that perfectly balance stomach-fluttery romance with the growth of real and nuanced characters; people you could imagine bumping into on the street.
But unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?) in this book, the scale is very much skewed against the romance.
I made so many highlights and notes while reading this book because, it sounds mad but, it feels like Georgina was written for me. It’s eery just how targeted most of her story (especially her family) felt to me. Parts of this book made me feel so raw that it’s hard to articulate.
So yes, as a romance, maybe 3 stars. As a character-driven literary fiction, 4 stars.
This should have been named and marketed differently because while it has heavy romantic influence, this is not a romance book. The romance manifests in a way you would expect it to in a slice of life story. This book is first and foremost about Georgina.
Not to say that that’s a bad thing. The main reason Mhairi McFarlane—as well as Allison Ashley, Christina Lauren, Emily Henry, Beth O’Leary, Cara Bastone, etc—write some of my all-time favorite books is precisely because of their ability to write stories that perfectly balance stomach-fluttery romance with the growth of real and nuanced characters; people you could imagine bumping into on the street.
But unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?) in this book, the scale is very much skewed against the romance.
I made so many highlights and notes while reading this book because, it sounds mad but, it feels like Georgina was written for me. It’s eery just how targeted most of her story (especially her family) felt to me. Parts of this book made me feel so raw that it’s hard to articulate.
So yes, as a romance, maybe 3 stars. As a character-driven literary fiction, 4 stars.