A review by xabbeylongx
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

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

3.5

Spoilers Ahead: 
This book was honestly not what I expected at all. 
We follow Cassie as she’s at a bar, getting drunk because it’s ‘Family Weekend’ and her family doesn’t come to visit, so she’s out of town - out of sight, out of mind. She spots an older woman in the bar called Erin, and she’s insanely attracted to her. She buys her a drink, they get to talking, and it ends up being a good time in the back of a car, if you know what I mean. She finds out that Erin is actually visiting her child for the weekend, so they agree to never see each other again. 
The next morning, one of her best friends, Parker, asks her to go to breakfast with her and her mum, because ages ago her mum got divorced and she’s always been a ‘Daddy’s Girl’ and she sort of blames her mum for the divorce and it’s a bit weird, so Cassie agrees to go to help keep things from being awkward. 
And you’ll never guess who turns up to breakfast that very morning? 
Lo and behold, it’s Erin! 
Cassie is in her element, but Erin is terrified; she can’t let anyone know that she slept with someone a lot younger than her, especially if that person happens to be her daughter’s best friend! She vows that there cannot be anything more to happen to them. 
But every time they get together, they end up doing stuff together. They physically cannot keep their hands off of each other. At Parker’s acapella concert, when Cassie goes to live with them over the holidays, they keep saying their cannot be more to their relationship, but they keep on going back to each other. 
Cassie gets into her dream college, and has to navigate through these emotions by herself, as Parker refuses to talk to her and Acacia, their mutual best friend, is being weird with her. She finds friendship in Erin, and they FaceTime and make dinner together, and Cassie starts to see her as someone she wants to talk to all the time. Still, they believe there is just a physical attraction. 
When they are walked in on, Erin’s sexist ex-husband Adam, and Parker follows along also, Erin and Cassie are shocked. Cassie gives them some space, and Erin finds out that Parker has known all along. She was angry at first, then saw how happy they made each other. Cassie, however, only just recognises that she has feelings for Erin. Eventually they make up, and it ends with them getting married! 
Honestly, this story is incessantly long for the actual content. It could have been cut down a lot, lot more, and it would still be a good story, maybe even better. It felt like the ending happened an hour before the story actually ended, so it felt like it was dragging a lot. I’m also not a massive fan of relationships which are grown solely from sex, which I think this relationship was, but that’s just a personal preference. 
Erin is my biggest enemy. I whole-heartedly believe that she is one of the biggest assholes that I’ve ever read about. How is Cassie supposed to keep up?? You want her to not kiss you, but then you tell her to kiss you, and then you’re so fucking mean to her? Some of the stuff she said was disgusting. Especially considering she’s a lot older, so she should know better. A lot, lot better. Cassie was so much more mature in this whole situation, and that’s saying something. 
And don’t even get me started on Parker! I think she’s so childish, the way she reacted to their relationship was awful. I get it completely, you’ve found out your best friend and your mum are together, it’s a very weird situation indeed, but how could you do that? Going completely silent on Cassie, and her mum, also? Her mum, who she has blamed for the divorce since it happened, and who always does everything for her? Instead of being nasty, Parker should have said that she’s taking some time for herself, communicated that she needed space, instead of just ghosting and making her feel so alone. I think I’m a bit biased though, as I’ve had this happened to me, and it makes everything so confusing. I really like the opening though. When Cassie is describing how her and Parker met, dating the same guy. It made Parker out to be the villain before she actually became the villain. In the end, though. I totally despise Erin and Parker, and Adam to be fair, just that entire family. 
I did like how many characters in this novel was queer, and I like the open and honest - disregarding Cassie - communication about sexuality between Parker and Erin. The grouping up of the queer kids, the slow development of their relationship (not sexually, but emotionally) and the sexy scenes were all done really well, I think. It was a good book, but there were a lot of things that could be improved, in my opinion. 
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