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. As with her last book, the focus in Between Us, is very much on a failing relationship, and whilst there is a new romantic interest for Roisin, who I liked, this aspect was just covered far too fast to feel any real connection to, and as such just didn't come off as believable or as a relationship to feel invested in. And whilst I appreciate that McFarlane perhaps wants to cover more ground than just romance in her books, one of the main reasons I fell in love with her as an author was for the great chemistry between her romantic leads, which unfortunately seems to have become very much a side aspect to her books nowadays. So, to start off, the main character's name is pronounced "Rosheen" but is spelled: Roisin. I dunno, but I felt like I was stuttering in my head each time I came across this name! (Slowed things down a bit too, I must say.) These are my kind of romances that make me immediately give it five stars and a dignified personal recommendation from me at the end of the year. Haha. Anyway. 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.

Between Us highlights the ups and downs of friendships/relationships in your thirties, family trauma, and the difference between a gaslighter and "the one who has been there all along". Has she been gaslighted by a man who has been cheating and lying to her for years without giving away his second nature?

Summary

stars** The curse of high expectations from one of my favorite authors who I mostly rate 5 stars, or, less often, 4 stars. 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 . . . 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. Everything you want from a rom com and satisfyingly knotty with proper, recognisable characters. She just gets better and better' JOJO MOYES 'I LOVE her books PASSIONATELY and this is her best yet' MARIAN KEYES 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.

Roisin lives in fear of all of them growing apart, especially since all of their lives have gone in such different paths. She particularly thinks her and Joe’s relationship would only contribute to this, so she’s been mostly ignoring the fact that he doesn’t seem to like her, or Matt, anymore. However, after she watches Joe’s new show, she can’t help but realize that this is the end for her. The flow, as I said, was not good. As other reviewers rightfully noted, this is the slowest book ever. It takes almost to the 40 percent mark for Roisin and her long-time boyfriend, Joe to even have a conversation about the state of their relationship. The weekend away took til the 40 percent mark! That could have been cut in half. And even then, things don't get resolved until the 77 percent mark, and even then we get a twist/reveal at the 84 percent mark. For now on, any faux romance novels just get an immediate one star rating and review from me. I don’t care how much I used to like the author. Everything you want from a rom com and satisfyingly knotty with proper, recognisable characters. She just gets better and better’ JOJO MOYESBuoyant and funny and warm, but still with enough realism and wryness to satisfy the cynic . . . A total treat!' NIAMH HARGAN If you're looking for a book that explores healing after a toxic relationship and confronts family issues that revolve around self-growth and women's fiction themes, rather than lighthearted romance, then this book would suit your needs.

So funny and smart. She's brilliant at writing characters you really fancy, and characters you love to hate' DAISY BUCHANANOverall for me, it is a good book and one I think a lot of people will enjoy. I am so glad I continued as I loved the ending and the romance. Some of the issues I had are definitely based on my particular likes and dislikes so I would still definitely recommend reading this one! While I wished for more spicy romance parts, the author's brilliant mind charmed me enough to round up my rating from 3.5 stars to 4! I never dare to give any of her works less than 4 stars.

On a positive note, the book still has McFarlane's trademark humour, and I did actually really like the friendship dynamics at play in the Brian Club, as they call themselves. I thought McFarlane did a good job of portraying a group that have been friends for a long time, but are at that point in their lives when things are changing and some of them are drifting apart, such that the future of the friendships seem to hang in the balance, and there is this feeling of nostalgia for what once was. The group felt believable to me, and some of my favourite parts of the story were centred around the group as a whole. 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. When Joe and Roisin join their group of 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 crime drama on TV.For Roisin, it’s a chance to connect with the group of friends she made a decade before, working at Waterstones. But for Joe, it’s a distraction as his writing career soars.As the weekend unfolds, tensions are revealed between the group and Roisin’s sense of foreboding about her own relationship grows.And when the friends watch the first episode of Joe’s drama, she realises that the secrets she told him are right there on the screen.But is that all he’s used? What if the fictional hero’s infidelity also isn’t fictional after all? Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane – eBook Details When they arrive at the weekend away, I did start to wonder whether this would be the main focus of the story but I loved seeing Roisin (and Matt) return to where she had grown up while helping out in the pub and interacting with her mum.

I liked Roisin, however, I will say that at this stage, McFarlane's heroines are beginning to feel a bit samey. I despised Joe, and as such the fact that so much of the book was taken up by him did begin to grate on the nerves. It was very clear even before his show aired and aroused Roisin's suspicions, that the relationship was fraught, and given that Roisin was already contemplating ending things with him, things just seemed to drag on unnecessarily. Even after they have broken up, we then go on to spend the last 20% of the book mostly on Roisin still playing detective and trying to catch him out, which did make her seem rather too obsessive. I do appreciate that McFarlane was trying to explore gaslighting and manipulative relationships (and not for the first time either), however, for me personally having so much of the focus on a relationship that is already basically over just didn't make for a compelling read. Roisin knows that Joe’s police procedural television show is not exactly a documentary. To start with, Joe isn’t a detective. However, when she spots one personal scene taken straight out of her own life, she can’t help but suspect more of the show has been lifted from reality. 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.