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A review by bennysbooks
Who's That Girl? by Mhairi McFarlane
2024 re-read (in anticipation of sequel): I was sick, so I read Mhairi McFarlane. It is the way.
I've definitely cooled on this one since my last read. The beginning drags out longer than I remembered, which isn't unusual for McFarlane as she tends to take her time setting up the MC's situation, but this time it was decidedly bleaker. I think it's because one of my favourite things about McFarlane books are the external relationships that she writes into her romances. They make for great worldbuilding, flesh out the main characters well, and are generally quite warm/funny. It helps to balance out the more intense situations she writes her MCs into. But in Who's That Girl, Edie has to move and then (re)integrate people into her life before we start getting a sense of that warmth and fun, which felt tolerable the first time around, but was frustrating on a re-read.
I enjoyed the romance between Edie and Elliot about as much as I did last time, but on both reads I think Edie's budding friendship with Margot, and the growth in her relationship with her Dad and Meg, are the elements that make this book shine. The portrayal of Meg is pretty heavy-handed in the beginning, like the most ungracious conservative ranting about snowflake leftists. But if I ignore it a little, I think the dynamic between the two sisters is a compelling one. Every page of text fromEdie finding Margot, to Edie, Meg, and their father discussing the guilt and grief they've been living with since Isla died makes me sob.
Still had a problem with the ending (ambiguous endings can be excellent, but this was not the right book for it. Their situation is so complicated, and requires very serious discussions and compromises - compromises they have both already agreed they couldn't make. The process of reconciling these things would have been difficult, and it feels to me that McFarlane took the easy route), but I'm excited to see where book 2 takes us.
2022 review: High highs and low lows. I've had a sinus infection ruining my life for a week so McFarlane's backlist has kept me company. This one I thought was going to be my favourite but then that ending... don't think it worked here. Left me feeling very disappointed. I wanted more of an exploration of how they could make their lives work together, but what we were left with felt like a cop-out.
I've definitely cooled on this one since my last read. The beginning drags out longer than I remembered, which isn't unusual for McFarlane as she tends to take her time setting up the MC's situation, but this time it was decidedly bleaker. I think it's because one of my favourite things about McFarlane books are the external relationships that she writes into her romances. They make for great worldbuilding, flesh out the main characters well, and are generally quite warm/funny. It helps to balance out the more intense situations she writes her MCs into. But in Who's That Girl, Edie has to move and then (re)integrate people into her life before we start getting a sense of that warmth and fun, which felt tolerable the first time around, but was frustrating on a re-read.
I enjoyed the romance between Edie and Elliot about as much as I did last time, but on both reads I think Edie's budding friendship with Margot, and the growth in her relationship with her Dad and Meg, are the elements that make this book shine. The portrayal of Meg is pretty heavy-handed in the beginning, like the most ungracious conservative ranting about snowflake leftists. But if I ignore it a little, I think the dynamic between the two sisters is a compelling one. Every page of text from
Still had a problem with the ending (ambiguous endings can be excellent, but this was not the right book for it. Their situation is so complicated, and requires very serious discussions and compromises - compromises they have both already agreed they couldn't make. The process of reconciling these things would have been difficult, and it feels to me that McFarlane took the easy route), but I'm excited to see where book 2 takes us.
2022 review: High highs and low lows. I've had a sinus infection ruining my life for a week so McFarlane's backlist has kept me company. This one I thought was going to be my favourite but then that ending... don't think it worked here. Left me feeling very disappointed. I wanted more of an exploration of how they could make their lives work together, but what we were left with felt like a cop-out.