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A review by cozycritiques
Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
“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.”
- Just Last Night
Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow, for the e-ARC.
Tropes: Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Love Triangle, Found Family, Best Friend’s Sibling
Spice Scale: 🌶
CW: Death, Grief, Panic Attack, Past Abuse
This is one of those books that I think is going to stay with me for a while. When I read the blurb on NetGalley, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect—maybe some pining, intrigue, and uncovered secrets, a new love interest that changes the main character’s outlook on everything. And I did get that, but I also got a poignant look at loss, grief, and guilt and how those can affect even the tightest knit friendships and relationships. I think what I enjoyed the most is how powerful the relationships are in this story. While there is quite a bit of plot, the relationships between the characters really drive the narrative.
The portrayal of the friendship between Eve, Ed, Susie, and Justin isn’t just a rose-colored view of friendship. Yes, their friendship is full of fun and laughter, but it’s also raw and honest and messy. When Susie’s brother Finlay enters the scene, we get a look at the complexity of sibling relationships and how two people living through what seems like the experience can come out of it with two completely different versions of events. The romance in this is slow to start, only really beginning in the second half of the book, but it’s set up well and resolves nicely. It isn’t what drives the book, which I actually really enjoyed.
Just One Night takes a complicated and messy topic and manages to combine it with a sweet, slow-burn romance in a beautiful and powerful way.
- Just Last Night
Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow, for the e-ARC.
Tropes: Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Love Triangle, Found Family, Best Friend’s Sibling
Spice Scale: 🌶
CW: Death, Grief, Panic Attack, Past Abuse
This is one of those books that I think is going to stay with me for a while. When I read the blurb on NetGalley, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect—maybe some pining, intrigue, and uncovered secrets, a new love interest that changes the main character’s outlook on everything. And I did get that, but I also got a poignant look at loss, grief, and guilt and how those can affect even the tightest knit friendships and relationships. I think what I enjoyed the most is how powerful the relationships are in this story. While there is quite a bit of plot, the relationships between the characters really drive the narrative.
The portrayal of the friendship between Eve, Ed, Susie, and Justin isn’t just a rose-colored view of friendship. Yes, their friendship is full of fun and laughter, but it’s also raw and honest and messy. When Susie’s brother Finlay enters the scene, we get a look at the complexity of sibling relationships and how two people living through what seems like the experience can come out of it with two completely different versions of events. The romance in this is slow to start, only really beginning in the second half of the book, but it’s set up well and resolves nicely. It isn’t what drives the book, which I actually really enjoyed.
Just One Night takes a complicated and messy topic and manages to combine it with a sweet, slow-burn romance in a beautiful and powerful way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders