Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane

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Eve, Justin, Susie, and Ed have been friends since they were teenagers. Now in their thirties, the four are as close as ever, Thursday night bar trivia is sacred, and Eve is still secretly in love with Ed. Maybe she should have moved on by now, but she can’t stop thinking about what could have been. And she knows Ed still thinks about it, too.

But then, in an instant, their lives are changed forever.

In the aftermath, Eve’s world is upended. As stunning secrets are revealed, she begins to wonder if she really knew her friends as well as she thought. And when someone from the past comes back into her life, Eve’s future veers in a surprising new direction...

They say every love story starts with a single moment. What if it was just last night?

Source: NetGalley; ARC generously provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Having read a couple of Mhairi McFarlane books already and liking them I expected to have the same reaction to Just Last Night. I did not expect how much I would be bowled over by it, though! I was engaged from the first page, the first sentence, even and after that I was reluctant to put it down, especially when I got into a perfect reading groove. 

Eve has a close-knit friend group. Eve, Susie, Ed and Justin are a foursome that go way back to their school days. Overnight, the foursome is dealt a horrific loss and everything turns upside down from there. In the aftermath, Eve accidentally comes across a secret that shatters her and her trust in her friends. Add to that, the Susie's long-absent brother reappears at this time of tragedy. His disconcerting presence brings new problems and only makes her wonder who exactly is trustworthy anymore. In all this anguish that's consuming her, Eve questions everything that she had taken at face value up until recently, including her friendship with her best friend, Susie, and the betrayal that's blindsided her.

I liked how the direction of the story kept changing ever so slightly so I din't know where exactly it was headed. Not only did it bring surprises but it added dimension to the characters. I'm thinking specifically of Eve, Finlay and Susie as Eve's relationship with each of them got curiously complicated. It became so intriguing how much more there was to their history, and Eve's own dawning realization that everything she knows is really one-sided. I was tempted to bring out the popcorn and anticipate the fireworks. It wasn't pretty when all the secrets were eventually forced out to the open but there's Eve, facing them head on. I also liked Finlay's humored responses to whatever Eve threw out. Even if they butted heads at first, there's something inherent that they perceive about each other. What's most striking for me is how impeccably McFarlane describes loss, misery and the loneliness of being on the outside during an emotionally turbulent time in Eve's life. I just felt that she got those feelings so right and they provoked immediate and strong reactions of me.  I especially got that way during conversations between Eve and Finlay. I loved their repartee which was both amusing and insightful. Eve's banter with her friends were also fun and I am always about the banter. Another thing that impressed me was Eve's growing self-awareness. The advantage of Finlay being an outsider means that he sees things from a different angle and guides Eve to recognize her patterns and choices. It's touching how in the short amount of time they're forced to spend together, Finlay and Eve are able to draw each other out of these confined spaces they'd built for themselves, or even allowed for others to define them by those spaces. 

Just Last Night showcases McFarlane 's brilliance at writing about deeply emotional life events, bringing  perceptivity and levity while also respecting the characters' sorrow.  All the messy complicated feelings felt authentic and I was glued to every page of it. (I should add here that there are some disturbing elements/trauma to the story for which I've listed content/trigger warnings below.) I also greatly appreciated the various pop culture references and songs she threw in which aside from being entertaining for me, helped to enhance the nostalgic aspect of the story. As for the ending, I loved it! I thought it did justice to all the characters and I was honestly sad when it was over. I don't get to reread books often but Just Last Night will be on that short list. In only three books, McFarlane has become a go-to, comfort read author for me and I will gladly make my way through her catalog.

~ Bel

Content/Trigger Warning:

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sudden death of best friend, infidelity, panic attack (Finlay, on page), dementia (on page, Finlay and Susie's father), physical abuse (memory; Finlay's recalls their dad did to him), gaslighting (their father convinced family that Finlay was the problem)