It's really refreshing to see a modern story set outside of London or New York (Mcfarlane sets this story in her hometown of Nottingham). In her seventh novel, she gives you all you might want from a contemporary romance: pining over “what-could-have-beens”, men you love to hate, and laughing at the latest pubic hair fashions.

The story follows Eve, Susie, Justin and Ed, four friends who have been best friends since they were eighteen. Now in their thirties, they are happily co-dependant until a car accident changes their lives and relationships forever. This book is about friendship, and grief, and how secrets can hurt us even years later. Mcfarlane always gives us great main characters, Eve is no different. Despite her tendency to overthink and “drink guilt like a smoothie”, you can’t help but find her loveable as she tries to navigate both love and loss.

Mcfarlane asks if life can ever go back to how it was after a death, and should you even want it to? Marketing this book as 2021’s best romcom actually does it a disservice, as this book packs much more of an emotional punch than your usual romance.

Kenzie Millar