Book Review: "You Had Me At Hello" by Mhairi McFarlane
“You Had Me At Hello” by Mhairi McFarlane
Publisher Synopsis: Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart. It’s been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.
They’d been partners in crime and the best of friends. But life has moved on: Ben is married. Rachel is not. Yet in that split second, Rachel feels the old friendship return. And along with it, the broken heart she’s never been able to mend.
Hilarious, heartbreaking and everything in between, you’ll be hooked from their first ‘hello’.
Rating (out of 5): 4
Trigger Warnings: lecherous lawyers
Review: Hello, this is now a Mhairi McFarlane review blog (at least, my third of the blog is), because I cannot read anything other than British rom-coms right now.
And I’m OK with it. The first few weeks of quarantine, I could barely read 4 pages without picking up my phone to scroll through Instagram (maybe you heard, as I’ve complained about my minute attention span here?).
Mhairi McFarlane’s books are the perfect books to read in quarantine. They’re pretty lighthearted for the most part, and the main characters are always lovable yet still flawed and believable. (Also I adore Mhairi’s penchant for naming books after well-known movie lines or song titles.)
“You Had Me At Hello” flips back and forth between present day, when Rachel has just broken up with her fiance; and Rachel’s college years, during which she is best (platonic) friends with Ben. I loved this as it became clearer and clearer throughout the book just how close Rachel and Ben had been, and what a loss it was for her to lose him from her life.
While Rachel and now-married Ben get reacquainted in the present day, she also deals with some work drama in her role as a court reporter for the local newspaper. Her friends are a lovely bunch of characters and, consistent with Mhairi’s other books, it’s clear how much they love the protagonist and how important one’s chosen family is. The ending was fairly predictable, although the journey was a bit unexpected as (as the synopsis says), Ben is married when he and Rachel become reacquainted!
I loved this book and flew through it, and can’t wait to read more Mhair! (Although I did just start “Our Stop” — Elizabeth’s review here, and I’m loving that one, too!)
TL;DR: A charming outing from Mhairi McFarlane, whose books are MVP for me during quarantine. This one explores the age-old question, can men and women really be friends?, with some fun friendships and not-so-fun relationship drama throughout.
If you liked this, try:
“Don’t You Forget About Me” by Mhairi McFarlane (my review here)
“If I Never Met You” by Mhairi McFarlane (my review here)
“The Two Lives of Lydia Bird” by Josie Silver (Elizabeth’s review here)
“Get A Life, Chloe Brown” by Talia Hibbert (Elizabeth’s review here)
If you click on one of the links in this article and make a purchase, She’s Full of Lit may receive a small commission. It doesn’t add anything to your price — we promise! Thanks so much for your support.
