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And she does it because she believes women should help other women. One of the themes of this novel is the importance and power of female friendship and advocacy.
Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane | Goodreads
This is edgiest, most angsty, triggering, intense Mhairi McFarlene book I’ve ever had! The smart writing, the genuine, real and connectable characters made me drawn into this thought provoking story with powerful messages!again, the romance is not the focus of this book. its about trials, abusive pasts, letting go and moving forward. its a story about strength, resilience, and uplifting others. that being said, the connection between cal and harriet is so genuine, so charming, so realistic, that it completely outshines everything else in the book. even if it is just a side plot. NOTE TO PUBLISHER: Stop marketing this author’s books with misleading covers. It is not in the best interest of readers, who end up disgruntled with an unexpected genre. I thought it was okay while reading, it would’ve been a 3-star read…BUT THOSE LAST COUPLE OF CHAPTERS!! They really saved the book for me and made me actually enjoy and appreciate the story. The book's female protagonist is an in-demand wedding photographer who loathes romance and does not want to get married (loved that!) and moves in with a charming stranger, who also happens to be a runaway groom (loved that, too!).
Mad About You | Mhairi McFarlane | Book Review - bookGeeks Mad About You | Mhairi McFarlane | Book Review - bookGeeks
Well, I still enjoyed this book! Ms. McFarlane’s smart descriptions to make us see through the characters’ soul and her method to write true heartbreaking angsty stories made me love this book. It’s not my all time favorite work of hers but it is still a MUST READ! The GR blurb for this book is quite misleading because it makes the book sound like a story of Harriet and Cal. It isn’t. It is Harriet’s story almost all the way.) If I leave another woman to suffer Scott Dyer because I’m frightened of intervening, then nothing has really changed. If I don’t do it, Lorna, then I’m still scared of him. That’s just a fact.’
Summary
It starts out a hoot with plenty of laugh out loud moments as you’d expect from the smart writing of Mhairi McFarlane. I really like the character of Harriet who is smart, she has her issues but almost because of this she feels authentic and relatable. I do enjoy the way the author manages to some people up in just a few words and yet you really see them. There are some enjoyable coincidences and several scenes that are almost movie or TV worthy they are so lively and entertaining. Burningly funny, achingly romantic, and a plot so tightly crafted it's like a song' LAURA JANE WILLIAMS
Mhairi McFarlane (Author of If I Never Met You) - Goodreads Mhairi McFarlane (Author of If I Never Met You) - Goodreads
McFarlane’s latest, her eighth novel Mad About You (HarperFiction), opens as wedding photographer Harriet turns down a proposal from her seemingly perfect boyfriend. She ends up in a house-share with Cal—the groom she saw running away from his own wedding. There is a glorious mean-guy-getting-his-comeuppance plotline, as well as sparks galore and lots of laughs, but at its heart, this novel is also exploring the fallout from an emotionally abusive relationship. The only issue for me was the first 1/3rd of the book. It took me a lot of time to get to the story, but the last 1/3rd was very powerful and quite eventful, to say the least. The kind of women empowerment we witness is just superb and I found myself rooting for the characters throughout. In Harriet, we see a woman who has undergone a lot of emotional abuse and gaslighting. We see a woman who despite her hardships, finally finds the courage to stand up for herself. I found the pacing slow and repetitive. The story spends too much time on Harriett’s shitty exes and very little time on developing her character. Her relationships with Cal and her best friend felt very superficial. I felt like cheering at the end of this one, even though the "romance element" was not central to the plot for a change.On the slightly negative side, I did feel that for me personally too much time was devoted to the exes here, particularly as there is not just Scott, but Jon too, not to mention we have Cal's ex Kristina, the woman he jilted at the altar! As such it often feels like there is too much going on in the book and no breathing space. When it comes to Jon, I did actually like the portrayal of his character, and that it was not just him to blame for the failing of this relationship, but Harriet too, as whilst she may not have admitted it to herself at the time, she was in many ways using Jon as a safe bet after Scott. As such I thought both relationships made sense in terms of the context in which they were presented, however, it did mean that the present day evolving relationship with Cal didn't get as much air time, and given how much I liked the scenes that Cal and Harriet did have together, I just thought this a shame. Also whilst they totally worked as friends throughout most of the book, and whilst there was an undeniable spark between them, I did think the ending felt rushed and may be not quite convincing between them, simply because it hadn't been properly built up to. A dream house-share seems like the perfect place to hide, but her unlikely housemate Cal is no stranger to running away himself. And he's also hiding secrets of his own . . . But this time Harriet has a surprise coming to her: at her darkest hours, one of her friends betrayed her, but a new one proved to be touchingly loyal when she needed him most.
Mad about You: The biggest romcom of 2022: heart-warming
The writing was typical McFarlane, she tries to be breezy through some tough topics, but it doesn't work. Also there's a whole info dump told to readers via a letter that I loathed. It was such a cheap move to do and I think that it happened because at that point we were at around the 50 percent mark or more and we still didn't know what happened in Harriet's past besides it affected her still. As a reader though, you end up wishing for a romance that is much more carefree and open, and which spells into action. It isn’t sufficient to just read their thoughts about love and how they feel about each other, the reader in me craved more. That being said, the kind of love that you witness in Mad About You feels genuine and warm, and uplifting, if not deeply passionate.My heart always soars at a new Mhairi novel, I love love love her. She's so great at treading the narrow line between humour and loss. I read this with delight and envy' Marian Keyes, Again, Rachel
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