The Best Thing I Never Had by Erin Lawless Book Review

The Best Thing I Never Had by Erin Lawless is a story about the tangled web of relationships, friendships, and secrets from university days. It’s an interesting tale of how the past can affect our present, as we follow seven characters whose lives are intertwined and who must confront their past in order to move forward. But is this book worth a read? Let’s find out.

Click me to go to my Review

Synopsis

Five years ago at university they had been seven friends who laughed hard and loved harder…

Nicky and Miles were the couple that were always meant to be. Leigha and Adam, not so much.

So when Adam and Harriet grow close during endless days in the library, they do the one thing that changes everything – they keep a secret. And when it comes out, it all falls apart.

As the day approaches for bridesmaids to be chosen and best men to fulfil drunken promises, Nicky and Miles realise their wedding isn’t just a wedding, it’s a reunion – loaded with past hurts, past regrets, and past loves…

About The Author

You’d probably like Erin Lawless; she’s quite nice.

She lives a happy life full of wonderful friends, in love with a man who buys her books instead of flowers. To mix things up a little, she write books where friends and lovers hit obstacles and (usually) overcome them. When she’s not doing that she’s reading absolutely everything she can get her hands on, spending an inordinate amount of time in pyjamas and running a fun-but-informative blog on British history.

My Review

Seven people meet at university, some old friends from school and others new friends and form a bog friendship group soead over two houses. They spend their final year together and form friendships and relationships to last a lifetime. Only things don’t turn out as planned and through the secrets and lies told they become split apart, only to be drawn back together for the wedding of one couple five years later.

This book was picked as our February book club read and looked really interesting with the promise of more information to follow when we review the book through someone connections. Even more intriguing!

I tend to try to be positive when I review books but this one was a difficult task. I first wanted to give up early on then again by around 20% but persisted because a) it was a book club read and b) on checking the reviews, they were good suggesting the book would get better and it did to be fari but not for a long while.

Part one takes up the large majority of the book and is slow, drawn, out and above all, confusing. All seven characters are introduced at once and the changing perspectives are hard to follow so you struggle to know who you are following at times. Certainly, at the 20% mark when discussing with a friend at the same point, neither of us could name the seven characters as they were so nondescript. This was an issue which made the plot hard work, especially it’s a completely character driven plot.

Part two picks up greatly, so much so that it feels like it was either written by another author entirely or that the author has come back some time later, with more experience and written it. They are completely at odds with the writing style and pace of part one and far more enjoyable, which provides the saving grace of this book.

The characters were not well developed, they are all quite similar and easily confused and none, aside from Adam seem remotely likeable. Leigha is by far the worst character, I detested her (perhaps she was intentionally written this way as I believe this is based on true life) but she was so awful, I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to be her friend, let alone date her. Suki isn’t much better, she seemed friendly to begin with but very quickly changed when the situation changed and didn’t recover. Harriet was sappy and irritating because she wouldn’t stand up for herself or go for what she wanted, instead she seemed to mope around doing not a lot. Nicky was one of the better ones but still not great, she came across as sweet and cute but a bit boring with not a lot going on aside from her relationship with Miles. She even sacrifices what she wants for him which could have added something interesting to the story.

The boys aren’t much better. Miles is totally selfish, allowing Nicky to give her whole life for him. Johnny is another sap who can’t see the wood for the trees and treats all his subsequent girlfriends appallingly, hoping they are someone else. Adam is the one saving grace, he is clearly a good guy, he treated Harriet like a queen and wore his heart on his sleeve. He is a romantic and doesn’t care what others thought of him and Harriet despite their protestations.

Erin Lawless has created a slow paced read which doesn’t sit particularly well for me. I found it difficult to connect with or root for the characters due to disliking them and the overwhelming perspectives was tiring. This could be improved by focusing more on one or two characters instead of trying to juggle so many different storylines at once.

Overall, The Best Thing I Never Had by Erin Lawless is a good read if you have patience for slow plots and lots of characters. While there may be too many perspectives for some readers to handle, those who are able to push through will be rewarded with an engaging part two which was well written and enjoyable. If you enjoy stories about complicated relationships between friends from university days, then this one is a good read for you!

Rated