Review – The Best Thing I Never Had by Erin Lawless

This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.

Seven friends. Five years have passed and now two of them are getting married, which can only mean one thing: those past drunken promises of being best men and bridesmaids are coming to fruition. But when some friends didn’t part on the best of terms, can they all come back together for the wedding of the year?

Nicky and Miles are getting married. It was always going to happen. Together since university, the two have been pretty much inseparable, flying the flag for couples everywhere who made it through drunken nights, drinking games and bed hopping during their university days and came out intact. No bride and groom can be without their friends at their wedding so the obligatory text messages are sent out to Adam, Johnny, Leigha, Harriet and Sukie, who have all now gone their separate ways and are leading normal lives. During their riotous days at university, the group did everything together – from games night to beach party fancy dress in February, but when Leigha fell for Adam and Adam fell for … well … just about everybody, things began to get tense. When, during endless days in the library, Adam grew close to Harriet (Leigha’s friend and housemate), things became even more complicated.

This is a tale of close friendship – until Adam and Harriet kept a secret from the group that blew everything apart. Now they face not only a wedding, but a reunion.

I loved this book. As soon as I began reading I was sucked into a world that I once adored – my own university days. The book goes back in time to September 2006 when the group are in their third year. Reading the tales of drinking games and going to lectures in pyjamas reminded me of my own experience (which was scarily similar!) and the wonderful group of friends that I made. The conversations between characters are well written and I believed entirely in each one. It was incredibly realistic. However, as with most friendship groups, there are fractures and things at times become strained, especially between characters Harriet, Leigha and Adam.

As we follow the group through their final year at university, we find out that Leigha fancies Adam, Adam fancies Harriet and Harriet thinks Adam is a time-wasting womanizer who takes nothing seriously and has hurt her friend. A recipe for disaster? Absolutely. As Adam pursues Harriet and she begins to warm to him, I knew that it could only ever end in tears, but I was engrossed in the story nonetheless. The group’s friendship captivated me and I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen once they were all reunited at the wedding, older and perhaps, wiser?

What I enjoyed most about this book is exactly what it says on the cover: “So much more than a love story, more of a life story.” It had a unique warmth and even though the funny university antics are punctuated with moments of sadness, it is never melancholy.

A lovely, warm read to snuggle up on the sofa with.

9/10

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