Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane (Review by Stephanie Rowitz)

Rating: 3/5

When a couple has been together as long as Roisin and Joe have, a lot of secrets are bound to be shared. What you don’t expect is for those secrets to be aired on a new TV show that your boyfriend writes for. The book starts out with the exposition of this betrayal in front of all Roisin and Joe’s friends. From there, Roisin tries to give her long-term boyfriend the benefit of the doubt, while also questioning everything she thought she knew about him, which seemed a little extreme. Sure, Joe using her personal experiences for his TV show without permission is a crappy thing to do. However, instead of talking to him directly about it, Roisin spirals out and believes she never really knew him at all.

Roisin then has a friend investigate Joe’s past to confirm her suspicions. Naturally, Roisin does all this behind Joe’s back, which shows this relationship wasn’t exactly built on a solid foundation to begin with.

This book definitely isn’t your typical romance novel. As Roisin slowly uncovers Joe’s lies, she finds herself growing closer to someone she didn’t expect–a friend who has been there for her all along. As expected he has a secret, too, and it might be a deal-breaker for Roisin. It’s a book about truths coming out and dealing with the consequences of your actions. While there’s a bit of a slow-burn romance in this book, I would place it more in the contemporary fiction category since it’s such a small part of the narrative.

Overall, I didn’t love Between Us because I didn’t like all the deceit. I just wanted these two characters to break up and not be so obsessed with catching the other in a lie. I get that this creates mystery, and perhaps even intrigue, but I didn’t think it was necessary for this kind of story. However, if you enjoy books about discovering who your partner really is and eventually finding the one you’re meant to be with, then this book might be for you.