Don't You Forget About Me

CW: Harrowing and detailed flashback description of sexual assault

I've seen some reviews that criticize this book for not being the fluffy romantic comedy that the cover picture and description promise. Blame the publisher for misleading you, folks, not the author. Mhairi McFarlane has written a very strong, memorable novel about a young woman finally taking back her life 12 years after a devastating event derailed it. Yes, we've got the typical Chick Lit set up of “heroine loses her job and boyfriend in one fell swoop,” but the situation is a lot more nuanced than that. Our heroine Georgina has let her family define her as “the screw-up,” and has let men make her feel inadequate, but as she learns the truth about some family secrets and is forced to confront her ex as he basically stalks her, she becomes more proactive about her choices instead of reactive to other people's actions and wishes, and more accepting of herself as well. By the time she literally “speaks truth to power” about the horrible night that changed everything , she has become the hero in her own story, and the fact that she gets a second chance with “the one who got away” is almost secondary in importance.

So if you're looking for a lighthearted feel-good romance, you might be disappointed. But if you want a genuine story about how a woman finally learns to not let the past define her, and oh yeah, ends up with a great guy too, you will be moved and impressed by McFarlane's latest. Mild spoiler postscript:YMMV about whether Lucas is a great guy or not. He really comes through for Georgina in the end, but he is pretty dickish to her at first (not without reasons, he thinks). And he's not without some blame in the events of 12 years ago, although he was admittedly a clueless teenager who was feeling very hurt at the time but took the first opportunity to think the worst of Georgina. Back in the present, he apologizes profusely for not realizing what she had experienced, but I have to wonder how much that night will color their relationship moving forward. I hope they get some counseling!