You Had Me at Hello

Your enjoyment of You Had Me at Hello will depend sorely on how much Ben you can tolerate. Sadly, I couldn’t tolerate much.

This saddens me so much, because the premise for this book is wonderful. We’ve all had that one person who’s “got away”, so it is supposed to be easy to relate to this story.

It starts off pretty strong too! We see Rachel & Ben in college, where it all started. Ben jokingly (and so cutely!!!) proposes to Rachel and then we’re thrust into present day, 13 years later. Rachel is unhappily engaged to someone else, and hasn’t heard from Ben in over a decade.

For the most part, this book is told in past and present POV’s. The past POV shows us Rachel’s life with Ben in college, while the present POV tells show more shows us how Rachel has been dealing with her life after her fallout with Ben.

What motivated me to keep reading was the fact that I wanted to know why they stopped speaking to each other.

After I actually found out, I was left feeling so disappointed. It made me hate the situation even more and frankly removed an overall star from my rating.

Rachel seems like a very put-together girl, and I value her honesty at the beginning and her courage to have broken off her engagement because she wasn’t happy. After this, when Ben comes into the picture she turns into this lovesick, indecisive, girl who is suddenly unable to speak her mind and decides to settle for whatever it is Ben can offer her.

Which, let’s get this out of the way first: Ben is married. Yes, you heard me correctly. He is not only married, but also happily married. So now begins the constant hot/cold back and forth game between Ben & Rachel.

I hate Ben. I seriously do. Ben is like this annoying rock in your shoe. You think it’ll stop annoying you eventually, but then it’s midday and the rock is really digging into your foot and you feel as if the only solution is to either cut off your foot or set the rock on fire (just me…?). Point is, whenever you thought you couldn’t get any more annoyed by Ben, there he went, annoying you even more!

He said he loved his wife, he said he was happily married, he said he didn’t give a crap about Rachel’s love life, except that’s what it all was. Words. Whenever Rachel did as much as look at someone who wasn’t Ben, he would go all possessive and weird. And then everyone tries to make Rachel feel bad as if she were trying to break apart a marriage or something! I really couldn’t deal with something that was so clearly Ben’s fault.

Something else that really bothered me was the ending. So much angst and drama! I really could’ve done without it. It left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, and a scowl for the rest of the week.

What I did like was Rachel’s group of friends. They were all so quirky and fun! I wanted to be friends with them in real life. I also liked the college scenes because Rachel & Ben were much more tolerable then. There’s no doubt that Mhairi McFarlane is a great author, however this book needed much more editing and revision.

Overall, a book that tells us that when the one who got away comes back, you have to act like a total idiot and wait until he gains the courage to either dump his wife for you OR lead you on and then dump you for his wife. Both outcomes WILL make YOU the villain of the story and everyone you know will very likely see you as a ho.Also, you are a monster who deserves no sympathy. And ugly.

This book could have been something really great, but due to my strong dislike for the main characters, and the lack of real story, I really could not bring myself to rate it something more than 2 stars. show less

3.5

De verdad quise odiar este libro, odiarlo mucho, destruirlo y que nadie más lo lea. ¿Por qué? Más allá de que los primeros capítulos se me hicieron difíciles de seguir, me daba a entender que la trama iría de un modo que me haría sentir incómoda. Pero. Pero quería saber si mis sospechas eran ciertas y el libro no tenía originalidad y apuntar a la cara de la escritora y decirle "HA-HA ya lo sabía", pero si bien se me hizo tedioso el inicio, después solo no pude parar de leer, a mi reader se le acabo la batería y estaba pegada al tomacorriente leyendo.

Como dije pensé que este libro sería plano de leer, pero una vez que los flashbacks empiezan, el dolor empieza, te enamoras de este amistad, y sabes con clarísima show more certeza que es ésta la forma correcta (en teoría) como una gran romance podría empezar pero también por lo que el libro te cuenta sabes no pasó.

“...the life with him you feel like you lost out on, it’s perfect because it’s a fantasy and it’s a fantasy because it’s perfect.”

Ben y Rachel son asquerosamente adorables, lo que el libro nos dices es ¿Qué pasa si encuentras a la persona correcta y no te das cuenta y encima no es el momento adecuado? Y también ¿Qué pasa si sabes con certeza es la persona correcta pero aún así sigue siendo un momento inadecuado? ¿Qué haces? La segunda "oportunidad" de Rachel y Ben sentía que iba hacerme incómoda si se desarrollaba descaradamente, solo que la escritora me sorprendió no cayendo en lo fácil y eso incluso que mis emociones estuvieran mucho más enredadas, porque si bien me gustó como al final uno de los personajes reacciona, me hizo sentir mal por el otro, porque sí, estaba mal, no era el momento pero es que... es que...

You Had Me at Hello para mí no fue perfecto, alguna veces se exageraba con las descripciones y tuve que saltarme párrafos, pero eso fue sólo al inicio, pero fue una historia que disfruté mucho leer. Aunque para mí hubiera sido perfecto si el libro terminaba en el penúltimo capítulo. Éste libro es sobre tomar decisiones y no dejar que se tomen solas, sobre perder el miedo porque después será demasiado tarde.

Vas a reír, vas a desesperarte y enamorarte de la falta de cronometraje de esta dos personas.

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I love Ben and Rachel though I deplore their timing, but then we wouldn't have this fabulous book. They're the best of friends but always seem to be involved with someone else when it's obvious to all (at least me) they belong together. It's heartbreaking and heartwarming and all the feels in-between.
I also liked that it's set in Manchester, a vibrant city I visited pre-Covid. I'm not sure I've read any other books set there (maybe one historical work).
Anyway, I can't say enough good things about this book and Mhairi McFarlane also. Do yourself a favor and grab a copy for a good read.

I really like Mhairi McFarlane's light novels and You Had Me at Hello was no exception. The story doesn't always hold together perfectly, but McFarlane write with a humorous touch and her characters are intelligent and likable. The story follows Rachel, a reporter with a local paper in Manchester, who had a best friend while in university, but they parted ways after graduation. Now Ben has moved to Manchester and they rekindle their friendship. Rachel likes her job and is training a new court reporter, who may be less scrupulous than Rachel.

This is a fun, escapist novel about intelligent, likable people. Rachel is fun to spend time with, she loves her job, if not all her co-workers, and her friends are written as actual people who have show more more to do than be foils and sounding boards for Rachel. And the plot, slight though it was, moved along at a pleasant pace. I need to remember to read books like this one more often. show less

Rachel has spent a lot of years denying certain emotions, content to float along the path of least resistance. But the moment she decides marrying her long time boyfriend Rhys is the wrong path, she starts the process of finally growing up emotionally. There's a fun romance of Rachel reuniting with college buddy Ben - but that too comes with the price of admitting how she really feels about him - and finally having the courage to admit the truth.

An enjoyable read with believable characters and witty storytelling. Over-prolonged conflict felt tiresome, but good overall.

Just freak'n' awesome! Got about half done and school intruded. I knew I wanted to wait until I could read the rest of it in one sitting and it was more than worth the wait. Do not read reviews that try to explain this gem. Let the story unfold in its own magical way.