Review-How we Met, Katy Regan

A contemporary story of love, friendship and grief, told with Katy's inimitable laugh-out-loud humour, poignancy and heart.

There are some people you can’t imagine life without.

Liv Jenkins had been meticulously planning her ultimate to-do list – from the outrageous to sensible – of everything she longed to do before her dreaded thirtieth birthday, but when tragedy struck she never got the chance…

Two years later, Liv’s five closest friends have come together on the anniversary of her death and have made a pact: they will complete Liv’s to-do list in tribute to her memory.

Over the next year, before what would’ve been Liv’s thirtieth birthday, her friends set out to complete the tasks. But along the way deeply buried secrets, silent guilt, unrequited love and years of lies, rise to the surface rocking their friendships.

When they reach the end of Liv’s list the final task shakes the group to their core and they realise that they must face their futures and the consequences of their pasts, and with Liv’s help, live the lives they have always dreamed of.

Review: I didn't know what to expect with this novel, another recommendation from twitter and a lovely present to receive. What I found was a meaty story full of characters just like me and storylines both gripping and entertaining! Although the main characters are a group of 6 friends, the two main characters are actually young mum Mia and grieving Fraser. At first I was worried that I wouldn't like these characters because both were fairly self indulgent but I really bang to empathise with them and recognise parts of my own personality in their traits. Their friendship grows stronger and stronger as the book goes on and it really is lovely to travel along the journey with them.

It took me a while to get into the storyline, although the idea of the friends completing the wish list of their departed sixth was very attractive. I though at first the pace of the book was fairly slow, but it soon picked up and the storyline between the five, or six, friends was beautifully woven together. The author has identified well the things that people in their late twenties and early thirties have to go through and this makes the book even more enjoyable.

The author has got into the minds of all the characters. The ways in which they behave and the things that they say could all have come from myself, I couldn't believe how well written they were, and how well Regan has got inside their minds. I expected to shed a tear and although I didn't, I have no doubt that other readers will not have as much resolve as I did! I would recommend this book to anyone who has experience of friendship at this point in their lives. If you too find the beginning slow to get going, preserver because it is well worth it to enjoy this in depth insight into grief and friendship. A thoroughly annoy able tale!