The shortest book on my TBR cart was “…And A Happy New Year?” by Holly Bourne.

It’s a Spinster Club special that reunites Lottie, Evie, and Amber for a New Year party. It’s perfect reading for the first week of January.

And at 224 pages, it’s definitely the shortest book on the stack.

What it’s about?

Evie, Amber and Lottie are having a new year party to remember.

For the first time since leaving college, all three girls are back together. It’s time for fun and flirting, snogs and shots.

(And not tears or tantrums or terrible secrets)

Because everything’s going great for these girls – Spinster Club for ever! Right?

What I think:

Holly Bourne is the undisputed Queen of British YA as far as I am concerned.

Her novels are the absolute perfect blend of friendship and romance, mental health, and feminism. I am always recommending them to students I teach, and the books often get borrowed from my classroom library.

The Spinster Club is a fantastic trilogy of books focusing on the friendship between Evie, Lottie and Amber, which each girl taking a star turn in one of the books.

This special reunites the girls after their first term of university, returning home for the Christmas holidays and sharing New Year’s Eve with a party at Amber’s house.

Bourne perfectly captures the feeling of growing up and growing apart and trying to keep together a friendship that has meant so much.

All three girls are struggling with increasingly mature, adult relationships as first lives turn into something more serious.

They are also all carving out independent roads for themselves without the security of a small town and friends you have known for years.

There are tears, laughter, and beer pong as the girls get through the evening, share the secrets they have each been keeping, and redefine their friendship for the future.

I love this series! And this was a great way to kick off my 2023 challenge.