Everything about this book is cinematic. Right from the off, as Arden walks home alone during the weird post-Christmas/pre-New Year period, the author weaves words into vivid images which play in the mind. The intrinsic link to film is within the title, but I didn’t quite imagine the theme would quite so successfully translate as it did. It barely felt as if I was reading at all – this book is just screaming out to be made into a film!

I devoured this novel, and my initial thoughts that it would be light and fluffy were proved wrong. The main character, Arden is a complex character. Her past completely and utterly defines her present in such a way that it cripples her from living life. The Arden of the present is a shell, and the contrast could not be more stark when we see her as she once was; young, vivacious and in love with Mac, a university professor who she happens across two decades later, a chance meeting which invokes her walk down memory lane.

As the reader gets to learn more about Arden and about her past relationship with Mac, it is obvious that he fulfills the movie stereotype of The Leading Man, at least in Arden’s mind. Theirs was a complex relationship, and there were times when I wondered how much of a reliable narrator Arden was, and whether her love of film had shone an idealistic light on this relationship and this man, particularly given the progressively dark path she had gone down since. Although I loved the exploration of their relationship, I never felt a yearning for them to be together, in fact I questioned just how good he actually was for her. I quickly felt very protective over Arden, and what I wanted for her was lasting happiness and for her to be free of the crushing belief that she wasn’t good enough, which was heartbreaking to read.

The novel is one of rediscovery for Arden. Her memories a poignant reminder of everything she hasn’t done with her life. As much as her present is tinged with sadness, as the layers are peeled back and we learn more, there is also hope and love to be found. I was left with a tear in my eye on more than one occasion.

The one relationship I was rooting for, however was Arden and Becky. Once best friends, the circumstances of Arden’s life has torn them apart. I could have wept for Arden as she considered herself unworthy of friendship. For me, friendship was a more central and a more important theme than romance. Whether it be the broken friendship between Arden and Becky or the strangely awkward, developing friendship between Arden and James as they sat by Mac’s bedside.

I also found the mother/daughter relationship between Arden and her mother, Marilyn to be particularly interesting. A family member close to me has a similarly complicated relationship with their mother and as such I well understood Arden’s misplaced sense of duty and the sense of loss for the person her mother should have been to her. It was the one area of the book that I didn’t feel as if I had a true sense of closure – perhaps it was simply that my personal connection coloured my reading of it, but I finished the book feeling wanted something more from this element.

I can’t close off this review without talking about the movies themselves. The List of movies Mac and Arden watch together throughout their relationship, I, rather shamefully, had watched only a couple of, and even then it was more than a decade ago. Because of this book, however, one of my promises to myself this year is to watch more classic films – both on The List and not. I’ve recently watched Fatal Attraction, the first on The List and I thought it was fantastic. I wonder if I watched all those films mentioned in the book, if I’ll pick up little easter eggs I didn’t notice the first time round?

Everything about this book uplifted me and left my heart singing by the end. Pain and heartbreak drives the story, but hope, love and friendship are woven wonderfully into the narrative. It’s a beautiful story about the ability to rediscover yourself and take charge of your own life – no matter what your story, or your age.

You do really need to be a film buff for this one.
In some places it just went into too much detail on the films leaving me struggling to not be bored.
Not for me overall.

My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this book, it came out of nowhere and I absolutely fell in love, I'm going to be completely honest and tell you this wasn't the straight up romance I was expecting BUT, that's not a bad thing, I loved reading about Arden and Mac's past relationship and the fun element too it, it was a bit of a taboo relationship, but that factor left me event lore invested because I needed to see where/how it ended.
The fun parts to the past, made the current day relationship even more heartbreaking, because I just wanted everything to work out.
The parts where Arden was re-igniting her university friendships with Rebecca and and Dom were my absolute favourite because it brought to the surface that if the friendship is genuine then it can past regardless of what happens.
James was adorable and I adored him from the minute he was introduced.
This was a really hard book to review because the bits that surprised me were the bits that made this a 5 star read and I'd hate to be the one to spoil this feeling for anyone.
Just please please go out and buy this book!
🐧❤️

My thanks to Random House U.K. Transworld Publishers/Corgi for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘You, Me and the Movies’ by Fiona Collins in exchange for an honest review.

Arden Hall is visiting a friend in hospital and unexpectedly comes across Mac, the handsome film professor that she fell in love with thirty years previously while she was studying at Warwick University. Their love affair had been all-consuming but it couldn’t last. Now he has been badly injured in a car accident and is unable to speak. However, seeing Arden he manages to say a short phrase that she immediately recognises as a reference to a film that they had watched together. This triggers Arden’s memory of their relationship.

The novel moves between Now and Then. Each of the ’Then’ chapters focuses on one of these classic films including ‘The Birds’, ‘Casablanca’, ‘Pretty Woman’, and ‘The Witches of Eastwick’. Each film also illustrates aspects of their relationship.

I found this a delightful, bittersweet romance that was especially notable to me as a life long film buff. I also appreciated that its past chapters are set in a part of the country that I know well including Warwick University.

I was amused that Arden commented that her full name sounded like that of a stately home to her as indeed there is a 17th Century manor in North Yorkshire with that name.

I feel that it will be a novel well suited for reading groups given the scope that it offers for discussion, including of how films can have an impact on our lives, as well as on issues linked to loss and relationships with family.

A beautifully written and highly engaging novel that I would certainly recommend.

I don't know why but I thought this book was set in 1950's America ! It's not, so it was different to what I expected.

The story is told both from the past and the present, with Arden reminiscing about her previous love along with "The List" which is a list of movies.

I enjoyed the storyline and the difference in Arden's personality as she matures due to her experiences. I also enjoyed the list of movies as I had seen most of them, so understood the references. I hadn't seen The Birds, and had always wanted to and have now watched it thanks to this book! And an officer and a gentleman is now on MY list!

A poignant read about love, loss and hope.

Wow!! I did wonder if this book would affect me and boy did it. Worthy of the 5 stars.

Beautifully written by describing memories of the classic movies they watched and debated over. I didn't get to sleep until early early morning and I'm still thinking about the storyline and how vividly it came across. Love the choice of movies chosen for "the list" and how Arden came across as immature young lady into a knowledgeable young woman due to the emotions felt by her affair with a university lecturer Mac and the movies she watched with him for his Films Study course that she wasn't even part of.

The story held my attention to see who Arden would chose in today's narrative, whether it would be Mac or Mac's neighbour James.

Make sure you have some hankies ready at the end.

I found this book a little confusing in the way that it jumps back and forwards in time. I prefer a book with a linear narrative, and in this case, the time-jumping made me wonder where the plot is going and what the main story arc actually is. I was also lost when it came to some of the movie references, and I think this book would have been more enjoyable if I had seen the movies it was referencing too. However, as the book goes on, Arden and James' friendship helps me to follow the plot a little better, and invest more in the characters. I think I might have given up on this book a while ago, but their friendship kept me reading, as I wanted to see what happened to them. This is a very emotional story, with lots of ups and downs, but I don't quite think it was for me because I did find it confusing and there wasn't much action to keep me hooked. But I am glad that I made it to the end, as I enjoyed the ending.

A pleasing read, wasn’t quite what I had expected but drew me in after the first few chapters and had me hooked! I think this will do very well and I can certainly think of quite a few friends who will love this! Definitely keen to read more from Fiona Collins! Thank you

I had not come across any books by Fiona Collins before, but liked her idea of using films to drive the plot along, so decided to give You, Me and the Movies a try. Told in the first person, this is the story of Arden Hall. Quite by chance, when visiting a friend in hospital, she meets an old boyfriend from her student days who has been recently injured in a car accident. He recognises her, but is unable to say very much so whispers cryptic clues to films they watched together, and triggers flashbacks to a time when she had her whole life ahead of her. The story alternates between present day and her time as a student at Warwick University. We gradually piece together the details of her relationship with Mac through the list of ten films that they watched together. I had seen all the films (though quite some time ago) which helped me make sense of the references; I’m not sure it would work so well if you were unfamiliar with them, and it was a trip down memory lane – I’m definitely going to watch them all again now.
This is not a light-hearted romantic comedy; it deals with some fairly serious issues like coercive control, infidelity, guilt, grief and lack of parental love. I found the first half of the book quite slow and depressing, and Arden a fairly unlikeable character, but gradually I began to see light at the end of the tunnel. It made me smile and made me sad, but despite the sadness I really loved the ending. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful, sad, entertaining and touching. Despite the egotistical main characters, this is a book filled with warmth and love. Ultimately uplifting. I loved it.

While visiting college friend Dominic in hospital, Arden finds ex lover and College lecturer Mac Bartley-Thomas in a neighbouring bed. He’s suffered serious head injuries in a car accident and is unable to speak other than the occasional mumbled word, but the pair manage to remind each other of the list of films they watched together during their affair.

An interesting tale, flitting between Arden’s current life and growing friendship with Mac’s neighbour James, and the story of her time with Mac and how the films came to represent her relationship with Mac. At times it felt a little laboured, as if trying to fill a few extra pages, but overall an entertaining story and enjoyable to read.

A good book to read to remind yourself of some of the classic films from before the Millennium.

DNF at 15%

This is a case of it's not the book, it is me.

My head is not in the right space for this book at this time.

Sorry, and thank you for the opporutunity

Unfortunately the writing style of this novel didn't work for me and I just couldn't get sucked into the story.

There was a lot of internal dialogue and 'conversation', at least in the beginnings of the novel, and I felt it distanced me from the happenings of the story.

I've always been a fan of the movies, and the old classics are special to me, so to read a book that referenced so many fantastic films was great!
Arden is a woman who is in a dark place, after the end of an awful marriage. She has shut herself away from everyone who cared about her, partly because her ex-husband made her, and partly because she feels shame at being so weak.
A twist of fate finds her visiting a friend in the hospital, and finding someone else there she knew before.
Mac - a film lecturer from her university, and her big love.
He's older and injured.
Unable to speak from injuries sustained in a car accident, they begin to share evenings together as she visits him, and revisits the past, recalling a list of movies they watched together, cataloguing their affair with each other.
Of course, she doesn't have him to herself. She shares her Mac with James, his neighbour.
Together, they ensure his visitor chair is never empty, and build a special friendship, sharing secrets about each other, that they've never told another soul.
Mac used to talk about Arden finding her Bigger Love, but she never believed him...

I really enjoyed this book. It was a little predictable with the ending, but sometimes you just want simple stories that don't have huge twists in them.
Saying that, it isn't a simple romantic story in the least, dealing with issues such as loss and separation, and the relationships between parent and child.

A recommended read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for an arc, in exchange for an honest review.

Arden is in a dark place following the ending of her abusive marriage to Christian. She is struggling to move on and get 'the old me back'. She feels guilty over how Christian treated her son Julian, and also because his possessiveness meant she pushed her friends away. One December night she bumps into her best friend Becky, and a visit to hospital to see their friend Dominic, changes everything for Arden. She sees another patient and realises is is Mac, her Big Love. She returns to see him and learns that he has suffered brain damage following a car accident, and is unable to speak. But seeing Arden ignites a spark in him and he utters his first words - a reference to the first film they ever watched together. Arden then thinks back to the time when she first met Mac. Having escaped a cruel mother, she begins life at Warwick University and is immediately drawn to Mac - a Film Studies lecturer. She has always loved films, and they begin an affair that is passionate and that makes her feel beautiful. As the story flips from Now to Then she recalls all the films they enjoyed together. On each visit to hospital, Mac utters a line from those films and Arden remembers who she used to be - unapologetic and fearless. Ultimately doomed to end in heartbreak, their affair nevertheless taught her how to love and seeing Mac again reminds her that she can love again. She rebuilds her friendships and makes peace with her past, and in doing so opens her heart to love again. A clever and sweet story of survival and hope.

My thanks to Netgalley and Transworld for a copy of You, Me and the movies for an honest review.
I was hooked by the write up for this book as I’m mad about old films..All those mentioned I’d seen so I felt involved with the storyline, and made me want to watch most of them again.
I thought it would be quite a lightweight tale but It dealt with serious themes of loss and having to make hard decisions in life.
I will be recommending this to others

Loved this. The story skips between past and present and is all tied together with memories of different movies. Loved it.

When I initially read the synopses of You, Me and the Movies I was deeply intrigued. It sounded like a fantastic novel that I’d enjoy and be deeply moved by. While many people may enjoy it, it just wasn’t the book for me.

I ended up “did not finishing” the book part of the way through as I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I intended. I didn’t feel a strong connection to any of the characters and with a book dealing with sensitive topics such as this, it’s crucial for me to want to find out more about each character. Given this, it made it difficult to continue on with the book as I didn’t have a desire to know more about their lives prior to the present.

While a lot of readers would be able to empathise and relate to Arden, I personally felt the age gap and life experience was too large and as I result I just couldn’t connect with her in the way I hoped. As I haven’t seen many of the movies quoted, a lot of the meaning surpassed me too.

The writing was great and Collins is quite clearly great at drawing in readers with her writing style. The spelling, punctuation and grammar was great too.

Overall this just wasn’t the book for me and as a result I wasn’t able to read the entire novel. I’d still like to read more from the author in the future however. Although I didn’t enjoy this book, given its content, it will definitely be loved by many and I can imagine that there won’t be many dry eyes as the novel progresses.

This one is definitely another kind of story.
I loved all the references about all those moments and movies related and I'm proud to say that I've seen more than half of them.
Now the story between Arden and Mac was a bit difficult to read for me because I rarely read cheating books when one of the characters is married, let alone student teacher one. But once I've blocked that though away, I enjoyed the story overall.
With all the ups and downs a person can have during their lives, this book it's interesting and well written.

While a great story, (have tissues avaliable), if you want to be gripped by a book, this wont grip you as it's predictable in places but if you just want to escape into a good easy read, this is it