My thanks to Netgalley and to Transworld Publishers, Penguin, Random House, Corgi Books for an ARC of this novel in return for an honest review. I requested it on the description but regretted it almost immediately I began reading, but I ploughed determinedly on. Several times I was tempted to give up, but then read a passage that gave me hope that it might develop into something that was going to be OK. On reflection, after finishing the book, my problem was that if I couldn’t bond with the chief protagonist, it didn’t bode well for the book. The heroine, Arden Hall, is not a likeable character. Thinking back to my student days, I would never have dreamt of behaving like her. I couldn’t have cared less about this irritating female. The fact that she had a rotten upbringing didn’t excuse anything. Brought up by an immoral mother her own morals were shot. And the male lead, the lecturer, Mac Bartley Thomas, with whom Arden engineers an affair, is self-serving and duplicitous. Written in the first person, it adds to the self cantered feeling. There are alternating chapters of the heroine's student life and her present-day existence. This gives some exploration of how an earlier life made these two characters the people they are today.

It was quite a clever idea to link the story into the films watched/studied by the two lead characters. But the fact that I hadn’t actually seen any of the films involved didn’t really help me. Perhaps other readers with greater film knowledge might fare better. I’ve always thought of films as light entertainment, a diversion from real life. Did they honestly merit serious analysis? For me, this became a bit of a leaden read and I developed a love-hate relationship with the novel. Sometimes I didn’t know if I could read any more, then came a good bit. The ending was extremely good.. Having said all that, many themes are explored in the book. It might possibly be good for a reading group discussion if they didn’t mind a rather girly, self-centred book.

‘Do you ever wonder what happens after the end of the movie?’ I say. ‘After all the decisions have been made, all the kissing has been done, the baddies have been banged up, the goodies have found the treasure? Do you wonder what comes next?’

You, Me and the Movies is a book that certainly grows on you with its bittersweet, nostalgic reflections about past regrets and future possibilities. This story alternates between present day middle aged Arden and her reminiscing about the great love affair of her life with Mac when she was a university student. It is interesting to see how the dual narratives progress with its impact on present day.

‘I know I am a survivor, that I have survived so much, but I don’t know how to move on from it. How to get the old me back. I want to be funny and optimistic. I want to be someone people are happy to spend time with. It seems I have forgotten how to be that person.’

The highlight for me is, of course, the movie referencing. With Mac only able to converse (present day) with short references to famous films, it provides Arden with the trigger to reflect on what was and what has evolved. The list of classic movies provide the catalyst to all that unfolds in the reminiscing. A self confessed movie buff, I relished the references, everything from classics such as Casablanca and Kramer versus Kramer, to modern day ones such as Pretty Woman. I reveled in their discussion and analysis of the films, both in isolation and in tandem with how events were unfolding in the story. They provided the perfect link between the past and present narratives, providing the spark for often bittersweet reflections, yet simultaneously, a stimulus for fleshing out unfulfilled promises to younger selves. Will they provide the bridge to reconnect with the world when Arden thought there were no possibilities?

‘Showing up is not enough, I think. So much more is required. I want and need to apologize, to start over, to build a bridge I’m not sure I have the tools for. I simply don’t know where or how to start. ‘

This book slowly trundles along (a bit too dragged out in some passages) but I encourage you to persevere for the ending is heartfelt and enlightening. Don’t worry ... you don’t need to have watched all the films in question in order to enjoy the book (but it does deepen one’s appreciation). Also, this most certainly is not a light hearted romance. It is a well written story with an array of engaging characters with the themes of regret and redemption.

‘Mac believed in the magic of the movies, the finite Hollywood ending. But I also knew what he was saying was true–there were some things that weren’t magical, or turned out the way you wanted.’

Arden has had a tough time of it, from the benign neglect of her parents to an abusive past relationship. This has caused her to shut off emotionally from everyone and everything around her, but a chance encounter with her first love leads Arden down a nostalgia trip, which also allows her to lay some old ghosts to rest, and slowly start to open up and live her life again.
I'm not ashamed to say that this book made me sob. It also made me laugh, smile in recognition and want to go on a Netflix binge of all the movies referenced in the book. I absolutely loved it.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Good book, got emotional at times, different from my normal choice, but amazing book all the same! Really liked that the characters were relatable! Will be reading more from the author

This book is about Arden and her journey through her past and present. When she comes across her former love Mac. Mac has been in a terrible accident and whilst visiting someone else is found alone by Arden. What follows is a re-discovery of Arden’s past life and what she was like with Mac but also allows Arden to heal from more recent heartbreak. Through meeting Mac again Arden is able to live.

This was a very interesting book. A chance meeting at a hospital leads to memories coming to mind about a past encounter years ago.

I loved how each meeting led to a memory and how the film triggered this.

The ending was a great twist and loved getting to know the characters both now and from the past.

We meet Arden at the end of so much that has happened in her life. She's in a job she tolerates, the area she wanted, not the role, and she is still recovering from an abusive marriage. It could be a horrific beginning to any novel, but the gentle humour and the hints at the misery she faced, are enough and Ms Collins never dwells too heavily on the negative. A chance visit to the local hospital, towing behind an old friend to visit another after he's broken his leg, leads Arden to encounter once more the married (now divorced) lecturer she had an affair with thirty years before at Warwick university. Mac has been in a car crash and his injuries are severe, and he doesn't talk. But when he sees Arden he is able to mutter lines from movies they watched together when he was lecturing on Film Studies. Arden begins to re-live those halcyon days with Mac, returning each day to visit in the hospital, as institutionalised as he is. But there her life begins to start again and she finds the strength to forget the past and look towards a future she thought was beyond her.

Few books make me cry but this one did. As well as being an unlikely love story, one that to be honest doesn't quite work for me, there is a story of deep friendship and that resonated more with me and I think Ms Collins could have made a little more of that rather than keep it as a very sub plot. Some characters could have been developed further, differentiated more, and Arden can be deeply irritating and unlikable. Her vicious and callous dismissal of the wife, her sense that she's the one who has been betrayed, is childish and petulant, The scramble to make all this OK because they really loved each other is desperate and no happily married, unsuspecting reader could easily forgive her, especially after the full consequences of the affair are revealed. And she never seems to feel much in the way guilt, not as she does over her damaged friendship with uni flat-mate Becky.

But it is unashamedly romantic, funny, tragic and ultimately satisfying. Arden is perfect, perfectly portrayed, perfectly voiced, flawed, and yet one has to like her. She paid a huge price for her stolen months with Mac, and for that she deserves sympathy. There's a good girl in there and she starts to emerge like a butterfly from a dull cocoon.

For anyone who knows me, they would know that films and movies are one of my big loves. Whereas my reading genres are more or less fixed, my film viewing is a little more eclectic, although I steer clear of horror in any format.

This book really appealed to me as not only was it romance-driven, it also brought several great movies to life.

The timeline jumps back and forth, starting with present-day Arden, who is just drifting along in life, not overly happy in her job and has escaped from a mentally abusive husband and is not looking to find another love. A chance meeting with an old friend leads to her visiting another old friend in hospital and by chance, discovering her one true love and lecturer Mac. This leads to flashbacks to her student days when she and Mac were involved in a passionate affair, based on movies as this was Mac’s vocation.

Present-day Mac is unable to speak, save for a few words which are movie references to ‘The List’, a list of films he was working on for his students, which Arden watched with him during their affair, giving her own insights and opinions.

As their affair continues, you already know it’s doomed to end, given that they haven’t seen each other for thirty years but it’s how the affair ends and it’s the effect on Arden that makes you keep reading. As she visits Mac, gets to know his neighbour James who is also visiting and also searches for Mac’s estranged son Lloyd, Arden starts to blossom and come out of her shell. We also learn about Arden’s family, her parents, who had a huge impact on her life both as a student and an adult.

The ending was inevitable yet satisfying, it was the only sensible conclusion to this wonderful story of love, loss and rebirth that made me both happy and sad at the same time.

For romance lovers and movie lovers, this will capture your heart and soul

Sweet, frothy and heartbreaking all at the same time, You, Me And The Movies shows us the romance between film studies lecturer Mac Bartley-Thomas and student Arden as it unfolded decades earlier, showing us how it shaped their lives for years afterwards. It’s unusual because while you’re following their romance, shown in flashback, at the same time you’re also rooting for a very different love story.

It’s hard to say much more about the plot without giving it all away, but part of its charm was the way the story used famous films to bring Arden and Mac's relationship vividly to life. Bags of nostalgia, too, for what was, in a way, a more innocent, hopeful time. I want to be clear, though, this isn’t only a romance, although there’d be nothing wrong with it if it were, this is a book which is as much about finding yourself and the value of friendship as it is about a love story. And, it was refreshing to read something which avoided the usual boy meets girl tropes.

Beautifully written, really vivid characters and setting. Oh, and don’t worry, you don’t need to have watched all the films in question in order to enjoy the book. It kept me going through several train rides, drove me to fish about in my handbag for a tissue at one point, and has made me want to watch Pretty Woman all over again.

This is a nice work of chick-lit; it is written well, and not all of the characters were one-dimensional (except, her son, Julian, maybe a mother's love is blind - but he was absolutely a cardboard cut-out of a character). But, the dimension they're given is a tragic-backstory (or two) per person and that somewhat decreases the realness. Yes, we all have past hurts, but not every person has a cinematic/melodramatic/childhood trauma that exists just to be healed by finding 'Big Love'.
I found Arden really off-putting for the first few chapters, but once the flashback narrative got going she really came together for me. I like that her youthful faults were believable, and that she could see them as an adult - without only seeing them. The story tread that line well. She was a little more frustrating as an adult, given that she'd apparently not learned anything but damage in the intervening years, so we still had to go through an another epiphany or two before she got out of her own way and found some happiness.
The role 'The List' of movies plays in the flashback narrative is a clever and pleasant conceit. I'm on board with how that was done. But, for a Lecturer and a-wannabe-film-studies-major their analyses were always pretty Intro-level. Maybe they aren't the point so the author didn't want to spend narrative space on them? I'm not sure it was a missed opportunity, but it might have distanced me from the narrative at times.
Overall, this was a light and engaging read, it was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon or two.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me this ARC to review.

I didn't enjoy this book very much - it felt a lot like wish-fulfilment on the part of the author. It's a shame, because I really liked the premise of seeing a relationship develop through films, but I just felt that the premise wasn't executed well enough. Arden wasn't a particularly likeable character, even once she'd had her epiphany. I also really disliked the way the mother's character was treated. Yes, bad relationships exist between mother and daughter, but I did feel that Collins should have explored the reasons behind Marilyn's actions more, and that Arden should have been able to draw the lines between her own behaviour and her mother's to create, if not sympathetic, at least a more understanding relationship. I know this book is set in the 80s and therefore language had to be used accordingly, but hearing Arden call her mother a slut when she herself was having an affair with a married man felt very hypocritical. Also I know we were viewing the character through Arden's youthful eyes and so that's part of the point, but Mac's character was pure cliche. The best part was the relationship between Becky and Arden - I liked how that storyline was concluded. To be honest I'm quite disappointed, as I feel this could have been a much better book.

As a cinephile, I loved this book. It was an interesting plot device to weave the backstory of Arden & Mac’s growing relationship around their viewing of films and it worked very well. The films chosen were the perfect reflection of the protagonists and their relationship and their emotions at the time.

It made me laugh, cry and nod in agreement at some of the film criticism given by the characters. A story of romance, regret and new beginnings.

A light, easy read alternating back and forth between the late 1980s and present day. Movies and music that meant a lot to me when I was at Uni. Well drawn out and likeable characters, a little predictable, but perfect beach read.

This was such a unique story! I loved the alternative timelines element of it, and found the film references really interesting - I've gained quite the list of films to go away and watch after reading this.

I have to say though, the supposed passion between the two main characters was lacking somewhat for me, and I definitely though that element of the novel could have been improved upon. Maybe a different plot structure could have improved this? I don't know, something about it just didn't feel genuine, which did affect my enjoyment of this novel.

Still a lovely book though!

I loved this book! The alternating timelines between past and present kept me gripped as Arden and Mac’s story unfolded. I really felt the passion of their love albeit through their flawed characters - that just made them more human. It was a story of hope and healing and I loved the way Arden rediscovered herself, relearning the lessons from her youth and affair with a Mac to heal her in the present so she could accept the final gift of love.

Film lovers will adore this book I'm sure. Arden is divorced and struggling to come to terms with her troubled marriage. She goes to visit a friend in hospital when she happens to meet an old flame who is being treated there after suffering serious brain damage. He was her lecturer at college and they have a mutual obsession with films. He has very limited speech but is able to make brief references to films they loved and watched together. Each of these references takes her back to a time when she was much happier. I found this a very sad story and although I enjoyed reading it I didn't always feel the relationship between Mac and Arden was convincing. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher, Transworld Digital for an ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
Again a very good read and one I can highly recommend to others.
I could not put this down.
Thoroughly enjoyable.

I thought that the love story between Arden and Mac seemed to be just a student crush that turned into a sexual affair and nothing I read showed that this was the love of their lives, as they just said it was later. The shared passion for films was over done. The story of the affair was told in flashback which probably weakened it's effect. I just didn't believe it. Arden's relationships with her mother and husband were told rather than shown so they did not come to life, and her son only made an appearance at the end. I think this had the makings of a really passionate love story but for me, the structure of the plot was all wrong and you have to like the main characters to believe in them, which I did not.

A wonderfully charming and feel-good book of 2019! Uniquely crafted with classic Hollywood movies referenced throughout, You, Me and the Movie is a uplifting tale of lost love rediscovered that will have you hooked from start to finish.

Now excuse me while I go and watch all the movies from Arden's and Mac's list!

I was looking forward to this book and overall it was a pleasant read but it made me realise how many classics I have not seen!
The book was a bit of a slow burner flitting between the 'then' of Ardie and Mac and the 'now'. I think this is more suited to those with a genuine interest in films because so much of the narrative is spun from the characters' relationships with each other and film.