Following the characters over the course of one hot summer weekend in London and Essex, Evenings and Weekends was nothing less than an astonishing book. A book I loved to its very bones. A book I will carry with me in my heart and mind. It is a book about relationships. About friendships. About family, About the messy ties that bind us. About queerness. About class. Most of all, it is a book about the city itself. A book that pulses with energy, with heat, with lust, with that sense of being in your late 20s and feeling invincible and fucked up and beautiful and ugly all at once. Each character was written with such compassion, and felt so incredibly real to me, to the extent that days later I found myself wondering how Rosaleen's treatment was going and how Ed was faring. Even Louis, who it would be easy to dismiss (the passage where he talks to Phil's mum Rosaleen, a call centre worker from Basildon, about a book he's read - a "historical materialist analysis which drew comparisons between the development of call centre working conditions and the development of factory working conditions in the nineteenth century" - is nothing short of brilliant) is given a depth that belies the reader's initial impression of him as a privileged rich boy. This is a book that will appeal to fans of Sally Rooney and absolutely deserves the wide readership her books have received.

everyone in this book felt so raw, and so real. i loved how messy and authentic everyone was - nothing felt sugar coated and everyone felt freer to connect with because they were genuine.

although at times i found the amount of povs to be a bit clunky/confusing, i thought the experiences of class, queerness, love and ultimately finding yourself to be so interesting and genuine.

despite everyone being at major points in their lives, it was interesting to see them at their most vulnerable rather than everyone feeling full steam of head. the writing really did make me feel like i was reading something truly special!

Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna is a very 'in' type of novel. trying to be something in the realms of rooney and mostly managing to do so.

I’m incredibly stingy with my 5 star reviews, but god, does Evenings & Weekends deserve its place among the small handful I’ve given out this year.

During the hottest London summer on record, we follow a host of characters: pregnant and broke Maggie; her secretive boyfriend Ed, hiding a past with Maggie’s best friend Phil; who’s falling for his housemate Keith; who’s boyfriend isn’t sure how he feels about their open relationship; and Phil’s mother Rosaleen, who in the face of a cancer diagnosis is coming to terms with a lost love of her own. All face their own problems, and each other’s, over a sweltering weekend.

I loved this for a host of reasons, but I’ll summarise two.

It’s an absolute masterclass in juggling a host of characters and important topics, keeping hold of plotlines and the reader’s focus while still packing the most gorgeous emotional punch. I felt so much for each of these characters, most navigating queerness and their individual issues in their own ways, and the messy ins and outs of their relationships with each other unfolded so well. We could have trimmed the fat by ditching some of the supporting character POVs (and spent more time with others – I adored Rosaleen), but Mckenna has crafted such a detailed little bubble that even those interludes were charming.

Secondly, it summarises so succinctly my feelings about London. I want to press this book into the hands of my fellow Londoners every time they moan that London’s a little bit rubbish, because E&W so succinctly summarises that yes! It’s mega rubbish! It’s grimy and expensive and sticky and gross! But it’s also got such a unique sort of magic that’s difficult to replicate; it’s got a dreaminess and perseverance to it that lets you feel like you’ve Made It, even if all you’re doing is crossing a bridge home from work just as the sun hits the over-polluted river.

A gorgeous, gorgeous slice-of-life debut. Happy publication month, and thank you for my NetGalley arc 4th Estate!

Evenings and Weekends is a striking debut novel by Irish author Oisín McKenna. With echoes of Sally Rooney and Zadie Smith, it’s set in 2019 in London and the cast of main characters - Maggie, Ed, Callum and Phil- are all harbouring secrets.
Maggie and Ed are expecting and due to move out of London and back to their hometown. Phil is on the cusp of a serious relationship but has a history with Ed and his brother Callum is about to get married. The characters are relatable yet frustratingly immature, though each goes through a period of self-discovery in the book.
The many strands of this story - including many substrands - are brought together and resolved in a convincing way. I am not a particular fan of this style of writing - a lot of detail and a slow-moving plot - but it’s kept me entertained enough to finish it.
With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An assured, determined, siren call of a voice, I was completely pulled in by the first page.
Evenings and Weekends shines a light on all the things we keep inside and all the things we want to say. Hidden hopes, dreams and disappointments burst out from these pages; the way we try to connect but miss, grazing the edges of togetherness. McKenna is astute, revealing tiny intimacies, the banal that builds a life, and the blazing brilliance of those perfect moments of connection.
Perfect for Pride month, this beaut of a novel beautifully describes the pain and guilt of internalised homophobia whilst portraying the joys of a queer community and the highs and hopefulness of gay love.

How to sum up Evenings and Weekends by Oisin McKenna in one word? Zesty (in the modern sense).

Set over a hot, sweaty few summer days in London in 2019, we are introduced to a cast of connected characters, all of whom are at a crossroads in life. Maggie is pregnant and struggling to make ends meet, about to move back to Basildon in Essex but still harbouring dreams of working full time as an artist. Ed is in a relationship with Maggie but is haunted by his past and questions over his sexuality. Maggie's best friend Phil is living in a communal warehouse and is in a situationship with one of his housemates Carl, who is in a non-monogamous relationship with Louis. Rosaleen is Phil's mother and she's been diagnosed with cancer. She's also haunted by the ghosts of her past in Ireland and worries for her two sons, the other of whom (Callum) is a drug dealer about to marry his girlfriend Holly.

Running alongside all of this is a whale beached on Bermondsey Beach being rescued by a Princess Diana lookalike and newly crowned queer icon, and a crumbling Conservative government under Theresa May.

There's a lot going on in this frenetic-paced novel - perhaps just a few too many characters - but it's full of humanity, humour, love, sex and heartache, and it's hard not to get swept along with it. While very different, its atmospheric chaos and vibrancy reminded me of Brick Lane by Monica Ali and White Teeth by Zadie Smith. If you love a hot city summer novel, you've just found your dream book. 4/5 stars

Thank you to Oisin McKenna, 4th Estate and NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book.

Evenings and weekends follows the lives of a beautifully colourful cast of characters over the hottest weekend of the year in London. Each of them has an important secret to share with someone they love, and now is the time to bare all.

This is very much a character driven book, and all those characters have been written so well. They are so complex, and although there are so many different perspectives in the book (which I loved), you feel as though you know each of them really well by the end of the book. Maggie and Phil were my favourites, but I have a special place in my heart for Rosaleen too.

Maggie is 30, pregnant and broke. Her boyfriend, Ed, is struggling with his job as a courier as well as trying to keep a lid on his past - a past which features Phil, Maggie's best friend. Phil is gay and falling for his housemate - who has a boyfriend; Phil is also struggling with a traumatic event in his past, and keeping tabs on his wayward brother, Callum. Set over the course of a brutally hot weekend in central London, Evenings and Weekends is a truly incredible story of love, loss, friendship and millennial ennui. There's also a whale, but more on that later.
I've been aware of McKenna's work as a poet/playwright for years and was eagerly awaiting this debut - to say I am not disappointed is an understatement as it's one of the best debuts I've ever read.
It’s a very character driven novel; we drift between perspectives across chapters - sometimes even hearing from smaller characters, like Joan, Ed’s mum, or the Marine Biologist working on saving the beached whale that opens the story. All of the characters are complicated, richly drawn and compelling - I got so invested in their stories and their lives, and when they made mistakes, I felt as bereft as though I’d made them myself. McKenna does a great job of creating strong, vibrant characters that hop off the page, which makes the (fairly juicy) plot all the more compelling.
As you’d expect from a poet, the prose is beautifully crafted; I found something to underline on almost every page, and often I’d just mark up huge chunks of incredibly gorgeous, profound writing. McKenna uses his characters as a lens to explore queer identity, class, Irishness and so much more, though it never feels preachy as the perspectives are so varied and nuanced.
In general, I don’t think I’ve done this book justice with this review - it’s hard to articulate why I loved it so much. I just think it’s a perfect example of a slice-of-life novel; greater than the sum of its parts.This is a book that will make you feel so many things: it will challenge you, make your heart race, and break it a little bit too. It’s a simply stunning achievement.

I saw a review after finishing this that said that the pacing of 'Evenings and Weekends' was 'like a kettle, you don't notice all the pressure building until it's screaming in your ears', and it certainly resonates with how I felt reading this - and also how I felt as someone in their twenties living in London. The lives of McKenna's characters are complex and inextricably linked, woven together much like the portrait of London we get. I loved the multi-generational aspect, the subtle nods to inherited shame and bad communication, of repression and creativity. I thought the explorations of class and wealth were nuanced and done so well (something I wish other authors could grasp as skilfully). I read this book in two single sittings across a boiling day in London, so to say I devoured it is an understatement. The writing and prose were beautiful and smooth. I really felt for the characters and the various heartbreaks they were experiencing. There wasn't a chance to dislike or villainize any one of them for their mistakes when you are forced to feel compassion through the writing. Ultimately, LOVED this and I can't wait to read what comes next.

Ad-pr: Thank you to the publisher for the chance to read this early!

If you want complex characters struggling to navigate their thirties in London, messy relationships, heartwarming family connections and loving friendships, then this is a book you need to read.

I love a character-driven novel, and Evenings and Weekends is exactly that, with a huge group of interconnected characters who each feel very real and help drive the narrative forward. Sometimes getting to know lots of characters can be challenging, but this was done so naturally, with each new addition helping to develop existing personalities and build a wider picture of their lives. Even if there hadn’t been a plot holding this together, I still could’ve read about these characters for hours!

The plot is mainly focused on things that have been left unsaid, whether for a few days, weeks or years, and how these truths impact relationships. It’s also a book about queer identity and self discovery, and realising that where you end up in your thirties, forties and beyond doesn’t have to be your life forever. It brings up so many questions around when you should settle down, whether you even need to, and the pressure from other people to live life a certain way. There was so much to think about and I’ll definitely be reading it again at some point.

Also, don’t let the Sally Rooney comparison sway you - there are some similar elements, but this felt a lot warmer to me.

Emotional, relatable, vibrant and captivating. An easy five stars for me!

BOOK! OF! THE! SUMMER! Oh I loved this so much. And a debut! Wow.

Evenings and Weekends follows a group of people over a very hot and sweaty weekend in London. Everyone has a secret or is about to find out something that will change their life. Maggie is 30 and pregnant and feeling wistful about her days of spontaneity. Her partner Ed is mildly haunted by his past, which almost pushes him to something he might regret in the present.

Phil is Maggie’s best friend and in love with his housemate Keith. But Keith has a boyfriend so their relationship can never be all that serous. Then Phil’s mum Rosaleen has just received a cancer diagnosis that she does plan to tell Phil about. Although would that ruin this nice weekend?

There is also this absurd thing happening in the background that is weaving in and out of all their stories, linking them together in this strange kind of way.

I enjoyed the multi POV aspect here, it is so brilliantly done. The way you get a glimpse of how they each feel about one another which is sometimes in real contrast of their own perception. Wonderful. It is so funny but also mournful and tragic. The balance is perfect. I hope this is the absolute smash it deserves to be.

Evenings and Weekends has SO many things I love in a book: multiple perspectives, complex and rich characters (plus points for most being left-leaning and queer!), emotional reflections on life and commentary on working class issues like the housing crisis. Each character was complex and brought something different to the book which is incredibly refreshing; I’ve seen comparisons to Sally Rooney books and while I can see why the comparisons are made, I genuinely think the characters had more depth in Evenings and Weekend. I really bloody loved it and can’t wait to read more from Oisín McKenna in the future. This one was a 4.5 for me ONLY because there were some characters I would have liked to see slightly more of (like Joan!)

Thank you to 4th Estate and NetGalley for the ARC of this one.

this book perfectly captures the feeling of being in your twenties/thirties in london during a heatwave. sticky and hot and messy, the characters and relationships in this book felt so raw and real.

it was also really fucking funny sometimes. i literally read the first two pages to multiple friends because i was like this! is exactly how insane it is to be living in this world right now!

the underpinning of the whale story was so bizarre and out there and yet so believably written and worked incredibly well with the characters’ arcs.

the queer stories were gorgeous and honest, interwoven with everyone else’s experiences of love and the struggles with class and purpose all the characters experience.

my only gripe is that sometimes with the amount of povs and characters it’s hard to follow but I finished this book pretty fast and didn’t get too lost along the way!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

This novel followed a range of main characters whose lives were all interlinked over a weekend in London. They are all at major points in their lives, with pregnancy, relationships, and illness. I loved the way this novel was written, it had a very "Sally Rooney" feel to it, and it perfectly described life in London in a heatwave. I also enjoyed seeing each of the characters lives from their own points of view, hearing of events that happened decades ago but were still impacting their lives now, and seeing the development through the book. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read and perfect for the summer when we get a heatwave!

Set across one swelteringly hot weekend in London, Evenings and Weekends centres around a cast of intricately linked characters, most of whom are harbouring secrets. Everything comes to a head over the course of this weekend as tensions arise and relationships are put to the test. Literally struggling to believe this is a debut novel as it all felt so polished and perfectly constructed. I really felt for the majority of the characters and was very emotionally invested in their lives. Also the humour and references to pop culture were a delight!! And it goes without saying that I love discovering a new Irish author to fawn over. One to look out for!! 4.5 stars

This captivating narrative is a stunning exploration of character dynamics against the backdrop of a sweltering weekend in London during 2019. The urgency and intensity of the setting pour out of every page, drawing you deeper into the story's unfolding drama. For me, what made the novel is its richly drawn characters, who leap off the page with remarkable authenticity and depth. Each protagonist is intricately crafted, their motivations and inner conflicts adding layers of complexity to the narrative.

The prose is beautifully crafted, weaving a tapestry of emotions and experiences that really resonated with me. Through its exploration of various topical themes, the novel invites readers to reflect on issues ranging from identity and belonging to societal pressures and personal growth. What sets this work apart is its ability to tackle these themes with a nuanced and original perspective, challenging readers to confront preconceptions and delve deeper into the complexities of the human experience.

In short, this novel is a triumph of storytelling, offering a rich tapestry of characters and themes that linger in the mind long after the book is finished.

Really loved this. Fast paced, engrossing and read like poetry in places. I got so caught up in all the characters that once I started this I couldn’t stop. It’s a little bit heartbreaking, a little bit funny and a lot compelling.

Evenings & Weekends takes place over one scorchingly hot weekend in London in 2019. We meet a group of young millennials attending the same party: Maggie, 30-years-old and pregnant; Ed, a former bike courier eagerly anticipating the day he can settle down with Maggie, but who's hiding a secret about his relationship with; Phil, who is falling deeper in love with his housemate; Keith, who is already in a solid relationship. We also meet Rosaleen, Phil’s mother, ecently diagnosed with cancer and travelling to London so she can tell her son the life-changing news. Over the course of the weekend, the characters will confront their pasts, and their presents, in order to determine the future of their relationships.

A gorgeously written novel, this reminded me so much of Cleopatra and Frankenstein - which is exactly the book I've been waiting to find! The characters feel so genuinely, truly real, and that is a very difficult thing to pull off. A real contender for book of the year for me!

during a heatwave in london we follow the lives of a pregnant maggie and her boyfriend ed.

this book is a slice of life storyline, as we live through both the characters adventures of the scorching summer.

the characters feel super realistic and well developed and you cant help but relate to them. they show both their flaws and strong points in really well written ways.

this is a really powerful story. for people who enjoy stories that follow character development and growth.