Review: The Mess We Made, by Megan O'Neill

This review is from our series of reviews by LIANZA members. The angsty cover of The Mess We Made promises trouble, and the first page delivers. The characters are beset with despondencies and miscommunications, and we’re right there beside them as they stumble over their decisions and relationships. If you’re a huge fan of Colleen Hoover’s Hopeless, or Sally Rooney’s Normal People, Megan O’Neill’s debut novel will be your perfect read. 

Vivid images such as this one fill the pages: ‘I sat on the edge of Henry’s bed as usual, but with Mr Brunn in the doorway, it felt like the wrong place to be. I was uncomfortable with his sharp suits, his shoes clipping the wooden floor, his holding of silences a few minutes too long, where his eyes sometimes lingered. He felt like too many well-pressed edges with nothing soft or warm like a dad should be.’

O’Neill has done a brilliant job of portraying the total mess the three main characters, twins Josh, Quin and next-door neighbour Henry, have made of their lives as they navigate life and friendship. As childhood friends, the three grew together. Quin and Henry were high school sweethearts and Henry frequently climbed through Quin’s bedroom window and fell asleep on her bed, their fingers butterflied in the darkness. The three are like a single piece of machinery that doesn’t work if one part is missing or loose. 

Then one night something happens to Quin that shakes the foundation of their friendship. Henry leaves town, Josh is expelled from school and Quin heads downward in a self-loathing spiral. The story starts when Henry reappears in town some nine years later and mysteriously turns up at the fish and chip shop where Quin works, but a dual timeline ensures we learn what happened nine years ago. As much as she’s angry Henry left years ago, all the old feelings are still there and Quin finds herself falling in love with him all over again.

The twins have a complicated relationship as they battle family dynamics and the fact their mother has been institutionalised with a hereditary degenerative disease. Not only are the test results hanging over the twins’ heads, but they struggle to cope with their bond and sense of obligation to each other. Did Josh and Henry do enough to protect Quin in those tragic last days of high school? Why did Henry just leave? Why didn’t Quin ever answer his emails? Why can’t Josh hold any of his relationships together? And why is it that Josh always resorts to anger?

Josh says, ‘It felt like there wasn’t enough happiness in the world, and those who had it were sucking what was left out of the air around me before I could breathe in my fair share.’ 

Quin’s life seems to have little meaning—until Henry reappears, and wants to renew some old friendships. But can Quin trust him not to disappear again?

Short sharp chapters move the story at pace, and kept me reading in order to discover if it was possible these troubled characters might get their happy ever after endings. A great debut novel! Carole Brungar is a multi-award winning NZ author of 20th century NZ historical fiction. She is a member of LIANZA and is Library Manager of Horowhenua College. carolebrungar.com