This is not my favorite book by Marian Keyes but it's special because it was the first. I first read it in 2006 and it pulled me into the delicious, vulnerable world of A Walsh Family Collection - Box Set 3 books - Rachels Holiday, Angels and Anybody Out There and her standalones.

It's a really heavy tome so it doesn't fit comfortably on your bookshelf or in your hands. But the story, true to good Keyes work, keeps you turning the pages. All of Keyes' books deal with some form of dark trauma albeit set in cheerful, hopeful settings & with likeable characters. This one is no exception and deals with the twin horrors of abusive men and cancer. It may be too much for a first time reader (and if you are, I'd recommend you try Rachel's Holiday first).

I'm seeing a few negative reviews asking why the women stay in bad relationships with these abusive men so long. I've been in their shoes and then I've also been in relationships like this. There's no explaining it. The gaslighting & emotional violence, combined with childhood conditioning primes you to fall for the trap, no matter how intelligent or self-aware you are. The situations detailed in the story really ring true. So this happens and it happens to regular, smart, independent women and not just 'stupid/needy/victim-types'.

Given the sheer weight of the issues addressed, Keyes still manages to pull us out of the funk and deliver up a reasonably happy ending that's not excessively tidy.

Admittedly this was a very readable book. Passages moved quickly and on occasion, the writing was witty and even darkly funny. But overall, this book was an amalgamation of tropes from the early 2000s. Personally, I have issue with the minority character of a book functioning as a tool from which the other characters can learn from. In theory, this book centers on three friends from a small Irish town who move to London to pursue whatever they couldn't achieve at home. In practice, the books centers on the two cis hetero female friends who are'polar opposites' (and also the literary embodiments of female stereotypes at the opposite ends of the romantic spectrum) and get to learn valuable lessons from their dying gay bestie. The gay 'main' character Fintan who works in fashion (naturally, of course, gay accountants and plumbers or any other noncreative profession are strictly forbidden) discovers he is dying. Not of AIDS though, that would be far too trendy and convenient. Instead, the unlucky fellow has Hodgkins just like any old unfashionable fuddy-duddy. During the initial decline and hospitalization, he gathers his best friends from home around his bedside and delivers to them a finger-snapping "you need to get your life together guuurrrrrl" monologue that eventually saves the two of them from romantic ruin. Katherine- wear shorter skirts and stop vacuuming so much you anal-retentive twat, and Tara leave your unappreciative man- he's making you into a fat cow! And thus the book alternates between the two main female characters dealing with Fintan and his advice. Chapters in Fintan's perspective don't exist. DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE GAVE THEM THE ADVICE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Honestly. I read all 511 pages of my copy and let me save you the time. Fintan survives. Katherine gets dicked down. Tara leaves Thomas and gets skinny. And everyone lives happily ever after. Also, there's a subplot that involves a famous fuckboi aging Irish film star that serves to explain Katherine's frigidness to the reader, but is so uninteresting that I cannot even remember this Lothario's name. Something that begins with an 'L' I'm sure. The only thing I can remember is that very early into this unnecessarily long book he pressures a 16 yo into blowing him. To the point where I'm pretty sure he molests her. Yeah, this book was not a favorite of mine. Honestly, I'm vaguely annoyed that I bothered to read the whole thing.

Ever since legwarmers were cool, best friends Tara, Katherine, and Fintan have survived small-town ennui, big-city heartbreak, and endless giddy nights out on the town. But now that they've graduated to their slightly more serious thirties, only Fintan has what can honestly be called a "love life." With Tara struggling daily with her eternal diet—and her dreadful, penny-pinching boyfriend—and Katherine keeping her single existence as organized as her drawer full of matching bra and panty sets, it seems they'll never locate the exit door out of the "last chance saloon."

Excellent! Loved Tara - she is exactly like me when it comes to food and I was hungry the whole time I was reading this book.

Fintan was also really cool! Made me laugh out loud a lot.

Great easy sunbed read :)

Five stars.

Le doy un 2'5 porque el final resulta "bonito". Tiene un giro final interesante.

La cuestión es que estas novelas de principios de los 2000 han envejecido muy mal. Una misoginia terrible. Reducen a la mujer al físico y su carácter irracional, desesperado e histérico. Algunas de las relaciones sexuales que se describen en el libro son claramente violaciones.

En fin. Sé que la autora lo hace desde el humor y la crítica, pero resulta inevitable leer sin sentirse incómoda.

Por su parte, Marian Keyes tiende a crear historias muy extensas (más de 500 páginas) que carecen, en el fondo de un hilo conductor consistente. La acción es escasa y ciertamente pobre. De la misma manera que ocurre con Sushi para principiantes, la obra comienza a ser interesante en la página 400, si bien para ello es necesario pasar por el tedio de las páginas anteriores.

En cuanto a la construcción de los personales, estos tienden a ser ciertamente narcisistas con una habilidad socioafectiva mínima, lo cual hace muy difícil que el lector se sienta animado a continuar la lectura y esté interesado en lo que le ocurre a los personajes.

Solid ngl

This book was definitely a page-turner. It's chick-lit, but it's about Irish people living in London, so I wasn't embarrassed to read it in public. I loved the character of Tara, who is a bit like an Irish Bridget Jones. I think we can all relate to her. Thanks, Katy!

this book bears the sign of its times: fat shaming, glaring double standards for men and women, casual homophobia....MIND YOU: NOT THE AUTHOR NOR THE MAIN CHARACTERS ARE LIKE THAT, JUST THE SITUATIONS DESCRIBED ABOUT THEM

I've read all of Marian Keyes' novels now, and I have to say that this might be her best yet. Watermelon was great, Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married a bit disappointing, Rachel's Holiday mildly depressing and frustrating, but Last Chance Saloon had me hooked. I very much enjoyed the cast of characters, each very well sketched out. The book really is a clever look at how easily one can become complacent, how easy it is to settle or simply float through life. The novel was a perfect mix of having something worthwhile to say about life and being immensely readable -- I oftentimes have the feeling that most books make me choose between substance and pleasure. Tara, Katherine, and Fintan will make you laugh and cry with their lives. Most definitely recommended.

Siempre le daré 5 estrellas a Marian, adoro sus libros totalmente chick lit y los que son algo más serios. Atisbo un poco de su vida interior en ellos, su alcoholismo, su afición a gastar demasiado, la necesidad de ser siempre el alma de la fiesta y esconderse tras una màscara alegre y divertida mientras la puta depresión la está devorando por dentro. Marian es mucho más que una escritora para mí, Le tengo un cariño especial y este fue el primer libro que leí de ella y me enamoró. Ahora reposan todos en mi estantería y todos me piden una relectura. No voy a decirles que no...

Marian Keyes never disappoints , love her writing, always a huge smile on my face, when l finsh her books, and this book was another thumbs up

20+ years ago I was hooked on Marion Keyes and for many years I would buy all her books. Then about 10 years ago she went weird on me and started writing ridiculous plot lines about as-yet-unborn babies watching over their parents to be and I just thought "OK Marian, you've gone too far this time" and I stopped completely.

I bought Last Chance Saloon as it was a heavily discounted Kindle offer and it has rather reinstated some of my faith in her again. Yes, everything is quite predictable, yes, a lot of the characters are quite one-dimensional, but against my (older, wiser) better judgement, I was soon hooked.

Keyes makes you CARE about the characters - even if sometimes caring means wanting to slap some sense into them. Others have commented that it's a very long book. I really didn't notice (it helps sometimes to read on Kindle).

Knepigt att ge utlåtande. Märks att den är från 1999. Första 300 sidorna drevs handlingen av att en karaktär försökte banta och ständigt misslyckades, och det skulle vara roligt tror jag? Verkligen av sin tid kring hur man pratar om vikt m.m. ej att rekommendera om du triggas av sånt. Men den var bitvis väldigt rolig så jag ville ändå fortsätta. Bra dialoger. Svag sidokaraktär vars syfte inte framgår förrän sista 50 sidorna. Mycket oklart.