I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I found the main character in this novel to be irritating, to say the least. She spends 90% of the book obsessing about clothes, and does little in the titular six month break but online shop and fret about other peripheral characters views of her. It is only upon seeing photographs of her husband with another woman that she decides to embark upon her own affair, however, whilst bed husbands break is described as being to assess his mental health, hers comes across as being a form of petty revenge.


The background subplots, especially regarding her mother and eldest daughter, wet by and large the most enjoyable parts of this novel, in my opinion

I enjoyed parts of this novel, but as a whole, I found it difficult to finish.

Marian Keyes has always been the queen of writing a book which, on the surface, is the lightest, easiest read - fast-paced, relatable characters, romance, lots of proper laugh-out-load moments - but which actually explore some very difficult issues; bereavement, domestic abuse, coming to terms with childlessness, divorce, addiction, severe depression. Her narrators can be incredibly unreliable (hello Rachel Walsh) dragging the reader right into the heart of the story with them, each revelation breaking all our preconceptions.

The Break is a perfect example of a Marian Keyes book. It is incredibly funny, incredibly sharp and incredibly poignant. If you follow Marian on Twitter (and if you don't, do) then a lot of the background will feel incredibly familiar. There's a huge family who have Friday night get togethers, a father cruelly afflicted with dementia, references to Strictly, lovely Scandi-men, make-up, internet shopping, but Amy is very much her own character, Marian Keyes is far too talented and experienced an author to write a thinly-disguised autobiography.

Mother-of-three (two her own, one the niece she's raised) Amy works in PR, worries about money, middle-aged spread, her children, her career, her family - to be honest at times (although my job is a lot less glamorous), it was like looking in the mirror, a spot-on examination of the forty-something woman. The one thing she doesn't worry about is her marriage, although her husband has been down lately, hit by a devastating double-bereavement. So when Hugh tells her he is taking A Break - from his job, his life, his marriage - and going travelling for six months she's completely unprepared. Especially when she realises that the break from his marriage means exactly that. He is not ruling out the possibility of meeting and sleeping with other women.

There is such a lot to unpick in this book. Amy's own culpability in the breakdown of her marriage, Hugh's actions (at times I wanted to throw things at him), his utter selfishness. And yet... don't we all sometimes harbour dreams of running away? Of taking time out from lives which are too busy, too pressured, not how we thought they would be? Of realising that if we're not careful it will be too late and we'll never get a chance to be the person we dreamed we'd be?

Hugh and Amy's marriage, although at the heart of the book, isn't the only plot line. The harshness of Ireland's abortion laws, the after-effects of irresponsible or neglectful parenting, the frustratingly awful sadness of losing someone to dementia, the terrifyingness of being at the heart of a twitter-storm all add a richness to this exploration of middle-age and marriage. Which makes The Break sound heavy and issue driven - and of course it's not. As I said at the beginning of this review, Marian Keyes books feel effortlessly light as you read them. I raced through this in two days...

Every character is a delight and perfectly drawn. I loved all three of Amy's kids; prickly Neeve the media star, sweet Keira and fey Sofia. I adored watching Amy's mother try and discover who she was while coping with a husband with dementia. Amy's colleagues, Tim and Alastair are a complete joy - and much as I hated myself for it, I couldn't help having a slight crush on playboy Alastair with his new-age retreats and addiction to romance. The scenes between him and Amy were hilarious. We all need an Alastair in our lives!

I'm working very hard not to give any spoilers out here, the joy of a Marian Keyes book is in the reading, in the revealing, being caught up in the moment. It wasn't always an easy read (especially for a forty-something woman with no time, money and beginning to realise she's going to be matronly if she's not careful, thanks middle-aged spread) but it's a really satisfying, intelligent, emotional and real read. Thank you very much Penguin Random House for approving me for a Netgalley ARC of this book. I can promise you that this review is completely honest.

Yes! Thank God for that! Marian Keyes is back with a bang! After a few lack lustre books Marian nails this story of a husband who decides to take a six month marriage break, not quite realising that this means his wife is on a break too.

This book will give you the squid gees, make you laugh and break your heart - but maybe not in that order! But above all you're going to be asking if you were Amy what would you have done?! Read it and ask yourself.

It needs to come with a warning - don't read in public esp on the train! One minute I was laughing out loud and the next a tear was winding its way down my cheek. A totally gorgeous read.

Marian Keyes is one of my favourite authors and I was eagerly awaiting her new book 'The Break'. You can guess how happy I was to receive an ARC copy.
Amy's husband has announced that he is taking a six month break for his job, his marriage and his children. How will she cope without him? I loved this book about a dysfunctional family and how they cope with what life throws at them. There was plenty of laugh out loud moments too. This book reminded me of her earlier books Watermelon and Rachel's Holiday. A book I will want to read again and again.
I would like to that NetGalley and Penguin UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm no stranger to Marian Keyes, she's fabulous, I love her, I remember seeing her on TV talk shows when I was little and wanting to be her, I think Watermelon coincided with my first forays out of kids books and snooping into my mum's books. I think she's great all round, is what I'm saying.

Having said this, I had recently sworn off all Keyes' books. She's never been less than an engaging, skilled writer who creates lovable characters but Christ above, they were grim. This Charming Man? God above, that was a rough read. The Brightest Star in the Sky? Just as tough. So The Break was a punt, and I was genuinely worried that I would end up needing to watch Beauty & The Beast as a palette cleanser afterwards. Happily, I was wrong. This is a great book. Keyes' tackles heartbreak, relationships, the concept of monogamy, political topics like abortion (and she's right again!), and it's all very well portrayed. It's all believable and a compulsive read. I was genuinely invested in the characters (bloody Neeve and her rubbish bio-dad). It's strange to read Keyes' talking about a youtube star but it's great that she's a contemporary author moving with the times.

It's a surprisingly quick read but very worthwhile. Beachy and fun but without taking away from the seriousness of her subject matter. Thanks to NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Absolutely adored the Break, Marian is back on form with new funny, quirky, modern and yet real characters. When Amy's husband Hugh decides he needs a break from their marriage,Amy feels deja vu, is her second marraige breaking up, is her loyal Hugh now eho he said he was or could it be related to what happened last year, read it and see.

Four and a half, might even be five stars!

Marian Keyes was the writer of my thirties. Books like Watermelon and Rachel's Holiday created a whole new genre for me, Irish chicklit with a twist. When I saw this on NetGalley I had to request it, for the sake of my thirties but I had this little pit of dread in my stomach, what if it was the same as the stuff I read 20 years ago? I needn't have worried, this is still my Marian Keyes, just her heroines have a whole load more baggage and years.

Amy (44) has been married to Hugh (46) for a long time. A modern family they both work, they have three 'daughters': Neeve is Amy's from a short-lived previous marriage; Kiara is their daughter; and Sofie, who is actually Amy's brother's daughter but Amy and Hugh unofficially adopted her after his relationship with her mother imploded and poor Sofie fell through the cracks. Amy spends two days a week in London in her PR job, the rest of the time she is in Dublin with four siblings and a father with Alzheimer's. This is modern living: complicated relationships; remarriages; aged parents; twenty-something children living at home; two adults with good jobs and yet money problems; sibling rivalries; and professional angst. But overall, Amy and Hugh are happy, they are each other's best friends, they complete each other's sentences, until Hugh announces he wants a six month break in South East Asia to 'find himself'. Trouble is, no matter what her friends and family want her to, Amy doesn't hate Hugh, heck she even sympathises with him (when she isn't swearing at him or begging him to stay).

When stalking Hugh on Facebook, Amy finds incriminating photos of him with a young woman and suddenly all bets are off.

This is hallmark Marian Keyes full of "rides" and wacky family members, yet it also spoke to me personally on a deeper level about the doldrums we fall into in long marriages, how we swap romantic love for a kind of best friends love and the lies we tell ourselves about our feelings and our actions. It made me want to go home (I was working abroad at the time) and make mad passionate love to my husband and tell him how much I do love him and appreciate him.

Just like the other Marian Keyes books I've read no-one is entirely good or bad and people aren't always what they seem.

Absolutely loved it!

Marian Keyes is back with another hilarious, touching and heat warming tale straight from Dublin.

Amy has a wonderful life. An ordinary life but it's one she appreciates. She has a job doing what she loves (even if it doesn't always pay great), 2 and a bit daughters and a lovely husband Hugh who saved her from the crap she had put up with in her first marriage. Everything's going just great, until Hugh decides he wants to go on a break. Alone. For 6 months, to sleep with other women and go on a mission of 'self discovery'. Amy is devastated as her life is turned upside down in a heartbeat and she has to begin making a self discovery of her own.


As I've come to expect from Marian's novels, the story is told in a humorous way but the subject matter is serious and covers topics from mid life crisis', to Alzheimer's and even vlogging. In typical Marian style, the family unit while full of problems have a strong bond and it's easy to relate to the squabbles and difficulties of an ordinary family. I think this is the thing I like about Marian's novels the most, that she can make the ordinary seem extraordinary.


And sometimes, like with this one she makes you question if the happy ending was the happy ending you wanted after all!

This book was spot on the mark in feeling and emotion, I felt so caught up in this book. Just amazing. It's a first read of Marian's for me, definitely off to look at more.

The Break, Marian Keyes

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Women's Fiction, romance.

Its years since I read a Marion Keyes novel. Looking back on my reading history for me it seems to go through cycles, and its been a while since I was attracted to this type of novel.
Something about it called to me though and I am so glad, its an incredible, moving, thoughtful novel, not all doom and gloom and sad broken relationships but sharp, witty humour, a wry look at the realities of modern day family life, a look at how our pasts can affect the now and how even the most content seeming people can crack. 

I'm blaming Marion for the fact that today I'm feeling - as my dad would have said "like a wet weekend". I'd just finished the fabulous Clara Coulson novella Dream Snatcher at about 8.30 last night and decided to start this.

I knew it was long, I love long novels so planned on reading to maybe half way, but time ticked on, midnight came and went and finally about 2 am I finished....
I just couldn't stop, I had to know what would happen next, how Neeve's vlog was doing, what Sofia was planning, how Keira was coping, Hugh leaving affected so many people.
Amy's work partners, they're supportive and yet there's a job to be done, and who can really understand what's happening on someone else life.
Amy's friends all have different views, coloured by their own experiences, and then there's her extended family, sisters and brothers, children, partners, and her parents, dad with dementia who scares off all but the most hardy of carers, and mum, well, she was a terrific lady, finally seemed to have found life after years of ill health that left her children to really bring up themsleves. I loved her in Neeve's vlog, her way of saying what she wanted, what wasn't really quite acceptable but with a charm and sparkle that negated any possible offence. 

Then there's Hugh and Amy. Amy had been through a husband leaving her already, divorced at 22 with a young child her husband had never helped since, despite his fame as a footballer, and all his money. She was determined to never rely on a man again, and she'd picked herself up, finagled the balance of work, home, childcare somehow, all the while helping her extended family.
Then Hugh came along....he's a charmer, wears her down and is just truly adorable. He treats Neeve as his own, adores Kiera when she comes along just months into their dating, and when Amy's irresponsible brother and his weird partner finally - well, dump I guess - their daughter Sofia on her Hugh just accepts her as part of the brood, and life expands to fit in yet another member. 

They really seem to have a perfect marriage, money's tight, but then so it is for most people, and finally they have a tiny nest egg after Hugh's father dies and leaves them some money.
His death affects Hugh badly though, and a close friend dying soon after tips him into, not really depression but a sort of discontent with his life.  Amy thinks later Could she have seen this coming? I don't think so, its easy to use hindsight but at the time we're immersed in the eternal struggle of home, kids, family, work and sometimes it takes away moments when we could have spotted an issue. Or not. who knows? 

When Hugh drops his bombshell, he's done the figures, he's spending some of the nest egg on six months away, backpacking in Asia. He's not leaving her he says, he just won't be married for that time.
Wham, poor Amy, she's gutted and who wouldn't be? Lets be clear, he's planning to act as a single guy, tells Amy she has the same freedon and that he'll be back to pick up things in six months. 

I was so angry and yet like Amy so confused. How on earth did he think they could just pick up the reins again after that?
She tries all sorts of arguments, she reasons, offers other suggestions, cries, tries persuasion, guilt, everything she has. She loves him, he's been her other half, her help-meet for so long and she can't imagine life without him.
She could have ranted, run him down to freinds and family and yet, he's still her Hugh, still the man she loves. That doesn't sit well with everyone, and no-one really knows what to say or do.
The final day comes though, Hugh is off and the family have to learn to live without him. I was thinking "what happens now? What if he meets someone, what if Amy meets someone, and if they don't, how can they pick up life without resentment?"
I really wanted to hate him, call him all sorts of names, and yet I couldn't because I knew he wasn't a selfish man, he'd just reached the point of no return, knew if he didn't do something drastic he'd crack and they'd all fall. This way, well - if he's very, very lucky maybe, just maybe they can get their lives back.
I don't think he'd really though beyond that “must get away” issue he had, in theory it all worked because he wanted it to work but life isn't that easy. Its a huge gamble, and I just had to see how it played out, hence the 2 am finish....

It could be a novel full of doom and gloom, bitterness, sadness, fractured families, but its not. We see just how families can pull together while also being a huge source of friction, see how we do cope when we think all is lost, life does go on, work has to be done, food has to be bought, bills to be paid. That drudgery, that slog provides the reason to keep going. And the humour. Surprisingly there's a lot of really sharp, funny humour, moments and phrases that had me sniggering. I'm a bit of a face-book addict, have to have a sneak each morning to see what friends have been doing, have posted, and this gem really rang a chord
"Instagram is the worst for that inspirational crap. Nothing is too banal or too obvious that it can't be posted"
Oh yes, I've seen so so many of those!!

I'll stop now, I've rambled far too much but it really is a fantastic read, sharp and observant, full of pathos, sadness and yet hope, looking at families, at modern issues, at falling in love, and very importantly, staying in love, and just how far a marriage can stretch before it fractures.  
It made me think "what would I do" and to be truthful, I don't know, any more than Amy did. 


Stars: Five, terrific read, hard to put down, so just leave yourself time so you're not reading into early hours as I did!

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

Marian Keyes returns with warmth to the chaotic loving messy families she writes so well about. With humour and compassion she follows Amy, a fashionista mother of three, after her husband leaves for a 6 month 'break'. Very funny at times, and other points realistic enough to provoke anxiety in the gut of any happily married reader. Recommend.

Arghhhhh OMG I loved it!!!! It's been a long time since I read any Marian Keyes books, I've moved over to the dark side and go for crime now! But when I saw this I thought I could just go for a light hearted story! It wasn't that, it was amazing! Funny, touching and just bloody fabulous. I loved Amy and her daughters! In fact I totally think the sisters could be the start of a new series! I read in a day :-( and I am sad it's over. I loved the way this covered a controversial subject too which is close to my heart!