Recently finished The Road Trip, which I’ve tried to read slowly so I could enjoy every page! It was a total joy to read more from Beth O’Leary, and this is every bit as great as her other books! Loved all the characters but Rodney was the one that had me laughing, cringing, page turning and wanting more! Thanks to netgalley and Quercus for the early access to this one. I’ll include the blurb in the comments 🤗

Having really loved Beth O'Leary's previous books, I was really looking forward to this and the synopsis reassured me that I would, once again delve into her world of poignant humour and relationships. There was plenty to set this up - misunderstandings, friendship, characters thrown together, many mishaps and a tight time schedule to get to an important wedding. I could see it as a film.
However, I didn't warm to the characters in this novel in the way that I have in O'Leary's previous books which made it difficult to invest in their stories. They all had a history that was revealed as the book progressed and the plot did make me reflect on how each relationship that we have, impacts on us as we move on, but I wanted to love the cast of characters squashed up in that little mini and I just didn't.

As always, struck gold with O'Leary's latest book.

I lived the 'now' and 'then' that we had with the story - interesting to start with Addie and Dylan meeting again after an obvious bad breakup. The close quarters setting, with their love story scattered throughout was really lovely, and I did chuckle at the addition of Rodney and Kevin. The dynamics between Addie/Dylan/Marcus were cleverly done, and not immediately untangled so it was interesting to read through as we neared the end of the book.

Definitely a contemporary read with surprising depth, highly recommend it.

This is a Romance/Women's Fiction/Chick-Lit. I have loved the other two books I read by Beth O'Leary, so I had high hopes for this one. I am sad to say I really did not enjoy this book, but I did finish the book. If I did not have an ARC of this book I would have DNF this book. I was bored while reading most of this book, but there was a few funny parts that made me laugh. I have to say this Now and Then time line this book follows drove me crazy, and I also felt that some of the jumps from Now time period to the then time period was at weird times. I also got confessed on which if it was now or then at times. I also did not find myself caring about any of the characters. Some of the storyline I found ok, and I found myself wanting to know why or what happen by the end. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Quercus) or author (Beth O'Leary) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

I finished this in one day! I was so gripped and the characters were really well written and developed. The flashbacks worked well as it kept me wondering what really happened between Addie and Dylan. I'm a big fan of Beth O'Leary's previous novels and this one didn't disappoint.

This was a great read - dual narrative like Beth's other books which I love.
I love how Beth's book all follow a similar tone, such feel-good reads!

Having read Beth O’Leary’s Flatshare and and Switch, I was looking forward to reading The Road Trip. The main characters in the story are Addie , her sister Deb, Dylan, her ex boyfriend and Dylan’s friend Marcus. Rodney, a guy who contacted them on Facebook, joins them for the road trip to a wedding in Scotland, Lots of mishaps occur along the journey, mostly amusing. The story begins with Addie, her sister and Rodney setting off on the journey, only to be driven into by another car when they were in a traffic jam. It so happens that Addie’s ex boyfriend was driving the car behind.
There are 2 timelines in this story. The present road trip and the earlier one when Addie first meets Dylan in France. Although I am not usually a fan of split timelines, this works well.
However, I found there were just too many things going wrong and at times I became impatient for things to move on. I also found some of the exploits predictable.. In spite of this, I enjoyed the book but not as much as the first two,
Thanks to NetGalley, Beth O’Leary and Quercus publishers for an e ARC copy of this book.

Having read Beth O'Leary's previous book, I was extremely excited to be granted a copy of The Road Trip to read, and I wasn't disappointed.
Addie and her sister Deb are en route to their great friend Cherrys wedding. It's all set to be a fantastic road trip. Well, them, and Rodney, a stray wedding guest they managed to pick up. Then an accident occurs leaving them in a situation where they are forced to make an eight-hour road trip with not only Rodney, but two other guests, one of which happens to be Addie's ex-boyfriend.
What a bunch of characters, O'Leary has created!
I loved the dual timeline, explaining how they got into the situation they are in right now, parallel to the eight-hour journey that ends up being over twenty-four hours long.
Addie is a young, wronged woman, and almost all that has happened to her is not her fault.
Dylan is a man who has never had to make a choice, and, unfortunately for him, everyone around him has a stronger will than him, causing him to never really fight for what he should.
Deb is a fantastic sister, and protector, apart from when she disappears to satisfy certain thirsts.
I could strangle his best friend, Marcus. Honestly, that long, stuck in a car, a Mini, of all cars, with him would have driven me batty!
And Rodney, oh, poor, deluded Rodney!
And I can't forget the saviour of the day, Kevin, the truck driver who seems to appear whenever there is a problem.
There are moments of hilarity, but a lot to think on, too. A thoroughly enjoyable book that I finished in a day!
Many thanks to Netgalley and Quercus Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I like this book, I didn't love it even though I really wanted to. Maybe I've set Flatshare on a bit for a pedestal and nothing else really compares. Sometimes it gets a bit silly and in other places it goes to a far deeper and darker place, dealing with mental health issues, father issues and different levels of sexual abuse/harassment. I don't feel like a lot of the harassment themes were fully resolved, they just leapt into the storyline and hit you like punch to the jaw and then you were left reeling, to then be followed by another slapstick comedy routine. It sounds like I didn't enjoy it but I did, it just felt like it either needed to be a funny book or a dark book. They just didn't connect together very well for me.

After loving The Switch and The Flatshare I was so excited to be approved for The Road Trip on Netgalley and started reading it straight away.
The premise of a road trip with exes I thought was fun and I loved how awkward it was at first, unfortunately I found the characters slightly annoying and I lost some of the enjoyment I felt.
Addie and her sister are travelling to a wedding in Scotland with a fellow wedding guest when they are rear ended by none other than Dylan (her ex) and Marcus his friend. We then go back and forward in time, finding out about the start of their relationship as well as their current predicament.
I found the relationship between Dylan and Marcus to be really toxic, which is explained, but it was really uncomfortable reading and at times I wondered how the dynamic between Addie and Dylan actually worked too.
There is a theme of depression and anxiety which runs through the book as well as section on consent, which I thought was cleverly done. The added part of the Rodney character was fun, but seemed a bit out of place with the rest of the book. My favourite character by far was Deb and I would love to see her in a book of her own.
Overall a good read and one many will enjoy, but I just don't think it was for me.

This is the first book by Beth O'Leary I have read after hearing so much about her work. I must say at the outset I enjoyed the book. My main issue was the length it took to get anywhere - I think the editor should have tightened it up and maybe lost about 50 pages. It took me a about a third of the book until I was curious about what was going on.
Overall I enjoyed the book but felt there was a lot of preamble in the past to get to what was happening in the future.

My previous experience of Beth O'Leary has been entirely by audiobooks. Boy, does she write an excellent audiobook. Sadly - and I really am genuinely sad - she's not as strong on the page (or the screen) as she is in my ears.

I waited a really long time for 'The Road Trip', so much so that I was almost sure that Netgalley and the publishers (thanks to both) had completely forgotten about me. I was thrilled when I got the ebook but my excitement fell a bit flat.

The story puts ex lovers Addie and Dylan in the situation of having to drive from Brighton to somewhere in Scotland with three other people in a Mini after Dylan and his friend Marcus write off their car driving into the back of Addie, her sister Deb and their mysterious co-traveller. The book jumps back and forth between how four of the cast met in France a few years earlier, how Dylan and Addie fell in love and then fell out again.

The premise is OK. We know something went wrong but it takes many hours in the car to find out exactly what the problem was. Along the way, the group have a variety of problems to overcome on their journey.

The problem is that the voices of the two narrating characters - Addie and Dylan - are really not distinctive. If there's poetry, then it's Dylan. If it's talking about school, it's Addie but on any other topic, it's really easy to get confused. That wouldn't happen with an audiobook but when reading, it's just not clear, especially in ebook format where you can't just flick back and forth the check. Duel or multi-narration is not my favourite device, but when used well, it can be very strong, especially if it avoids repeating itself.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers. I may well look out for this as an audiobook and give it another go but on the screen it was a bit too 'ordinary'.

Its a simple premise - The Road Trip from hell. However, Beth O'Leary has once again managed to deliver an emotional, funny, surprisingly twisty story.

With a bold and loveable cast of characters, The Road Trip provides several genuinely laugh out loud moments and a love story that is actually so much more than that.

The perfect book for a quiet Sunday afternoon, I've already preordered copies for several friends I know are going to adore it!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

While technically well-written the plot did not lift me up or draw me in. The to and fro of jumping from the present to the past, all the while knowing the main characters, at this time, were not a couple (in the blurb) was certainly not funny or uplifting. I was at 38% and I didn’t want to go on, but I did. Where was my lighthearted, fun story? This book was not uplifting until the very end. Not amusing. A big disappointment.

Another wonderfully hilarious book by Beth O’Leary.

Addie, Debs and Rodney are driving to an old friend’s wedding when a car comes into the back of them. The driver is Addie’s ex-boyfriend Dylan who is going to the same wedding with his pal Marcus.

With no public transport available on a Sunday morning, the boys have to get in the very small car with Addie and Debs to get to the wedding on time in Scotland.

Weddings and road trips are always full of entertainment and drama so with putting the two together, Beth O’Leary has provided a hilarious setting for her third novel. There’s also some discussion of sensitive topics which are handled gracefully.

I would definitely recommend for romantic comedy fans. Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for a review.

I've loved Beth Oleary books since I read her first book, The Flat Share.
I'm happy to say her new book, The Road Trip didn't disappoint.
Built round the story of a mad road trip to a wedding to Scotland where the main character
Addie, ends up sharing a car with her ex boyfriend, her breast feeding slightly manic sister, her ex boyfriends best friend and the very strange Rodney. Fun and laughter as they journey but there is also another story which is revealed as the book goes in, keeping the storyline current.
I loved this book. Beth has a humorous approach and bits are side splittingly funny but then there's a much deeper storyline that is touched on (no spoiler here) which has you reaching for the tissues.
A great book that I would highly recommend.
#theroadtrip
#funny
#unexpected turn
#brilliant
#betholeary

"The Road Trip" is full of dysfunctional families and friends. The trip in question is to a friends wedding in Scotland, starting in Chichester, on a bank holiday weekend. This would be challenging at the best of times but when 5 adults are crammed in to a Mini it rapidly turns in to a nightmare. Throw in the back story of how 4 of those involved know each other and the drama sometimes gets farcical. The 4 main characters are all 20 somethings who seem to have issues with drink and/or drugs so don't always remember events clearly. This is a complex story with a rather melodramatic ending.

I’ve really enjoyed Beth O’Leary’s other books so was really keen to read this one - and I did really enjoy most of it. The split time periods that took the reader from the present - a long car journey to a wedding where ex boyfriend and girlfriend Addie and Dylan are thrown back into each other’s company, to the past - a summer spent in rural Provence were well written and engaging. It was also quite funny in places. I was ready to say that this was O’Leary’s best yet.

But then I got to the final section where we get to the denouement and find out what actually happened to Addie and Dylan and why they split up and suddenly I stopped rooting for them to get back together. As another reviewer said “I really wanted Addie to be happy just maybe not with Dylan”. It also just started to all get a bit silly once they arrived at the wedding.

It’s a shame as it was really good up until then. A really mixed bag of a book. Based on the first 3/4 of it I’d be give it 4 stars, based on the last 1/4 it would be about 2 stars.

Thanks so much to the publisher for my review copy.

I really wanted to love The Road Trip. I loved both of O'Leary's previous books (The Flatshare and The Switch), but this didn't work for me. With the previous books, I felt as though we had these adorable romances, wonderful bonds with family members and an amazing writing style. With The Road Trip, though, all of these things fell flat. In summary, I did not like a single character in this book. They're perhaps the most important part of a book for me and if they're not likeable, I find no enjoyment in a story because I don't particularly care to know what happens to them. It truly breaks my heart to review an O'Leary novel and say that I didn't enjoy it, but I just think this book was something wholly other from what I'm used to reading from O'Leary, so it didn't quite captivate me at all.

Unchanged and changed.

This is an amazing story of friendship, love, toxic relationships and heartbreak.
The story unfolds 'then' and 'now', told from Addie’s and Dylan’s POV's.
'Then' is back when Addie and Dylan first met and all the events leading to the breakdown of their relationship.
'Now' is five people crammed into a mini on the way to a wedding.

I absolutely adored all the characters in this book, even the generally unlikeable Marcus. It was interesting to see the groups dynamics change between the 'then' and 'now' and the character growth that happens over the course of the book.

O'Leary weaves tough, real life issues throughout the story with actual laugh-out loud moments and a fantastic cast of characters.