I really wanted to like this book. I’ve never read any of the author’s previous books, but I’ve mainly heard great things about them, so I just assumed I would like any of her books. Unfortunately this book really didn’t work for me.

Things I didn’t like:
- The characters: None of the characters were likable. The one exception is maybe Abbie’s sister, Deb, but even she annoyed me at some times. Dylan is one of the wort love interests I’ve ever read in a romance book. His best friend, Marcus, was just absolute trash and I don’t understand how anyone could have stayed friends with him. Abbie, the main character, was someone I originally rooted for, but the more excuses she made for Dylan, Marcus, and all the other shitty men in the book the more I started to despise her.
- The road trip was dreadfully boring: absolutely nothing happens almost the entire time they are on the road. Anytime we we’re in the “now” section, all I would wish for was more chapters from the past because at least those had some drama going on. The only thing that happened on the road was Abbie and Dylan staring songfully at one another. The first few times I could feel the bit of tension, but after chapter 3 it got old real fast.
- There is a scene that deals with sexual assault, and the way some characters handle it literally disgusts me. I know their reactions is what drives their character growth in the future chapters, but all the characters we’re men, so I felt like the conversation about sexual assault and rape were centered around how the men felt and not really around the girl who experiences it.

I don’t really recommend this book to anyone, and the only reason it got two stars instead of one was because I like actually quite enjoyed the first 20%. After that this book was a train wreck.

Dylan and Addie are exes, and their relationship didn't end well. Fast forward two years, and they are both invited to the wedding of a mutual friend. They end up having to share a ride to the wedding together, squished in a tiny car with too many other people, on a road trip neither of them wants to take. Things turn out pretty well for them, however, as they realize how much they still care for one another. Funny and fast-paced, this book is a great recommendation for readers who enjoy upbeat, light rom-coms.

While this book took a little longer for me to get into than her other books, this one emotionally wrecked me. This was full of love, heartache, and some heavy topics. I think this was such a beautiful read.

This book was a bit different than Beth O'Leary's previous titles, but similar in that she is exceptionally good at infusing a story with humor and drama in a perfect balance.

The Road Trip switches back in forth between two timelines- then and now, and focuses on the beginning and reconnecting of Addie and Dylan's relationship. As someone in her mid-thirties who has been married to the same person since I was 19, it was a tad difficult to relate to the twenty-something drama of the early relationship. However, as someone who has experience malicious manipulation of a relationship, I understood the progression of the early relationship until the final implosion of Addie and Dylan. It really read true to life to me, and while a person could think "if these two were meant for one another why was it so easy to be apart?" I really did understand how they got to that point. O'Leary really hit the nail on the head with this one.

I loved The Road Trip, and Beth O'Leary has quickly made her way to the top of "will always read it" list of authors.

Don't let the cute cover fool you, this book put me through an emotional wringer. It takes on some pretty serious topics and if you are in the mood for a cute, light romance, this is not it. It was engaging and well written with some very realistic characters. I would recommend it for fans of Emily Henry's books..

Dual viewpoints appear to be O"Leary's go-to literary device. Some funny moments but I didn't enjoy this one as much as her previous two novels.

I loved The Flat Share and The Switch. I didn't love The Road Trip. The characters were not particularly likeable and the plot, which was plausible, seemed to drag. The story picked up a bit when the author took the reader back to the characters' meeting in France but it bogged down as the group drove to a wedding in Scotland two years later.. The two main characters fell in love in France, then broke up, and through a quirk of fate were thrown together to make a road trip along with three other dysfunctional characters, one of which was a stranger to the group. The trip did not go smoothly and anything that could possibly go wrong, did go wrong. The story did end on a high note when they finally reached the wedding. If you like this author, it's worth a read, but it's not nearly as good as the two mentioned earlier. There was too much angst, too little fun.

Thank you to Berkley and Net Galley for the ARC of this book! It in no way affects the review and my opinion of the book.

Wow. This book was a lot different than I thought it would be. I don’t know if there were trigger warnings listed somewhere that I missed, but this book definitely packed a lot of darkness that the pretty cover doesn’t portray.

All that being said, I loved the way that Beth O’Leary was able to bring darker elements to the story that really gripped and broke my heart but then left me laughing out loud at different points as well.

I rated this book for what it is: a second chance romance. Knowing that it’s going to be angsty, there’s going to be miscommunication, some flash backs and back and forth and also an instant rush of attraction and emotions at the start of the book. Second chance romance isn’t your typical meet cute romance and you gotta go into it with different gears turned on (at least I do!) With all that being said, this was a great second chance romance! I read this whole book within 24 hours, which automatically gets a higher rating from me because I couldn’t put it down.

The idea of two exes being forced to road trip is so cringey but also wonderful and I was pumped to feel the pain of how awkward this reunion is for everyone involved 😂

The road trip aspect of it was a nice way to keep the book light hearted to balance out a lot of the darker elements. Though, as a frequent road tripper I just had to let go of every part of me that is like, “You don’t stop to get food and eat, you drive through! Why are you taking all these unnecessary stops?! Aren’t you in a time crunch??” And as a person who has also been in multiple accidents, the whole “The car that hit me is totaled but mine is fine, let’s just drive away,” was a little unbelievable. But I mean, it’s a rom com, of course there is going to be some shenanigans along the way of this trip and I just let all that slide. Some of it was absurd and silly, but it was still a funny and enjoyable read!

This book is a great second chance romance with a sensitive and deeply feeling hero. It’s not often that you find a hero in romances that isn’t sure of himself, is fighting depression and other inner demons. I appreciated the inner workings of Dylan and how different he is from a lot of the romance heroes I read.

Overall, I got all the goods that I like out of a second chance romance: heartache, angst, tingles from a happy reunion, and nice HEA along with some beautiful French scenery and Rodney. 🤣 Oh, Rodney. What a wonderful, sweaty, stammering addition to this story!

I loved this book! Beth O’Leary is proving to be one of my favorite authors! This book was fun, laugh out loud, sweet and sad all at the same time. When a book gives you all the feels it’s typically a 5 star for me. The story of Addie and Dylan is sweet and shows how miscommunication can be fatal to relationships! The supporting characters were fun and enjoyable. Although Dylan’s best friend Marcus got on my last nerve throughout the book!

Overall another Beth O’Leary must read! I listened to her others on audio and hope to listen to this one too at some point.

After a slight fender bender causes exes Addie and Dylan to carpool to a wedding together along with their own friends, the two revisit what caused their relationship to implode as other road trip mishaps bring them close together again.

I absolutely loved The Flatshare by O'Leary and enjoyed The Switch, but The Road Trip was not as fun of a read for me. I never really understood the pull Addie and Dylan had toward each other, and the way the flashbacks were told felt too much like skimming and telling rather than showing. It was tricky to track the passage of time in the flashbacks, and I found myself getting lost in the action of the present-day scenes. Characters like Marcus and Deb never felt fully fleshed out, and Marcus in particular felt very rushed and underdeveloped for the twist his storyline eventually revealed.

Overall, a good enough read to finish, but nothing very memorable.

The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary has such a fun concept. Exes invited to the wedding of a mutual friend wind up car pooling for the long ride. Lots of mishaps during the road trip combine with flashbacks of the exes relationship to demonstrate why these two people should give it another go. Okay, I'm in.

Unfortunately, I didn't particularly like most of the characters in this book. The story was darker than I expected and includes sexual assault and substance abuse. To me, the characters didn't undergo enough of a transformation to think that they could be a healthy relationship. There are a couple of lovely characters but there are even more toxic ones. Honestly, it's a well-written book and I could see it making an excellent movie but for some reason, it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Penguin Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

Three books in and it's official - I'm here for whatever Beth O'Leary writes! I doubt she'll ever write anything that could top the absolute perfection that was The Flatshare (IT'S JUST SO GOOD), but The Road Trip definitely holds it's own.

The characters in this book are some of the most complex I've personally read in a contemporary fiction (although the majority of my books are Historical Fiction, so take that how you will). The nuances to their relationships, the ways they evolved over the course of the novel, the push and pull in these friendships - it was all done maddeningly well. At times I found every single character pretty unlikable, but in the real world I imagine we're all unlikable at times.

Also, the second chance romance trope? I've rarely seen it done so well! The back and forth of their timelines, as well as the delay in finding out the reason for the initial breakup, served the reader well into seeing them as the were Then and how they are Now, with a real chance at moving forward together.

Lastly, I really liked that every character - major and minor - had their own arc and plot line, and were fully fleshed out characters. (So much so that my friend and I spent a whole evening trying to figure out their enneagram numbers, and we were able to!)

Ultimately, this is another book that I will have to have on my shelf (also the UK version, because that cover is GORGEOUS), and one I will for sure be pushing to all of my friends. Highly recommended!

This book was so cute! I super loved it and now want to go read other books by Beth O'Leary. The only issue I had (and maybe this was bc it was on a Kindle) was that sometimes I lost track of who was narrating the chapter and if we were in "now" or "then." But this didn't take away from how much I loved the book! ALSO we stan characters who go to therapy!!

The acclaimed author of "The Flatshare" and "The Switch" is back once again with a delightful, impactful romance read! Here we follow two exes road-tripping together to a mutual friend's wedding, so you know things are bound to get awkward. Dylan and Addie are total opposites but fell in love years ago on holiday. Now, two years since their breakup, they are forced to reunite at their friend Cherry's wedding. But first, they have to get there along with his best friend, her sister, and another random guest in one car. It's forced proximity at its finest. The book is told in back and forth perspectives of both Addie and Dylan, in present and past timelines. Both of them have interesting and engaging sides that compel me to keep reading because I'm just so invested in this. These characters are well-written, authentic, and vulnerable. However, this read does feel quite long, but way better than "The Switch" in my eyes. All in all, I just wish it didn't have to end because I just wanted more to their story!

Trigger Warning: Assault

I tore through this book. I really liked it. It's a little more serious than I expected. It deals with a little tougher relationship issues and it's not all roses and sunshine. It has substance, and feels realistic. I enjoyed every character in this book, even Marcus, though I disliked him most of the time, I understood him somewhat. I also could relate to some toxic friendships and thought they portrayed those relationships accurately. Deb and Rodney absolutely killed me. I loved Addie & Dylan's relationship which was authentic was - all the highs and lows. Usually I'm not a fan of the asynchronous storytelling but it worked in this case. I couldn't wait to find out what happened in the past to have made them drift apart. Definitely a good one!

This book was just not for me. I felt like the main female character was a "manic pixie dream girl' that men were obsessed with and wanted to protect. The love story was problematic and I wasn't rooting for them to reconcile. There were a lot of unhealthy relationships and nothing was solved in a satisfying way.

This is one of those rare romantic comedies that is actually funny rather than merely light and fun. The characters and their backstories are complex as are their relationships, which makes this a wonderful romance.

Addie and her sister, Deb, are on their way to a wedding when they’re rear-ended—by Addie’s ex-boyfriend and his best friend, Marcus, the man who worked as hard as he could to drive a wedge between Addie and Dylan. Deb suggests they ride the rest of the way together in the one car that still works. It’s a mini, and since they have already been transporting another invitee to the wedding, it’s a tight fit. As you might imagine, things do not get easier from there.

I really enjoyed this. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES APRIL 29, 2021.

This was my first Beth O'Leary book. I've heard so many good things about this author and The Road Trip did not disappoint! I loved the humor in this and I was not expecting the little bit of suspense/mystery surrounding some of these characters. It was such a fun read. Would definitely recommend to other readers.

I LOVED Beth O'Leary's latest novel. Each of her books are unique. In The Road Trip she has a deft hand at lost love and so much humor!

~2.75 stars

First off, I’d like to say thank you to NetGalley for the free eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for this one because I enjoyed Flatshare, but I was kind of disappointed.
The writing structure was great, I just found a lot of problematic elements to the story/ characters.
How am I supposed to root for a couple when their relationship is the most toxic thing I’ve ever read? I know second chance romances are a thing, but I really hate that some books romanticize toxic relationships by saying “oh I’ve changed for you because I miss you”. It’s unrealistic and doesn’t break the toxic relationship in any way. I just don’t find it cute. The ending was really weird and didn’t make sense at all. The only parts I enjoyed in this book was the current POVs because the dialogue was entertaining, but that was pretty much it.