This was good but not at all what I expected. It’s definitely heavier than I thought it was going to be, but ultimately, I really enjoyed it.

It tells the story of Addie and Dylan, going back and forth between then and now. Interspersed is a really entertaining band of characters who are hilarious and infuriating all at the same time. It’s actually something close to a coming of age tale for people in their 20’s. A life lesson on toxic people, learning who you are and coming to terms with life around you.

I found parts of this book entirely unbelievable and just too far fetched, even for a rom-com. That said, this was actually pretty dark in many places and not as cute and happy as the authors previous books.

O’Leary has done it again!!!

Adeline (“Addie”) and Dylan are goals, y’all. I don’t know how you can’t fall in love with these two characters.

This was such a fun and gripping read. I couldn’t put it down after 10 pages in.


I am rushing off to finish reading The Switch because I need more of O’Leary’s writing!!

SPOILER MAYBE:
I literally hate how toxic Marcus is, but he makes for a realistic relationship wedge so I’ll give O’Leary that! He’s a unique written character in my opinion!

This book messed me up in the best of ways. It was simultaneously slapstick funny, absurd, relatable, infuriating, and heartbreaking. It reminded me a lot about what it was like to fall in love with someone else before you even loved yourself.

I will be thinking about this one for a while.

Believe it or not, I recommend this book. It’s very fast paced, and the two timelines were well done. I liked it okay. Will definitely continue to read Beth O’Leary’s books.

3.5-- I wanted to *LOVE* this book, but in the end, I just liked it. There were moments that I really dropped in, mostly with the flashback chapters, wherein Addie and Dylan meet, fall in love, and endure life's slings and arrows. However, the modern chapters and the Rodney of it all really put me off. Also, tonally, it's a bit odd; in the flashbacks and at the outset of the book, it almost feels like Normal People, but then as the modern day stuff continues, it begins to push tone. There are weird comedic moments, like with Deb and the truck driver, and the whole Rodney bit is just too much. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it well enough. Beth O'Leary is a good writer and I liked the Flat Share quite a bit. This seems like a more mature story, her skills having improved, but it gets confused. If the story had stuck with the Addie/Dylan story and maintained that tone, this would've been a real win for me.

What to say about this book? I couldn't wait to read it, and it was PURE DELIGHT until about the 85% mark. And then ... it got weird. I was primed to expect a big bombshell, or at least a reasonable explanation of the "where things went wrong" moment the whole plot was built around. But because of the structure, that meant the issue of sexual assault wasn't introduced until the end of the story, which didn't leave time to adequately deal with it. It felt like an afterthought, not an integral part of the story. (I suspect the book's structure, which was wonderful for building romantic tension, was unhelpful when it came to doing this topic justice.)

The way the book covered (or didn't cover) depression was also frustrating, as was the resolution of Marcus's storyline.

This was SO CLOSE to being an amazing read, but the last forty pages or so were incredibly disappointing.

I was skeptical at first when I encountered the dual points of view and switching between past and present, but I was quickly surprised at how well it actually worked! Some books that I have read tried and failed to keep my attention and not be too confusing when they have used this format, but it really works for this story and these characters. I found myself very engrossed in the characters and finding out their shared history and what lead them all to this point, so the past chapters were a great help with that. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who liked “The Flatshare”, “P. S. I Love You” or modern romances in general.

A road-trip to a distant wedding (in Scotland) cramming five souls with an unpleasant history into a mini is a recipe for ... some disaster and some romance. Dylan and Addie fell in love during a summer in Provence and broke up miserably upon return. This story follow parallel tracks -- the unexpected crash that brings them together for the road trip and the original set of events that led to the break up.

I'm probably the wrong demographic for this book -- the twenty somethings involved are mostly unlikable from my perspective -- either rich, privileged, and shallow or supposedly "with it" but with no clear background to support it. Plenty of sex scenes and some fun characters (I like Addie's sister the best) but I honestly felt like telling them to get a grip and grow up a bit. If you like light romance and don't mind identifying with some lost-soul spoiled brats, this decently written book may be for you!

Beth O'Leary always does a great job in developing a cast of characters that stand out for their unique personalities and relationships, and The Road Trip delivered another set of quirky, broken, and at times humorous characters that keep the reader interested and engaged.

I have read a lot of books lately that are using the parallel timelines (past and present) to tell a story, with the twist of main characters having a history, with some type of break in their relationship, that unwinds through the parallel timelines. The approach is getting a bit tired, especially as the last 3 romcom's have all followed the one time lover, now awkward interaction stage pretty consistently.

While the book does deliver some laughs with "everything is going wrong" road trip to a friends wedding, there were also a lot of darker moments, as pasts are revealed. And the book does a fairy good job of addressing hard topics like assault, mental illness, and forgiveness.

I did think the book wrapped up things in a pretty bow, which I enjoy and expect in a true rom com; but this book has more depth than the typical brain candy novel and could have done better at the last 20% of the book in how it chose to conclude the characters open issues.

This novel has an easy to read style and a feel-good story. I preferred The Flatshare and The Switch but still an enjoyable read.

While I love an awkward forced proximity story, this one just left me anxious.

The writing and structure of this book are great. I feel like Beth just gets better and better, however the story and characters left me uninterested or straight anxious.
What started off fun and quirky, soon turned into dragged out insta-love with what felt like a forced dramatic element thrown in. I felt no connection to the characters and did not like where the each ended up.

Thank you @netgalley and @berkleyromance for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy in exchange for a review.

(This review contains SPOILERS)

I am a huge Beth O'Leary fan and whenever people ask me for book recommendations, I usually include The Flatshare and The Switch in my list.

The Road Trip is O'Leary's third book and if I were to compare it to her first two books, I'd say it's fairly similar to The Flatshare in terms of the dark topics it deals with and darker and grittier than The Switch.

TW are 100% in order here: stalking, addiction, toxic relationships, toxic masculinity, depression and attempted rape.

What I liked most about the book was the book's structure and writing (excellent, as always). The book is split in two different timelines and uses a dual narrative. It starts off with Addie and her sister going off on a road trip to attend a mutual friend's wedding and accidentally crashing into Dylan and Marcus' car (who are on their way to the same wedding). They decide to continue the journey together in one car. Dylan is Addie's ex and through flashbacks we slowly discover what drove Dylan and Addie apart...and the role Dylan's best friend Marcus played in it.

I found the story slow to start off with - but at around 30% in I found myself really invested in figuring out what went on between Dylan and Addie, and Marcus (Dylan's best friend). In that regard, the book was a 5 star read for me.

The problem I had though is: I didn't like any of the characters. I never felt I got to know Addie really well as a person and as much as I sympathised with Dylan's (mental health) struggles...I was never rooting for them as a couple and the ending just left me feeling meh as a result. I actually found their relationship to be quite unhealthy and toxic and the big reveal...well, I didn't buy it and I found it far-fetched.

I think the message of the book is that no matter how flawed we are as individuals, we all deserve a second chance and are worthy of love; I fully agree with that message. However, some of the characters' actions in this book made me feel *really* uncomfortable and this is why the optimistic ending just didn't work for me.

I'd still recommend this book though and I think it would generate excellent discussions at a book club about mental health,

I loved the Flatshare and The Switch was cute, but I did not like The Road Trip at all. I rarely give one star reviews, but there wasn't a single thing about the story or characters that redeemed it even though I kept hoping. This is not criticism about the writing: O'Leary builds complicated characters and dramatic storylines with plenty of hijinks. That being said, about 30% of the way through I decided I would not care if these characters drove off a cliff and that feeling never changed. I'll still read whatever O'Leary writes next because every single novel she's written has been radically different and that's pretty impressive.

To say I had high expectations for this book would have been an understatement. But unfortunately it not only didn’t live upto but I had to struggle quite hard to even finish the books. The characters felt very shallow and superficial. The romance was something along the lines of insta love which I hate. So all in all not a book I enjoyed or would recommend but if you are a fan of Beth O Leary, you can maybe give it a try.

Relationship Fiction, Well-Developed Characters, Reunited Exes

The Road Trip introduced the reunited exes trope to me and I struggled unraveling the truth of what tore Dylan and Addie apart. But, the slow burn was worth it to discover truly developed, flawed characters and an acceptance that Beth O'Leary isn't constricted to writing just one kind of character, actually a celebration that she so deftly creates characters in this story that are unique and honest about struggles with mental health. The dual narrative + flashbacks to 4 years previously adds suspense and depth to this road trip gone bad story as well.

Wow, wow, wow! The Road Trip was an incredible read. It's an insane mix of road trip comedy/tragedy/drama/romance mixed with flashbacks to a traumatic event that somehow works entirely to create a completely wonderful book. It's a simple road trip to a friend's wedding with a sister that turns into an everything-bad-that-can-happen-will-happen with an ex-boyfriend, his best friend that you hate, and Rodney.

Addie, Dylan, and even Marcus are such complex characters that unfold throughout the story, and it really sucked me in from start to finish.

I don't know if I've ever read a book that's remotely similar to The Road Trip, but somehow it made me think of "Normal People" by Sally Rooney, but then again not at all. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good unravelling of a plot and history of two characters formerly in love.

If it wasn't for the fact that this is a popular author (whose first two books I enjoyed very much!), I wouldn't get this for a public library collection. The story was so extra - one family/group of people being uber rich, the romance actually felt like a pretty unhealthy relationship to me, the almost sexual assault at the end, the weird twist with the best friend didn't feel like it fit at all. I wanted to like it, but this just didn't sit right with me.

I've been a fan of Beth O'Leary since reading The Switch. Needless to say, I was excited to read The Road Trip.

CW: sexual abuse, threat of rape, stalking

The Road Trip opens with a bang, er a crash. Dylan and his friend Marcus have left for their friend’s wedding in Scotland. Dylan catches sight of the woman in the mini in front of them, and is convinced it is his ex-girlfriend Addie. Whom he hasn’t spoken to in two years after a bad break-up. This distraction leads to him driving into the back of the car.

Only for Dylan to find out he was right and that it was Addie, and her sister Deb. Along with a mysterious passenger Rodney, who were also on their way to the wedding. Having wrecked the car he was driving, Dylan, along with his friend Marcus, decide to travel together in Deb's car. What could go wrong?

This trip was filled with resentment, grudges, unfinished business, history, and lost love. It alternates between the past and the present, giving us glimpses of what happened when Dylan and Addie dated for the first time.

I thought the intrigue and mystery were great in this book. I wanted to finish so I could find out who Rodney was, why Marcus didn't seem to like Addie, and what happened to end Dylan and Addie's relationship. I couldn't put this book down while uncovering what happened and how they could possibly heal.

If you're looking for a second chance book with twists and turns, you should check out the Road Trip. It was funny, heart-felt, and it made me cry.

Addie and her sister are traveling in their Mini to Scotland for a friend’s wedding. Along for the ride are her ex boy friend, Dylan, his best friend Marcus, and Rodney, a random guy who needs a ride to the wedding. . How cramped is that car? This awkward journey takes lots of twists, turns and delays. Along the way, Addie and Dylan sort out their break up and the choices they made. Humorous in parts,; introspective in others.