While I was entertained by this story, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. The characters are engaging as was the storyline. I could relate to the emotional turmoil and the drama surrounding the characters. I couldn’t relate to the title and the connection to the storyline which was weak in my opinion. So while I enjoyed reading this book, it wasn’t one of my favorites from this author.

I requested a copy of this book and am voluntarily writing a review.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book. To me, it was a fun read that also dealt with real issues, like divorce in such a great way! I also absolutely loved how mature the characters were and Lisa's reaction to finding out about Wade and Norah. This is a great book if you are looking for something that is cute and funny, but also deals with real issues that helped the protagonist grow.

Great book helped get me out of a reading slump. If you’re looking for a cute fun read here is your next book.

I really enjoyed this book! It was cute, fun, gripping and easy to read! Wonderfully written, would definitely recommend!

A nice love story. for the summer. Tehe Story entertained me well and I was curious about Wade´s reason to leave. Lisa and he were sweet together, the chemistry between the two was just right.

Norah Lincoln has hated Wade Phillips for a long time. Why shouldn’t she? He broke her best friend’s heart (she still loves him). When a life altering event throws Wade into her life, Norah is faced with a terrible choice: break her friend’s heart or her heart.

There were some real issues that were addressed in the book. These issue contributed to the storyline and helped both protagonist develop (and I love seeing characters grow *heart eyes*).

A sweet, easy read. I enjoyed reading this book. With flirty banter and crazy thick tension, the sizzling chemistry between Norah and Wade had me hooked.

This is a dnf for me. The writing and storyline didn’t draw me in at all. I was bored. I am disappointed but this one isn’t for me

I found this story a little slow to begin with but as it progressed I just couldn't get enough!

This is the perfect teen romance to enjoy this summer!

I found The Art of Breaking Up to be a fun and cute story about what should be a forbidden romance at least according to girl code. I really enjoyed the friendship between Nora and Lisa especially the fact that there was no petty jealousy. My favourite part of this book was definitely the relationship between Nora and Wade which was really interesting. I really enjoyed watching the two of them get to know each other on a deeper level. My heart broke for everything that Wade went through.

This was the first book that I have read by Elizabeth Stevens and it definitely won’t be the last.

I have read a couple of books by Elizabeth Stevens, and I truly appreciate how she handles serious issues in her YA romances, and "The Art of Breaking Up" is no exception. While the drama level is quite high, both the family drama and the mental health issues are dealt with in a way that feels realistic and shows that both can be addressed, and neither necessarily has to be the end of the world.

Another thing I like about this story is the strong friendship between Norah and Lisa. You go, girls!
That being said, it took me a while to warm up to Norah. I'm usually not a big fan of the enemies-to-more trope, because more often than not, the MCs behave like total jerks toward each other. And still end up falling for one another. And Norah *is* acting like a total jerk - first out of loyalty to her best friend, then... why? Especially when Wade claims to care about her. And goes out of his way to make sure she's okay going through her family drama...?
(That might just be me, your mileage may vary.)

I have followed Elizabeth Stevens for a few years now, and I would place the Art of Breaking Up in my top three from her. For those who liked Keeping Up Appearances, this book will remind you of that; but this is a bit more.

The Art of Breaking Up tackles depression--and tackles it well. Don't worry! This is not a maudlin novel, nor is it depressing though discussing depression. Stevens shows the many facets of depression: the masks that people wear, unhealthy and healthy coping mechanisms, and the ongoing nature of depression. Neither of the main characters have a "Eureeka!" moment and all problems are solved. Throughout the reading, I believed Nora and Wade to be real teenagers, not archetypes to prove a point.

Invariably, this book will be compared to Keplinger's The Duff because it has many of the same elements: parents pending divorce, love/hate relationship as a distraction, hiding divorce and relationship from best-friend, etc. I love The Duff and have re-read it many times; but this book manages to be both lighter and deeper than the earlier novel. The lightness comes primarily from the banter between Nora and Wade, which is full of clever, clever lines. Part of both the lightness and the death comes from Nora's motivations as she lies and hides in order to protect her best friend and brother, not just to avoid her own problems. A large part of the "moreness" of this novel comes from Wade and his encounters/expressions of depression, particularly as he shows the brave, bright face that many suffering from the disease display.

This will definitely be on my re-read list.

Full disclosure, I received an eARC copy from NetGalley. #ArtofBreakingUp #NetGalley

DNF @ 51%. It's just way too slowly paced and the characters seem to have the same conversations over and over again (Are they friends again or not? Is this a relationship or not? Don't forget we keep kissing each other.). I also just can't get on board with how the main character is going after the guy her best friend is still in love with even if the main character thinks her best friend really isn't and is just using him as an excuse to not get back out into the dating life. It's an icky feeling to think your best friend thinks she knows how you feel better than you do and doesn't have respect for how you say you feel. I can tell there's a lot of backstory still to come in the book but the guilt and secrecy surrounding the relationship just puts me off too much. This book definitely has an audience. It's just not for me.

This book definitely made me laugh many times! Norah and her quirky remarks are HILARIOUS. But, I also felt really bad for her. The way she learns about something really sad from her parents makes her question all the events that have happened in her life. I felt really bad when I read that part. Norah is such a loyal friend to Lisa; the way she respected the girl code and was there for her during her bad breakup made me realize that good friends can really help you get through anything. But of course, what happens when your best friend's ex is the only person who understands what you're going through? After the situation with her parents, Norah learns that Wade, the boy she dreads after what happened with him and Lisa, is the only person who understands what she's going through. Feelings start to appear, or perhaps they were there all along. I was rooting for Norah and Wade right from the start, especially the times when Norah would think about the times when Wade and Lisa were dating, and say how much she missed having Wade around as a friend, instead of as an enemy. My heart also broke for Wade; the fact that he is forced to portray this perfect, cocky, jock image in school when he is hurting inside from depression made me feel so much sorrow for him. Wade is a boy that I have a MAJOR crush on, and the way he supports Norah made my heart REALLY SWOON. THEIR MACCAS RUNS WERE SOOO ADORABLE AHHH!!! A wonderful read!

Oh wow. I never wanted this book to end. Norah and Wade’s forbidden romance story was so sweet and so relatable at the same time.

Stevens wrote about trauma - how it can manifest in different ways, how no matter what you have going on, the world just keeps turning for others, etc. - in a very real way without distracting from the other themes of the story.

This is the most perfect read for those searching for a YA high school novel that’s entertaining for readers of all ages.

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Nora | 4/5 | Nora can be stressful at times, but she's in a rough spot and doesn't know how to handle things or how to feel. I love how much she supports Lisa as a friend and how much she cares about her although it can be annoying at times. She shows a lot of sides and I think it makes her a better character as well as worse at times.

Wade | 4.5/5 | I love Wade, I think he was annoying but cute in a weird way. He struggles with a lot of things and I think that he shows us a different side of a character. Lots of characters in books have this hard outside and soft inside when you get to know them, but Wade is just trying to be there for others since he can't do that for himself. He puts on a face to look fine, but he's not okay and I think he showed how hard things people may think are easy to get over aren't and can really affect a person. I think he really wants to help the people around him and by the end of the book, you can tell he's improving slightly, but I wish there was more to the book to get more into his character's depression and feelings because it really shows a lot. But, it also could be negative with how he handles things, but he tries.

Lisa | 3/5 | I liked her personality, but she could just be annoying when reading the story. She just gets in the way too much, even though she's trying to help.

Erin | 2/5 | She was fine but I felt she was very unnecessary to the story and just was an add-in for more detail or girl talk/drama in a way. (?)

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Plot | 3/5 | It was entertaining and fun but it was a typical romance novel. Kind of mediocre, but definitely fun to read. It was pretty addictive and engaging.

Setting | 4/5 | It was set in Australia, which made the talk different, but it also kind of added to the story. Even if it was only slightly, it was interesting to have something set somewhere different and for that setting to play into the dialect of the characters.

Dialogue | 3.5/5 | As I said before it was I bit different for me, but it also made the story different. Also though some things were kind of 'romancy' and very typical for this kind of book, it still showed somewhat interesting dialogue through parts of the story.

Characters | 4/5 |Overall, I liked most of them and I thought there were lots of different types personality-wise, but there were never really mentions of ethnicity or sexuality, which could be a good or bad thing because it gives more thought to the characters for the readers and I personally like that better.

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This was just a really fun and enjoyable book for me to go through with no stress! I would recommend it if you're into stuff like Twilight, which *regretfully* is somebody like me...xD

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Ms. Stevens a sweet and hilarious story in the art of Breaking Up even if the plot kept dragging on in my opinion. It was still a beautiful, light and fluffy read. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend this to anyone looking for that summer read to curl up to.

Reviews posted
Goodreads: June 2, 2021
TikTok @meghanlew_: June 3, 2021


This book felt like two very different books. The first half of the book was fun and light and seemed like a normal romance novel, but the second half got deep and dark really quickly. And that was my biggest problem with the plot. It went from light and fluffy to super heavy with no build up and it’s as if I was reading about completely different characters.

This made it hard for me to connect with the very real struggles the main characters were facing. I also felt that the ending went back to the cute and fluffy with out giving the characters the wrap us that they deserved. I will say that the enemies to lovers felt realistic without being overly toxic or abusive.

Overall everything was just okay. If the first half was more connected to the second half I think I would have enjoyed this more. But I still had a fun time reading it and I loved the banter between the main characters. While fun the second half of the book defiantly had some thought provoking ideas, and I think it added depth to the book. A fun read, but nothing that really stood out.

The Art of Breaking Up brings back memories of navigating young love in high school and college. But it's more than that. It's the story of finding your way through breakups - - not just in high school, but the devastating breakup of a marriage and its impact on the entire family.

The book started with me thinking it might be a bit of a bully romance. However, it quickly evolved into much more than that. It was a story of friendship, young love, finding support where you least expect it, growing up and finding your way through heartbreak.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

2.5 stars

Reading The Art of Breaking Up feels like watching a 90s high school romantic comedy today. It is certainly enjoyable, but you realize that the stereotypes being used are not necessarily as fun as you remember.

Stevens is clearly looking to pull off an enemies-to-lovers story with this book, which I normally love. However, the reason for Norah to hate Wade is pretty weak considering just how horribly she treats him in the beginning of the book. The romance, which is triggered by Norah needing someone to talk to after something happens in her family life, took a really long time to solidify for me because of how strongly it is emphasized that they are just using each other as a coping mechanism. By the time I had finally warmed up to it, we got the big misunderstanding followed by a resolution that occurred way too quickly for me.

For me, this ended up being a little bit of a mess. However, based on how many people I see talking about new adult bully romances on BookTube and TikTok, there is definitely an audience out there for this book! If that genre is something that you devour, I would highly recommend picking this book up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sleeping Dragon Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a cute. For most of the book, the characters didn't feel like they were teenagers. Granted, almost all of them were 18 or about to turn 18, but they were all mature.

Lately I've been trying not to read reviews prior to reading books, but I did see a few for this book and multiple people made comments about how great the friendship was between Nora and Lisa. I'll admit I was surprised at how long the secret relationship went on before Lisa found out about it. And I was also surprised by the twist about Lisa wanting Norah and Wade to get together. I was right there with Norah throughout the book, thinking Lisa was still into Wade. Every interaction she had with him showed she was into him.