“There went that look in his eyes again. The one that was a little dark. A little sad.” (Quote from ARC)

A sweet story of young love and friendship,“The Art of Breaking Up”, by Elizabeth Stevens (Sleeping Dragon Books), features a charmer with a lot of baggage and a strong heroine going through family trouble.
Wade was so intriguing in the beginning; he has an aura that makes him an enticing hero. The fact this incorrigible flirt is dealing with some serious issues is interesting and gives the character an attractive dark side.
I really enjoyed reading about Norah’s dilemma between the lover and the close friend - it’s such a wonderful portrayal about what can happen at this age. I also liked the romance development in general, the secondary characters and how the author depicted the young people’s feelings and emotions

Do you believe in girl code? Could you date a best friends ex? What if you fall for or start falling for a best friends ex no matter how hard you try? Elizabeth Stevens mastered the art of breaking up and I loved every second of this book.

Wade and Norah have been enemies ever since Wade broke up with Norahs best friend two years ago. Ever sense then Wade has been dating his way through the school and Norah can't stand him. But are her feelings for him really hate or is there something more to it? As things in her life are falling apart Norah finds herself reaching out to the last person she ever expected to reach out to.

This book not only deals with teenage romance and relationship but it has so much more. Mental health is a big topic in this book and you dive into what are healthy and unhealthy coping practices are. There are a few more things that are discussed but I don't want to give too much away, just know there are some pretty big changes happening in the Norah's and Wade's lives!

Do you love enemies to lovers? Second chances? Forbidden dating? Well make sure to read this! You will fall in love with Norah and Wade. This was such a cute, fun and fast read.

The Art Of Breaking Up was a great coming of age story and I really enjoyed it. When Norah and Wade bond over a tragic event she realizes what a great guy he is. As the two grow closer Norah hides the relationship because Wade's ex is Norah's best friend. This was the first book I read by Elizabeth Stevens and it won't be my last.

This is a super cute book that is a quick and easy read. It’s a great book to curl up with and distract you from the day-to-day stressors. I loved the way Norah and Wade grew as their own people.

Although, I so called it with Lisa :)

i thought that this book was going to be pretty cliche, but the author added good elements and really changed it up from what i was expecting.

the main character, norah, constantly trades insults with wade, who she hates because he broke her best friend's heart. she thinks that her best friend, lisa, still likes wade, and doesn't see what lisa likes about wade. norah has difficult family problems and ends up seeing wade everywhere, way more than she expected.

despite her initial dislike for wade, she ends up talking with him and even hanging out. norah beings to develop feelings for wade, which she pushes down and doesn't acknowledge. instead, she feels guilty about spending time with wade and not telling lisa about it.

while there are some cliche tropes in the story, i enjoyed the slow romance and watching the two characters start falling in love. the author approached the subject of mental health well, as well as divorce and family life. i could understand norah's internal conflict, as well as her feelings. i liked how norah was a very real character, one that readers could emphasize and relate with.

her best friend, lisa, actually guessed that norah liked wade, so she tried pushing them together. i thought that lisa was a great best friend and also supported norah no matter what. when norah was slacking in their relationship, lisa was the one to pick it up and always reach out when norah was having problems.

i liked wade, although he was very stereotypical in many ways. he was cocky and popular, but hurt deep inside, and played around with girls while going to tons of parties. nevertheless, he complemented norah well and was patient and loving throughout the entire book. he really understood norah and waited for her to come to the realization that she loved him too.

i really liked how the book was easy to read and flowed along smoothly. despite a few errors and the australian slang, i had no problem reading it. i would recommend for anyone looking for a sweet, young adult romance to get lost into!

I really loved this one! I needed something cute and fluffy to binge, and this worked perfectly. I finished it in one sitting, this was that good.

My favorite thing about this was definitely the friendship between Lisa and Norah. So often, friendships are discarded for the romance in books. I hate that. So I loved that this book layed such a strong emphasis on friendship and loyalty.

I also really loved the relationship between Norah and Wade. It did fall into place super fast, but it was addictive to read. I loved how it wasn't all fluff, they discussed and worked through their problems both apart and together.

Id definitely recommend this to romance fans! It was a super fun romance, and I loved reading it

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review
1 like

3.5 stars
I've been saying since forever that if you want to read good high school YA (I'm not sure this is actually a genre but you get the feel for what I'm talking about) that's not too shallow but can also be enterteinment reading you should pick any of Elizabeth Stevens books. This one is no exception.

Funny dialogues, real characters dealing with high school problems and also more serious ones (like mental health or divorce), good friendships, funny moments, serious moments, cute moments. You get the all experience and even finish the book with a smile on your face. It's a very good story without being equal to all the others you have read before.

This one just had a few things that didn't work that well for me. But this is a serious question of It's not you, it's me. The way divorce was dealt with didn't sit well with me and my experience and that removed that half star that's missing from my usual ratings. Besides, I think I just really wasn't in my usual mood and that changed my reading experience.

All in all, a great read that I would have enjoyed more if I wasn't so stressed with school and such.

It’s nice to see how authors approach mental health, our main character has a lot of changes in her life and learns to lean on others and that talking about her problems it’s healthier than keeping it to herself.
This book it’s an easy read, somewhat triggering for some as it deals with abandonment, secrecy and suicide is mentioned once. But over all talks about overcoming difficulties and working towards a healthy relationship with others.

This starts with Norah and her best friend, Lisa, in school talking about an assignment when they accidentally bump into Wade, Lisa's ex - who she still has a giant crush on. All Norah feels towards the guy is animosity for breaking her friends heart and their triangular friendship group. But when Norah finds out her parents are divorcing and her dad is rushed to hospital for surgery she struggles for someone to talk to when she bumps into Wade in the hospital and they get talking again without all the anger and hate. She finds the guy she used to know before and is surprised to find she doesn't hate him as much as she thought she did and when they kiss, she realises the hate might have been masking another feeling altogether.

I stayed up reading this and nearly read half the book in one sitting. I was just getting dragged into it so easily. It's exactly the sort of style I like and I just wanted these two people to get together.

It has an air of enemies to it at the start - Norah is definitely holding a grudge against Wade for hurting her best friend two years earlier and thinking Lisa still has a big crush on him - but Wade is definitely giving Norah a run for her money with the trading of insults and scathing comments. It then seemed strange to find out that two years ago they'd all been so close and I was intrigued to find out what had happened to make them how they are now.

The romance between the two felt a little forbidden but you could both see and feel the connection between them growing and I was urging it to happen. It was nice to read. They really were there for the other when they needed them most.

It does deal with some issues including depression and divorce and how teens may or may not cope well with it. It's done really well in my opinion.

This is my first book by the author but after really enjoying this, I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.
The Art Of Breaking Up is a YA book based in Australia. It features Norah and Wade- Norah detests Wade after he broke up with her best friend, Lisa, two years ago but after they keep bumping into each other, they find that they can sort of rely on each other when needed. While I found the relationship a little codependent at first, I liked how open Norah and Wade were about mental health and struggles in life. The mental health stuff wasn't shown in a really sad way like it can be in some books which was nice as it shows the importance of it but also how it is normalised.
Rating: 3⭐