An engaging story that sometimes lacked in tone/voice. I would have loved to see more authorial style shine through!

Unfortunately I could not get in to this one, the book wasn't as expected from what is shown to the readers.

I was expecting a sapphic rom com from the marketing of this book and unfortunately this wasn't that

The Break Up by Charlotte Barnes is a fun, entertaining, and quick read that kept me thoroughly engaged from start to finish. If you're in need of a feel-good read that will leave you smiling, I highly recommend picking up The Break Up. It's the perfect book to curl up with on a cozy evening and enjoy a few hours of pure entertainment.

Could not really get into it. The plot was not the issue but rather the style of writing for me. | DNF

The blurb of the book sounded good and interesting but it was quite disappointing. The book was confusing with the way the conversation switches between Edi and her friends and the characters are all annoying. The story itself is slow and drawn out.

Edi and Rowan have been childhood sweethearts and she is ecstatic when he proposes but is shocked shortly afterwards when Rowan suggests that they start seeing other people for a short time just so they can find out "if they are missing anything" before settling down.

Edi reluctantly agrees and an agreement is set up on what is acceptable but when she meets Fred, her own thoughts about the relationship are thrown into confusion.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC for this book in exchange of my honest review.

Sadly I think this book was a miss for me. I was extremely interested in the blurb but somehow it didn't delivered what I was expecting.

DNFed at about 20%. The story is really dragging, and I'm only getting more and more frustrated with the main couple. I find the characters annoying and I don't think that's something that will change.

What an absolute dream to read!
Beautiful, natural story, lots of giggle moments in there and so many awww times!
This is a great read Fabulous characters and storyline. Highly recommended
Thank you for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion

I appreciated how the affection amongst friends underlined the significance of self-love and self-worth. I enjoyed the writing style, and I really appreciated the small prior sections that offered the reader extra information.

so I had the audiobook for this one. and I have to say, unfortunately I dropped the book, only duo to the narrator. no emotions or voice acting for male and female characters what so ever! I had to wait for the he or she pronouns to find out who is who or who's talking. I couldn't understand when characters were sad, happy, excited, etc...

Thanks to NetGally for providing my copy.

This was such a fun read! I really enjoyed this and I can't wait to read more from this author. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did so that was a lovely surprise.

I just finished reading The Break Up by Charlotte Barnes and I must say, it's an incredible story of self-discovery. Edi Parcell is in a long-term relationship with her childhood sweetheart when he suggests taking a three-month break to date other people. This proposal takes Edi by surprise and throws her back into the dating game.

The book follows Edi's journey as she navigates the dating scene and discovers what she really wants in life and love. From hilarious first dates to sweet meet-cutes, the book is filled with entertaining and relatable experiences. Edi's best friends provide comedic relief and support as she explores her options and finds herself.

Charlotte Barnes did a great job of capturing the essence of self-discovery and the difficulties of navigating love. I found myself rooting for Edi and her happiness throughout the book. The ending was a perfect mix of closure and open-endedness, leaving room for readers to imagine Edi's future.

Overall, I highly recommend The Break Up to anyone who enjoys a good romance novel with a twist. The story is heartwarming, relatable, and a perfect escape for anyone who wants to be swept up in a feel-good tale of self-discovery.

Absolutely loved this book!

Charlotte Barnes you are amazing!

I was hooked throughout and couldn't put this book down.

Thank you for accepting my ARC request.

Very disappointed that this was a straight romance when the cover is marketed as a sapphic one. Yes there is a sapphic romance in it but it's not the main plot... Also the transphobic comment ? No. I didn't finish it.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I'm afraid this just wasn't it for me. I loved the concept, the blurb and the cover - but it wasn't at all what it seemed to be marketed as. What I thought was going to be a story about self-discovery, sexuality and love with a sapphic romance was not really any of that.

Rowan decides to break up with Edi, but only for three months so they can date and explore before settling down together. But then, she meets Winifred and wonders if she even wants to go back or start again. The story was largely about her relationship with Rowan, who was not redeemable for me in the slightest. I didn't really get any progression from the characters translate through when I read it, and even though I'm aware it's some of these unlikeable characters who are stating the opinions, the amount of transphobic, homophobic and just generally uncomfortable statements in this book made it feel all wrong and they didn't read as though the person saying them was 'in the wrong' exactly.

There were some humorous, sweet parts of this story, and I think if this was remarketed and sensitivity read, it could make for a really sweet novel.

I'm sorry, but I simply couldn't finish this book. I know there are often characters you're supposed to dislike, but you at least have to like some and I couldn't. Sounded interesting ad, wasn't.

A gentle fun read - perfect as a summer read on the beach.

Edi thought she had her life planned out with her fiancé, Rowan, who she has known his primary school. However once engaged he suggests and she reluctantly agrees to a 3 month break when they can date other people to ensure that they are ready to settle down for life. Edi finds this unsettling but does try to meet other people including Winifred who makes her question who she is and what she wants from life.

Finally she takes control and decides what is best for her ably supported by her gaggle of close female friends.

I'm slightly disappointed. Well... even maybe a bit more than slightly.

As a person who has some experience with any kind of marketing, I'm very disappointed with how the marketing team decided to promote the book, starting with the blurb that has literally no connection to the actual book and ending with the quite bad representation of the LGBTQ+ community, you see the cover you think - "oh it will be a sapphic book", yeah, no.

I got this book over a year ago as an arc and I was really interested in it, then I saw bad reviews and I was just ignoring it. I read it now and there are way too many wrong things in this book.
What annoyed me from the start was the unhealthy relationship, the boyfriend is such an asshole that I hated him in the first chapter so imagine how much I hated him with each chapter. If Charlotte Barnes wanted us to hate the guy... good job then.

I hate queerbaiting, and sure some of you might be like "there's no queerbaiting", there is, in the freaking description of the book, then the cover. The story only introduces the queer point in the plot around the middle of the book and it's not that good. There's also this one transphobic comment that was edited out when the book was published but still.

I'd say that the book was a waste of time, but it wasn't. I didn't hate it too much, I managed to finish it the same day I started it and the friendship part of the story was quite nice. But that's about it. Therefore this book gets only 2*. Next time, if there even will be next time, I'd recommend maybe writing a coming-of-age story that have more editing/research done before it will be released.