It was a good book, but ultimately it was marketed wrong. I loved how strong and empowering the friendship between the girls were throughout, but the sapphic romance which was advertised was practically non-existent. I feel like if that was focused on a bit more it would be rated higher. Maybe a sequel?

If you want a sapphic romcom, save yourself some time and don't read this book. I saw the synopsis and I thought that I had to have this book. I was in for the drama and the cute sapphic romcom vibes. Except the only thing romcomish about the book is the cover, which is cute. Honestly, it just feels like a straight woman wrote this to get her kudos in with the queer community, but nothing could feel more violently straight than this attempt at a love story. The chemistry was non-existent. Honestly, I've got more chemistry with the IRS than Fred and Edi have with each other.

This book is about love (Rowan and Edi) and romance (Edi and Fred), sure, but what it really comes down to, in my opinion, is friendship—the relations we have with others AND with ourselves.

I really enjoyed this book and was gripped throughout. The plot and the characters were really good, I would recommend

I rated this book 2.5 stars but rounded up to 3.
If you want to read a book where our main character is finding herself, figuring out what she wants in a relationship, and learning about her sexuality- then this book is for you!

As I was reading this story, I kept waiting for the romance and it never came. I was really excited when Winifred or should I say Fred, was Introduced because it was so cute how the main character, Edi and her met. I was 60% through the story and I wanted to DNF because nothing was catching my interest. Romance isn’t the main thing in this book, which I went in thinking it was.

*Minor SPOILER*

The only part where I felt excited was when Fred and Edi see Rowan. That short exchange got me really happy… and then it ended.

I also really enjoyed the sections with her group of friends. They were all different and approached the situation differently- but at the end of the day they wanted what was best for Edi, and that’s amazing!

Thanks to NegGalley and publisher for this ARC.

I expected more from the story so all in all I was disappointed. I wanted there to be more angst from the break up and more of a love story between Edi and Fred, but what you get instead is rather a story about friendship, which is fine, but not really the story I was hoping for.

Thank you to Net Galley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

“The Break Up” by Charlotte Barnes was an interesting book full of love and self discovery.

Edi Parcell has been with one guy her whole life, she thoughts she would marry him. After a conversation with his parents, he decides he and Edi should have a “break” in their relationship and do a little bit of exploration. Rowan meets a few girls, Eli’s supposed to meet a few guys… we readers know how this goes. Edi meets Fred instead, Winifred that is. A nude art model/barista, who is definitely a lesbian.

The premise if the book was very interesting, but the execution was a little bit slow for me. It takes a while before Fred is even introduced, and Edi and her don’t have much interactions for a large portion of their scenes. Sometimes, I didn’t quite understand why this book was marketed in the category that it was - there weren’t that many LGBTQ+ moments, there were definitely more applicable categories. As someone who likes fast paced novels that keeps me hooked (so that I read it in one sitting) this book was slow.

If you like build up, taking things slow, and the MC discovering comfort with herself, this is the book could be for you.

Dang, I'm really missing the mark here on the ARC's I've been requesting and receiving. I swear I'm never a DNFer!! Well, this was a book... a book that was very misleading from the synopsis. I didn't even realize the low star reviews until I finished the book and was happy others felt the same. I got about 30% through and decided it was time. Thank you for the copy in exchange for an honest review!

I felt a bit misled by this book. The title, the cover and summary all led me to think it would be about a woman falling in love with another woman. While there’s a bit of that, it’s really a journey of self discovery and identity. In that respect, it’s pretty good but not what I signed up for. The flashbacks/timeline were a bit of a challenge to keep straight. And, Edi’s first time with a woman wasn’t believable to me. This is a woman who talks and overthinks everything yet after being intimate with a woman, there’s no real commentary on how she feels about it or how the sex was etc. instead she’s concerned how her friends will take it…her friends who are super feminists and one of whom is an out lesbian. It didn’t track for me. One thing I did love was her friend group – in many ways, the focus on her friendships was refreshing. There were too many of them but it was a fun, energetic dynamic. Overall, I would only recommend this if you’re looking for a story of self discovery.

Short Summary: Edi and Rowan have been together since grade school. After proposing, Rowan suggests they take 3 months and explore being with other people since they’ve only ever been with each other. Edi reluctantly says yes and embarks on a journey to determine who she is and what and who she wants.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

First off this book is marketed as a sapphic book and it's not that it isn't, but she is still with her fiance for most of the book and it never gives a good reason why. She should have broken up with him when he cheated on her in college. He's also just a massive dick the entire book which adds to why she should have dumped him sooner.

On the romance aspect of the book, it was not fleshed out at all. Fred just sort of seemed to be there whenever Edi needed her but they never actually progressed much. I wouldn't have a problem with this if it weren't for the fact that the author themselves calls this book a romantic comedy which it is definitely not.

The story also doesn't end in happy ever after which is a requirement of a romance book.

There is also a transphobic line from a guy that she goes on a date with and it is so unnecessary.

I received an arc through netgalley.

CW: transphobia

Edi Parcell, recently engaged, is shocked when her fiancé proposes a three-month break to explore outside of their relationship. Upon entering the dating scene after being with only her childhood sweetheart for years, Edi meets Winifred and finds herself unexpectedly developing feelings for her. Now Edi must make a decision: return to her old relationship, or continue with Winifred.

Unfortunately, <i>The Break Up</i> just didn’t do it for me. Like so many others I was really hoping to enjoy this book! I’m newer to the romance genre and the synopsis sounded so good – I was expecting a sapphic romcom. However, this is not what the book is about at all.

First, for the superficial reason: I couldn’t get behind Edi as a character. She felt like a doormat to everyone in her life (fiancé, family, friends), and she even identifies herself as ‘The Reassurer’. Not every FMC needs to be a badass, but Edi continuously let the opinions and wants of others outrank her own and I found that very frustrating to read. Now, by the end of the book she’s got a bit of backbone, but personally there wasn’t enough character growth for my liking.

Second, the more critical reasons: The pacing of The Break Up is incredibly wonky. I found if difficult to follow how much time had passed, especially between chapters, and it took me out of the reading experience trying to figure out the chronology.

Additionally, the book is very heavily based in British humour and stereotypes. This might make it bearable for people familiar with or like one or the other, but at times it felt cringy to read what I felt was an overuse of semi-retired British vernacular and phrases – it reads a bit like a British caricature. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with that style, it’s just entirely not what I was expecting, nor was it something I was interested in reading.

Lastly, I’m not even going to touch on the transphobia portion because honestly, I don’t see why I should have to justify that transphobia is bad and we shouldn’t have that representation in books. You can use other opinions/character traits to make a character dislikable without making them transphobic.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Digital for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review.</i>

Ended up a DNF this book. I do not want to continue reading something with a transphobic comment. Very disappointing.

I don't know how I managed to read this book without giving up. It was advertised as a sapphic book that would focus on a wlw relationship when it in fact didn't. The plot mostly involves around Edi and Rowan's relationship (straight couple) rather than Edi and Fred's. The plot could have been so much more interesting had the book focused more on the sapphic relationship that we're told this book has based on the cover.
Also, let's not forget the transphobic comments that were totally unnecessary and even though the person who said this is seen as a shitty guy, there is absolutely no reason as to why Edi wouldn't even blink an eye.
Frankly, I gave up on this so many times, and it took me so long to read because it got so boring at times and I was just waiting for something (the tiniest thing) to happen between Edi and Fred.

Edi is ecstatic when her longtime boyfriend pops the question but her bubble is burst when he asks for three months to sow some oats by opening their relationship. She agrees reluctantly and tries a few new things for herself, after meeting Fred, aka Winifred.
This was an ok read but not what I had expected from the blurb. It is more about Edi’s own self discovery, realizing what she truly wants for herself going forward. I was expecting more of a queer romance and this was not it. Overall well written and I did love her friend group, though there were quite a few of them and hard to keep straight.

I expected a humorous sapphic romance / romcom but what I got was more of a story about friendships, breakups, relationships M/F and F/F and finding yourself. I think I’ve read all of this author’s books and although I am not a reader of this genre I really enjoyed this book. The main protagonist is Edi and the book is an examination of her feelings and her lack of self belief. The support of her 5 close friends, Fred and to a lesser extent her parent all facilitate the journey to her finding herself and regaining her self worth.

Briefly, Edi and Rowan have been together since school and are engaged to be married. But when Rowan suggested they have a trial open relationship for 3 months Edi agrees. It soon becomes clear that Rowan is taking full advantage of it whilst Edi really isn’t interested. That is until she meets Fred. Fred is a female life model and artist who leads a bohemian lifestyle and she is just what Edi needs.

Having read a couple of the other reviews as I was posting this I felt I had to come back and say I feel some of them were a bit harsh, at the end of the day it’s a story and I thought an enjoyable one. The characters were on the whole well defined although I wanted more of lovely Fred and rather less of idiotic and tiresome Rowan. A pleasant and light read ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Full disclosure, I did end up DNFing this book, but I read approximately half of it.

I was really excited about the plot, because I thought it was a new and refreshing idea to see a woman recover from and work through a break up / poor relationship. However, once I started reading it, I was let down by the amount of time spent focusing on said relationship. Additionally, it did not feel like a natural progression from "we are so in love" to "we need to see other people." ESPECIALLY since he actually went ahead and booked a venue. I just...struggled to get into the novel.

One good aspect of this novel was the strong element of friendship. However, I did think there were too many people in the friend group for me to truly connect with anyone or get a good sense of their personalities. I was constantly mixing the friends up.

I did see other reviewers commenting about there being a transphobic comment and I looked for it and saw that the line had been adjusted which I do appreciate. However, I was still upset that this was something that was included in the first place, and I struggled even more to get into the book after that point.

Overall enjoyed. It is a breezy rom com that was quick and fun to read. I liked reading about a character discovering herself.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to this one in exchange for an honest review!
I genuinely had a fun time with this one and enjoyed it a lot. I'll get into why I enjoyed it but I feel like this could've all been avoided had only Edi known what did she actually want and started actually saying what she wanted. But then we wouldn't have had this novel so I'm gonna let that slide.
That said, Edi's indecisiveness irked me quite a lot, it seemed like she wanted other's opinions on just about everything so I was truly confused as to why was she even taking any decisions for the relationship at all. I mean she's clearly not the best person for that role. And then there is Rowan, I guess it should suffice to just call him an ar*e and call it a day. I'm very surprised that these two are supposed to be adults and grown-ups. These "flaws" for the lack of a better word, would've been more tolerable if they had been teenagers. I know adults don't always have their sh*t together but these "flaws" weren't technically flaws at all in my opinion. They came off to me as more being immature.
My favorite parts were of course the friendships between the MC and her group of friends, that's the only saving grace of this novel. I enjoyed it solely because most of the novel is just Edi and her friends.
There aren't descriptions of anything, not of places, not of how the characters look, literally nothing. It is all just conversations with some stuff about what that particular character was doing at the moment and that's it. Thankfully, I can't picture characters as real people even if they're described so it didn't put me off but it'll definitely put someone off who can.
I'll still recommend this because the things I didn't like or found irksome didn't actually dim my enjoyment of the happenings.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Content Warnings: cheating, homophobia

I'm not 100% sure what I was expecting from this book, but it certainly wasn't what I got. This novel follows Edi, who has just gotten engaged to her childhood sweetheart Rowan, when he proposes they open up their relationship for a few months before they get married. Edi is reluctant, but agrees on the basis that her alternative is forever knowing her husband wanted to try dating other people. Though Rowan has clearly only thought about himself with this idea, Edi stumbles upon an opportunity to explore her sexuality.

This was a very middle of the road book for me. I found it to be a relatively easy and fast read. I think my hatred for Rowan and my desire for him to get his comeuppance was largely what kept me reading at a fair pace. For the most part, reading this book was an enjoyable experience. I really appreciated how much emphasis is on Edi's platonic relationships with her friends - arguably this is more central to the story than any romantic connections. I also liked the love interest Fred, who had me swooning at times. I was a little worried at some points that the plot might edge into 'lesbian seduces woman away from her boyfriend' territory, but my fears were unfounded. I actually really liked the way this book ended, I think it made a lot of sense for Edi's character.

My couple little pet peeves were really nothing major. The Break Up suffers a little from millennial pop culture references sneaking in there. The references to specific songs felt a bit pointless most of the time, and the one Friends reference made me roll my eyes, but it was nothing major. I also found that there were a LOT of named side characters to keep track of, and the amount felt unnecessary - definitely some of these characters roles could have been condensed into two or three characters rather than five or six. I also felt some of the plot elements that were introduced but never really went anywhere - like Edi getting a promotion - could have been ditched to make the book less meandering.

Nevertheless, this was ultimately a good read - I always appreciate a book I can read quickly, and this one definitely delivered on that!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC of this novel.

I got very excited because this is only the second ARC I’ve been accepted for, in exchange for an honest review, and we all love new queer books, right?

But… I don’t know that I loved it. I thought the premise was pretty solid: the story starts out with the happy ending first, as our protagonist, Edi, is engaged to her childhood sweetheart, Rowan. When Rowan suggests they take a break (read: screw around), Edi is thrown for six and falls instead into the arms of the ever- charming museum curator, Fred - a woman. Brilliant - give me women leaving trash men for sexy and mysterious curators any day.

However, I was left pretty disappointed by this book. It was fairly heavily marketed as being a sapphic romance, and while that was an element of the plot, it was much less pivotal than I was expecting. I’ve since read one review that suggested it’s less of a sapphic romance and more of a hetero break up story, and I don’t think I can phrase it better.

Beyond the slightly slow start (if I’d have known I’d have to read that much straight-people drama and not get to the gay love interest until 40% of the way through, I may not have started…) I found the characters pretty underdeveloped. As a novel than focuses on friendships as well as romantic relationships, I’d hoped the supporting cast would at least be a loveable band you can really rally behind and related to. However, with 6 best friends to meet, the reader doesn’t get a chance to know them well, and they lack depth.

Also, I’m not sure if this is my super gay spidey-senses speaking, but wow the red flags the main guy, Rowan, was raising from the outset were visible from space. I know you’re not supposed to like him, but it made me kinda mad Edi put up with him for so long. And again, possibly the lesbian u-haul urge in me, but is it weird that people would get engaged without living together first? It feels weird…

I also found myself super confused over the time period and could not work it out. In one scene, the friends are setting Edi up with an online dating profile - bearing in mind the main characters are supposed to be in their twenties (I *think*?) they were using Facebook and Plenty of Fish, and it made me irrationally mad… These were the go tos in 2010, but not today?! But in the same scene, the mostly-straight friends were also clued up on non-binary identities which like… in 2010, rly?! I don’t even think most straight friend groups *now* would consider much beyond heteronormativity as an option for a previously hetero-presenting pal… (although maybe I’m being harsh, admittedly I haven’t dated in a decade).

I liked the concept, but did not love the execution.