I really enjoyed how the characters grew and developed. A well written romance with enough conflict but not an overwhelming amount. The tension was great, given the premise is one that requires a decision between a childhood romance and new love.

This book was not what I was expecting, however I did really enjoy reading it. It was a different take on a break up, full of quirky friends, an annoying fiancé who I would have liked to have kicked up his backside. Being on a break and seeing things from another perspective.
It was a good read and easy to get lost in and to say it was Charlottes first romance novel - I think she did pretty well.

I enjoyed the strong friendship dynamics (platonic soulmates are very much my jam), but this book entirely lost me after the transphobic comment and I really had no interest in reading any further. I did though, to try and find out if there would be any reference to this comment, whether there were a point to it, and whether it would be called out, but there was not. Please stop using transphobic comments in an attempt to be humorous.

Thank you to NetGalley & HQ publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I agree with many other reviewers in that this being marketed as a romcom isn’t completely accurate, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the book at all.

While not a romcom, this is a super delightful tale of self discovery and friendship. Instead of going into this and expecting a book focused on romantic relationships, expect a story where romance may come and go but the support of friends is everlasting, and the importance of not identifying solely in relation to your love life.

This book is marketed completely wrong. This is not a sapphic romance story, this is also not truly a sexuality exporation / realisation book, it lacks depth. I didn't hate the book itself, and it's not like the writer isn't a good writer. It's just not what was promised. The transphobia also wasn't cute, at all :/ I recommend maybe editing that + marketing it in a different way: for example the cover. I'm not saying the main characters journey isn't important and I'm not trying to dismiss her journey but yeah, no

When I read the description I was excited for a sapphic romance. As the book went on I was immensely enjoying edi and her progression with her self love and her amazing support system of her friends. The further I got into it though the more confused I got as to where the romantic plot line was. Don’t get me wrong this book was a lovely read for a woman’s fiction about self discovery and personal growth, however the definition of a romance is a main romantic plot line with a happily ever after. As much as edi ends up happy with herself she isn’t in a relationship and her relationship with Fred is never really explored properly. There was so much potential with Fred. Since this book was marketed as a romance I have to give it three stars. If it was described as a book about self discovery or personal growth, simply women’s fiction I would rate it higher because the book was enjoyable and discussed important messages and I loved the Characters. My favourite part of the book was the friend group and the way they interacted and created a safe space always.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am a firm believer that romance novels do not have to purely centre around the main romantic relationship and can have concurrent storylines that contribute to the story. However, The Break Up being marketed as a sapphic romantic-comedy with things such as its cover and synopsis is incredibly misleading as the romantic relationship between Edi and Fred made up very little of the book.

As much as I dislike giving such negative ratings and reviews, I found the book hard to get into and was bored for majority of the time. Furthermore, as also mentioned by other reviewers, there were many problematic aspects in the book that were never properly addressed. Overall, I found this book to be a huge let down.

Well, let's start with this: don't believe the book blurb! This is not a f/f romance. This is a book about a woman breaking up with her absolute jerk of a fiance. There is scarcely any romance in the whole book, in fact. I'm sure I might have enjoyed Edi's "love interest" Fred, if her personality was described as much as her thighs were, or if they had any chemistry at all. The best part of the book was Edi's band of close friends, but they were nowhere near enough to rescue this mess.

I'm not interested in continuing a book with a transphobic joke. I was hoping for some cute fun queer representation and unfortunately this is not what I got.

Edi and Rowan are childhood sweethearts who are recently engaged. Everything seems perfect until Rowan proposes a three month break to date other people. Edi ends up dating for the first time in forever and truly gets a chance to discover what it is she wants from life.
This story is a lighthearted fun story. We start out just after Edi and Rowan have been engaged, it’s quite nice to see how they interact as a couple before the break happens, however this does seem to fill a large amount of the book. It also takes a while before we meet the other love interest of the story.
The romance seems to be a minor point of this book. Edi meets Fred nearly halfway through and has a handful of encounters on page. We see a lot of Edi’s friends and how she is adjusting to dating life, with dating apps and organically meeting Fred. This friend group is one of my favourite things about this story!
Edi does go through development but the focus is very much on her. We learn more about Rowan and see that he too can grow.
The flaws from this novel seem to stem from being advertised as a sapphic romance which isn’t the real focus of the book.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to review. What a lovely read.... Perfect to cosy up to on a cold night

Newly engaged couple Edi and Rowan quickly fall apart when Rowan suggests a three-month break to see other people. Edi shocked by the idea eventually agrees to the break and meets Artist Winifred (Fred).

The book while seeming to advertise a relationship between Edi and Winifred instead focuses on the failing relationship between Edi and Rowan. With Edi spending, most of the book with her group of supportive friends, who like the reader is confused as to why Edi would even want to continue a relationship with Rowan.

While you may enjoy this book as it follows Edi’s journey, I wouldn't consider this book to be a romantic comedy. There were also transphobic and homophobic moments that none of the characters registered as problematic.

Was a bit taken aback that this book gave off a cute lgbtq+ romance, but it was not that at all. I do agree lgbtq+ was apart of the book, but the main love story was between Rowan and Edi. I was a bit disappointed by that, as the cover was a bit deceiving, but nonetheless I finished the book. I absolutely loved the strong female friendships in this book. Edi constantly had support around her and that was very heartwarming. I’ve never been a fan of the “let’s take a break and see other people” trope, so this wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. I find the story lacked quite a bit and I found myself getting distracted from reading very easily. I did however love going along with Edi as she explored her sexuality. Fred was the perfect person to help her navigate that new part of herself. All in all, I did end up enjoying this read, but it definitely was lacking something.

Less of a rom-com and more a touching coming of age novel.
Tropes: Love Triangle, Second Chance
Spice: 0/10
Rating: 4.25/5 empowering friendships

Edi and Rowan are that couple that have been together since elementary school. Now they're in their mid twenties, and their relationship is at a comfortable place. Naturally, they decide the next step is to get engaged.

However shortly after their engagement, Rowan decides he wants an open relationship to explore other fish in the sea. Edi doesn't really want this, but agrees because she doesn't want to loose Rowan entirely.

Rowan immediately goes out and takes full advantage of this "free pass." Edi's a bit more resigned ... until she meets a cute and interesting barista. However once Rowan gets wind that Edi might be seeing someone, he gets jealous (because it's fine for him to sleep around, but not his fiancée, even though the open relationship was his idea in the first place.)

I honestly wonder why Edi was ever with Rowan past elementary school at all!!! He's such an asshole from the very beginning, and the more we learn about him the worse he gets. He treats Edi like a doormat in every situation.

The description pitched this book as a rom-com, but Fred (Winifred, Edi's love interest) is hardly even in the book. This is more of a fun story of Edi and her girlfriends galivanting around town and Edi, in the process, realizing how wonderful life is without a jealous, controlling, immature "boyfriend."

It's lovely to see Edi come into her own and realize her own self worth. The final few chapters were so satisfying. I really enjoyed reading this even if it was a totally different vibe than I was expecting (based off the description.)

When I requested an ARC via netgalley I thought the premise of this story sounded really good and I was interested to read something a bit different. Edi is in a hetero relationship but finds herself on a break. She meets a woman named Fred and supposedly romance blooms between them. I say supposedly as it is really inferred rather than explored, which I found slightly disappointing. I think this book missed a great opportunity here as it felt like it didn't really find its feet. I kept wondering while reading - is this book a romance novel? I don't think it really fits as the majority of this book features interactions between Edi and her group of friends, rather then her and Fred.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the transphobic moment of the book. I'm not sure of the author's background but I'd have thought the editing process might have been stronger with this book in general to exclude such comments, let alone sharpen the premise of the novel so it fits with how it's being marketed. It's a bit misleading as it currently is.

Many thanks to Netgalley and HQ for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not the sapphic romance it promised to be but instead mainly the breakup. I would also say I kept waiting for something exciting but it was like an entire book of exposition. Not to mention, the relationship with Fred was watered down and G Rated 90% of the time. A romance novel without the romance? No. Also calling this a romantic comedy might be accurate if this book were written ten years ago. The attitudes of homophobia and transphobia feel very outdated. When her date tells her that a penis would be a real shocker, I couldn’t believe this was being put in a book written in 2022. It’s outdated and tone def at best and offensive and transphobic at worst.

I read this in one day. While I couldn't put it down, I think it was more of a "will Edi seriously consider going back to her terrible fiancé after all he's done?" And needing to find out the answer, rather than it being a totally gripping novel.

I agree with other reviewers who think Edi had too many friends to keep track of. I think Lily and Faith could have been enough, rather than a whole gaggle of gal pals.

I liked that Edi continued to grow, even at the end of the book.

*Much thanks to NetGalley and HQStories for providing the ARC!*

'The Break Up' had good intents. It's a novel about a woman's experience with sexuality and love, an awakening of identity. By the end of the book, Edi's attitude toward sexuality and love and self was something positive and lovely that we can all learn from. That being said, the journey on the way to this attitude wasn't as rom-com-tastic and fun as I had been anticipating, and it had me shaking my head from time to time over some of the characters' lines.

This book gave me ‘morally ambiguous early 2000s rom com’ with a hefty dash of misguided millennial feminism. Some of the characters were fun, but the way some of the side characters were depicted- Betty as the righteous hard-headed feminist and Faith as the token lesbian- had me rolling my eyes from time to time. Edi seemed very concerned with how she looked and how she would be seen throughout the book, and I understand that it was supposed to be something she’s overcoming, but to me it was just kind of annoying. She read more like a tired woman in her mid-thirties than a young woman in her early 20s.

That being said some of the actual meet cute romance of the book was admittedly cute, though tarnished by Edi’s attitude. The only thing that seemed to accurately date this book was a reference to a Betty Who track and a couple cliched references to the modern woes of online dating, and other than that it read like a made-for-tv movie made 20 years ago.

Fred was a cute character, but for most of the book she seemed just like a tool for Edi’s sexual awakening, and we didn’t get to see her as much more than an accessory in Edi’s identity crisis, which was disappointing to me coming from a novel labeled as a romance.

I hate giving bad reviews, but honestly, I’m having trouble finding something I really loved about this book. It had good intentions, trying to be a woke, feminist twist on a rom com, but to me, it just came off as dated and eye roll inducing.

Well, I want to start this by swearing that I don’t mean to be rude and mean, but sadly I really disliked this book and don’t have many positive things to say about it.

Reading this was boring from beginning to end. I didn’t feel anything towards the characters (the millions of them) and their conflicts. At the end, I was pretty much skimming through the pages to end my suffering. The story isn’t terrible, but the development was.

The book got stuck between being a break up novel and a sapphic romance, not truly succeeding at neither. I didn’t care about Edi’s engagement to Rowan or her relationship with Fred. I couldn’t care less about who she’d pick. Rowan was boring and shallow, while Fred was also super bland and, as someone on Goodreads said, almost like a manic pixie dream girl.

And like I mentioned before, this book has way too many characters. The main character has maybe 5 or 6 friends, Rowan has a few more, and there’s Fred, parents and dates. Every interaction between Edi and her friends felt as if I had been dropped at a white sorority house – not in a good way. Of course that big friendship groups exist in real life, but you have to have a reason to put so many characters in a book. Honestly, all those girls seemed to have the same personality.

Some people have also mentioned this but there is a transphobic line in this book – a book threw a lot of feminist ideas in the mix. Although it comes from a character that is supposed to be a jerk, it wasn’t addressed as it should’ve been, so I wonder if the writer actually meant it. I don’t see how someone who defends trans rights would just throw something like that and leave it that way.

So, in general: this book was not enjoyable at all :(
It felt shallow, annoying for the most part of it and to me it was truly lost on it’s purpose. It’s not really a romance, not really a break up novel and doesn’t really feel like good LGBT rep.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley.

A tale of self love, self discovery and friendship.

I truly enjoyed the dynamic between Edi and her group of friends, and how they stand for each other no matter what the situation. It was the highlight of the book for me.
The relationship between Edi and Rowan, and the way it crumbles down, makes sense to me, although why on earth would someone make that kind of proposition AFTER proposing is... WTF dude. If you're dumb enough to let other peope's doubts cloud your judgement, then maybe, I don't know, don't get engaged.

To me, it's a story that could help a lot of people in "fine" relationship realize that they deserve better than fine, and should strive for something good or even great.

I really enjoyed this story.