What a delightful read! I loved the chemistry between Abby and Sebastian, and the sub plot of Abby’s relationship with her mom. I also really appreciated the body positive messaging throughout. Loved!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was such a great story I really enjoyed it, I loved Abby and Mark’s Story one of my favorite reads ever!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Abby loves cycling, and so when she is asked to lead her first group bike tour, she is excited, but a little nervous. Turns out she has reason to be nervous, since she recognizes one of the men in the group as a one-night stand she had over a year ago, and her mother joins the group at the last minute.

A good chunk of the book focuses on Abby & her own body image. Her parents sent her to ‘fat camp’ as a child, and while Abby has made significant healthy changes to her life, her mother continues to make judgements based on her daughter’s weight.

Her one-night stand man also becomes somewhat of a heartthrob on the trip. Which would be fine, except Abby has a committed boyfriend back home.

There are some timely (some might consider controversial) topics covered in this book. Wiener’s addition of this topic gave the book a more serious tone in many of the chapters and I thought it gave the story another avenue of characters to explore.

I enjoyed this book!! Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for this ARC. This book releases on August 29th. #booksbyashleynicole

This was an adorable and fun read. I enjoyed reading about all the relationships, new and old. Along with current issues and how they effect relationships. There were some nice scenic descriptions too. Overall, this book was delicious!

Oh, man. It pains me to write this as I am the biggest Jennifer Weiner fan. I have been reading her books for decades and always love them. I was so excited to get an ARC of this one, and it just did not work for me.

Positives:
The premise-put together a main character heroine who is trying to figure out her place in life and a lively cast of support characters for a 12-day bicycle trek through New York. And by the end shes does figure "it all" (her self image, her relationship, her mother issues, her career, her purpose, etc.) out. Probably my favorite part of the book.

Negatives:
The sub-plot felt heavy to me and was unexpected. I get why she wrote it, but it seemed a bit forced.
I thought the main love interest also felt forced
Lots of hot button topics thrown in and resolved very quickly

In the end there are probably enough themes hit upon here for most readers to resonate with, it was just a "miss" for me. I will continue to read all of her books!

As a fan of Jennifer Weiner’s other books like Good in Bed,Then Came You, and All Fall Down, I was worried this book wouldn’t live up to my own expectations but, I really enjoyed this book.

I did not read the synopsis before requesting this book on Netgalley. I just saw the cover and hit request, so I went into this book completely blind.

Abby Stern is in her mid 30’s, she has a job but not a career, a steady boyfriend who loves her, her bike, and friends who love her. Abby’s friend asks her to lead a 2 week bike trip up to Niagara Falls. When Abby meets the group she is leading she sees a familiar face in the crowd.

Two years earlier Abby is at a bachelorette party with her friends when she has an unforgettable night with a man named Sebastian.

While on the bike trip, Abby and Sebastian are able to reconnect two years after a memorable night together.

Overall I liked this book, I just felt it was a typical Jennifer Weiner title that sticks pretty closely to her usual themes of romance, mother/daughter relationships, and social issues. The characters were complex, relatable, and well written, but the attraction/romance didn't feel genuine to me.

I really loved the centrality of biking in this book. I found Abby to be a very likable character and was rooting for her and Sebastian. This was a fun, enjoyable read.

Rounded up from 4.5-ish

The concept/setting of the bike tour was great, and felt real real likely due to the author’s personal cycling.

The ancillary spoken four characters were a freaking hoot.

I liked Abby a lot and Sebastian’s arc was good

Loved this book even if a lot was jammed into it, some quite heavy topics but kept surface enough and resolved quickly/nicely (unrealistically sometimes too, but this is a novel, not the news) so they did not drag the book down. Despite some of the heavier themes, I ended this feeling happy like I just read a feel good book. Life is a ride.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

This book grabbed my heart right away. Weiner’s passion for bike riding showed through the pages as Abby was asked to lead a group bike trip from New York to Niagara Falls. I felt like I was riding along with them through the group’s new sense of freedom and their self-discovery as they faced many different weather conditions on their ride. I love Abby's laid-back attitude and confidence in leading the team. Her relationship with Sebastian was sweet despite how they got there. I do not condone cheating, but I felt they belonged together, and the ending reconfirmed that. This book also incorporated heavy topics that are still hot today. It is not an easy task to write controversial topics in a book that not all readers will like, but I felt like Weiner did a great job of putting those topics into the story. The Breakaway is a great book that brings an important lesson about loving your body and trusting your instincts. This book is also purely a great summer read with some romance and tense drama.

Thank you to NetGallery and Atria Books for giving me a copy of the book.

Another solid summer read from Jennifer Weiner. For an author as regular and prolific as she is, I am rarely disappointed by her books, and this one is no exception. My only minor quibble is that there are a number of characters here who felt like they were really only there to forward the plot points - I'm looking at you, Kayla Presser - and, for the role they played in the story, didn't really have much characterization. But, overall, very enjoyable. Abby is lovely as a main character, and felt very relatable, particularly her fraught relationship with her mother. And the romantic in me loves the idea that the love of a good woman can change a problematic man (despite the underlying unreality in this!) I'm not entirely sure that I buy that Dr. Mark would still be so enamored of never-lost-weight Abby, particularly with all he went through. But, we never get to hear his inner monologue, so, who knows? I guess I found this book way more enjoyable when you just accept the facts that this world presents you with, and don't try to tether them to reality - which, it is a RomCom, I think that's a perfectly acceptable way to read it! It is a very enjoyable read, with fun, quirky characters, and interesting settings. A solid 4 star read.

The Breakaway was an enjoyable return to the style of Jennifer Weiner's first few books, and I really loved Abby's story. Abby is thirty-four, and she doesn't yet have a career that she's passionate about. She does have a passion for bicycling and a solid, two-year relationship with Mark, a handsome, kind, and dependable guy she met at weight-loss camp when they were teenagers. Like Abby's mom, Mark makes being fit and eating healthy his passion, and Abby is starting to have doubts if she can share her life with someone so different (who also doesn't share her love of road biking). When Abby leads a two-week trail ride through upstate New York, she is shocked that a previous guy she connected with, Sebastian, is part of the group, as well as her mom. I loved the way the book was structured around a journey which also mimicks Abby's journey toward self-discovery--highly recommended if you enjoy your contemporary fiction with some spicy scenes and an overall message of body positivity. Thanks to Netgalley, Atria, and the author for the librarian preview copy!

Similar to several of Weiner's other books, The Breakaway's main character Abby Stern has a disorganized life. Always a bit overweight and defensive about it, Abby, at 34, hasn't completed much in the way of life goals. She doesn't seem to have life goals. But, her mother has more than enough for her which include losing weight (she sends Abby to fat camp as a child), and finishing her master's degree or at least finding a better job than dog-walker in Philadelphia and helping out with bicycle trips.

Abby isn't too concerned. After all, she is expecting Mark, whom she's known since fat camp in their teens, to propose. And Mark is slim now and a Jewish doctor. But then Abby meets a man, Sebastian, and has a one-night stand she thinks about for years but assumes she will never see again.

Imagine her surprise when Sebastian, and Abby's mother, show up on a bike trip she is hsheperding across the state of New York. In addition to that, one of the other members of the trip, a teenage girl, has a problem that changes Abby's life goals.

After the trip, Abby reevaluates her life, with some surprise results.

I really loved the character of Abby and hearing about her struggle with others who didn't see her as thin enough. I liked the long-distance bike tour as a setting for the story and Sebastian, the kissing bandit. The relationships between mothers and daughters was also something to think about. This was an enjoyable read. I was given an advanced reader copy of this book and have left an honest review.

Easily one of the best books I have read this year. I love Jennifer, and this book is no exception. From the very first chapter, I was hooked on Abby and her story. I think any one who has gone through issues with their weight or family can easily relate. The book covered important and relevant topics without being too heavy. It was a fast paced summer read. I only wish there was an epilogue. Maybe a sequel down the line?

Thank you to netgalley, the publisher for this opportunity to read an arc in exchange for my honest review.

I received a free copy of The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
First of all I want to say that I am a big fan of Weiner's books in general. Weiner's new book stays on trend and tackles tough topics with heart and humor.
The main character Abby is at a cross roads in her life and I found her so relatable. The story tackles her relationship with her mother, her fiancé and her one night stand.
I also love the setting/concept of this book. Abby leads a group on a bike trip through New York state for most of the story and I thought that was a great aspect.
Lots of secrets are unraveled and the story wrapped up nicely for me. This was a 4 star read for me!

The Breakaway was not what I expected from Jennifer Werner. Without giving any spoilers, it takes you through some of the hot topics in our current culture through the eyes of the main character, Abby. I found it to be relatable as a female and made me develop a heart for the characters and want to pull for them all the way through the book. In my opinion, this is one of the best books by Jennifer Werner.

Another winner. Jennifer Wiener is a must read author for me and I was excited to read her latest. Abby is a wonderful heroine, her relationship with her mother is well crafted and I was very surprised when I got to the end and discovered why her mother had been so obssessive about Abby's need to lose weight. The romance is well done, I loved Sebastian and I thought the ending was perfect. Definitely recommend.

I have not always been a fan of Jennifer Weiner. So I approached this book with a certain wariness. However, and it’s a big However…this story just checked off all the boxes. Its warm hearted writing and relationships of Abby rang so true. The pages just kept turning and before I knew it, the story was over but the characters were fresh in my head.
Delightful, fun, and yes some real mother - daughter issues..but a fantastic Summer read and one that will definitely hit the top of all reader’s lists!

I will thank NetGalley and the publisher for tje opportunity; but I really have to give this a DNF. Maybe it’s not the right time for me to pick this book up, or maybe it’s just not hitting me right, but I could not connect with any of tue characters. I was completely bored after the first chapter; but pushed through in hopes it got better. For me, it didn’t. I am a fan of Jennifer Weiners previously reads; but this I just couldn’t get behind. I definitely recommend her as an author though, so not all is lost.