Member Reviews

This was a good read - I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

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The Breakaway follows 33 year-old Abby Stern as she accepts an offer to step outside her comfort zone and lead a last-minute multi-day bike trip. The book focuses on Abby's relationship with her self, her mother, love interest, and follows some storylines involving some of the other characters on the trip. It was a quick read, and reminded me a bit of Jennifer Weiner's earlier books, like Good in Bed. Thanks to Netgalley and Atria for the ARC.

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Another amazing book by Weiner. She is one of my favorite authors and she never disappoints.
Definitely a must read if you love her previous books.

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This was such a great book! I feel like Jennifer Weiner’s books are always a hit and are books that you won’t want to put down! The characters in this book were great, even with all the drama! I really loved the mother and daughter relationship in this book. There’s so many secrets in this book, you’re going to be intrigued and have to keep reading. I recommend checking this one out!

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As with her other books, I thought this was well written and enjoyable. For me, this would make a nice beach read. It does deal with important issues but not at any deep level. There are a nice number of bikers in the group and readers get to know some of the things a few bikers are dealing with in their lives. But was this necessary in terms of the story? I get what Weiner was trying to do but sometimes less is more. That way, other themes could be fleshed out more, in my opinion.

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This was the perfect summer read. It may not be one that “sticks with me” but I enjoyed the reading experience.

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Rounding up to 3.5. I loved the mother/daughter relationship vibe but could have done without all the political undertones. Jennifer Weiner is a fave author but this wasn't my favorite of hers.

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This was a good read, but not a book I would return to or really recommend. I enjoyed that the book included a lot of body positivity and following the leads development over time. At times there felt like too many plot lines going, along with a lot of side characters that weren’t meaningful for the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

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a fast-moving but richly woven tale of family, politics, feminism, faith, romance and #HAES (health at every size)

One of the reasons I post so many rave reviews is that I know what I like. I’m very good at picking books I will enjoy. I figured I’d like “The Breakaway”; you really cannot go wrong with Jennifer Weiner. But I had no idea how much I would absolutely love this book.

I read the synopsis as a second-chance romance, but this book is so much more than that. The main character, Abby, agrees last-minute to lead a multi-day cycling trip through upstate New York. Her relationship with her boyfriend, Mark, is at a pivotal point — they’re two years in and talking about moving in together. Little did she know that Sebastian, a one-night stand she met shortly before getting together with Mark, would be on the trip.

Sounds like any other rom com, right? But there’s so much more to this book, including mother-daughter relationships, faith, politics and weight bias. There were multiple story lines that made this one difficult to put down — I was so invested in all of them.

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The breakaway was a very interesting read. The main character definitely had a lot of issues that were unresolved in her life. It was interesting to watch her thought process through the event of the book. Great to have more books about body positivity.

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I liked this book! I wouldn’t say it was my all time favorite read, but it was enjoyable overall! I give it three stars.

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4.5 stars

Jennifer Weiner always find a way to incorporate relatable and often controversial topics into her stories, and in this case it is Abby Stern’s struggle with her weight. As a child she was forced to attend a weight-loss camp thanks to her diet-obsessed mother, but over the years she has come to accept her plus-size body. She also reconnects with Mark Medoff, another Camp Golden Hills attendee, and while they are on track to get married, she feels like something is off.

Abby receives an unexpected invitation to lead a cycling group from NYC to Niagara Falls, and it feels like to perfect time to reflect on what she really wants in life — and whether or not that includes Mark. Ironically, Sebastian, a man she’d had a one-night stand with two years ago, is part of her group, but Abby needs to stay focused and is determined to keep her distance. To make matters worse, her mother Eileen, the source of all her bodily insecurities, joined as a last minute addition.

This book digs deep into the lives of the characters that make this story so wonderful. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, and they need to make some life-altering decisions before they can finish their trek to Niagara Falls. Ultimately, it’s a blunt yet heartwarming reminder that your feelings are valid, and sometimes you have to rediscover your own self worth to undo the emotional damage that once controlled your every waking thoughts.

Highly recommend!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing a copy of this book to review.*

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Thank you NetGalley for the copy of The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner.

This book was not for me. This was my first time reading something from this author. I was surprised at the bedroom scene with the one nightstand and then going back to your boyfriend.

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I will always read everything by Jennifer Weiner. This is a must-read author for me and my mom. The Breakaway was a classic Jennifer Weiner!

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The Breakaway
A Novel
by Jennifer Weiner

The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner is a story about plus sized 33 year old Abby at a cross roads in her life faced with a very difficult situation about marrying her child hood sweetheart. In the mean time she welcomes the opportunity to lead a two week long bike cycling tour where she re-acquaints with a one night stand Sebastian.

I have loved every Weiner book I have read and I am so sad I didn’t devour this with gusto, or loved it as much as her other books. It’s still a very well told story, it just didn’t capture my complete attention to care much about the characters and their plight.

I still love Weiner and cannot wait for her other upcoming novels.

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The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner is the story of 33 year old Abby, a woman on the brink of marrying her childhood sweetheart - a man “perfect” on paper, but perhaps not perfect for Abby. When Abby, an avid biker, agrees to lead a 2 week long cycling tour, Sebastian, her “I can’t stop thinking about him” one night stand from two years ago, miraculously happens to be one of the riders on the trip. Oh, and Abby’s mother also surprises her as a rider. The mother Abby isn’t close to at all and also blames for all of her body insecurities that she’s still working through as a plus-sized young woman.

I generally really enjoy Weiner’s books but I think I was expecting a lot more substance to this book given how her last few books were a lot heavier than their covers let on. Weiner attempts to tackle a lot of topics in this book (body shaming, body acceptance, mother/daughter relationships, romance, abortions, and probably my favourite - that body size doesn’t have to dictate physical ability or endurance), but I found myself a little bored with the storyline at times.

There’s also a LOT of side characters in this book. I get it, the bike tour required participants, but it was a lot of people to keep track of and I never was able to keep them all straight. And while I appreciated what she was trying to do with one of the side stories with a young girl rider, it just felt out of place.

But most of all, I just never got attached to the love story between Abby and Sebastian. It felt like a stretch - serial womanizer is still head over heels for Abby whom he hasn’t seen in two years and is the one he’s pretty sure he is ready to settle down with? Nah. I love me a good over the top romance but this too felt out of place nestled amongst the other topics in this story.

Anyway! Not mad I read it, but definitely not my favourite of hers!

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I have been a fan of Jennifer Weiner's since the beginning and feel like I have read this book already - just with a few differences. Of course the main character struggles with her weight and of course she finds love anyway. Rinse and repeat. Come up with something different why don't ya?

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It took me forever to read this one and I’m in the middle of the road on it. I loved the second chance, the viral tik tok, and the bike trip. I did not love all the talk about losing weight or the mother/daughter combo on the bike ride. I ended up pairing the ARC with the audio from Libby and think that helped me enjoy it more!

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The Breakaway was a bit of a sleeper for me. It didn’t grab me like Weiner’s books usually do. I liked it but I really wanted to love it. The characters are quirky and the messages throughout are well written. Abby is relatable and I admired her growth.

A solid read, just not my favourite by this author.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. This was a good, but not great read. I loved the plus size representation. It was a light hearted fun read that people should pick up.

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