I have been waiting for another book from Emily Martin since I fell in love with The Year We Fell Apart. I was so excited to read Five Ways to Fall Out of Love when I downloaded it. I put off reading it for a bit because YA contemporaries just hadn't been hitting the right note with me. I'm happy to report that Five Ways to Fall Out of Love got me back into the swing of reading them.

Emily Martin's writing was as engaging as I remember it being. I was immediately pulled into Aubrey's life. She seemed like a normal teenage girl. She wasn't the "special snowflake" we see sometimes in YA fiction.  Aubrey had real life insecurities navigating high school friends, cliques, and boys. She also had family problems that I believe many teenagers will be able to relate to. There was a lot of hurt she had to deal with in all of that. I liked how Martin portrayed it all.

As for the romance... Well, it had its love triangle moments. You might have guessed that from the blurb. Aubrey used to like Webster, now she likes his cousin Holland. Being with Holland led to being around Webster more than normal and drug up old feelings. Normally, I'm not a fan of love triangles. I didn't mind this one because it didn't always feel like one, and there wasn't any overlap between Aubrey being with either of the guys (no cheating). What I didn't like was that Webster and Holland were cousins. That did bug me. At least they weren't brothers, I guess.

A little more about the guys since I won't be giving away how things go down or end up. Webster was not my favorite guy. I knew, from reading countless romances, that his rudeness had to be related to something Aubrey was unaware of. I could tell her cared for her and liked her despite his actions. That being said, he made some poor decisions that drove me nuts. Holland was a great guy from the start. He's a character you can't help but like because he's just so dang decent. He treated Aubrey well, better than Webster. Holland had some flaws of his own in relation to Aubrey. 

Oh! One of my favorite things was the friendship aspect of the book. Aubrey had to navigate both a long-term and a new-found friendship. I really loved how everything went down in terms of both and what Aubrey learned from them. 

Another thing I should mention is that this book is about seniors in high school. It is on the mature side of things when it comes to the YA genre. There is some sexual content, alcohol, and partying. 

It's hard to talk about some of my feelings about this book without giving things away. It was well written, but I think some readers are going to have a problem with Aubrey's decisions and maybe even the ending. I kind of wanted it to either go a different direction than it did or for an epilogue. I vacillated between 3.5 and 4 stars as a rating, and ended up going with 4 because it was so well written, held my attention, and had me genuinely rooting for Aubrey to find her way through her senior year of high school.

This was a good read. The story and characters were well developed and the plot twists were interesting. It was a book of self discovery for the heroine which was well done but not action packed.
I didn’t feel emotionally involved with the characters but that’s just me. I’m sure others can relate.

Five Ways to Fall Out of Love has a fantastic cover design and an inspiring integration of Bayes Rules with a premise of plotting science against emotion, but all it does is muddy the waters on some sensitive issues like divorce, bisexuality, and honesty. Aubrey is clearly confused about relationships and knowing when a story is hers to tell. And while the plot begins with Aubrey being stood up for a school dance by her neighbor and romantic interest, Webster (who has told her he's Bi - and she's the only one at their school who knows at first). We start out feeling badly for her, but learn she's just a wavering mess who wants to fall in love, but it is hard when her parents' relationship is broken. And she's insensitive and selfish, so that just makes for a plot that tries to make sense of emotions, but there's no real, firm life lesson. The story arc crashes into typical high school drama of prom and graduation. And just when Aubrey might be breaking some ground on her self sabotage, the story ends. Bisexuality is explored, but in a way that reads as insensitive. There is a good story with strong insights into first love, but I'm hesitant to add this to our YA collection because the perspective on bisexuality seems naive.

I loved this book! An excellent read!

Aubrey Cash is a high school student getting ready to leave for college, and although she wants nothing to do with love, there is plenty of romance in this book. Aubrey has a close relationship with her neighbor, Webster, star basketball player at school. They have a falling out at Homecoming their junior year, and then they spend the next year tormenting each other, while Aubrey gets close with his cousin, Holland. Throughout the year, Aubrey deals with many things, such as her parents separating, a falling out with her best friend, and prepping for college.

This book kept me interested the entire time. I loved the characters and the witty banter between Aubrey, Holland and Webster. I loved the relationship she had with her best friend Reese and the relationship she developed with Veronica. The beginning of the book hooked me right away and I thought the pacing of the story was perfect! I would definitely recommend this book to others!

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a labyrinth of miscommunication and typical teen drama. Most of the mistakes have to lie on the shoulders of Aubrey, the MC. She has questionable brain-to-mouth filters and compounds the issue with bad decisions. Most of the relationships are toxic - though believable from my teen experience - and the communications between the characters is cruel more often than it is kind. This book is only redeemed by the chapters that label Aubrey's relationship with her best friend Reese as love. Platonic love is ABSOLUTELY as - if not more - heart-breaking to lose than romantic love.

2⭐
This book had so much potential and sadly, I really ended up despising the main protagonists. I didn't find them likeable or relatable. Their relationship seems forced and contrite to me. I finished this book to see if I would get better and sadly, it fell short.

Thanks Netgalley for the free e-arc

I'm really torn on this one.

While it kept my interest and I wanted to know what happened, I can't say it was always enjoyable. The relationship between Aubrey and Webster is cringe-worthy 75% of the time and anything but healthy. There were certainly sweet moments that brought the rating to what it is but, as a librarian, I would be very hesitant to hand this book over to a teen because of how toxic the rollercoaster relationship between them is. I mean, sure, I'm glad that [Aubrey and Webster end up together in the end. But given their track record, even I don't think it'll last. The on-and-off playing with their emotions kind of thing is not something that I appreciate YA novels displaying as a healthy relationship since it sets unrealistic and terrible expectations for romantic relationships. It also idealizes that sort of codependent relationship between partners. (hide spoiler)]

That being said, it held my interest and I did enjoy reading it...

I received a free E-Arc for an honest review from the publisher and Netgalley.

My Review:
This story took me back to high school for a bit. Down memory lane I go but sadly I did not date when I was in high school. Being a teenager isn't always easy. Anyways, Aubrey is trying to figure out how love relationships works. She sees struggles with her parents which I think makes her guess if is even possible to happen for her.

Aubrey becomes friends with Webster who is new. I wished the author put a bit more of that relationship in the beginning before the story went on on how Webster just kinda of did not click with her anymore. So there are ups and downs with Aubrey and Webster. I don't know if the characters did not know what to do or if they were trying to figure stuff out. High school times, everyone is figuring stuff out and hormones!! Some people know while others even when they are an adult are still trying to figure it out. Anyways, I did like how Webster and Aubrey click at various times. They both liked to talk about baking, sweets and pies which showed they had a common interest. I thought that was pretty cool.

Now when Aubrey is with Webster's cousin, Holland seemed like a perfect relationship but to me it was missing the spark. I did love the conversation between the two though. Even their love for dogs was a nice touch!

Aubrey and her friend Reese friendship was enjoyable. I loved how the two talked about a variety of things. It was really nice. And of course in the relationship there are ups and downs but in the end these two are really good friends.

The story covers friendship, love, high school, and family relationships. All these are related to every day life! I think the story was cute teen read. I have a bit of mixed emotions on it because the story just seemed a tiny bit all over the place. The one focus that stayed with me was relationships which I could understand. I did rushed into the pages at the end because I wanted to know what was going to happen and I was pretty much satisfied with the ending!

<p>Just to give you heads up there is a bit of sexual actions going on in the book.</p>

I cannot say enough good things about this book. I was glued to the pages and finished it in a day.
This is such a cute coming of age story that covers all sorts of topics such as first love, heart break, true teenage relationships, parent problems/divorce, etc.
This isn't a book that pretends that there aren't problems in adolescence and it shows that teens also have a lot going on and that they have their own difficulties.
You know mostly who she's going to end up with but Emily Martin writes it so well that it was actually okay with me and it turned out so perfect.
Hoping she writes a sequel.

I had a really hard time getting into this book. However, I know that a lot of other readers have enjoyed it. I'm in the minority. The main issue was that I knew all along that who she would end up with and, therefore, there wasn't as much tension as I would have liked. I did, however, love the twist with the homecoming dance. That was unexpected.

Despite some great writing, I found myself skimming to get to the end (once again, because I knew what was going to happen). Just not my cup of tea.

I didn't really enjoy this one. I am not a fan of toxic relationships.

Thank you Netgalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. I wish it were different.

Martin does well to set up Aubrey as a three-dimensional character. At times, I'm not particularly sure if I like her, or whether or not she is being particularly rational. However, her motivations always seem to make sense to her,which is important. I do feel like Holland gets a little shortchanged in this novel, but it makes sense given the track we're clearly on from the beginning.

This was a cute book to read. Aubrey Cash is a teenager that becomes best friends with a new neighbor. Once things go awry, she begins to date his cousin. What begins as a book that you believe to know who she ends up with, in the end you see how much she has grown in who she chooses. It reminded me of high school in all the rom com elements. What I would say is that the neighbors bisexuality comes up in conversations but it really did not need to be in there. I dont know if it was a new element that the author wanted to have in the book, but it was not needed and did nothing for the storyline. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to remember how it was to be a girl in high school.

If there are five ways to fall out of love...is it possible to fall back in love?

Aubrey Cash has learned that she can't rely on love - her parents have a complicated relationship, her best friend considers everyone she dates is "the one", and the boy she spent the last summer falling in love with her neighbor (Webster Casey) stands her up at the dance. Now Aubrey finds herself falling for Holland (who also happens to be Webster's cousin) and Webster gets assigned as her lab partner for the rest of the year - she finds her plan to stay single is harder than it seems.

I found myself having a love/hate relationship with both Holland and Webster both for different reasons. I also found myself getting annoyed with Aubrey and how much she had to analyze if her relationship was worth it, and find reasons as to why things wouldn't work - it would have been nice to watch her let herself go a little and realize that things can work out. I also think that Holland deserved better - he was a really sweet character who in my opinion was used by Aubrey, it was clear for awhile she had mixed feelings.

I think from the start the readers are led to believe that the relationship she has with Webster is endgame, and although, it's really cute to see them fix their friendship and escalate to that level - I wish it hadn't been made so obvious. It states so many times by her friends that she's "in love" with Webster, I like that it's a slow-burn for them to get to that part.

If I could add anything - I would have really liked to see an epilogue. The entire book Aubrey spends her time dealing with the fact that she'll be going to a different college and worries about how her potential relationships will end up. I would have liked to see that Aubrey truly got a happy ending and how she is able to maintain those relationships after a year or so! I felt the novel ended very abruptly and acted like everything was fine!
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I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A HUGE thank you to Inkyard Press, Emily Martin, and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was such a fun, quick read. Aubrey grew so much over the course of the book and you can see her mature so much. I would say this book was more coming of age than romance, but it still had the romance aspects. And can I just say, I loved how real some of this book felt. I actually felt like I was right there alongside Aubrey as she experienced some of these moments and I honestly loved that.

The characters in this book were an absolute pleasure. I loved Aubrey, and of course Holland, Reese, and Webster. I loved the progression of this book and how truly real and raw some of the moments felt.

This book did contain a couple scenes that were fairly hot and heavy for a YA book, but nothing too bad. There weren't any super descriptive passages or anything too raunchy, but they were fairly intense for YA. I wouldn't recommend it for younger readers on that side of the YA spectrum.

A teen story but can be enjoyed by adults like me! :) This book covers a lot of complicated issues and realistic situations. Adolescence isn't easy. I like the characters by the end of the book and thought that it had a good ending. Enjoyed it.

Aubrey thought her relationship with new neighbor Webster was going well until Homecoming Junior year changed everything. Senior year Aubrey starts dating Webster's cousin and things start getting really confusing. Which boy does she really have feelings for? Lots of bad relationship decisions among the characters and heavy sexual scenes that don't seem to fit in occur making me wonder what message was being portrayed. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was kind of even and I have no idea what the title refers to. Also, the timeframe makes huge jumps from the summer before junior year to homecoming that fall to NYE senior year.

At Webster's NYE party, Aubrey meets Webster's cousin Holland and falls for him. They start dating, but she breaks up with him for reasons I don't understand. They seem pretty minor. Within days, she starts hanging with Webster 24/7.

Then she breaks up with him right before the prom. Her reasons are a little more valid, but again she doesn't talk to him.

And she's just annoying. I'm not sure what either guy sees in her. Meanwhile, she's also completely judgey about her best friend and her boyfriend.

The dialogue was boring. I was having a hard time getting interested in the characters and events. The tone wasn't too cutesy.

Awww this book was cute through and through. I swear the more kids I have the more emotional these hormones make meeee!!! This book brought back memories of first loves, fears and anxieties about the future. Oh what joy to be young, naïve, optimistic and in (maybe) love!!!

A book that explores first loves, friendships and family relationships in a fast-paced read. I really liked Emily Martin’s writing style- it kept the story flowing and I was glued to the pages. Miss Martin has a way of letting the characters find themselves; she doesn’t sugar-coat the aches and pains of growing up and the difficulties of relationships.

Overall, I liked all the characters. They each had a likeable side and an irritating side, which in turn made them more likeable and relatable (if that makes any sense…). The only critique I have about the book is that there were certain parts that were under-developed. For example, I wish we delved deeper into Aubrey’s relationship with her parents, or explored Webster’s past a bit more; things that were briefly touched on but didn’t tell me enough about the characters.
In the end I tore through the pages and enjoyed it. I’d recommend it to those who are looking for a cute, fast-paced teen romance.

ARC received in exchange for an honest review.