This book was just not for me. I felt like the main female character was a "manic pixie dream girl' that men were obsessed with and wanted to protect. The love story was problematic and I wasn't rooting for them to reconcile. There were a lot of unhealthy relationships and nothing was solved in a satisfying way.

This is one of those rare romantic comedies that is actually funny rather than merely light and fun. The characters and their backstories are complex as are their relationships, which makes this a wonderful romance.

Addie and her sister, Deb, are on their way to a wedding when they’re rear-ended—by Addie’s ex-boyfriend and his best friend, Marcus, the man who worked as hard as he could to drive a wedge between Addie and Dylan. Deb suggests they ride the rest of the way together in the one car that still works. It’s a mini, and since they have already been transporting another invitee to the wedding, it’s a tight fit. As you might imagine, things do not get easier from there.

I really enjoyed this. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES APRIL 29, 2021.

This was my first Beth O'Leary book. I've heard so many good things about this author and The Road Trip did not disappoint! I loved the humor in this and I was not expecting the little bit of suspense/mystery surrounding some of these characters. It was such a fun read. Would definitely recommend to other readers.

I LOVED Beth O'Leary's latest novel. Each of her books are unique. In The Road Trip she has a deft hand at lost love and so much humor!

~2.75 stars

First off, I’d like to say thank you to NetGalley for the free eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for this one because I enjoyed Flatshare, but I was kind of disappointed.
The writing structure was great, I just found a lot of problematic elements to the story/ characters.
How am I supposed to root for a couple when their relationship is the most toxic thing I’ve ever read? I know second chance romances are a thing, but I really hate that some books romanticize toxic relationships by saying “oh I’ve changed for you because I miss you”. It’s unrealistic and doesn’t break the toxic relationship in any way. I just don’t find it cute. The ending was really weird and didn’t make sense at all. The only parts I enjoyed in this book was the current POVs because the dialogue was entertaining, but that was pretty much it.

This was good but not at all what I expected. It’s definitely heavier than I thought it was going to be, but ultimately, I really enjoyed it.

It tells the story of Addie and Dylan, going back and forth between then and now. Interspersed is a really entertaining band of characters who are hilarious and infuriating all at the same time. It’s actually something close to a coming of age tale for people in their 20’s. A life lesson on toxic people, learning who you are and coming to terms with life around you.

I found parts of this book entirely unbelievable and just too far fetched, even for a rom-com. That said, this was actually pretty dark in many places and not as cute and happy as the authors previous books.

O’Leary has done it again!!!

Adeline (“Addie”) and Dylan are goals, y’all. I don’t know how you can’t fall in love with these two characters.

This was such a fun and gripping read. I couldn’t put it down after 10 pages in.


I am rushing off to finish reading The Switch because I need more of O’Leary’s writing!!

SPOILER MAYBE:
I literally hate how toxic Marcus is, but he makes for a realistic relationship wedge so I’ll give O’Leary that! He’s a unique written character in my opinion!

This book messed me up in the best of ways. It was simultaneously slapstick funny, absurd, relatable, infuriating, and heartbreaking. It reminded me a lot about what it was like to fall in love with someone else before you even loved yourself.

I will be thinking about this one for a while.

Believe it or not, I recommend this book. It’s very fast paced, and the two timelines were well done. I liked it okay. Will definitely continue to read Beth O’Leary’s books.

3.5-- I wanted to *LOVE* this book, but in the end, I just liked it. There were moments that I really dropped in, mostly with the flashback chapters, wherein Addie and Dylan meet, fall in love, and endure life's slings and arrows. However, the modern chapters and the Rodney of it all really put me off. Also, tonally, it's a bit odd; in the flashbacks and at the outset of the book, it almost feels like Normal People, but then as the modern day stuff continues, it begins to push tone. There are weird comedic moments, like with Deb and the truck driver, and the whole Rodney bit is just too much. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it well enough. Beth O'Leary is a good writer and I liked the Flat Share quite a bit. This seems like a more mature story, her skills having improved, but it gets confused. If the story had stuck with the Addie/Dylan story and maintained that tone, this would've been a real win for me.

What to say about this book? I couldn't wait to read it, and it was PURE DELIGHT until about the 85% mark. And then ... it got weird. I was primed to expect a big bombshell, or at least a reasonable explanation of the "where things went wrong" moment the whole plot was built around. But because of the structure, that meant the issue of sexual assault wasn't introduced until the end of the story, which didn't leave time to adequately deal with it. It felt like an afterthought, not an integral part of the story. (I suspect the book's structure, which was wonderful for building romantic tension, was unhelpful when it came to doing this topic justice.)

The way the book covered (or didn't cover) depression was also frustrating, as was the resolution of Marcus's storyline.

This was SO CLOSE to being an amazing read, but the last forty pages or so were incredibly disappointing.

I was skeptical at first when I encountered the dual points of view and switching between past and present, but I was quickly surprised at how well it actually worked! Some books that I have read tried and failed to keep my attention and not be too confusing when they have used this format, but it really works for this story and these characters. I found myself very engrossed in the characters and finding out their shared history and what lead them all to this point, so the past chapters were a great help with that. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who liked “The Flatshare”, “P. S. I Love You” or modern romances in general.

A road-trip to a distant wedding (in Scotland) cramming five souls with an unpleasant history into a mini is a recipe for ... some disaster and some romance. Dylan and Addie fell in love during a summer in Provence and broke up miserably upon return. This story follow parallel tracks -- the unexpected crash that brings them together for the road trip and the original set of events that led to the break up.

I'm probably the wrong demographic for this book -- the twenty somethings involved are mostly unlikable from my perspective -- either rich, privileged, and shallow or supposedly "with it" but with no clear background to support it. Plenty of sex scenes and some fun characters (I like Addie's sister the best) but I honestly felt like telling them to get a grip and grow up a bit. If you like light romance and don't mind identifying with some lost-soul spoiled brats, this decently written book may be for you!

Beth O'Leary always does a great job in developing a cast of characters that stand out for their unique personalities and relationships, and The Road Trip delivered another set of quirky, broken, and at times humorous characters that keep the reader interested and engaged.

I have read a lot of books lately that are using the parallel timelines (past and present) to tell a story, with the twist of main characters having a history, with some type of break in their relationship, that unwinds through the parallel timelines. The approach is getting a bit tired, especially as the last 3 romcom's have all followed the one time lover, now awkward interaction stage pretty consistently.

While the book does deliver some laughs with "everything is going wrong" road trip to a friends wedding, there were also a lot of darker moments, as pasts are revealed. And the book does a fairy good job of addressing hard topics like assault, mental illness, and forgiveness.

I did think the book wrapped up things in a pretty bow, which I enjoy and expect in a true rom com; but this book has more depth than the typical brain candy novel and could have done better at the last 20% of the book in how it chose to conclude the characters open issues.

This novel has an easy to read style and a feel-good story. I preferred The Flatshare and The Switch but still an enjoyable read.

While I love an awkward forced proximity story, this one just left me anxious.

The writing and structure of this book are great. I feel like Beth just gets better and better, however the story and characters left me uninterested or straight anxious.
What started off fun and quirky, soon turned into dragged out insta-love with what felt like a forced dramatic element thrown in. I felt no connection to the characters and did not like where the each ended up.

Thank you @netgalley and @berkleyromance for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy in exchange for a review.

(This review contains SPOILERS)

I am a huge Beth O'Leary fan and whenever people ask me for book recommendations, I usually include The Flatshare and The Switch in my list.

The Road Trip is O'Leary's third book and if I were to compare it to her first two books, I'd say it's fairly similar to The Flatshare in terms of the dark topics it deals with and darker and grittier than The Switch.

TW are 100% in order here: stalking, addiction, toxic relationships, toxic masculinity, depression and attempted rape.

What I liked most about the book was the book's structure and writing (excellent, as always). The book is split in two different timelines and uses a dual narrative. It starts off with Addie and her sister going off on a road trip to attend a mutual friend's wedding and accidentally crashing into Dylan and Marcus' car (who are on their way to the same wedding). They decide to continue the journey together in one car. Dylan is Addie's ex and through flashbacks we slowly discover what drove Dylan and Addie apart...and the role Dylan's best friend Marcus played in it.

I found the story slow to start off with - but at around 30% in I found myself really invested in figuring out what went on between Dylan and Addie, and Marcus (Dylan's best friend). In that regard, the book was a 5 star read for me.

The problem I had though is: I didn't like any of the characters. I never felt I got to know Addie really well as a person and as much as I sympathised with Dylan's (mental health) struggles...I was never rooting for them as a couple and the ending just left me feeling meh as a result. I actually found their relationship to be quite unhealthy and toxic and the big reveal...well, I didn't buy it and I found it far-fetched.

I think the message of the book is that no matter how flawed we are as individuals, we all deserve a second chance and are worthy of love; I fully agree with that message. However, some of the characters' actions in this book made me feel *really* uncomfortable and this is why the optimistic ending just didn't work for me.

I'd still recommend this book though and I think it would generate excellent discussions at a book club about mental health,

I loved the Flatshare and The Switch was cute, but I did not like The Road Trip at all. I rarely give one star reviews, but there wasn't a single thing about the story or characters that redeemed it even though I kept hoping. This is not criticism about the writing: O'Leary builds complicated characters and dramatic storylines with plenty of hijinks. That being said, about 30% of the way through I decided I would not care if these characters drove off a cliff and that feeling never changed. I'll still read whatever O'Leary writes next because every single novel she's written has been radically different and that's pretty impressive.

To say I had high expectations for this book would have been an understatement. But unfortunately it not only didn’t live upto but I had to struggle quite hard to even finish the books. The characters felt very shallow and superficial. The romance was something along the lines of insta love which I hate. So all in all not a book I enjoyed or would recommend but if you are a fan of Beth O Leary, you can maybe give it a try.