A case of bad advertising?
The cover, the blurb, and the title all scream sapphic romcom. But this is actually more of a literary novel about coming into terms with your sexuality, celebrating friendships, and of course, a break up. The writing was easy to read and is very British. I even had people with voices with the British accent in my head. Structurally, the plot is sound but the characterization felt a little off.

I might have enjoyed it more if it had been marketed to me properly.

3.5 stars rounded up. I really enjoyed reading this--it would have been 4 stars if i didn't think, based on the marketing, that it was going to be a rom-com. It felt more like a queer 20something coming of age, which i LOVE, with a really strong cohort of feminist friends which i always want, but it didn't feel like a romance novel. Also i appreciate the consistent reminders that heterosexual men bring women down.

Going into this book, I was definitely expecting something along the lines of a woman who thinks she's straight and is engaged to a long-term boyfriend meeting another woman who sweeps her off her feet and causes her to reassess everything. While that isn't an entirely incorrect description of this book, I was pleasantly surprised at how much of the focus was actually on Edi and her friends. This book was a love story and I firmly stand by that, but it was a love story about female friendships (and what better kind is there?). I won't deny that a part of me was hoping Edi would fall madly in love with Fred and leave Rowan for her, but I'm not mad about her breaking up with both Rowan and Fred and deciding to focus on herself first.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Digital for the advanced copy to review.

I couldn't stop reading it! I really like where the story was going for Edi but wanted more of Edi and Fred in the book.

I don’t agree with classifying this book as a romcom.
Is there a book category for coming of age when the characters are actually all already ‘of age’? Finding yourself, power of friendship etc etc. If this book had been sold to me as a general contemporary fiction story, I would have gone in with different expectations and enjoyed it far more. Don’t get me wrong, there is a dating plot line in here, it just doesn’t seem to be the main focus of where the story goes.

I am here for Edi, and her journey. I am *more than* here for her group of friends. They all bring their own perspectives - with group chats, gossip, nights out and in - they are awesome and I loved them. Every one should be so lucky as to have a ride or die group like that.

Now Rowan. Rowan was a collection of red flags that I spent more time wishing I could set on fire with the power of my mind than anything else.

Because of my reaction to him (and his family, honestly) it was a bit hard for me to get into the book at the start. But I kept on reading, and before the half way point I started to really enjoy it and I *am* glad I continued to read on. It’s a very interesting story.
(but I still wouldn’t call it a romcom)

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ digital for the advance copy to review

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced reader's copy of this from NetGalley and HQ Digital and passed the couple of issues I had with it, this book made me laugh out loud. The synopsis had me initially thinking that Edi and Rowan would break up just a few pages or chapters in. That we would meet Edi's new love interest and that we would watch her grow into her sexuality. AKA the perfect sapphic story. 80% in they were still together, shutting each other out emotionally until they finally did break up, and I was frustrated. As a reader, you spend more time with Edi and her friends instead of Edi with Fred. Luckily, Edi and her friend group were funny and quick-witted, making the book thoroughly more enjoyable. 

While this book could’ve been such a fun sapphic rom-com, it ended up being kind of disappointing. Not that I was rooting for someone who flirted with Edi even after seeing her engagement ring. Furthermore, Rowan and his friends (except Monty sometimes) were assholes. Especially Rowan, who was a homophobic and transphobic asshole, so having him there throughout the entire book was unpleasant and annoying. He ruined the book for me. 

Overall, I thought this book was well-written but poorly executed and marketed. It could've been so much more, and the author could've pushed Fred and Edi's story instead of anything related to Rowan. I still have a lot of hope for Charlotte Barnes' other releases, so I'm not giving up just yet.

I found this book was slow to start but after a few chapters the story gets going with a rather interesting twist. The way the author has written the story from Edi's perspective makes you feel empathy in her situation. As someone who married her high school sweetheart, the questioned faced in this story are ones I have previously worried about, whether I would be enough for my husband, however unlike this couple, me and my husband have never thought about a hall pass. This story is easily relatable and a good read.i think my only downside would be the amount of friends Edi has. I understand the role of faith and lily and Betty to a certain extent however I couldn't warm to molly and cora.

This is not a sapphic romance, it's a story of a really bad break up between a man a woman who have been together since children. It also has an open relationship kind of strange which I personally didn't enjoy.
The wlw "romantic" plot doesn't start until the middle of the book and it's kind of not enough for me.

Thank you Netgalley for an arc, here is my honesty review.

I don’t like this book. I was expecting more of a sapphic romance but was let down. I couldn’t connect to any of the characters and everything about this felt like filler. Nothing really happened and I was bored throughout most of the story.

The romance is poorly devolved and I don’t understand why they fall for each other.

Also, this book is very British and usually I love books with British people, but I couldn’t stand it here. This story is also very white.

The plus side of this story is Edi realizing she should prioritize herself and her friendships.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and HQ for the eARC!

While the premise is pretty standard—engaged childhood sweethearts take a break to explore their options, thus realizing there's more to life and love than each other—what sold me was the chemistry between Edi and Rowan in the first couple chapters. It was so good that I found myself thinking, "Why in the world would I want them apart?" I actually had to check the summary to make sure this wasn't a second chance romance! Talk about a strong start...

But inevitably, we start to see the cracks in their relationship—and boy, does the author drag it out deliciously. We begin to see just how incapable Rowan is of owning up to his actions. We slowly how emotionally stunted and self-conscious Edi is. We realize pretty quickly just how ill-suited a match they truly are, and that's when the fun really begins.

This book is about love (Rowan and Edi) and romance (Edi and Fred), sure, but what it really comes down to, in my opinion, is friendship—the relations we have with others AND with ourselves. You know the saying, "treat yourself the way you would treat a friend"? That's exactly what Edi learns by the end of the book. With support and guidance from her friends and Fred, she's able to move past her anxieties and acknowledge so many things: her sexuality, her self-worth, her right to stay no; by the end, she learns to treat herself with kindness and respect, and that is such a beautiful thing.

And speaking of friends.... I fucking loved them! Like, where is MY Faith? I desperately need her to talk me through LGBTQIA+ dating apps lol. She, Betty, Cora, Lily, and Molly were all great in their own ways, and altogether the perfect support system for Edi. Color me jealous! Oh, and I can't forget Ian and Monty! Boys, just because your friend is a dick doesn't mean you have to roll with it. The way they refused to hide Rowan's bullshit was great and Monty was such a sweetheart for repeatedly checking in with Edi. This whole cast of friends made this book funnier, crasser (LOL), and ultimately way more lovable.

And speaking of loving it, I really only have a few critiques.
1) Despite their chemistry, the beginning and subsequent setup of the "break" took a bit long. We don't even meet Fred until what, 37% in?
2) Fred is basically a manic pixie dream girl character. Her role as Edi's lesbian love interest only really serves to heal Edi by reframing understanding of both relationships and her sexuality (i.e., the fact that you don't need to label it). We don't ever truly get to know Fred beyond her art and interior design preferences, and her feelings for Edi beyond attraction are nonexistent. To an extent, I'm sure it's because she's very liberal—I mean, she shares that her last hookup was married—but it felt a bit unrealistic for Fred to be SO happy go lucky about their relationship. Who knows, maybe I'm just too much of a monogamist to understand...?

Overall, this was a really fast and fun read, less of a romance and more of a new adult coming-of-age "finding your identity" story that had me laughing, scoffing, tearing up, the works. Solid 4 out of 5 stars, ★★★★☆

This book was less of a romcom and more of a story about friendship and self discovery. It was painful to read through so many pages of Rowan’s behavior, and unfortunately Edith’s friend group had so many characters that didn’t get enough time to fully develop that they all became interchangeable in my mind. I kept asking, “which friend is this?” until I gave up on trying to keep track of them. Winifred was a little too perfect to be a compelling love interest, and so many of her moments were glossed over that I felt like I missed the important development of their relationship.
Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me.

2.5 stars
I feel like my review is just going to be me parroting what a lot of other people have said, so I'll keep it brief. This isn't a bad book, but the way it was marketed made it seem like it was a completely different story. It sounded like a sapphic romcom, but that's far from the truth. This premise could be a break up story, but the break up is too expected and drawn out to have any angst. It could be a queer coming of age story, but it lacks depth in its exploration of sexuality. It could be a sapphic romance, but there isn't actually that much romance in the story. Most of the book is just filler, the main character hanging out with her friends, or her coming to what should be obvious realizations (for example, her fiancé sucks). I think if I went into this book expecting all that, I would have enjoyed it for the laid back but sweet story that it is, but like many other readers, I went into it expecting something entirely different.

I definitely think the marketing of this book is a little off. It's not generally a rom-com or totally a sapphic love story but it is a sort of coming-of-age in your 20s and learning who you are outside of the people in your life and that was honestly exactly what I needed to read right now! I really loved Edi and her group of friends; I do wish they were a little more fleshed out though because I often couldn't remember their storylines or even who they were half the time (Faith and Betty excluded because they were my faves and felt just a little less one-dimensional). I don't think this book was perfect but I also didn't go into this book thinking I was going to get a typical rom-com or some high literary fiction so I do think it hits the mark otherwise. I saw a lot of other reviews saying it wasn't what they expected or they had been cheated out of the book they wanted and I think seeing those reviews was helpful to my enjoyment of it because I felt prepared for what the book actually was. That's just a long winded way to say, once again, that the marketing is a little misleading but if it wasn't I think people would get exactly what they need out of this book!! Overall, it was a book for me and I had a lot of fun reading it!

*Spoiler* I have to admit though, the fact they don't break up until 85% through and it's after Rowan has been the worst fiance/boyfriend/person in Edi's life consistently for 80% of the book when it did happen I was kind of just like "well finally...." Rowan is easily one of the least likeable book characters I've come across and I would've put up with him as my significant other for approx. 5 minutes.

A lovely rom com. Edi has just got engaged to Rowan who she has been with since the year dot. The story flows really well. I was swept away by the romance and found myself getting emotionally involved with the characters and it goes to show that love comes in all shapes and sizes. I've read the author's crime books which I love and that made me want to to read this. It's her first foray into romance and I'm hoping it won't be her last.

This is my favourite kind of queer trope!

Once presumed straight, falls in love with someone of the same gender and has a breakthrough regarding their sexuality.

I wish the interaction between Rowan and Edi started earlier. It was definitely a slow burn, and any intimate scenes are 'fade to black'.

I really enjoyed it though! The writing style is easy to follow and it's a very quick read.

Will definitely read more by this author!

well. this is a very british book, and based on the blurb i expected it to be a blend between breakup novel and sapphic romcom. but somehow it manages to barely be either?

it's about edi and her fiance rowan, who open their relationship at rowan's request. edi meets a woman named fred and then begins to reexamine her relationship with rowan, with the support of her tight-knit friendship group of five other women.

i imagine most readers will pick this up because they want a sapphic romcom, so it's disappointing that the romance is so scant. love interest fred isn't introduced into 30%, and she and edi hardly interact until 50%. and there's scarcely any chemistry or romance on the page; it's mostly just alluded to. fred is supposed to be a free spirited artist (perhaps a bit of a manic pixie dreamgirl?), but even her lively personality isn't written well enough to come alive on the page.

and even with the romance as a low spot, maybe the book would be salvageable with some decent angst in the breakup part of the story. edi and rowan have been together for ages and are deeply attached, so you'd think there would be heavy emotions as their relationship shifts. but they simply shut each other off emotionally, continuing to date while dating other people. it's not really a break or a breakup; and if it's meant to be an exploration of polyamory, then it's a very simplistic one. the lack of angst is utterly unbelievable.

the reader spends more time with edi and her friend group than with edi and either of her love interests, which is a shame. the best friends are not clearly defined; most of the characters blend together in my mind (why does it have to be a friend group of SIX?).

however, i do love the emphasis on self-worth and friendship. there's a lot of strength in edi's realization that she should prioritize her relationship with herself and her platonic relationships.

the friend group itself is often cringy, though, with simplistic white-feministy references to "smashing the patriarchy" and such. and edi's sexuality is never defined (which is fine!), but the way everyone in her life reacts to her hesitant coming out seems aggressively heterosexual. rowan is lowkey homophobic and it's only ever addressed as him being an asshole. there's no nuance; it feels almost like the book was written 15 or 20 years ago. there's also a really bizarre transphobic line about a woman with a penis being "next-level deception." no idea why the author would choose to include such an unnecessary and hateful line. oh, and every single character is white!

so this was a disappointment. not quite a romance novel, not quite a breakup novel, and not sensitive or progressive enough for a novel that classifies itself as LGBT+ in 2022.

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

I enjoyed this book, it’s a fun light hearted rom-com / women’s fiction / coming of age for mid 20s. It is not however a romance.

The friendships and personal growth of Edi are the main plot points and they’re great and were really enjoyable to read about. But as a romance novel I wanted the focus to be more on the romance. It was a slow, slow burn and the more intimate scenes were fade to black.

I felt that most of the book was lacking the detail I wanted. For example i wanted to know the rules of the break up agreement. But instead we skipped over a lot of the interesting details and had flashbacks that could be quite jarring and at times not necessary.

There seemed to be a running theme for the term “thinking straight” and I thought this might lead to some irony or quip as the book is a WLW romance. But it didn’t and I think the author missed a trick on that one. Or they didn’t miss a trick and I missed it in the book, I’m not going to re-read it so I’ll never know.

Overall it was a fun read but I think the cover is a little misleading, the title however is not.

Honestly.... I don't know how to rate this book. I had a hard time putting it down, but at the same time it didn't quite ring true to me. I have absolutely no problems believing that getting engaged could freak out somebody so much as to make the suggestion Rowan did - but to then turn around and become such an ass? I don't know - it seemed contrived. Also, the way Edi's friends talked about him even <i>before</i> the break seemed off. It seemed like the author went out of her way to make the reader dislike Rowan when the plot didn't really need it, and the end result could just as easily have been achieved by proper communication.

Also, the new romance didn't work for me. No way Edi would move on <i>that</i> quickly after having been sucker-punched by her fiancé. Even if it was originally just to get him back and show that what was good for the goose is good for the gander. But though the book is listed as LGBTQ. I really didn't think this was explored at all. Sure, the new love interest is female, but except for a few sessions of Edi angsting "But does that mean I'm not straight???" (literally just keeping it to that one-liner), no page time at all is used on what made her go from Robbie to Fred. Is she bi? Demi? Some other form of queer? Still searching? It's just left there.

I did like Edi's friends. Their characterization was a bit too two-dimensional at times (Molly was ONLY focused on A, Betty ONLY cared about B etc.), but the group dynamics worked and seemed very realistic. And I absolutely love reading about a group of friends who are 100% there for each other - no hidden agendas, no backstabbing, no ulterior motives. Just girls propping each other up. So kudos for that!

So at the end of the day I'm left with a book that I enjoyed reading... but where I'd have to add several disclaimers before recommending it to anybody else.

I really wish I could have liked this book more. The premise? Great. I was so so excited to get into it because I am a sucker for a romantic comedy, especially a sapphic romantic comedy. However…this is not a sapphic romantic comedy and that is a let down. There is a love interest that is sapphic but I feel she doesn’t play as much of a role in the story as she should if the book is marketed as a f/f romantic comedy.

However, I think my strong distaste for Rowan really put a damper on the book for me and I think he ruined a lot of the story for me. I know the point was to make him scummy but holy shit. Dude is unhinged.

Another thing that really soiled the book for me was the traces of white feminism throughout, and it was mentioned heavily in the beginning and not at the end. I love a group of friends in a book as much as the next person, but some of the lines were cringe-worthy. Normally it wouldn’t bug me as much but oh boy…it was pretty bad.

Overall I think there is a lot of potential and I will be looking forward to more Charlotte Barnes releases, so I won’t turn her off my radar quite yet.

Thank you to NetGalley, Charlotte Barnes and HQ for the ARC in exchange for my review and feedback.

The Break Up is a hard book to describe, to be honest. It’s nothing like I was expecting—my initial review described this as “less a f/f romance novel and more a m/f break up novel” which I think says it all. So, for the most part, I was bored. And then you chuck a little transphobic comment in there? Well. You can see why this rating happened I’m sure.

Let me start with the lesser of the two evils: the plot and subsequent boredom. I do grant that a lot of the issue was with my expectations (probably driven by the cover, which shows two women holding hands, so you would think that perhaps they are somewhat central to the plot of this). But. They were not. In fact, the plot seemed to skew far more towards Edi and Rowan’s relationship, which, quite frankly, she should have ditched him long before she did (85%, because I checked). He was an absolute shitstain and there was no reason I could see that she should have stayed with him. So, of course, I’m not going to enjoy reading about this when all I can see of him is his shitstain-ness. Like if I’m supposed to be as conflicted over this as Edi is, I have to have seen him when it was good. But that wasn’t there.

And I realise that it’s more a book about how Edi meeting Winifred (Fred) is a catalyst for seeing how badly Rowan has treated her, but seriously Edi? That’s what you needed? I’ve seen the flashbacks. The cheating and homophobia wasn’t enough? Alright then.

So if that’s why I was bored, here’s why the rating was dropped (by half a star and rounded down). There’s an earlyish scene in this book, where Edi is going on a date with someone she’s met on a dating app. This guy is, from the start, set out as a dickhead. In the midst of this scene, there’s a part where Edi, glancing at her phone, sees she has received a dick pic from someone else entirely. The guy comes back from getting drinks, notices this, and Edi then says it’s not hers. To which the guy responds along the lines of thank God, because that would be (and I quote) a “next-level deception”. And then they move on and this comment is never examined at any length. Edi doesn’t even bat an eyelid at it.

Hopefully I don’t need to explain why this is a shitty and transphobic comment. On the one hand, we have clearly seen that this date is supposed to be disliked. He is not a good guy. On the other hand, Edi doesn’t even blink at the comment. It’s not taken in the text and dissected in any way to show how it’s bad. She doesn’t get up and leave the date at that. The actual final straw is finding out that the man has a second date immediately following from hers. This part of the scene is almost entirely useless, unless you want to show the date is a transphobe but then why doesn’t Edi react? (I have tried my best to find reasons for this part being in here, as you maybe can tell. None of them make any sense.)

So when you combine these two things, that’s how you get to my rating. Without the transphobic comment: 2 stars anyway. With it? Yeah…