dnf 20%
I just could not go any longer in this book.
the transphobia alone was making me angry as f. The characters were annoying and stupid.

DNF unfortunately. It's taken me a while to get this review out there.

The promise of this got me really intrigued, but honestly, I felt a bit disappointed. I couldn't get into it. First of all, it dragged, and the characters didn't seem all that appealing to me. And for a British person who frequently uses the term 'mate', I got a bit mindboggled by how many times someone can say it.

Plus after reading other reviews, the queerbaiting and transphobia really about did it for me. No. Just no.

When I requested an ARC I thought the premise of this story sounded really good and I was interested to read a wonderful LGBTQ+ book, but I feel like I was tricked into reading a straight romance with a side of gay, and I was thoroughly disappointed.. Edi is in a hetero relationship but finds herself on a break. She meets a woman named Fred and supposedly romance blooms between them. I say supposedly as it is really inferred rather than explored, which I found overly disappointing. I think this book missed a great opportunity here as it felt like it didn't really find its feet. I kept wondering while reading - is this book a romance novel? I don't think it really fits as the majority of this book features interactions between Edi and her group of friends, rather then her and Fred. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the transphobic moment of the book. I'm not sure of the author's background but I'd have thought the editing process might have been stronger with this book in general to exclude such comments, let alone sharpen the premise of the novel so it fits with how it's being marketed. It's a bit misleading as it currently is. Definitely not one I will find myself recommending, I'm surprised I even finished it, but I wanted to give it it's fair shot. I was just left disappointed.

Whoa! What a ride. It was very fast-paced. The writing style kept me hooked and I didn't find myself losing any interest. I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters and how real the story felt. The author did a great job painting the setting, so it was easy for me to visualize the scene played out before me. I recommend giving this one a chance!

I was super intrigued by the premise, as I love a "finding yourself after a break up" narrative. But, this left a lot to look for and I didn't enjoy any of the characters in this book.

It also felt homophobic at times, which I did not approve of at all.

The Break Up by Charlotte Barnes

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and HQ and I am leaving this review voluntarily

You don’t know what you’re looking for until you find it.

Edi Parcell thought she had life all planned out, so when her childhood sweetheart proposes a three-month break to date other people, she’s shocked. Unexpectedly back on the dating scene after years with the same guy, this is the first opportunity Edi’s had to think about what she really wants from life – and love.

When she meets Winifred, her world is turned upside down. She never expected to have feelings for someone else, but now she’s met Winifred she can’t stop thinking about her. As the months pass, Edi is shocked to realise she’s not sure she wants her old relationship back at all – not now there’s Winifred…

This was not what I expected from the book - it isn't a bad book I just feel that it has been marketed wrong and is not for the target audience that is implied. For me, the plot was dragged out - the ending was obvious from the start and it could have been a much shorter book.

Rating 3/5

when you don't accept your loser ex and upgrade bc women >>>>>>>>

felt like it fell a little flat at times but i love this premise! thought edi's fiance was unnecessarily cruel at times but i guess that was just to further push her toward the protagonist? but still felt a little too unrealistic and/or forced.

super quick read though!

Synopsis

You don’t know what you’re looking for until you find it.

Edi Parcell thought she had life all planned out, so when her childhood sweetheart proposes a three-month break to date other people, she’s shocked. Unexpectedly back on the dating scene after years with the same guy, this is the first opportunity Edi’s had to think about what she really wants from life – and love.

When she meets Winifred, her world is turned upside down. She never expected to have feelings for someone else, but now she’s met Winifred she can’t stop thinking about her. As the months pass, Edi is shocked to realise she’s not sure she wants her old relationship back at all – not now there’s Winifred…

Unfortunately, this one wasn't for me, I found it difficult to gel with the characters and I wanted more story post Rowan!

I DNF'ed this book, I just wasn't interested in reading it and there were 1 to many parts that felt problematic and a little homophobic. Life is to short to read books you don't like.

first of all thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

this book was the very definition of meh. everything that was touched upon felt very surface level to me, which left me deflated. the premise seemed like an exciting one! woman gets left in this open relationship she didn't necessarily want but finds love in a woman! except she didn't! after she finally breaks up with the awful dingbat rowan, she doesn't even end up with Fred!
unfortunately the premise falls flat. every character feels flat. edi has no backbone whatsoever when it comes to her fiancé rowan and I didn't believe their love for a second (sorry edi but come on...) rowan was an awful awful person and I hated him from moment one but as we got to know him more he got so much worse.
he CHEATS and then he wants an open relationship and then isn't forthcoming with what he's doing and who he's seeing???? it's begging for a transmittable disease????edi girl I am so confused why you didn't see this as a justified cheating scheme??? also the HOMOPHOBIA??? what the actual fuck. 'I'd rather you be straight than happy' is something that comes out of this man's mouth and I wanted him to die right then and there.
her redeeming factor should've been her friends except:
1. I could not keep them apart for the life of me
2. she didn't tell them the truth about her relationship until YEARS later because they'd hate rowan (I mean ma'am.....)
3. they felt very white post feminists throughout the story and I didn't vibe with them at all sorry.

overall the book fell flat for me but that did make it easy for me to sweep through it, since I wasn't bogged down by anything so yay! gave it three stars instead of two for that alone.

P.S. edi, babe, in the next life, don't waste all your young years on someone that does all the above mentioned and still expects you to stay.

DNF at 30%.
I read 30% of the book, and nothing happens in this first part. Edi's fiancé is not a nice person, her group of friends is annoying, and Edi is also a very boring character. I didn't learn anything about her personality or interests in this whole time. And the love interest hasn't even appeared! So I'm going to do myself a favor and pick another book.

I was really excited for this book based on the summary and the cover. Unfortunately within a few pages I realized it was not going to be what I was expecting. There were too many characters and not much exposition about them. The book was fast paced early on and I got lost will all the characters.

The novel started off really well and I liked the fact that it was fast-paced. But shortly within a few pages, there were too many characters. And there weren't much depth to them either. So I got confused with the names.

The good thing about this book is that it was incredibly fast paced so I didn't need to spend hours upon hours reading it.

I was given the opportunity to read this book for an honest review and I hate to say that it is a negative.

The transphobia is shaken throughout the book. The storyline jumps around so much that it was difficult. There are so many names thrown at you without the author attempting to build any form of relationship or attachment with the characters. In the end, I couldn't differentiate between the characters and it didn't really matter.

This book had the opportunity to be incredible. I loved how the author talked about sexual fluidity but then missed the mark on so many occasions.

I definitely wouldn't buy or recommend this one, which is a shame because it could have been the airport book of the year!

Personally I really enjoyed this book mainly for the tight-knit friend group and Fred and all of her advice. This book really did add into my “men ain’t shittt” philosophy because babe why are you staying with someone who treats you like YOU’RE the charity when in reality it is vice-versa. Honestly, I wish a lot of things went differently but I know that not ever romance is going to give you the full fantasy HEA. I’m ‘still satisfied with the MC’s HEA in a way..

Such a cute read! Predictably romantic but in just the right way. I empathized with the characters and couldn’t put it down!

I loved the sound of the book and was so existed to read it but unfortunately I couldn’t get past the half way mark. It just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t really connect with the book and I found that from what I read the story didn’t really move that fast.

At first I was really excited to read this book because of f/f representation. However this book was not as well written as I would have liked. The characters and story fell flat for me and it made it very difficult to finish. 2/5

i thought the idea of the book was very nice and it was genuinely refreshing after so many books with the same concept. but i felt like the book was very hard to get into because your introduced to so many characters and its hard to keep up. and the way the book was written was very off putting for me like it contained so much slang that i couldn't understand and that sometimes wasn't needed but i felt like the writer kept adding it to appeal to a younger audience and i personally just hated it as i don't like slang in books.

I loved this boook!!!!!!!! Like literally LOVED IT!!! I could not put jt down and the story was brilliant!! I will tell everyone jus my how amazing this book is