3.5/5 Over the top fiction that reads like a comic book. A group of friends in a small Vermont town realize that something unusual is happening and must get to the bottom of it all. It's campy, fun and a fast read.

Breakup from Hell was such a quick and fun read. The book follows Miguela “Mica” Angeles as she falls for the new hot guy in town, Sam. They have a whirlwind romance and things are going great. Though she soon starts having apocalyptic visions and weird things start happening with her and her friends. The more she finds out about Sam the more uneasy Mica becomes. She loves horror novels , but that doesn’t mean she wants to be living in one. She will have to find out exactly what’s going on with Sam before it’s too late.

I loved this book. It’s just a fun, campy paranormal romance. Perfect for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mica is such a fun and relatable character. Breakup from Hell was exactly what I was hoping for and the way it ends I’m hoping for more adventures with Mica and her friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperTeen for a copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I have SUCH mixed feelings about this book. I wanted to like this book very badly, since the concept is fun and different, is non-white lead, and is a romantic comedy but also suspense book. Unfortunately, it did not satisfy any of the wishes I had for it, and in fact was incredibly frustrating to read. This book was just very overly religious and none of the characters had any dimension to them in a way that made them redeemable or enjoyable to read about. Highlights of this book were some really funny lines, and it wasn’t the MOST predictable, but that was about it. I am not Christian and so maybe that was part of it? I don’t know. It was just very religious in a way that made me uncomfortable, and I didn’t understand some of the connections it was making – which could be because I’m not Christian, or it could be that it wasn’t being explained well. I appreciate the reviewer who mentioned the animal abuse in their review and I happened to see it because this book has ON THE PAGE animal abuse. So, Trigger Warning: ANIMAL ABUSE and religiosity. This is listed as a romantic comedy but the romance aspect of the book was close to non-existent and a bit forced. It is much more of a Christian horror novel than anything else. I didn’t understand why these characters ended up liking each other, besides the fact they were just there? I think this book was really just not for me. I will possibly pick up some of the other books by Ann at some point, because I did really like the concept, but this book did not live up to what I was hoping it would be.

TLDR: animal abuse, religiosity, and Christian horror is what this book is and it was not for me.

Breakup from Hell by Ana Dávila Cardinal
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Miguela wants to go to UCLA after graduating, but her Abuela is pushing for a local college. Miguela really wants to get her Abuela off her back and some freedom. Enter Sam. Who is SO HANDSOME. And new! And interested in her! Then crazy stuff starts happening because Sam isn’t quite who he says he is.
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I did this one on audio, and FLEW through it in two days. Definitely recommend the audio.
This was a fun paranormal YA. The story took me in a direction I wasn’t quite expecting but kept me absorbed in Miguela’s world.
Miguela had a great friend group and their dialogue together was cute and fun.
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3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 A fun read/listen while I cooked and cleaned!

Really good YA book. I think it would make a really good TV show. It was fast paced and interesting.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

This book is a fast-paced read with some excellent twists and turns. I am a sucker for paranormal romance and this book was no exception. I do think the pacing could have been wrangled a bit better, but it did capture a lot of the feelings of teenage life. Everything does tend to feel like it is happening all at once, so I think Cardinal did a good job of conveying that. Outside of the pacing, I think it was a decent read. Cardinal wraps everything up nicely, and the ending does leave the door open for a sequel, which I think could be interesting, depending on the direction it could go. There are some trigger warnings, but it does feel like they scenes that may be triggering are important to the overall story.

This was a fantastic YA book that I honestly couldn’t put down. I found myself flying through the pages, unable to put the book down, dying to know what would happen next.

It did start out a bit slow for me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the MC Mica but eventually I loved all the characters. The friend group was my favorite part of the book.

I enjoyed how the author added scriptures from Revelations in each chapter. It had me wondering what would happen in the chapter. While the book does have some religious topics I wouldn’t let it deter you.

Break up from hell has so much to offer. At times I was laughing out loud and others I was a bit scared. If you’re looking for a quick YA paranormal/fantasy, I recommend you pick this one up.

What happens when a mysterious boy moves to town?

Mica wants to leave her small town and get on with her life. She lives with her overprotective grandma after the loss of her mom. When a mysterious boy moves to town she will not only find herself in a dark situation she will also learn about her families past.

This book was a solid 3 stars for me. Its fun, its got some good characters, and it tells a pretty good story. However there was nothing unique or special about it for me. Mica is a typical small town girl with a dark history. Her relationship with both Sam and Rage was well done but not compelling. The twists and action we exciting but not unexpected.

You won't regret reading this and you will probably have a lot of fun.

I read this book as an eARC. This book is really creative! The way Ann blends a religious school experience with fun storytelling is rad. I love the choice to make this a supernatural thriller given how religion and spirituality are within the realm we would call fantasy and magic and yet grounded in people's everyday lives. I like that this book is more about friendship and family than about romance, for it is the bonds between friends that really stand out. The only thing I would say is a tiny wrinkle is the pace. It felt a bit slow in the beginning and then halfway through was when I felt the action really began. However, it's still an enjoyable read that I'm sure readers will appreciate. Ann's connections of Vermont and Puerto Rico continue to be great, and it's wonderful to see more stories from Boricuas who are all over.

Breakup From Hell follows Miguela who lives with her grandma in Vermont. She is very close to her friends and while her grandma is overbearing at times she slowly throughout the book starts to realize that she was so overbearing and always concerned about what she was doing.

Things go very wrong quickly in this book once Miguela realizes who Sam is, and it is then up to her to try and figure out what he wants from her and her friends.

Overall this book was good and fun. Miguela and her friends are badasses who even though for most of their lives didn't know that they all had this untapped knowledge and learn it all quickly and do what needs to be done to save their families and the world from Sam and his crew. Sam really thought he had her right where he wanted her, but after meeting an author Miguela started to piece things together about who he was. Granted she still had no idea what he wanted from her at that point and doesn't figure that part out until the last 25% which is when this book becomes action-packed and everything starts falling into place.

If you are looking for a quick paranormal romance book then this is a great choice for you.

Listened to Audiobook version on Scribd.

The review will be going up sometime in June on both my blog and Instagram page.

I have tried to get into this book several times but I cannot get over the terrible pacing. I read a lot of YA but the writing is too juvenile for me and mixed with the pacing issues, I cannot bring myself to finish. Which is a bummer because the premise sounds so fun.

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinions.

Breakup from Hell was an interesting YA Fantasy that invokes Catholicism and Caribbean Folklore. Mica falls for Sam, a newcomer to her small town in Vermont. Together, they seem unstoppable. Almost superheroic in their ability to save people. Mica falls hard for Sam and begins to change as most teens would when faced with a new love interest and lots of resentment for rules and structure that keep a person away from their significant other. But Mica's abuela knows that Sam can't be trusted. Abuela has sworn her life to protect Mica after the death of Mica's mother in Puerto Rico—to the point of restricting Mica from attending her dream college in California. Yet, when Mica starts seeing the changes in her friends, community, and Sam, she knows he and his family aren't all that he and they seem. And when Mica's left with a warning by one of her favorite authors, she knows that she has to steer clear of Sam. I enjoyed this story as someone who grew up hearing my mother's folklore. Caribbean religion is a mix of biblical characters and African deities so it will be different than what most readers are used to reading. There were a few phrases and references that are a bit dated but it didn't take away from the story.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this book.

I really liked the concept of this book. I found it very interesting, but I don’t think it reached its full potential. The cover was a big draw for me when requesting this book and it helped me gain a better understanding of the book itself.

This was a DNF for me. The synopsis sounded really cool and exciting, but the book was just lackluster for me. I enjoyed the influence of Mica's Puerto Rican heritage, as it's always cool to see more diversity in books. However, the characters in general didn't do it for me. Mica fell into the "not like other girls" trope a bit too heavily for my taste. I think a younger reader (who this is intended for, in fairness) would take to the book more than I did.

In Breakup from Hell, protagonist Mica ready to get out of her small Vermont hometown and race off to UCLA, despite her overprotective grandmother's and best friends' wishes. Her life is boring and quiet, until she meets Sam, and is instantly drawn to him. She then starts having terrifying visions of fire and death, and begins to feel stronger and faster than ever before. What secrets has her grandmother been keeping? And why did Sam bring out these changes?Mica and her friends Zee, Rage, and Barry are in for one wild ride, one that's maybe even apocalyptic in nature.

I wasn't fully immersed in this story to begin with. The pacing definitely felt off, and the characters and the way they reacted to things just didn't feel realistic. However, once the action picked up in the last third of the novel, I was much more drawn in. I did enjoy some aspects of the friendship between Mica and the others, and I think the biblical origin of the friend group is interesting. The best part of the story is absolutely the ending battle scenes. The cover is very pretty, too.

Dnf'd. The book concept was super appealing and original. The execution.....not so much......
Unfortunately, I don't have much else to say.

I really enjoyed this quick paranormal romance from Ann Davila Cardinal. I thought the characters were entertaining, I liked that there was diversity in the characters and I enjoyed the plot. I think that the pacing could have been a bit slower, but it made for a quick read. I just came back from Vermont and read this while I was there on vacation so it made the story extra enjoyable for me.

I received an arc from the publisher and netgalley for this book.

I was expecting a teenage angst book a la twilight. That was my expectation going in but boy, was I surprised.

This was more of the problems with said boyfriend. Mica was not the brightest girl in the room, but it all got sorted out pretty. It's definitely one for the teenage horror Hall of fame.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advanced copy of this book.

This is an enjoyable YA read with a good cast of friends and some funny moments.

Just the title I thought I would enjoy it, and I did. I definitely would recommend this book.

My first reading from this author Ann Davila Cardinal and she did great! I thought the characters were likable and the story held my attention well.