This I think will be one of my favourite YA reads of this year, this story is so much more than just a fake dating romance or a light YA read, the coverage of racism, the way the author tackles homelessness really do give you something to think about. I loved that the gender neutral pronouns were natural and easy and not the main focus. This is a cute read, but with interesting themes, a story that will grip you and keep you reading until the very end.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

How to Win a Breakup by Farah Heron

Samaya and Devin are deemed as the “golden couple” until they weren’t. Devin breaks up with Samaya and sabotages her summer job and runs off to India for a family vacation. Samaya now needs community service hours for school. She volunteers in the kitchen of homeless shelter. This is where she meets hokey jock Daniel. Determined to have the best glow up from the breakup she cohorts Daniel to be her fake boyfriend.

I like this story so much even though some of it is cheesy, but it still is what I expect in a young adult story. I felt for Samaya the pressure of being something particular for her friends and belonging. The complex time for teenagers and sometimes the pressure is so great that a teenager may decide to participate in things that end up hurting someone in the end.

I liked both characters and watching Samaya grow as a person working in the homeless shelter. I also liked Daniel the pressure he received from his uncle and demands was over the top. i hate that he had to choose.

This was also an immigrant story and well worth the read if you like young adult especially a cheesy fake dating romance. I cannot wait to see what Mrs. Heron writes next.

Thank you to Netgalley and Skyscape for a free copy of How to Win a Breakup for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I love YA books about cooking, so when I saw the cover for this one, I knew I wanted to request it!

Samaya is bright and surrounded by the smart "It Crowd" at school. That is, until her boyfriend dumps her and starts dating her "friend". Worse, after he dumps her, his parents make it so Samaya can't work at the summer camp they were both planning to attend. While that may seem minor, it's affecting her community service hours. Determined to not fall behind academically, Samaya decides to volunteer at a local bake sale where proceeds benefit a shelter in an effort to boost her college resume.

What Samaya doesn't expect is to meet the handsome, funny, and incredibly talented baker, Daniel. Samaya realizes Daniel might just be the solution to her problems. If he agrees to fake date her, she can prove to everyone she's fine. Lucky for her, Daniel needs something from her too. His is desperate need to pass his math class and Samaya is the perfect tutor. While these two whip up baked goods, is it possible real romance is brewing under the surface?

Sounds cute, right? This book also touches on serious themes of bullying, homelessness, elitism, cat-fishing, and others. I say this, because it's important to know coming in. Cyber bullying in particular is explored in this book and as an educator, I found it disturbing how accurately the author portrayed what I see happening to teens regularly.

Farah Heron, I was really late to the party when it comes to your novels! I have loved all the books I have read by you so far and am excited to read more! Thank you for how you handle sensitive topics with care that enable reads to widen their perspectives without alienating them!

Samaya, once part of the ultimate nerd couple at an academically focused high school, has discovered she is losing the breakup. Her ex has already moved on, a trendy gossip site is tracking her every move, and the breakup cost her a spot in a required community service project. She needs to find someone new to stop the gossip. Plus, in order to graduate, she is forced to volunteer as a baker at a local community center/shelter. Here enters Daniel, her tutor for all things pastry. Luck has it, Daniel needs a math tutor, and Samaya needs a fake boyfriend. What could go wrong?

Once again, the baking theme got me. I saw the whisk on the cover, and I was doomed. I had to read it.

This was a good time, but it took me about five chapters to become invested. However, I am glad I stuck with this one because Samaya and Daniel are very cute together. There is also a great sense of community and friendship in this.

My issue is that there are just far too many subplots. There is a lot going on, and I wish it would have been a tad more focused.

I was able to listen to the audio. It is read Soneela Nanakani. Who is always fantastic.

Perfect for fans of
Angsty YA
Gamer Tropes
Baking Tropes
Fake Dating
Gossip Girl (sort of)

*3.5 stars*

This was such a fun YA romcom with the most adorable MC. Honestly, Daniel was just plain adorable. Sam was also so much fun and I loved that she had brains and it was not a shown as a defect.

In a nutshell, this is your 'fake dating to get revenge on a bad ex' becomes the real thing with some truly adorable main and side characters. I enjoyed the representation and diversity and Farah's writing just flowed seamlessly.

Recommend for a low-angst, fluffy, romcom.

Thank you to NetGalley and Skyscape for the ARC.

A cute YA book that I read quickly

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

I loved everything about this book! Lighthearted amazing read. I recommend this book to everyone, especially gamer girls. I loved the diverse characters, the gaming environment, and the non-binary representation. Tried the recipe and it came out great!

When Samaya is dumped by her boyfriend, the competition is on to see who comes out of the break up as the winner. Her boyfriend is so quick to hook up again that Samaya can't help but create a new fictional guy she is interested in. When she meets Daniel at a bake sale, she is convinced he is the answer to her dilemma. When Daniel agrees to pose as her fake boyfriend in return for calculus tutoring, their fake dating begins.

I loved Tahira in Bloom so I was really looking forward to reading her sister Samaya's story in How to Win a Breakup. This book was so stinking cute. Daniel was the sweetest, always agreeing on Samaya's requests, despite how much she asked of him. I really felt like I was back in high school with a lot of the school talk and being YA, the steam factor was quite minimal. I loved that the nerds and gamers were the stars of this book too!

Thank you to Skyscape (Amazon Publishing) for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. This was a fun, quick read that is now available on Kindle Unlimited so if you're a YA fan, I would check it out.
This YA romance involves two of my favorite things, MATH and baked goods! As a high school math teacher, I love pretty much everything that helps math seem more accessible, and Samaya tutoring Daniel in Calculus made me overjoyed! That it was in exchange for his help enacting a fake dating plot was just the icing on the cake 🍰 If you liked that pun, you'll love the chapter titles in this book which have even better puns. There's also hockey and video games, as well as tons of teen drama. I'm so glad we didn't have social media when I was in high school - AOL Instant Messenger was enough for me 🤣🤣
Do you have a favorite recipe to bake?
The lemon squares baked in this book made me crave them, but baking them with the provided recipe would be more effort than I like to put into baking - I typically bake from a boxed mix!

This book was very good, but my only thing was it was very redundant. This book to me could have been shorter. I didn't like the fact they keep drawing out Daniel's secret.. This book maybe for someone else but it wasn't for me

I have really enjoyed this authors adult books and was excited to take a step into her YA works! I fully devoured this book in just a few days, but I wasn’t crazily obsessed with the story. I think the plot and the secrets that each character was keeping were very unique and were handled in a very kind way. I didn’t realize there was a book out following Sam’s older sister and will definitely be picking that up next.

I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Farah Heron! This was my first of her YA books and I really enjoyed it! I ended up listening to the audiobook because I love that narrator!

I love how much YA books can cover without feeling like they’re trying to do too much. Cass was facing some ideas with their gender identity, Daniel had experienced homelessness, and Samaya learned a lot about herself and not losing herself in a relationship.

I have to admit I don’t know much about video games, but I loved the strong women in STEM. Daniel and his baking were an absolute delight. I loved seeing Samaya grow as she volunteered at the shelter.

This was a really great listen and made me want to check out her sister’s book!

This book was a great YA high school life read. A nerdy math and game geek falls for a hockey playing baker jock. The story tacked many high school issues, one’s sexual orientation, gossip, catfishing, online bullying and more. The storyline between the two main characters is a sweet storyline that allows both to learn to grow and be who they authentically are and not who everyone else sees them as.
As an adult reading this book I think it’s a great read for the intended audience. It had some great depth to the story and I love that is an all inclusive read. I also love the strong female leads.

I voluntarily received a free advanced copy from NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

I would recommend this book .

This was a classic farah heron book and you won’t be disappointed if you’re a fan. It was cute, funny and cultural and ultimate leaves you with all of the feels!

Fake boyfriend trope for the win, this book was adorable in so many ways. Samaya spent the summer moping because her bf unexpectedly dumped her. Now that school is starting she is going to have to face him, her classmates and the gossip.

First of all, South Asian main character with secondary South Asian characters and the discussion that not everyone from India celebrates the same religion and culture!!! There was tons of character diversity in terms of culture and interests, MC Samaya is a gamer and super amazing at math, her sister is a fashionista and seamtress, her fake BF Daniel is a hockey player and baker of Filipino brackground. They are from different socioeconomic backgrounds, inlcuding non binary representation AND Samaya's friends were ruthless, they kept it real as friends should pointing out Samaya's flaws and helping her improve.

Farah Heron just covered so many topics in this book without making it feel too crowded, it is a really good representation of living in Toronto. So many books are not very diverse in the way that I am used to and that is because Toronto has a very particular brand of diversity and Heron brought that entire feeling into this book. Bravo, sometimes you don't even realize something is missing until you find it!

This is not only my first book by author Farah Heron but also my first young adult. I really wasn’t sure what to expect but this was such an enjoyable read. Samaya Janmohammad is dumped by her boyfriend of 2 years seemingly out of the blue, he doesn’t offer much explanation and to make matters worse it affects her summer volunteer job which she needed to complete her volunteer hour requirement. The only thing that makes the summer bearable is a new friend she meets on an online message board for gamers.

When summer ends and Samaya returns to school she had hoped everyone would have forgotten about her somewhat public breakup but thanks to an Instagram account which posts school rumours she is still very much the topic of conversation.

This was such a refreshing book with lots of representation and busting of stereotypes. Samaya is a driven, hardworking STEM girl who had her heart broken by her boyfriend of 2 years and was publicly humiliated on the school gossip IG account. We follow her as she is just starting her senior year of high school and much to her dismay people are still gossiping about her breakup and to make matter worst she needs to find a volunteer job to meet her requirements to graduate, something she had planned to do over the summer but it was yet another thing complicated by her breakup. This is how she finds herself volunteering at a local shelter where she meets Daniel. I loved Daniel, he is a hockey player but nothing like your stereotypical jock, he is sweet, generous, thoughtful and could go on for hours about the differences between bars and cookies.

I will admit I was worried a fake dating YA would seem unrealistic and immature but I loved it from cover to cover. You have all the high school drama you would expect and the way Farah Heron delivered the story was perfect. This is mainly set at an academic high school so many of the students are working hard to achieve their academic goals, they are competitive as naturally there are honors that look great on a resume and college applications. Mix in teenage hormones and dating you get a fun and very relatable book. Samaya has it all planned out – or so she thinks. When it all comes crashing down and she has to make new paths to make it to her goal we see her really develop as a person and reevaluate what truly matters, she recognizes she has had a bit off tunnel vision but if you broaden your views the world opens up a whole new set of opportunities.

I am so glad to already have another book by this author lined up as I thoroughly enjoyed her writing and storytelling.

Thank you to Skyscape and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Such a cute YA story about a math/gamer nerd who has an epic breakup for her whole high school to witness. Samaya and Devin are deemed as the “golden couple” until they weren’t. Devin breaks up with Samaya and sabotages her summer job and runs off to India for a family vacation. Samaya now needs community service hours for school. She volunteers in the kitchen of homeless shelter. This is where she meets hokey jock Daniel. Determined to have the best glow up from the break up she cohorts daniel to be her fake boyfriend.

I loved the the fact that Samaya volunteered at a homeless shelter. Not a topic that is touched on in many books let alone YA. I’m a sucker for foodie books and loved that Daniel was a phenomenal baker. The way the author depicted the homeless shelter with such care. The shelter wasn’t this drab scary place but a vibrant location that gave a sense of comfort and comradely.

Samaya annoyed me the majority of the book. So she was sooooo self absorbed. I absolutely loved how Daniel was a 24/7 ball of sunshine and optimistic. I loved how opposite Daniel and Samaya were but fit together so well.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for an advanced release copy for an exchange of my honest review/ opinion of the book.

My all time favorite troupe is fake dating, but add in fake dating along with a revenge plot AND teenage issues? I’m sold. Samaya was dumped out of the blue by her long term boyfriend, in a very public way. After spending the entire summer locked away aside from her summer job (not the one she wanted either) and her beloved video game where she makes a connection with a mysterious gamer. Samaya’s ex, Devin spent the summer away and comes back with a glow up and a new girlfriend. An anonymous gossip girl-esque account makes it known that Devin is winning the breakup. With a little photoshop magic, Samaya lies. Until her lies come very true.
What I loved: This book reminded me of Never Have I Ever, in such the main character becomes a little self obsessed and forgets to check in on her friends and their issues, while constantly talking about hers. But her friends do not want to put up with it. I also enjoyed the touch on family shelters and being unhoused. A great way to bring awareness to teens who maybe don’t care or think about anything of that nature. I also loved the entire nerd aspect of this book, as in almost every single person was a genius. I don’t have any coding or game development skills, but in another life, I’d be a part of the game dev club. This was a fun, quick read, mostly easy. The heavier topics were heavy in a YA way. I have no notes on how this could improved. Looking forward to reading more YA from Farah

I really adored this book. I did not know that it was YA going into it, and was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the characters. I loved Daniel; I was so happy with the way everything played it. This book has equal parts teen drama and real life hardship. Equal parts funny and sweet.

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

I adore Farah Heron - who doesn’t love great Canadian authors! I love supporting my local authors, and especially those who write books set here and for minority communities. I’ve read several of her books, and love them all. This is the first of her YA titles I’ve picked up, though I have purchased the first book (Tahira in Bloom, about main character Samaya’s older sister). I own all her titles and just 2 left to read them all!

I really, really enjoyed this one - though it’s definitely very much for a young audience, set in high school. Characters are 17, but self-proclaimed gaming nerds and the smartest kids in the school. Samaya has been enjoying some RPG gaming with a new partner, someone she plays well with and can enjoy the game away from her normal friends and gaming guild… who were mostly friends with her recent ex, anyway.

As the school year gets going again, Samaya begins her volunteer hours at a family shelter and meets a new friend from a different school, a hockey player named Daniel. They become fast friends and make a pact, that she’ll tutor him in calculus if he poses as her new gaming friend and boyfriend, so she can get past a gossip Instagram account at the school that is making life difficult.

This is a great story of moving on, getting through high school in the current, modern world (of cyber bullying), dealing with catfishing, gossip, and friends backstabbing… and having to be around an ex and his friends constantly.

I definitely recommend this one to everybody - so many great lessons and reminders contained within the beautiful pages!

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and Skyscape, and this is my honest feedback.