I am a longtime fan of Jennifer Weiner. I’ve been reading her books for years and I look forward to every new release. This one was no different. Jennifer Weiner is great at tackling body image, motherhood, womanhood, love, and more. I feel like they’re handled well with a lot of laughter. This book was no different. I had an extra soft spot for this book because the main character is a cyclist. I have just gotten into cycling this year and it’s truly become an escape for me. Oh and I loved the ending!

I LOVED this book! Jennifer Weiner provides so much character depth and I think she accurately described life as a body positive, feminist millennial. I was drawn to this book because of its cycling premise but the budding romance and other character dilemmas kept me engaged. The setting provided a nice backdrop and I liked how it varied the time periods and point of views.

#FirstLine ~ Are you ready?

Weiner’s warmhearted storytelling skillfully explores themes of love, family, friendship, and the power of self-discovery. “The Breakaway” is a compelling novel that showcases the transformative nature of travel, the complexities of relationships, and the importance of finding one’s own path in life.

I always enjoy Jennifer Weiner's books, especially when the setting is in my hometown of Philly. It's satisfying when the great attractions are mentioned in such a good light. The main character is leading a bike tour from NYC to Niagara Falls, during which we get to know the stories of the cyclists. Even though I'm not a cyclist, she made me so interested in the sport. This was a very quick reading book. Weiner deals with many subjects, including body image, family disfunction, relationships, and the empowerment of women. As with her past books, some of the subjects are very touchy in nature. While some people, myself included, don't necessarily agree with how she dealt with some of these subjects, it is important that we all have open minds and respect other's opinions. I've seen a few reviews of this book that were downright rude on both sides of the spectrum. I will continue to support and read Ms. Weiner's books, as she is a great storyteller.
Many thanks to Atria books and Netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Weiner does it again! The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner is a compassionate and dynamic new novel about love, family, friendship, secrets, and a life-changing journey.
Weiner has blended phenomenal characters to make this an exceptional read.
Most readers can relate to the characters in her books, whether they have experienced the same things or not, the characters are real and relatable and the descriptive nature of her writing gives you the scenery where the characters live vividly in your mind and on the pages.
I adored Abby. I loved her as a person and she made this story so enjoyable.
I liked the mother-daughter relationship. I think some readers can connect to also.
I found all aspects of the book Interesting and very entertaining.
This book was thought provoking, exciting, fun and one of my favorites!
A compelling read where strangers become friends, hidden truths come to light and Abby is forced to reconsider everything she believes about herself, her mother, and the nature of love.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Atria Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This book's plot is lighter than her previous works, though it covers some heavier topics. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and the cycling theme, but it was an easy read. Just not what I was expecting.

I always know when I pick up a book by the author that it’ll be an enjoyable read, I truly just love her style and appreciate how she explores various topics in a way that feels important yet not heavy handed. While Abby is the main character here there are several switching viewpoints that brought some dimension to the story. I know next to nothing about cycling but I appreciated learning about it here especially as it’s importance to Abby us revealed along the way. The body positivity and acceptance piece here was well done and I think many people, especially women will relate to at least some piece of it. If you like books about friendships, love and relationships, and family alongside some hot button topics this was great.

I devoured this book in a day- Weiner is an auto-read for me, so it was a delight to get this ARC. The dual perspectives and subject matter were both great. The characters are very well developed. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I always like Jennifer Weiner's novels and "The Breakaway" is no different! The main character, Abby, is in a relationship with a man she has known since being a teenager. He is wanting them to move in together, but Abby is having some reservations that she is keeping to herself. Then she receives the opportunity to lead a bike trip and takes it to have time to figure things out. This novel has romance, conflict, family & love.

Abby Stern is doing just fine. She is set to marry her summer camp, sweetheart, has found friends in her bicycling club, and has {mostly} made peace with her plus sized body. But she can’t help but feel a lingering sense of unease about her future. And when her best friend asks her to fill in leading a two week bike trip along the Empire trail of New York, it seems like the perfect excuse to take a step back and evaluate her life. That is, until she realizes one of the riders is her one night stand from two years ago… and another is her mother, who has always made her feel less-than for being bigger.

Throughout the trip, secrets will come to light, hard truths are confronted, and broken relationships are mended.

This is Jennifer Weiner at her best! Loved the main character, the pacing was great and the author did an especially great job showcasing the complexities of different mother-daughter relationships. Thank you Net Galley and Atria Books for the e-arc.

While I appreciate the discussion of topics such as women’s rights (voting), abortion, eating disorders, and mother daughter relationships, I found that there may have been too many topics and dynamics at play. I would have loved to dig deeper into the plots and lives of the main characters and left some of the secondary characters from the bike tour group out.

Jennifer Weiner has been one of my faves for YEARS so imagine how thrilled I was to have gotten to read an advanced copy of The Breakaway! In true Jennifer fashion, she weaves a wonderful story. I love that her heroines are normal women. Not too thin or conventionally beautiful, but normal and all the more gorgeous for it!

Abby is in her thirties, happy and engaged to be married to a doctor… who she met as a child at fat camp. She struggles with her weight… or at least her mother does. She thinks her life is on track until she fills in for another instructor on a bike trip in NY and runs into Sebastian, the guy she had a one night stand with a couple years before.

Sebastian has never forgotten Abby.. The one who got away. He loves women. ALL the women. And one of his women posts about it on social media fueling a frenzy of hate directed towards him. But is he wrong?

Sebastian and Abby definitely feel something… but she’s engaged and he’s got other problems.

This book is funny and heartwarming and down to earth and SPECIAL.

I'm not much of a cyclist but this book made me want to experience the challenge, the scenery and the peacefulness of a long bike trip. I liked all of the individual character stories, and how connections were forged on their trip. I also really liked Abby's idea to empower girls and her description of how riding her bike brought her freedom and strength at a hard time.

Abby is 33 and somewhat stumbling through life. Her one steady presence is Mark, her long-time successful boyfriend, who is calm, kind, and predictable. Faced with having to decide on whether or not to move in with Mark, Abby escapes by agreeing to lead a bike trip through New York state. There she must face her past, her present, a former one-night stand, and her mother. This contemporary romance does not shy away from tough issues.

A Weiner book is always an easily enjoyable experience. I thought this was a fun plot and premise, the characters could have been developed a bit more for my liking, but overall this was a fantastic summer read.

🚴‍♀️“I think the bicycle has done more to emancipate women than any one thing in the world. I rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a bike. It gives her a feeling fo self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her sea; and away she goes, the picture of untrammeled womanhood.” The Breakaway’s Abby Stern quoting Susan B. Anthony

It is not summer without a Jennifer Weiner release. After the summer book series, I was ready for something new, and The Breakaway hit the spot. Weiner’s newest release tells he story of Abby Stern, always a bigger girl, who in her 30s does not have her professional life together. Her friend who runs a bike trip company needs a last-minute guide to run a trip and Abby, a lifelong rider, steps up. An unexpected guest on the trip challenges her perception of self.

The book also focuses on the mother-daughter relationship that is strained because of weight. Abby’s mom sent her to fat camp and has been trying to get Abby to lose weight her entire life. There’s another strained mother-daughter relationship between two riders that has a somewhat political bent to it. I thought it was done extremely well and applaud Weiner for incorporating her beliefs into her fiction.

Thank you to Atria Books for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are honest and my own.

Abby Stern is confident in herself, but not in her life decisions. A 2 week bike tour with strangers, a former 1 night stand and her mother help her see what direction she. Neds in her life.

I enjoyed reading this novel even though the basic premise/set up was both classic Jennifer Weiner and a bit far-fetched -- a plus-size, funny woman with a skinny, fat-phobic mother is asked to lead a bike tour and discovers both that one of the riders is her gorgeous one-night stand from years earlier with whom she had an electrifying connection and that her mother is on the trip, invited by a friend who meant well. But I have to confess that I skimmed throughout and found the plot thread about a teen-ager's abortion to be oddly uninteresting and out of place. Not that it isn't a valid issue but it stuck out as a point that the author wanted to make more than being integral to the story.

As someone who hoped to ride RAGBRAI this summer, I was excited to see a book featuring a multi-day bike ride. For it to be from Ms. Weiner also made me think it would include well developed characters and serious social commentary. The past few books from Ms. Weiner have been terrific in their inclusion of contemporary topics but I think perhaps this one went too far. Not that the topics included here (which I won't spell out because some might be considered spoilers and you are welcome to read the publisher's blurb for some of them) aren't important but just that there were too many shoved within the same book leading to a lack of focus on any of them specifically and too many times where it felt like characters were giving speeches instead of being developed as multi-level characters. And yes I understand that there is an overlap between a lot of the issues included here, but again, too much. And is it weird to also say that there wasn't enough drama? Everyone seemed to be just fine with everything. The issues that should have brought about some polarized discussions just fizzled out. Finally, while I recognize that Abby's self-esteem and weight issues were primary in this book, it got really annoying. And also, again, became another little ending tied up in a pretty ribbon. Guess I needed a gravel bike ride instead of a road ride.

This was a great mix of some of Weiner's original books (young woman finding herself/looking for love) and her more recent books (older women dealing with teenage and young adult daughters.) As someone who has been on bike trips and who has lived and traveled in New York, I loved that a bike trip from NYC to Buffalo was the bulk of the book. This is an easy, enjoyable read that seamlessly includes a few heftier topics.