Absolutely LOVED this one! It never fails to amaze me how easily I can fall into a book by JW within just a few pages. This book was a multiple POV which is one of my favorite narrative techniques because it allows the reader to understand characters before they understand each other, keeping you intrigued and turning pages, sometimes to know what’s coming next, sometimes because you just want to spend a little more time in your fave character’s head. A great summer read for especially bikers, nature lovers, etc, but also for readers who want a female MC that feels honest and authentic in her struggle to make peace with her body and her past, as well as her choices for her future.

I love Jennifer Weiner's books - they're so relatable and this latest book is no exception. She's real and addresses the issues I and so many other women stay up at night worrying about but she does it in a way that also allows me to escape from my own life and enjoy the lives I've been invited to join for the length of the book. Thank you for another excellent book!

Trigger warning: abortion

I’m a big fan of Jennifer Weiner but her last few books weren’t really for me. I’m thrilled to say that I really liked this one. I was a little worried when I realized that there was an abortion storyline because I prefer the books I read to be an escape from reality but this storyline did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the book. I would recommend!

Well written, fresh plot, fantastic love story, excellent heroine. Loved 90% of this book but thought that the abortion topic was pressed a bit too much. Medical abortion was discussed as “kind of like a period” instead of the very serious topic that it is.
The mother daughter relationships were well done, as were the teenagers (usually tough to get teenagers just right!). Excellent read.

Liked it. I tend to like all JW’s books, and imagine for her readers this will be a hit. I was pretty invested in the romance storyline as well as the friendships and mother/daughter dynamics that JW most often weaves into her stories. I’m not a bike rider and even so I really liked the bike-trip setting for the story and traveling on that journey.

Where the book almost lost me was in the almost constant COVID references (mentioning vaccination cards…”how was the pandemic for YOU???” conversations…) This was a major groan for me and made the book feel super dated even reading now in 2023. Not sure what the point was aside from virtue signaling the main character’s progressivism which was made clear in plenty of other ways that suited the story.

Thank you for the chance to read an advance copy of The Breakaway.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for honest feedback.

Jennifer Weiner has been one of my favorite authors for a long time but I was a little let down by her last book and was nervous for this one. Overall, JW is back to her old self. The story is good, the characters are fairly relatable and likeable. Did I think the side stories of each person on the trip bog it down a little? Yes. She could’ve kept the story focused on Abby and Sebastian and easily this would’ve been a 4-5 stars read.

Even with it reading a little long the book was still good and I’m looking forward to whatever she has ready next!

Abby Stern is our everyday woman - she is in her 30's and still maybe looking for that permanent job or career identity. She has a steady boyfriend but they haven't moved in together yet, after two years. Her sisters are far ahead of her in the "life game" and she isn't sure if she needs more or if she has everything she needs.

When she fills in for a friend on a 2 week bike trip she is completely shocked to run in to a man she had met at a bar some years ago - a time she never forgot! Join Abby on this trip as she faces many of her demons - her family, her weight and threaded through the story are points about abortion and covid. This is a truly contemporary story of one woman growing up!
#Atria #TheBreakaway #jenniferweiner

I have been a Jennifer Weiner fan since day 1 and was so excited to see her new book come across my page. I really liked the premise- Abby a curvy, heavier set woman who is dating her boyfriend she met in fat camp as a child is asked to lead a bike tour from NY to Niagara Falls... when she is reunited with a one night stand she had a few years prior to a gorgeous (quite the player) Sebastian. There is a fun group of characters on the trip and many of the chapters are from different perspectives- which I always enjoy. BUT- I did not like the political and COVID topics- it really made me so uninterested. I don't know, reading makes me want to escape a lot of the current nightmares we are experiencing and this just fell flat to me. Not my big cup of tea, but I will always continue to read her future books.

What a fun, fantastic book.

Abby seems to have it together, except her career. An avid bike rider and engaged to childhood crush, Abby seems to be growing up, but cannot forget a mind blowing night she shared years ago with a one night stand. While her life seems good, Abby cannot help with struggle that it's just not enough. While this seems like a cliched, chicklit start, Jennifer Weiner is a great author who is able to weave a great story, for everyone.

To find herself, Abby embarks as a leader on a bike trip, and quickly realizes her group not only contains her one-night stand, but also Abby's mother. An almond mother in direct contrast to Abby's more curvy and delighted feelings about food.

This book was empowering and actually made me want to ride a bike.

I cannot say enough about what a great author Jennifer Weiner is.

Advanced Book Review! Thank you @netgalley and @atriabooks for sending me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
I was so excited to receive The Breakaway in advance. There’s something so comforting about reading the newest release from a favourite and familiar author and that’s what Jennifer Weiner is for me. I’ve loved so many of her books and am also (slowly) making my way through the rest of her backlist books.
The Breakaway is a book “about love, family, friendship, secrets, and the power of a trip to change your life.” Abby is a woman in her mid-30s trying to figure out her next career and relationship moves, when the opportunity to lead a two-week bike trip comes up. Abby is feeling underwhelmed by her current, but historically significant, relationship and uninspired by her employment. Little does she know that a former, much-thought about one-night stand and her mother will both be on the trip which will challenge how she feels about herself and the trajectory of her next moves.
It was honestly refreshing to read about a plus-size, mid-thirties woman, who enjoys good food and is in good shape from exercising on her bike. I think a lot of us can relate to older generations having different opinions on body image that may have shaped how we felt about ourselves growing up and still feel to this day.
While most of the book was written from the perspectives of Abby and Sebastian, I also enjoyed the sections of the book that were from the perspective of some of the other members of the bike trip. I thought this well-rounded the story and ultimately, their stories help our main characters, especially Abby, learn more about themselves.
As always with Jennifer Weiner’s books, I loved the Jewish representation in this one as well. I definitely would also question anyone removing the inside of a bagel for that post-Yom Kippur break fast meal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Publishing for this early copy of The Breakaway.

At 34, Abby is starting to feel like a real adult. She has friends, a boyfriend, and is finally becoming confident in her body. Yet, something still feels off, so when she's offered to lead a two week group bike trip, she accepts. But on the first day of the trip, she sees someone unexpected - the guy she had amazing sex with a few years earlier (and still hasn't forgotten about it). Just when she thinks things can't get any weirder, *poof* her mother shows up to take the trip with them.

I've loved everything I've read by Jennifer Weiner, and this was no exception. She has a way of establishing such a setting - so much so that I found myself confused that my actual weather wasn't the weather in the scene. This book is sure to be a frontrunner when it's released.

I love that this book doesn't take the easy way out. It's easy to blame someone else for your problems, but it's harder to realize that you played a role in it as well. It takes a deeper look into the narrative we tell ourselves, and how what we choose to believe is how we end up seeing the world.

I had a hard time believing the love interest part of the story, and felt like it was a bit rushed. I would have loved for that to be developed more in the first few chapters of the novel. I also think there were two plot points that were a bit similar, but considering the characters I'm not sure there really was another option to how those parts of the story could play out.

Overall, I found myself really connecting with our main character, Abby, and really felt in-tune with a lot of her struggles. I think this book is perfect for anyone in their 20's-30's who isn't sure what to do with the cards that life has dealt them.

Jennifer Weiner does it again with a blockbuster summer read for all her fans. This one deals with Abby, overweight/fat issues and bike tours as well as fat shaming and Tik-Tok posts that go viral.

Abby is a thirtyish single woman living in Philadelphia. She meets a handsome man at a New York bar at a bachelorette party and they spend a sexy and remarkably memorable night together. She leaves early without
leaving a none or number. When she returns to Philly, she meets up with a teenage fat camp boyfriend and they form a pleasant, but less than exciting relationship.

Two years later, Abby is leading. a bike tour from New York to Niagara Falls when Sebastian, her romantic one-night stand, is a member of the tour. Problems abound! The attraction is still there. Then there's a pregnant teenager with a religious mother she can't talk to, lovely descriptions of scenery, other interesting but not central bike tourists, and always, always, Abby's problems with her very thin mother.

Weiner, (remember "In Her Shoes",?) writes about her own issues of being the less attractive sister. Her characters are relatable and ger prose is engaging. But please, Jennifer, aren't there other words to describe soft baked goods besides "pillowy"? I'm referring here to muffins bagels, etc.. Small criticism of an otherwise easy read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an early copy of this book to read and review honestly.

I have enjoyed so many of Ms. Weiner’s books, but I felt The Breakaway was missing the sparkle, the joy and hope I’ve found in her writing. Don’t get me wrong, The Breakaway is a good book, outstanding writing, but I struggled to care about the characters.

The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner is out August 29, 2023.

Jennifer Weiner does it again with a fun romance novel with thought provoking side plots. Main story line follows the main character, Abby as she battles loving herself. Her petite mom has always seemed to look down on Abby’s more voluptuous shape, sending her to fat camps routinely through Abby’s childhood. At fat camp she meets a boy, reconnects later in life, where they have a relationship. Going through the motions is how I see their relationship, as they just plod along with no true growth. In the end Abby has a choice, her steady boring boyfriend or rekindling her one night stand into a full blown romance.

Weiner really gets into all the “feels” when exploring mother-daughter angst, family secrets, choices, friendship and social media with The Breakaway.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

I love pretty much everything that Jennifer Weiner writes. The Breakaway is now tied for my favourite of her books, alongside Mrs. Everything. The Breakaway is a charming book about Abby, a thirty-something voluptuous woman who loves cycling and dogs, and has a doctor boyfriend.. She is drifting a bit in her life, and is asked to guide a bike trip to fill in for a friend. On the trip, she is ambushed two surprise guests, her mother and a man she had a one-night-stand with years earlier. In this book we get to know Abby better and a handful of the other cyclists. I was especially impressed with Weiner’’s portrayal of abortion and the issues with access to abortion that are going on in the United States right now.

I used to love JW but lately her books have fallen flat and are getting a little too preachy and political and trying to push views in the sub text of the story.. wasn't too pleased with the pronoun joke at the end.

The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner
Abby Stern is a thirty-four-year-old, curvy, single woman who has found herself. She walks dogs and other gig economy jobs to pay her bills, lives in a tiny, cluttered but comfortable apartment and is all but engaged to Mark, a gorgeous doctor Abby first met as a pre-teen at fat camp when he was at least double his adult, buff size.
Then she meets Sebastian while fueled by copious amounts of tequila at her friend’s bachelorette party. Let’s just say sparks fly, but they don’t exchange numbers.
Fast forward to Abby’s best friend, who runs a bicycle tour group, who needs Abby to lead a group. Abby is an avid cyclist but has never run a group on her own. Because she loves her friend, and cycling, she agrees, and the next ten days are filled with enough crises to fill several books!
The cycling is almost a character in this book, and since I know the author is very much into the sport, I often felt like I was chatting with a good friend about it and daydreaming about the lovely Empire Trail. But each of the dozen participants complicated that dream in ways that I would never have guessed. One of the participants is Abby’s mom, thin, elegant and body obsessed. Another one is a pregnant teenager. And the most complicating one, is Sebastian. The one-night stand.
Weiner never just writes a love story without hitting major social issues, though her answers are admittedly best only for her character. This book is no different. Empowerment of women, abortion rights, weight shaming, sex shaming, aging, social media limitations and even the weather fill this lovely journey with clouds. Not everyone will agree with how they are handled, but the story will be hard to put aside.
Props to the author and editors for the title! Breaking Away was one of my favorite movies in the seventies, and the tie in with the bikes was fun!
Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

Jennifer Weiner once again has come out with her new book just in time for the beach!! A beautifully written book about how difficult relationships can be with the ones you love, but they will always be there for you. Like all her books the reader will love all her characters, GREAT book!!

I typically adore Jennifer Weiner's books, but this one I just could not get into. Instead of devouring as I normally do, I kept picking it up and putting it down. The premise is Abby, a thirty-something woman, trying to figure out life, trying to figure out whether or not to move in with her loving but boring boyfriend and finding temptation with another man. Abby leads a cycling tour from NYC to Buffalo via the newly-opened Empire Trail, only to discover that one of the party is Sebastian, a man she had a one night stand with in the past, and has never quite forgotten. Weiner hits lots of hot topic issues within the book such a body image, casual sex and affairs s well as mother daughter relationships. While I really wanted to love this book, I just found it okay. Weiner's devoted fans will want to read, so recommended for public libraries without hesitation.

I'll go to a Jennifer Weiner novel when I want an easy read and this one did not disappoint. The protagonist's arc was fun to follow. Reading of Abby's journey from self-loathing to acceptance to self-love was one of triumph. I appreciated that ultimately Abby recognized that her own happiness was what mattered most, more so than seeking validation from a parent or partner.