Jennifer Weiner’s The Breakaway centers on Abby Stern, a 33 year old woman who is at a crossroads of her life and relationship when she leads a bike tour. As in many of Weiner’s novels, our protagonist is struggling with weight and self esteem, a major theme throughout the novel. Abby is questioning her romantic relationship’s future when she realizes one of the riders on her bike trip is the unforgettable one night stand she had right before settling down with her good-on-paper boyfriend. Another surprise rider? Her diet obsessed mom.

Wiener always excels in creating complex characters and storylines, and The Breakaway is no exception. There are chapters from the perspectives of many of the group’s riders, and a moving subplot about abortion. The book has a lot of heart, and I found myself rooting for the romance and for Abby. Weiner’s love of cycling is apparent throughout, and I really enjoyed learning about the culture of distance biking through Abby and the riders on her trip.

Where I struggled with The Breakaway is the convenience of some of the themes wrapping up. Twice we find out mother characters have secrets that directly relate to their daughter’s biggest shames, which leaves the conflicts around abortion and weight loss feeling like heavy-handed lessons. Although I agree with the points being made, I imagine readers who don’t might struggle with the exploration of fatphobia, abortion access, slut shaming, and diet culture. That said, these are all important issues that are given nuanced, albeit somewhat convenient, consideration in The Breakaway.

Overall, I’d absolutely recommend The Breakaway, especially for fans of Weiner’s previous work.
(I received this ARC from Netgalley and Atria books exchange for a fair review.)

Is this a typical Jennifer Weiner trope consisting of main character who struggles with body image issues and self identity? Yes. Is there more to it? Also yes. There's a reason that I continue reading J. Weiner novels and that is for the rest of the story which is usually a page turner. I'm not sure this was a favorite but it was a solid 3 3/4.*** And an enjoyable read.

I know a lot of people who are going to love Abby’s journey through a tough time in her life where her future has a lot of question marks. Bike riding/romance fans will eat this up.

I really enjoyed this book – it's fast reading, the characters are multi-dimensional and likable, and it's just an all-around feel-gooder. I would take it with a grain of salt, though, because all the pain points seem to resolve almost too neatly, and I'm not sure how realistic some of the situations are – but there does seem to be an authentic empathy for differing backgrounds and points of view.

I would recommend this as a nice summer beach read, and hooray for body positivity! Looking forward to the day when the story involving a body-positive main character doesn't revolve around her weight, but that it's just one of her positive attributes. That's a dig at our current culture, not a dig at the author, and I do believe books like this help move our culture in the right direction.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Well, Jennifer Weiner has done it again. Great story and characters. I didn't want to put the book down. Very clever and well written. I would definitely recommend this book to friends and family, anyone really who asks! Well done!

I will start by saying I have always been a big fan of Jennifer Weiner books and was really looking forward to this one. The story premise is good and I enjoyed the characters and the dialogue. However, some of the secondary plots were a bit heavy handed in their messaging. Spoiler alert ahead: one of the characters in the story needs an abortion and it starts to feel like a promotion for Planned Parenthood (don't get me wrong as I feel the message is important). It was just a bit heavy-handed in places.

I enjoy the books written by Jennifer Weiner and this very good. It may not have been her strongest effort but it kept my attention from the first chapter.
The storyline was interesting, well thought out and executed well.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m grateful to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I’m a big fan of Jennifer Weiner, particularly her novels that have some mystery (Big Summer or Goodnight Nobody) and also loved her memoir. But this novel, about a woman named Abby who leads a bike tour and the ensuing drama of the fellow riders, was uneven. There were bright spots whenever the author wrote about backstory but all the present day action felt flat to me and I didn’t like the main characters. Abby had a lovely boyfriend for over two years and yet she was quick to cheat on him - made her very unlikable to me. I’ll still happily read more from this author but this one wasn’t as good as I hoped.

The Breakaway, Jennifer Weiner
Abby is 34, single, living in her small apartment, and after dropping out of two different Masters programs, is down on her luck...despite finding her "happy place". And while she's on track to marry Mark, her boyfriend, something just doesn't feel right. The two met when they were teenagers at a “fat” camp only to be reunited as adults. Two years prior, Abby has a one night stand with Sebastain, and she just can't ever seem to forget that night! When Abby is asked at the last minute to lead a group bike trip for her cycling club, the last thing she expects to find is...Sebastain!!!
Torn between logic and lust, Abby has some sole searching to do for herself. The book focuses a lot on Abby living her life as an overweight women in today’s society, which was honestly very relatable to me and probably why I liked Abby so much. Some of the things Abby did however did seem stereotypical of what an overweight woman would do…such as order a muffin on a coffee date. There’s just noway a girl in that position would order something to eat, while her skinny date order only a black coffee!! So many other things though, hit the nail on the head just so perfectly…like wondering what other think of you as a couple, despite your size difference, covering your naked stomach with a pillow, etc.
This book also hit on some heavier topics that I wasn’t quite expecting and I didn’t agree with the way the adults in the book handed the situation. It also seemed to resolve really quite easily, and I just don’t think that reality.
Another great Jennifer Weiner book, as usual! She never, ever disappoints!!!
Thank you @netgalley and @atriabooks for this advanced copy!!!!! I am honored to have been selected as ab early reader.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jennifer Weiner did a good job of making me want to read just one more chapter before putting the book down. The main character, Abby, was a larger shaped women who loves her body. I like and find it interesting that she can come off as a likeable or a unlikeable character based off the readers opinions of her actions. I think the author did a great job portraying important relationships in Abby's life with her mom, Mark, and Sebastian. I really enjoyed the bike riding and the bike tour that took place in this book. This story made me want to take a bike ride. I even turned to the internet to learn more about bike tours.

I took off two stars because this book did become a bit busy at times with too many mini plots and topics occurring. There are parts of the book that I felt were not necessary and made me feel it was not realistic. I understood why she included the viral social media post of Sebastian but I struggled believing that it would become wide spread news articles considering he was not portrayed as a celebrity in the story.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a longtime Jennifer Weiner fan, I was thrilled to dig into this novel after a long day at work--and I wasn't disappointed. I was hooked before the end of the first chapter, and couldn't stop reading without learning what happened with Abby, Sebastian, and the rest of the characters. It's the perfect end-of-summer read, and it almost--ALMOST--makes a girl want to take up bike riding.

I love everything Jennifer Weiner writes and The Breakaway was no exception. I thought this was going to be a cute love story about a bike trip but it was so much more. Weiner has embraced biking the last year or so and of course she would write about that. But I underestimated her. Yes this book is about Abby who leads a bike tour around New York state and the eclectic group of people that tour with her. But it is also the story of Abby's family and growing up. It's about body image, mothers and daughters (and son's), about a woman's right to make choices for her body, about love, about not settling, and friendship. Another masterpiece by a master writer,

Reading this book was one of the highlights of my memorial day weekend. This book is both ground breakingly modern and quite reminiscent of the first Weiner book I read - Good in Bed.

I typically like Jennifer Weiner books...in this one, This one was a DNF for me.

Abby is in her mid thirties, and is dating the first person she kissed back in fat camp. She feels safe with him, and knows that her mother likes the security he provides, such as being a doctor (podiatrist) and having a good apartment. She doesn't have a permanent job, takes dog walking gigs and has started and stopped school a few times.

She ends up leading a two week bike trip. in which she unexpectedly runs into a previous one night stand-Sebastian. Sebastian is a ladies man, who sleeps around and likes it, except that he could never get Abby out of his mind, and had no way to contact her.

This ends up turning into one of those cheesy romance novels that I am not a fan of. Others may like it, but it was a no for me.

I absolutely adored this book! I'm a longtime fan of Jennifer Weiner (In Her Shoes is top tier to me) and this was no different. First, I loved the main character. I was a little nervous it was be lifetime level once I read through the way the male love interest was introduced, but once the side by side storylines of the bike trippers started to trickle in, I realized there was a lot more to this story than your standard romantic comedy. A lovely way to spend an afternoon.

4 stars

Well, this is my fifth book by this author, and as I hoped and expected, I really enjoyed this newest installment, too!

Abby, the m.c., is an incredibly likeable woman in her mid-thirties, and she is dealing with a lot of issues that will be relatable to especially but not exclusively women readers. These include but are not limited to accepting her body, dealing with a mother who actively does NOT accept her body, working through past trauma, figuring out her career path (she's working a lot of odd jobs to stay afloat but not particularly loving any of them), and determining what the heck is up with her love life. To that last point, when readers meet Abby, she's on the brink of having an extremely memorable night (just one, though) with a fella called Sebastian, and she's also about to get serious with Mark, her childhood sweetheart who has just reemerged via a meet (again) cute. There's a running theme of choosing between what feels safe and what feels amazing in this book, especially as this is tied to what Abby feels like she deserves, and this will be another relatable connection for many readers.

Thanks to a fantastic secondary character, Abby gets the chance to lead a cycling trip (cycling is a central part of Abby's identity but not one she gets to explore much professionally prior to this opportunity). The majority of the book encompasses this trip, the characters who join Abby on it, and - finally - how Abby and her life change as a result. The entire journey is engaging because as readers get to know Abby better over time, we learn exactly how deserving of a win she really is.

There is one aspect of this book that I wish had been further fleshed out, and this is a subplot that happens on the ride. I hate spoilers, so this will have to be an IYKYK situation, but here are my thoughts on it: (1) I'm thrilled this content is included because it is super important. This is a book in many ways that focuses on contemporary women's issues, and few come anywhere close to being this essential. (2) It's not a fully developed subplot, and this drove me absolutely wild. The resolution is too quick and easy. Way more importantly, the attempt to come full circle with it later is lacking. Since Abby is the focal point, anyone else who gets airtime should really building her storyline. While there's a brief attempt to make that connection, I found myself disappointed in exactly how fleeting that tie was.

Jennifer Weiner remains on my you-write-I-queue-instantly list, and I am already excited to see what this author produces next!

I like Jennifer Weiner - but I didn't love this book as much as I typically like her work!

There was a lot going on with storylines and current hot topics and narratives. Some of the references (west elm caleb, etc) would probably go over most people's heads. Overall sweet romance and did enjoy the ending - but I don't think this book was for me.

The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner Couldn't relate to Abby she was not a very likeable character. She treated her mother and boyfriend shabbily. The graphic, explicit sex scene was way too much and it kept getting referenced . I did Breakaway and DNF, definately not my type of book.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Jennifer Wiener’s stories. Good In Bed is still my favorite and generally the standard by which I rate all the others. This had all the hallmarks of a traditional Weiner book—relatable and endearing characters, family dynamics (often dramatics), and journeys of self-discovery. What took this somewhat off-kilter for me was the choice to pack it full of politically correct cautionary tales. Just as in real life, some of it made me uncomfortable in a climate where you can’t choose to disagree without being labeled as being on the wrong side of every topic. It’s not that I think politics doesn’t belong in books, it’s more that stories suffer when too many controversial topics are blended at once (I’m looking at you Sex In The City reboot). For me, it seems like a story arc loses steam by falling into a matter of fact statement of canned rhetoric, without offering something different or thought-provoking like the energy of differing perspective. Still, overall a great story as Weiner continues to question our illusions of need vs expectations, and what are the stories we tell ourselves that form our reality. If you’re a Weiner fan, this one should hit all the right notes as a solid read.

The Breakaway is the perfect summer romance. When Abby Stern, an avid bicyclist and dogwalker agrees to lead a two week bicycle tour from New York City to Canada as a favor to a friend, her life is never the same!

The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner is a quick read, that delicately tackles many topics. When 34-year-old Abby is tasked with leading a bike trip over the two weeks that follows she finds more than just scenery and miles await her. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives and the various storylines that all entangle to tell one great story. The characters were likable, and the writing was easy to follow and flowed, making The Breakaway a great getaway. While there are some heavy topics entwined I enjoyed how Weiner handled them and their importance in today's societal climate.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book.