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ARC Review - 2⭐️

I really wanted to love this book (especially with such a cute cover), but really everyone sucked. It felt all over the place and these “friends” didn’t even really like each other and with a disorganized storyline it lacked details to pull you in or make things make sense.

I wanted to like this book really bad. I thought the premise was amazing, and it had a lot of promise. However it fell really short. I thought the FMC was extremely annoying. I could not get my self to like her at all. This book was also extremely toxic. I was honestly not a fan at all. I get that books need to add little toxicity to add some tension and jealousy but this was OVER THE TOP. It just really took away from the book as a whole. Did not enjoy this one much:(

This review contains spoilers.

I really wanted to love this book, like other reviews the description and the beautiful cover got me but this book was just all around lacking.

It didn’t make sense that someone pushing so hard for a friend’s trip to a specific location didn’t raise any flags in her friends minds. Once her devious plan to have someone else cover the vacation in the fanciest way possible to stalk her ex was revealed, her friends had big reactions that all too quickly went away even though one of the main plot points was the hatred of this ex boyfriend.

I feel like we could have gotten better descriptions of the characters to know what they looked like instead of being suprised by the comments here and there regarding their appearances.

Overall this book had too many times where I wanted more from the story than I was actually getting.

The Breakup Vacation
Anna Garcia
March 5, 2024
MTV books
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
* romance
After being lured in by the colorful title and blurb that promised a gender reversed YA retelling of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I was ready to dig in.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed. My hopes and expectations were higher than this book delivered.
1 star

The Breakup Vacation left me feeling disappointed from the start and never managed to redeem itself. My initial high hopes for the book were quickly dashed as I delved into the story. Unfortunately, I found both the narrative and characters severely lacking in depth.

One of the biggest letdowns for me was the lack of connection I felt with the characters. Their personalities came across as overly high school-esque, making it challenging for me to relate to or empathize with them. This lack of relatability made it difficult for me to become invested in the story or root for the characters' journeys.

Overall, it fell flat for me, failing to provide the depth and connection I seek in a book. It's safe to say that this one didn't live up to my expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I struggled a lot with this one. A quick read but literal red flags everywhere.

Grace is pretty unlikeable, and not just because she's sad from a break up. She's manipulating, needy, and dishonest. Even in her best light, she wasn't someone I could cheer for. Tiff was also A LOT, always yelling, demanding, and bulldozing, but at least she was bankrolling, so her sense of entitlement was at least believable. Camille was most interesting, which isn't saying much.

There seemed to be a lot of toxicity that I couldn't get past: the girls being given SO MUCH MONEY by two well-off gay moms who wanted to indulge a daughter; the constant binge drinking, the sort-of suggestion of forced sex--but just using guilt to force, not rape; gaslighting by multiple people; lies/deceit/manipulation that goes along with stalking someone when you follow them to another country; and omg the BOOB PUNCHING. WHYYYYYY

This was a cute little romcom. The dynamics between Grace and her besties is a relationship everyone needs in their lives. This book reminds you that friendships are important and loyalty and honesty is key in them.

This book also reminded me of my worth. I think a lot of us have been in Grace’s situation with a guy like Josh and don’t think we deserve more but we do! Daniel is a welcome distraction and proves there are men out there that treat women as they should be treated.

I wish there would have been more detail on the Grace/Daniel relationship instead of the Grace/Josh relationship. However, maybe it’s just because I was repulsed by Josh.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and it was a fun read.

The amount of times the girls punched each other in the boon was a little excessive. I wish I could love a character or root for them, but nothing made me want to be in their teams!

Spicy new adult rom-com. The main character definitely has some maturing to do, but what college student doesn't? The Cancun setting was a nice touch. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I'll be honest--I struggled with this one.

Grace is pretty unlikeable, and not just because she's sad from a break up. She's manipulating, needy, and dishonest. Even in her best light, she wasn't someone I could cheer for. Tiff was also A LOT, always yelling, demanding, and bulldozing, but at least she was bankrolling, so her sense of entitlement was at least believable. Camille was most interesting, but I didn't get enough of her. The boys were pretty ancillary and I'm "meh" about them; yes, even too-good-to-be-true semi-pro Daniel.

There seemed to be a lot of toxicity that I couldn't get past: the girls being given SO MUCH MONEY by two well-off gay moms who wanted to indulge a daughter; the constant binge drinking, the sort-of suggestion of forced sex--but just using guilt to force, not rape; gaslighting by multiple people; lies/deceit/manipulation that goes along with stalking someone when you follow them to another country; and I'm sure I could keep going.

This didn't really strike me as a "fun" read and definitely not romantic. I wanted a couple to cheer for. Instead, Daniel must've had a bit of a love-at-first-sight moment that was never really explored and it's never clear why he's so smitten with the girl who loves the attention he lavishes her with...

Overall: 2 stars
I'll tell my students about: LGBTQIA+, language, sex, alcohol

**Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the free ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

I wanted to like this book, but I don't think it was for me. I liked the setting, but the characters weren't very likeable. The cover doesn't match with the character descriptions in the story. The description of the book drew me in because I loved Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but this book was nothing like the movie.

The characters basically yelled or screamed at people, and they were drunk all the time. I didn't want to continue reading, but I don't like to DNF. This one was a struggle to get through. I wish that I liked it more.

I have this strong belief that a romance novel needs to have… well, some 'romance' in it.
I'm not talking about smut or rom-com type of sex, that's not always essential - even if never declined. But, if you’re trying to convince me about some type of relationship, you'll need that steam type of romance.
In other words, a proof of love. Reasons why the two like each other. Anything that makes me think they're gonna be okay when the story is over. Am I right??

First of all, the most evident aspect: is the cover. Grace is half Asian, Tiff has a septum, Daniel has tattoos… and there’s no sign of any of these on the cover - which is very pretty, so I was double disappointed by reading the characters' descriptions that doesn't depict these great characters.

The part Asian Grace compares herself with her all Asian friend Tiff. Grace is seen and received in society. This was one small attempt at a serious topic that was not fully developed in the plot.

Overall, I was disappointed and appalled that the supposed seniors in college were shown to act, speak, dress. and behave like very young teenagers with adult priveleges. They were not believable and barely likeable because of this.

Meh, this book was not for me. I was not a fan of the characters and their personalities were quite off putting for me. I think there will be people at my library that do like this book though.

Review for NetGalley:

This was not my genre. I could not relate to the superficial characters or the dialogue at all.

Did not work for me.

this was ok but not my favorite this was the only book by this author i have read so maybe the others are better

This book is pitched as a "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" type story, but I would classify it as mildly heavy women's fiction, with the MC slowly learning that her ex manipulated and used her, and slept with her whenever she was vulnerable (including multiple times after their breakup).

I wasn't a fan of the aggressive verbal fights between the MC and her friends, lines were crossed??

TWs - gaslighting by a partner, subtle domestic abuse

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

This book was good however not my favorite. I love a good romance book, especially one easy to read. I also wished for a little bit of soccer, as a former player and lover of soccer romance. (and yes I know that was not at all the main point of the story but still, Daniel was a soccer star who never seemed to be playing at all). The cover, the tile and even the description looked so good. That’s what drew me in but the characters come off as young kids instead of college kids. There seems to be a lack of maturity in all of the characters.

While I did enjoy the plot of this story, I had a hard time with some of the characters. Grace, heartbroken after her ex (of only 6 months) Josh broke up with her, turned stalkerish to try and win him back. While this may be seen as light hearted, it can also be seen as a bit creepy. She followed him to Cancun where he found work on a film, a big dream for him, and dragged her two best friends with her. Enter dreamy Daniel, who while I loved felt very forward right from the beginning. Grace was not afraid to manipulate her friends, scar a random family, and toy with two boys throughout the story.

Thank you Netgalley, Simon and Schuster, and Anna Gracia for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t think I could dislike a book more. There were so many red flags for a relationship throughout. I just couldn’t get behind the one-dimensional characters and neediness.

Why was this story such a big let-down?

1.Main character wasn't even dislikable, she was outright HATE INDUCING. Girl said so many things in this book that would get someone cancelled in real life in SECONDS. She was the opposite of a girl's girl.

2. Everyone else was also a 1 dimensional word on the paper and were erased when i finished this book..
3. NO ROMCOM In HERE JUST SEXUAL SCENES WiTH A RELATIONSHIP BEING FORMED BY THE END OF THE BOOK EVEN TOUGH IT WAS OVER A SPAN OF 5 DAYS?!?!?!?!?!?

4.Had to actually finish this because it was an arc, read another book by this author and I'm now surprised that they could write something this different.....