I thought this book would be a little out of my normal reading but I was way off. I couldn’t even finish this book. The characters were just too immature for me. Having the author set this up as a new adult book with characters suppose to be in their senior year of college the acts and thoughts of these characters did not match the age demographics and for that reason alone I could not finish it. I also do not usually read books that are completely written in third person. It just does not feel as intimate with the characters and their thoughts and emotions.

2.5/5 stars
The cover and synopsis had me hooked. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me, simply because the characters were insufferable, particularly our main character Grace. Grace gets dumped by her boyfriend Josh and her best friends come to save the day planning a girls trip to Cancun to help her get her mind off the breakup. Little do they know, Josh will be there with maybe his new girlfriend. Grace sure knows and ugh the decisions she makes from there are just one bad choice after another. She hurts her friends in the process and to be honest, it’s not like Josh was a great boyfriend. Why would you want this guy back is all I kept asking myself?!?!?

I was glad her friends finally called her on her shit because I couldn’t keep watching Grace hurt other people and make decisions without thinking about the outcome. Unfortunately, I do think we know people like this in real life and it’s really hard to watch.

I had high hopes for this one - compared to Forgetting Sarah Marshall in the fact that two exes keep running into each other on vacation. Except in FSM - it was by accident - not the main character tricking her best friends into traveling to Cancun so she can follow her POS fuckboi ex and try to win him back.

The plot was thin - the characters undeveloped and caricatures. Most of them - the MC Grace, the most - were irritating and vapid.

I really wanted/needed more out of this and by the end I was just bored.

This was a fun, quick, light hearted read, Took a break from my murder and mayhem books and decided to go with something a little more on the happy side. This book was a breath of fresh air. I found the story to be cute and I loved the dynamic of the friend group. The dialogue felt real. Loved it!!

the way I read this book pretty much in one sitting...

Following a college student, Grace, as she navigates her life after a difficult breakup, tends to lead to a bit of drama. Grace is clearly a little unhinged. Planning a whole vacation just to see your ex? oooh boy, this is sure going to lead to a mess. But let me tell you, the messiness in this book made for an entertaining story. She is a complex character, and doesn't necessarily make the best decisions at certain times, but she truly believes she is trying her best.

I absolutely adored the friendship between Grace, Tiff and Camille. They truly love and support each other, even through all the troubles Grace tended to cause lol. The main love interest, Daniel, was definitely dreamy. I loved the banter between the two, and the comfortability they were both able to express! There wasn't necessarily pressure on a relationship for them, just to relax and have a good time.

Overall this was a fun read and definitely recommended to those who love romcoms!
Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a review :)

I was so excited to read this book! Fun title, loved the cover, and the plot description sounded great. However, while I enjoyed some aspects of the friendships and romance depicted in the book, I think certain things just fell flat for me. I found Grace to be a pretty unlikable main character, and while I think of course, all characters should have their flaws, as it makes them more complex and fascinating to read about, we don't really get a good sense of Grace's redeeming qualities or enough character development to really root for her, in my opinion. I found myself wanting a little more from her character and the themes and relationships explored throughout the story. This one sounded so good, and I think it had a lot of potential! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I like to read YA here and there—some of my favorites are YA books and although this story didn’t speak to me as an adult who reads YA, I feel as though this could be a fun book for the population it’s written for! I loved the premise and plot of this book and although I hated the main character, I feel like that was part of the fun of reading this book—sort of a love to hate kind of thing we all do with people on reality TV, movies, tv shows, etc. Overall, I thought this book was good; I would have liked some more characters to actually like, but many were hard to care for, including our protagonist at times. 3.5 stars for me, put to 4 since we can’t do half star on here.

I have this strong belief that a romance novel needs to have… 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 giggling, screaming-in-your-pillow, kicking-the-air, breath-taking 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.

“The Breakup Vacation” has potential but definitely needs more work.
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.

The narration comes straight second on my list: boring, lacking description and character deepness, filled with pop references that don't really work. Also, I’d have considered telling the story in first person, since it's already from Gemma’s POV.
I'm aware it's a story about a girl who’s still in love with her ex, but halfway in this even I wanted to strangle the guy. Josh here, Josh there, Josh would never do this, Josh would never say that. Shut up!
The movie quotes at the start of every chapter were a nice touch, but also kind of random.

And even if the characters were almost always drunk - which means is basically impossible that they could have gotten anything done - and the fact that any redemption that was written for Grace was probably wiped off at the last minute, the biggest problem of the whole story is the discrimination towards… all of them?
In life, I try to not make assumptions regarding anyone, especially because being white doesn't get you the right to think what a minority is like or act like and every discrimination you can think of. So, about all the Asian prejudices I've read, I'm just gonna assume it's weird but also okay since the author is also half-Asian, I guess.
But, the French. Trust me, no one hates the French as the Italians, but this is too much even for me. Camille, who is in her 20s and was accepted into an American University even if she’s never heard of the past simple, is the <i>Emily in Paris</i>’s adaptation of a French character: she loves French wine, French cheese, cooking, middle-age men, and her entire personality is being elitist - which it’s not completely false, but still.

I'm also not excusing the misogyny and the very unfeminist sides of this, but I consider them as an attempt to make it look more like a comedy and poorly let us know from the very first page who the “enemy” is.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I’m guessing I’m not the target audience for this book (a 37 year old mom)- but this didn’t hit for me.

The characters were all highly unlikeable- Daniel was the best of them, but we didn’t really get to see his personality. The girls were all mean and selfish (and drank SO much!)

I also felt like there were way too many “issues” crammed into this book. I appreciate books that make a statement, but it felt like every conversation was about some global ethics issue.

I suppose a younger audience might think it’s a fun read, but I just couldn’t move past the immaturity of the characters.

Cute title, great description, beautiful cover… and it just didn’t live up! The female main character, Grace, was the worst part of the entire story. She was so, so immature, pathetic, and any other negative quality a person could have. The “love” was not in the story, as the description hinted at. Instead, it was a lot of partying, trying to forget their pasts, and a ton of bad choices coming to the forefront and exploding at the same time. This was one for the birds and I hate that because it sounded so good! Thanks for the opportunity.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for this read!

I really wanted to fall in love with this book that I kept reading until I finished it, but unfortunately, I didn’t necessarily want to.
Let me explain.

The plot of this book is so exciting, and I couldn’t wait to read it! However, when I started reading it, there were a few things that irked me or rubbed me the wrong way or that I just found to be a bit annoying.

*SPOILER WARNING*
It was entertaining when the author described Caity (something something something) Ruiz, but only for the first couple of times. After that, it was a bit annoying how every time Grace mentioned/thought of Caity, there was a pretentious description in her name. I guess you’ll only get what I’m talking about when/if you decide to read this book.

Also, I couldn’t relate to Grace at all. I get that it’s one of her character flaws, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating when she decided to manipulate her friends into spending their money on a trip to where her ex boyfriend is. It was also very annoying how Grace constantly felt guilty for doing things when she was SINGLE. It actually hurt (not really) to keep reading, so I skimmed some of the book instead of deep diving into it.

Yes, some of the spicy scenes were thrilling but I didn’t think they correlated to who Daniel is as a character. I was like ???? Would he really say that though? It was a bit hard to believe.

Overall, I feel like this story had plenty of potential to be an inspiring redemption story about Grace with plenty of character development, as well as an appreciation story for women friendship, but I don’t think it lived up to that. The big climax of the story didn’t live up to what I thought it could be, and it was sort of disappointing.

I had a love/hate relationship with this one. I didn't love how it was a straight up rom com when it could have been a wonderful celebration of female friendship. As with most rom coms, very few conversations passed the Bechdel test, the MMC was of course hot and buff, and the ex was appropriately creepy. I didn't love how the whole catalyst for the plot was following the ex boyfriend around, and wanted to cheer when the FMC's friends basically called her out on it. The conflict didn't seem like it was really there, and there wasn't a ton of character development.

Cute story if you want a fluffy read.

Thanks, NetGalley!

I don’t normally read romance but wanted to take a risk and try this. I couldn’t really get into it and felt like the characters ages and actions really did not match. I felt like the characters were super likable or relatable. I also wish there was more character development around Grace but felt it was lacking.

Liked the aspects of the friendships formed in this story, but I found Grace pretty unlikable. Also liked the setting as being on vacation, but having Grace follow her ex boyfriend was a little too much.

I tried really really hard to like this book— but I didn’t. The motives and personality of the main character, Grace, were immensely immature and even a little manipulative. And there was no redemption for that later on. And honestly, the other characters were just as immature ( I mean— boob punching? 😒) and who does this much work for the end of a 6 month relationship?! This may have been a decent read if I was 18– but I’m not.

However for the sake of publishing, I opted to not post this on my GoodReads.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Didn’t love this one at all, sorry…

The characters felt very flat and stereotypical, even the protagonists, and their antics were silly at best and annoying at worst. Just no real depth or development to keep me interested.

Well, well, well! After being lured in by the colorful cover and the promising plotline that offered a gender-reversed "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" in a YA retelling set during a Cancun trip, I was excited and ready to dive in. Who could resist the charming premise of an entertaining romcom with hints of self-exploration in a holiday setting?

However, unfortunately, my expectations took a nosedive as soon as I was introduced to the main character and her besties, who were one-dimensionally constructed and acted like stereotypes right from the beginning. Despite my efforts, I couldn't find any quality or emotional depth that would allow me to connect with them.

The plot revolves around heartbroken Grace, who is dumped by her boyfriend Josh after a six-month-long relationship. Frankly, Grace's actions after the breakup reminded me of a spoiled child whose toy has been taken away by her parents as punishment, and she's whining loudly to get it back by manipulating her friends. In this case, instead of a toy, she wants to win her boyfriend back, going so far as to stalk him to Cancun and misinform her best friends, Tiff, who has no defining qualities other than being rich, and Camille, who is another stereotypical French girl created by an American author who may have never befriended a real French person in real life!

I couldn't understand why Grace was so obsessed with Josh from the beginning. Regardless, I was still holding out hope that the Cancun setting would breathe new life into the story, and maybe we'd see a well-developed love story unfold with the introduction of the hot Hawaiian soccer player, Daniel, who would show Grace what a real love story should be. However, the character of Daniel appeared with no defining traits other than being biracial and a soccer star, leaving many blank spaces in terms of character development, just like Grace, her ex-boyfriend Josh, and her besties.

As expected, the author failed to vividly depict the beautiful atmosphere and allure of Cancun, instead choosing to portray the girls taking shot after shot, making the reader feel like they've stumbled into the worst kind of tequila commercial with a triggering alcohol poisoning alert!

Another aspect that rubbed me the wrong way was Grace's intense girl-on-girl hate, which raised a red flag for misogyny when she unjustifiably resented poor Caity for merely being around her ex-boyfriend.

Overall, I couldn't fathom why Grace was so obsessed with Josh from the beginning, and I also couldn't understand why Daniel liked Grace so much. I held out hope that Grace's character would evolve as the consequences of her choices hit her hard, ultimately leading to her self-growth. Unfortunately, by the end, she remained the same unlikable stereotype, making it challenging to engage with the story.

In summary, my hopes and expectations were higher than what this book delivered. I'm hopeful that the author's future works will be more engaging for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing MTV Books for providing me with this digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I kept waiting for this book to get better and sadly, it never did. I don't think I've ever hated a main character more. Grace was completely pathetic. It was so hard reading this entire book and listening to her make excuses for all of her horrible decision making and then blaming everyone else when her decisions came back to bite her in the a**. She created all these issues for herself and then whined like it wasn't her fault. Grace was 100% playing the victim the whole time and it was so frustrating because it was the consequences of her own actions. My favorite part of the book was when all the horrible decisions she made confronted her at exactly the same time. I loved seeing everyone in her life get angry at her and call her out on her crap.

I was hoping for more interesting things about being on vacation in Mexico, but all Grace and her friends did was get drunk. They had like 10 shots of tequila a day, how was there not alcohol poisoning???? Tiff was 100% valid for wondering about what activities they were doing everyday on HER dime.

This is not a romance, it's the main character's journey to being a slightly less annoying person with a modicum of self-respect. Daniel was nothing more than a prop for her. He was completely misused. He was interesting at first, we got hints of his story that was interesting, but he ended up just being the anti-Josh and at the end just became a bland nice guy.

This book was definitely interesting! There was something about it that was off for me. This allowed be to not be fully immersed in the story line or characters. I did enjoy that this book was solely based on romance but had a lot of growth between the characters.this book was decent.

This was not the book for me - Grace was insufferable and there are only so many lines of “ insert snarky dumb comment + [name]” I can handle in a book. I’m also over plots where the main character is lusting after some crusty ass boy who is not worth her time even for a chapter…and even if someone else swoops in later. I get not being over an ex or longer term relationship, but a 6 month situationship is not it.

I will not be leaving a review on Goodreads.