Reviews

How to Win a Breakup: A Novel by Farah Heron

bluereadsalot's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

Samaya is so pick me and insufferable, I felt like I was being drug through the book on sandpaper by my tongue. I can tell the author has never had a 5’10 (barely) blonde benchwarming forward make her cry.

jay_mack9712's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Goodness !! This was such a delightful book!! I was shockingly surprised with how real some of the problems there are in this book. The diversity of the cast was refreshing. The problems and the level of intensity was surprising but it gives teenagers the feeling that they aren’t alone with their problems! I really liked the romance too and the nerdiness too!!

cemsreadingcorner's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

WHAT I LIKED:
The writing was good. The dialogue was enjoyable to read. The characters were diverse. There was great representation in the story. Glad it was a happily-ever-after kind of story. Some of the characters were lovable. I loved Cass. She was honest, straight-to-the-point, and she tried to talk sense into her friend, Samaya. She was both practical and reasonable. She was an enjoyable character. Daniel was a good character too. He was good to Samaya and all her friends, even though some of them weren’t nice to him. Owen was cool too. Nice character.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
Samaya wasn’t fair to Daniel. She used him and tried to get him to pretend to be someone he wasn’t all for the sake of popularity. Her friend was right about her. She was elitist and did not recognize her privilege. She always had such judgmental opinions about jocks. She was not a likable character throughout most of the story. There was a point when I got tired of reading the book because the character was sooo annoying. Only reason I finished the book was because I was curious about who her online gamer-friend was. And I wanted to learn Daniel’s story. Daniel was why I did not give up on the book. Samaya cared way too much about things that weren’t important and every time she realized that, she would go back and focus on the stupid things that were happening at her school. And I didn’t like it when her “friends” would tell her about the Instagram post of someone gossiping about her. That was dumb; they should not have told her to look at that. What kind of friends would encourage you to read gossip about yourself?? Wtf?!

And don’t get me started on Jayden and Aimee. They were horrible. Jayden treated Samaya like shit for no reason and Aimee dated Jayden, despite that fact, and she didn’t defend Samaya when Jayden sent her picture to the school gossip. Aimee was not a good friend.

Doesn’t surprise me that they don’t stay close at the end.

And Devin was annoying.

Breaking up with Samaya because of his parents’ opinion of her was stupid. And then pretending to be someone else online and then having an attitude about her moving on with someone else after the break-up was even stupider.

He was no good for Samaya. Glad she moved on with Daniel.

✨There were a lot of things I didn’t like about the story, but it was still enjoyable to read, which is why I gave it 3 stars. I deducted a star because after a while, I got tired of Samaya’s pathetic story. What kept me interested was Daniel and Cass. They were the people of reason. I think Samaya learned a lot from them in the end. I think they made her a better person.✨

Saturday, July 29, 2023 at 11:58 PM

a_stylish_bookworm's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Thank you @netgalley for a copy of this book. This was a cute YA book with lots of teenage drama. I am for sure not the target audience and this was too young for me. Samaya was really cute and enjoyed her growth journey. I enjoyed Daniel's character and how sweet he was.

readingandwritingya's review against another edition

5.0

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - absolutely amazing, adorable and I adored it ❤️

kleversuch's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.0

kat_withthebooks09's review against another edition

funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

nitya's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Sunshine boy x grumpy girl 💖
Fake dating ☑️
Tutoring subplot 💯
Baking!!! 🙌
Gaming references (not my thing but still neat to read) ✨

I enjoyed Tahira's book so the focus on her younger sister here was lovely!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Minor: Outing

adina_'s review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

"How to win a breakup" was a light and easy read and I actually really enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It was right amount of cute but I didn't find it cringey (mostly) or childish.
Fake dating **chefs kiss**
Gorgeous nerdy hockey player - its a yes from me 

joanna77_'s review against another edition

funny inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝:
The writing was really good! I liked the way the author wrote dialogue. I was also really into the whole baking aspect even though it didn’t really fit the plot at times. I really liked the secondary character’s particularly Tahira and I’m excited to read her book.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐃𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞:
I think my biggest issue with this book is the fact that despite being called out on her elitist attitude, Samaya never changed. I really struggle to read books when I hate the main character and unfortunately Samaya really is that unlikable. The author tried to make her come off as this super badass, I don’t give a shit girl, but instead she came off as self-absorbed and dumb. 

She makes everything about her, and yes, as someone who has worked with high schoolers this tends to happen, but I really struggled to feel any sort of sympathy for her because she refuses to acknowledge her own privilege. 

Another issue I had with this book was the plot. Not only is it incredibly drawn out, but it’s really quite boring. There’s long, drawn out conversations and so many plot pit stops that oftentimes I feel like I lost the real thread of the story. There was too much going on, and even though the writing was decent, the plot really suffered. 

Also, the whole “nerd vs jock” thing is the weirdest piece of this book. I feel like the author herself hasn’t grasped the fact that ✨you can be into video games and still play sports or vice versa✨