Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Road Trip

Oh man, I'm so disappointed I didn't love this one more. Both of Beth O'Leary's previous books have been absolute homeruns for me, and I had high hopes because it has a similar narrative structure to People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry which I absolutely adored. And listen, I'm not a person who expects romcoms to not address serious things or just be light and fluffy, or for books with illustrated covers to somehow only be happy and popcorn. But there were several plot points/tropes here that hindered my enjoyment, first and foremost how super angsty it was - that's not my bag. Ultimately, though, I just don't believe in Addie and Dylan, and that's the kiss of death for a romance. The flashbacks to their previous relationship just seemed incredibly toxic, with a complete lack of communication. One of my favourite things about O'Leary's previous books is how great she is at building relationships, and that building of Addie and Dylan's relationship here was like 95% about other people. So I didn't feel invested in the HEA or even an HFN.

I did love Addie as a character, but I loved her sister Deb even more. I enjoyed the female friendships in this book, though unfortunately I don't know that any of them pass the Bechdel test...I liked the narrative structure, of having "then" and "now" moments to go back and see the foundation of how we arrived at the current situation. The anxiety and depression rep was strong, mirroring some of my own experiences. My favourite part was the writing, because I am a sucker for Beth O'Leary's writing. Overall, not a book I'm mad I've read, but not going to the top of the list for me.

CW: stalking, on-page attempted rape, anxiety/depression, alcoholism

Content Warnings

mehrcamp's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

forlorn_traveller's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

bex_williams's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.5

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fayereadsbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed reading Beth O'Leary's third book. I doubt anything will top the Flatshare for me but this was a totally fab read.

The book follows the story of Addie and Dylan and is told in a then and now narrative. Then follows Addie and Dylan meeting, their relationship and their eventual break up. Now is about when driving to a mutual friends wedding, they crash into each other and have to do the very long journey with a mis-matched car full, and naturally chaos endues.

I enjoyed reading both characters perspectives but wasn't overly fond of either of them, they were both pretty good but nothing memorable. Dylan is very privileged and his group of friends reminded me of people from the TV show Made In Chelsea, they are just so fancy but in a way they don't realise how privileged and lucky they are.

For the first around half of the book I thought it was okay but I especially enjoyed the second half. I liked the ending of the book and thought all of the plot points and storylines were were concluded and wrapped up well

There were a few topics that I didn't expect to be in a book like this so I definitely advise checking content warnings

Content Warnings

gm_vak's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

100_pages_hr's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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