Scan barcode
asparagusisreading's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A big thank you to Emily Martin and those at NetGalley and Inkyard Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review this arc.
Content + Trigger Warning: estranged-divorced parents, teens drinking and under the influence, discussion of sex, description of oral sex and foreplay, minor biphobia
Representation: a bisexual male main character/love interest
FIVE WAYS TO FALL OUT OF LOVE by EMILY MARTIN is a YA rom-com following high school student Aubrey Cash as she navigates her romantic and platonic relationships in her life. The problem is, she has learned not to trust or rely on love. It just never seems to work out and her theory only continues to be proven with all of the relationships crumbling around her. First, there's her parents that seem to be on their way to a divorce. Then there are the friendship breakups. Don't even get started on the disaster of a homecoming date with Webster and falling for his cousin, Holland.
It's Aubrey's world and they are all just living in it. One of my favorite things in books is when an author can write some incredible side characters that I'm rooting for them just as much as I'm rooting for the main characters. The side characters in this? Chef's kiss. I adored the story behind Veronica and the journey of Reese and Kevin. I wanted more page time with them! Webster and Holland being cousins vying for Aubrey's love left room for comparison between the two and let me tell you, I was definitely flipping sides just as much as Aubrey was. They're both great boys and make some mistakes, but they are promising love interests and tried their best.
Even though I was so sucked into the story that I read this in a span of 2 days, I will be giving it a 3 star rating. The premise was promising and I enjoyed reading about high school characters that felt realistic, that felt similar to someone I may already know. But I felt there were a few issues with the story that made it difficult for me to give this a higher rating. For starters, the main character and narrator of the story, Aubrey Cash, is an unlikeable character. She does have her flaws and issues that she learns from in the story. However, I was not a fan of some comments she would make about her friends, especially some relating to Webster's bisexuality. They felt a bit ignorant or like she wasn't listening to what he was saying. Another issue I had with the story was how some plot points felt repetitive. Then again, that could just be typical high schooler behavior trying to figure out themselves and making the same mistakes along the way.
Content + Trigger Warning: estranged-divorced parents, teens drinking and under the influence, discussion of sex, description of oral sex and foreplay, minor biphobia
Representation: a bisexual male main character/love interest
FIVE WAYS TO FALL OUT OF LOVE by EMILY MARTIN is a YA rom-com following high school student Aubrey Cash as she navigates her romantic and platonic relationships in her life. The problem is, she has learned not to trust or rely on love. It just never seems to work out and her theory only continues to be proven with all of the relationships crumbling around her. First, there's her parents that seem to be on their way to a divorce. Then there are the friendship breakups. Don't even get started on the disaster of a homecoming date with Webster and falling for his cousin, Holland.
It's Aubrey's world and they are all just living in it. One of my favorite things in books is when an author can write some incredible side characters that I'm rooting for them just as much as I'm rooting for the main characters. The side characters in this? Chef's kiss. I adored the story behind Veronica and the journey of Reese and Kevin. I wanted more page time with them! Webster and Holland being cousins vying for Aubrey's love left room for comparison between the two and let me tell you, I was definitely flipping sides just as much as Aubrey was. They're both great boys and make some mistakes, but they are promising love interests and tried their best.
Even though I was so sucked into the story that I read this in a span of 2 days, I will be giving it a 3 star rating. The premise was promising and I enjoyed reading about high school characters that felt realistic, that felt similar to someone I may already know. But I felt there were a few issues with the story that made it difficult for me to give this a higher rating. For starters, the main character and narrator of the story, Aubrey Cash, is an unlikeable character. She does have her flaws and issues that she learns from in the story. However, I was not a fan of some comments she would make about her friends, especially some relating to Webster's bisexuality. They felt a bit ignorant or like she wasn't listening to what he was saying. Another issue I had with the story was how some plot points felt repetitive. Then again, that could just be typical high schooler behavior trying to figure out themselves and making the same mistakes along the way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content and Biphobia
himbonation's review
challenging
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Five Ways to Fall Out of Love was an alright book. I didn’t feel that it was super special but I didn’t think it was horrible either. I felt it was shorter than most but still long enough for a plot and progressive storyline. I have conflicting opinions about Aubrey, who is having an internal battle with love and the center of the story. She is incredibly cynical in an annoying way and definitely wasn’t a great friend in more than one part. And for a main character, she was incredibly toxic with little to no resolve or acknowledgement. I did expect a bit more from this title and description of the book but overall it was still good.
I really loved how the bisexual character was handled in the book, it addressed biphobia and microaggressions, as well as made the character unique outside of his bisexuality. However, I felt that even Webster was unlikable in his own way. His relationship with Aubrey was incredibly wishy-washy and honestly they should’ve just given up on it. They fought up until the very end which left the ending dissatisfying.
Holland was the most enjoyable character along with his cute dog, Lucy. He was very cheated in the end and deserved way better than he received. He was so kind, sweet, and incredibly accommodating to Aubrey, who just brushed him off and hurt him when he’d done nothing wrong.
I also think the overall toxicity and depressing themes were just too much. For a rom-com coming of age story, it felt more like a bad example and a character that desperately just needed therapy. Having toxic relationship and depressing themes is fine, it’s just about how it was handled. I felt that there was more to be done and I had a higher expectation.
I received an ARC for an honest review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I really loved how the bisexual character was handled in the book, it addressed biphobia and microaggressions, as well as made the character unique outside of his bisexuality. However, I felt that even Webster was unlikable in his own way. His relationship with Aubrey was incredibly wishy-washy and honestly they should’ve just given up on it. They fought up until the very end which left the ending dissatisfying.
Holland was the most enjoyable character along with his cute dog, Lucy. He was very cheated in the end and deserved way better than he received. He was so kind, sweet, and incredibly accommodating to Aubrey, who just brushed him off and hurt him when he’d done nothing wrong.
I also think the overall toxicity and depressing themes were just too much. For a rom-com coming of age story, it felt more like a bad example and a character that desperately just needed therapy. Having toxic relationship and depressing themes is fine, it’s just about how it was handled. I felt that there was more to be done and I had a higher expectation.
I received an ARC for an honest review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Minor: Biphobia
bookstolivewith's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Synopsis: Aubrey Cash has never understood why her relationship with Webster Casey, her next door neighbor, went from friends to enemies in the span of one night. But she’s honestly tired of trying to figure it out. Between that rivalry, making college decisions with her BFF and her parents’ constant fighting, Aubrey is ready to give up on relationships. But she’s a scientist at heart — and when there’s a scientific formula that she can use to prove love doesn’t exist, she has to do what any scientist does: collect evidence. But will her love experiment leave her heartbroken in the process?
I found this to be an okay YA read that I finished in about 48 hours. Aubrey is a little angsty and tiny bit overdramatic in my opinion, although she’s dealing with a lot more than I ever did in high school and I’m arguably under-dramatic. It was sometimes difficult to sift through to the meat of the plot and the character development because everything was very crowded by her internal thoughts and diatribes, which were very adult for a high schooler. I also felt like everything wrapped up way too quickly and I wanted to have more closure at the end.
However, it was still a fun read, with a few butterfly inducing moments — I will never get over a secretly protective trope, sorry bout it — and some steamy-for-high-school scenes. Webster is also a bisexual love interest, which I haven’t seen before in a YA novel so that was cool! (There’s actually some addressing of anti-bi comments and mindsets, so head’s up on that — nothing major or particularly heavy but it’s there.)
Overall, Five Ways To Fall Out Of Love was a solid weekend read! I’d probably say get this one from the library, unless you really love all YA.
Content Warnings
Minor: Biphobia
More...