Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - The Road Trip

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary

156 reviews

aseel_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

Just another sweet story by this author. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't vibe with their relationship during the first flashback, but it quickly became very engrossing and I wanted to understand their history immediately.

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yareliz's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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melissa08's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

I listened to this as an audiobook and I think it really added to the experience! The voice actors match the characters perfectly.

After reading The Flatshare, I wanted to read more of Beth O’Leary’s books as her writing style is gorgeous, she makes it really easy to read and follow along with the story.

The Road Trip begins with Addie and Dylan making their way to a wedding on the other side of the country with a friend each (plus Rodney), in separate cars. Without spoiling the story, an accident happens and they all end up in the one car in order to make it to the wedding.

The story is told in dual perspective flicking between past and present in order to give you the full story of Addie and Dylan’s relationship. It was a fun read with a couple of heavy hitting topics.

Again, Beth O’ Learys writing was lovely to listen to and there was plenty of laugh out loud moments as these 5 people were squashed into a Mini.

Trope: Second Chance Romance and Forced Proximity
Trigger warnings: Sexual Assault

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meredith_williams_'s review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

2.75

This book was so melodramatic. I went in expecting a romcom, and while there were moments of comedic relief, the overall story was a bit pretentious and felt like I was reading a less glamorous version of an episode of gossip girl. The main characters fall in love one summer abroad but their relationship struggles due to class divide and family expectations. A few years later, they reconnect on the way to a friend’s wedding when the MMC breaks down and has to road-trip to Scotland with the FMC. I liked the alternating timelines between past and present as it kept the reader engaged with the main characters’s love story, but when the reason for their original break up was revealed, I was over it. I did not think what the MMC did was easily forgivable despite his mental health struggle and honestly felt that the main couple should just stay broken up.

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lovetlr's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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_m0's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I really, really wanted to like this because I loved The Flatshare... but... I did not :( The "romance" just seemed horribly unhealthy.

Almost all the characters were insufferable and I hated Marcus so, SO much. And then I guess it's all fine and okay that he was a toxic friend and horrible person for years and years because... he had a repressed crush? And I didn't understand Dylan and Addie's relationship either. They fought about money, couldn't communicate about anything, didn't enjoy living together, and broke up because he believed some random guy who tried to assault her and didn't even give her a chance to speak for herself?????? But it's ~true love~ because... they had some good sex for a couple weeks over the summer like five years ago and therefore they get back together??????

Subjective enjoyment rating: 1/10 stars (single star for Deb, the only one I liked)

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