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A review by josephinebean
How to Win a Breakup: A Novel by Farah Heron
4.0
rated: 4 stars
this was such a cheesy high school fake dating romance novel, and combined with the gaming and the rather compelling mystery catfish subplot, i found myself liking this book way more than i expected to. the diverse characters were well done, no one really felt left behind in terms of side characters and everyone got their moment in the sun, which is always nice.
the limited perspective worked well for the heavier discussions about homelessness and marginalised groups, and i felt towards the end our mc samaya had really started to go through some character growth and development that didn't feel rushed. the book was only a portion of her full story, so it felt good that the author didn't try to shoehorn in a complete character change and allowed the mc to just start on her deconstruction of her own prejudices. her inner monologue and the issues that she felt focused on also felt very realistic.
the only thing that i didn't love about this book was the writing style. at times the language used was very adult trying to write like a teenager, and there were also passages that were over explaining to me what the scene or what outfits looked like, instead of giving me a framework that allowed me to come up with an image myself. this wasn't a deal breaker for me though, because ultimately the other aspects of this book worked well enough that i was still compelled to keep reading.
I got an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley.
this was such a cheesy high school fake dating romance novel, and combined with the gaming and the rather compelling mystery catfish subplot, i found myself liking this book way more than i expected to. the diverse characters were well done, no one really felt left behind in terms of side characters and everyone got their moment in the sun, which is always nice.
the limited perspective worked well for the heavier discussions about homelessness and marginalised groups, and i felt towards the end our mc samaya had really started to go through some character growth and development that didn't feel rushed. the book was only a portion of her full story, so it felt good that the author didn't try to shoehorn in a complete character change and allowed the mc to just start on her deconstruction of her own prejudices. her inner monologue and the issues that she felt focused on also felt very realistic.
the only thing that i didn't love about this book was the writing style. at times the language used was very adult trying to write like a teenager, and there were also passages that were over explaining to me what the scene or what outfits looked like, instead of giving me a framework that allowed me to come up with an image myself. this wasn't a deal breaker for me though, because ultimately the other aspects of this book worked well enough that i was still compelled to keep reading.
I got an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley.