A review by livinthebubble
How to Win a Breakup: A Novel by Farah Heron

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

What a great start to the reading year. So... is Farah Heron a possible new fave? This is the second book I've read from her, and both did not miss.

After an unexpected breakup with her ex before summer, Samaya has enough of the gossip and decides she's going to win their breakup (hence the name of the book), which is where Daniel comes in: the fake boyfriend.

I really loved this. I think I will never not like a fake dating book. I'm slowly falling off the YA wagon when it comes to romance, but this never felt cringey or too young for me. I really enjoyed the fact that Tahira and Rowan were part of the story.

Samaya and Daniel were so cute together. Samaya - gamer girl, math genius, grump - was relatable to me (I'm not a math genius but I do enjoy maths) and Daniel - baker, hockey player, sunshine - was perfect to the point of impossibility. where can I find one? I loved them both. The banter and the tension...oof.

Their breakup (tbh I almost cried) was slightly annoying to me but it was solved nicely. >/spoiler>

I also loved that Cass's pronouns were seamlessly put in. I've read some books where it felt forced, but here it felt natural.

My only problem with this was that the Instagram gossip-account-person reveal was boring and felt insignificant when Samaya focused on it for almost the entirety of the book.

Overall, so fun and so cute. I really want to get to more of Heron's work.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.