hmatt 's review for:

The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary

3.75

adventurous emotional funny slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Classic Beth O'Leary here: a hilariously-told and very cute romance with complex characters and a slightly ridiculous premise. This one felt just a little too long for me with a bit of weird pacing, like the antics were slightly too ridiculous and then the ending creeped up and it was all wrapped up too fast. I also felt like the characters were less relatable than those in the author's other books, but that has more to do with their younger ages and how many of them were posh English people than how they were written. This author always does a fantastic job of writing rich and flawed characters that feel very real, and I once again came away wanting to "check up" on all the primary and secondary characters after the novel finishes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Stalking

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

Minor pregnancy tag for breastfeeding and discussions of becoming pregnant. Minor homophobia tag for several brief mentions of a minor homophobic character.