Title: The Road Trip

Author: The Road Trip

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Quercus

Publication Date: 17th February 2022 (paperback)

Rating: 3.5/5

Cover:

Summary:

Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in rural Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed.

But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie’s ex, Dylan, who she’s avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.

Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they’ve totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with four-hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can’t avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship…

Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly, is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?

Review:

I’m a huge fan of Beth O’Leary’s books – I absolutely loved The Flatshare and The Switch so I was excited to read this one. I have to be honest and say I didn’t adore The Road Trip as much as I’d hoped but my expectations were pretty sky high – which could be part of the reason. The story follows Addie and Dylan, exes who end up sharing a car with three others on the way to a wedding they are both attending. They have a messy history and we follow them both on the awkward road trip and we also jump back in time to witness the inception of their relationship.

First off, I have to say that Beth O’Leary proves once again she is an exceptionally good writer. She manages to write with a warmth and wit which makes her books so easy to fall into and be swept along by. The Road Trip is no exception and I did also find the story mostly compelling. The reason this book doesn’t rate as highly for me personally as O’Leary’s previous books is that the characters simply left me a bit cold. I couldn’t really find a reason to care all that much about Addie, who I found a little irritating and Dylan, who I failed to see the attraction in. Because of this, I couldn’t connect to the story with any real sense of emotion and couldn’t bring myself to truly invest in the outcome. I don’t want to put anyone off too much because I know others have loved The Road Trip and it certainly won’t stop me reading everything Beth O’Leary writes but, for me, this one just didn’t quite hit the extremely high heights of her previous books.

✶✶✶.5

I kindly received an e-copy of the book via Netgalley. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.