I loved it! At the start I wasn’t sure this book could ever live up to The Flatshare, but I was wrong.

The road trip is hilarious and tender, heart-warming and tear jerking! I love the way we observe Addie and Dylan’s second attempt at love while simultaneously learning about their first.

I love (in a love/hate kind of way) the character of Marcus, who reminds me somewhat of Sherlock, a tortured soul who is trying to reform himself.

I could not stop laughing at the scene of Rodney in the river!

I loved all the characters, so real, so believable, so complex.

The road trip is not your usual rom com, it is deeper, it deals with the good and the bad in people and gives hope that things can be resolved.

I’ll start by saying that I was expecting this to be a funny lighthearted story, maybe with a lot of funny and silly parts. That is not what i got with this book at all and to be honest I’m really disappointed by this.

The story is very well written and easy to follow so i have no complaints with this aspect just the story here wasn’t for me.

I think my main gripe is that the characters are just way too unlikeable and to be honest I felt that Addie deserved so much better.

*Trigger warning*

There is a part of this story that deals with sexual assault and to be honest how the characters dealt with this for me wasn’t good enough and I felt Addie was too easy to forgive after all of this. She was let down when it happened and not believed by the most important person to her. So I would have preferred a much different ending to this story where she walked away stronger than before but....whatever...

All in all not for me

It has officially got to the point where I will read anything Beth O’Leary writes; she is so talented and comes up with really unique stories and scenarios. Granted, I didn’t love this one just as much as The Flatshare but it was still a really enjoyable read with a lovely second chance at love story and great characters. Perfect escapism.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you so much NetGalley and Quercus books for giving me an opportunity to read this book. I'm sorry my review couldn't give more stars.
I know I'm in the minority here, when I say I enjoyed The Flatshare and The Switch more. This novel is just... really tragic. Each villain we meet is worst than the next, and it feels like high school drama that has carried on until adulthood.
The writing is amazing as always and the plot pacing is really well done and keeps a reader's interest. I think if you're in the mood to read something sombre, then this is perfect.
3.5 stars

I loved Beth O'Leary's first two books and had high hopes for this one. While I did enjoy it I didn't enjoy it to the extent that I did the first two. The main story was interesting and I do like Dylan and Addie, even if I did think communication would have helped them reconcile their differences a lot sooner but that tends to be a theme in chick lit anyway. The supporting cast are generally okay but the one thing that made me drop a whole star was Marcus, the man was a total arse and people just forgave his really bloody awful behaviour. I would have punched the pr**k in the face tbh and the fact that it felt like he never really suffered any proper consequences from his actions really annoyed me.

But without Marcus I did like the book and I am glad I read it.

I'll be honest, and I really hate to say it, I massively struggled with this book. Having loved both The Switch (which I bought for my Gran as a present, and she loved it so much we now have a running joke about doing a switch ourselves and The Flat Share (which has the best success rate of any book I've ever recommended to both friends and family) I literally squealed when I was approved this book to read.
But I struggled getting into within the first chapters, so gave it a break and returned to it - thinking it was my mood or me in general that was getting in the way. Upon returning it, and essentially forcing myself to finish it, I don't think this book was for me.
I found Addie and Dylan immensely unlikeable, their relationship baffling and impossible to understand. The hopping between 'now' (years after break-up on the way to their friend's wedding) and 'then' (their meeting and relationship) really frustrating and got in the way of me getting to know them.
As someone who has been relying on romcoms to live through vicariously to get a romance fix to fill the void, I didn't find it here - instead I found it all really nauseating. We're constantly told how brilliant both Addie and Dylance are, but are given little reason for why they're actually so wonderful.
I really wish this book had worked for me., instead it was biggest reading disappointment of 2021 so far.

I'm not sure I can place a finger on exactly why, but this was a rare misstep for me from a writer that I really like.

I think the first issue might be mine alone, in that I really don't like stories with Oxford chums - something about these privileged and usually awful people really makes my skin crawl, and I think they really seem to hold on to nasty teenage nonsense a lot longer than the rest of the population.

It was also too long. The ending felt like it dragged for me.

Rodney was pointless until he wasn't and then that was just annoying.

I think it veered a bit too much into farce for me on a few occasions and I don't like a farce unless it's incredibly well done.

There was a bit too much going on which meant that nothing was explored in as much detail as a few key things should have been.

I will still read whatever she writes next but sadly this wasn't as enjoyable as I hoped. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so, so much. Second chance romance is not my favorite romance trope but I thought it was done perfectly here. I loved how the story unfurled, and I loved watching Addie and Dylan’s relationship evolve. The way they came back together was so believable and I fell completely in love with them both. It was heartfelt and lovely and so wonderfully written. Very highly recommend this one!

The road trip follows a group with shared history (and one stranger) sharing a car to travel to a wedding. The problem Addie and Dylan haven't seen or spoken to each other since their awful breakup. What doesn't help is that Dylan's best friend Marcus is also there and he spent a lot of time sabotaging their relationship.

I enjoyed the dual narrative of this book as well as the two timelines. It was interesting starting from the perspective of exs. Beth O'Leary weaves in plenty of humour which made me laugh at loud. This works nicely alongside the more serious subjects this book tackles and the unlikeable way some of the characters behaved.

A fun, second-chance romance book plus a roadtrip. What's not to love? Sadly, the characters, I just didn't warm to any of them really. Will likely be enjoyed by fans of Beth O'Leary and chick-lit in general. It was enjoyable but not as special as the first two.

I absolutely loved this. It was witty, genuine and yet poignant too. I can’t remember the last time a book made me laugh out loud like this one did, yet the humour wasn’t silly or ridiculous but bone dry, original, acutely observed and even quite dark at times, with characters that I feel like a group of friends that I’ll actually miss.

I loved the journeys the characters in this went on, both literally and emotionally but this was essentially a second chance romance and the chemistry between Dylan and Addie was there from the start and only built as the story went on; even though I was ready to throttle Dylan’s buddy Marcus and Dylan himself for being so gullible, the author did a great job of turning me around and helping me to understand why Dylan was Dylan. That’s no easy feat with me, if holding a grudge was an Olympic event I’d be a medal holder.

This is by far my favourite of this author’s books, so much better than the flat share. Highly recommended if you’re looking for feels, warmth, wit and a story you can immerse yourself in. Complete story.

I've loved Beth O'Leary's last two novels so I was really happy to receive an arc of The Road Trip.

What I love about her writing is that while the tones of her books are kind of similar, the stories are all different, and when you reach the last page, you're left feeling warm and happy because everything always works out in the end for the characters.

If you've read The Flat Share or The Switch, then I would recommend you check out The Road Trip!

Beth O’Leary’s ‘The Road Trip’ offered a good dose of escapism, especially in times when travelling and road trips are not really a possibility (I wish they were!).

‘The Road Trip’ follows Addie and Deb, her sister, as they travel for their friend’s wedding from London to rural Scotland. It was meant to be a perfect road trip, and a little escape for Deb – a new mother – but things don’t go to plan, when they end up being forced to share a car with Dylan, Addie’s ex, Marcus, Dylan’s annoying friend, and Rodney, a random wedding guest who asked for a lift in the Facebook group. Let’s talk about awkward.

I really enjoyed the road trip dynamic, the struggles they encountered, and the awkwardness of being stuck in the car with your ex as well as other people who are making the situation often worse. It’s been twenty months, and both Dylan and Addie are supposed to be over each other, only that they aren’t, and being stuck in the same car on the road to the wedding, brings back many happy and bad memories. The road trip part of the book was entertaining, funny and a little awkward (as the situation dictated), and I had enjoyed it a lot, even if there were some ridiculous moments during it, especially at the end of the story. I think I enjoyed the author’s style more than in ‘The Flatshare’ overall, but too many backstory elements were a little overwhelming. It felt at times like you were reading two stories. While some flashbacks could be useful in the story, I felt they often overpowered the main narrative and felt disruptive to it. But overall, I have enjoyed the book, and I would recommend it to those looking for a little escape we all need sometimes.

The Road Trip takes us on a journey with 5 people in a Mini. Individuals with a tangle of current and previous relationships and one random interloper, forced by circumstances to travel to a wedding together.

Addie and Dylan have been in a relationship. Dylan’s best friend Marcus is a wayward and prone to misbehaviour. Debs is Addie’s straightforward but far from straight-laced sister. And Rodney was just getting a lift. Told over two timelines - the earlier history of Addie and Dylan, interlacing their friends and family - and the comedy mishaps of trying to get to the wedding, this is a fantastic blend of misunderstandings and prior knowledge unspooling.

It is a departure from The Flatshare and The Switch, both of which I loved, in that the humour is less prevalent and the characters have more angst and depth. I really enjoyed reading something well beyond what I was expecting. It is a fabulous read which I couldn’t put down.

Thanks to Quercus, Hachette and Netgalley for the ARC.

Beth O'Leary's writing style and stories are absolutely my cup of tea, engaging, sincere and heart-warming, and these are the merits of this novel, as well. Unfortunately, I did not vibe with the characters of "The Road Trip", however much I wanted to, but, overall, I had a lovely reading experience.

This book focuses around a road trip to a wedding, which started of as Addie and her sister, but they ended up having to bring her ex and his best friend along... and a random guy. This had the perspectives of Addie and ex boyfriend Dylan and goes between the past and present, helping give more context into their relationship and how they got to how they are now. I did not like this as much as Beth O'Leary's previous books, this just felt less like her than the others honestly. Also I would say to check trigger warnings as this book does contain toxic relationships and mentions of rape. That also felt really out of place. Some bits of this book I did enjoy, I found the whole dynamic quite funny in places but frustrating in others. Some of the characters were so so unlikeable even though it felt like O'Leary was trying to make them have redeeming features. The whole story itself felt very over the top, I expected a bit of drama considering the synopsis of the book, but I expected it to be a little more believable, it just felt too outrageous. This isn't a book I would go out of my way to recommend, but if you are a fan of Beth O'Leary it may be worth giving this a try when it comes out later this month, but please be aware of the trigger warnings and that this has a different sort of feel to her previous books.

If I'm honest with myself I geninuely not sure I really like this book. I enjoyed aspects of it and there were bit that I laughing out loud for (which is rare for me) but I just felt that this lacked something to make it a great romance read.

I loved Deb and Addie and at times Dylan but I really did not like Marcus. I felt there was too much of him in the story and it took away from the Addie and Dylan's story

My other issue was with pacing. I was so close to DNF as I was just bored in the first half of the book. It began slowly and only really picked up towards the last 60% of the book. Then the book seemed really fast paced and a lot of the loose ends were tied up quickly.

However, there were serious topics such as sexual assult, depression and addiction which I felt were dealt with well and pushed this romance book beyond a light hearted forgetful story.

Maybe I just not a huge fan of the second change romance trope or maybe this book just lacked some of the charm found in other romance books. I liked this book but it was nothing more than an ok read for me.

*thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

After reading The Flat Share by Beth O'Leary and absolutely adoring it, I had super high expectations for The Road Trip. However, it just unfortunately didn't do it for me.

This book heavily focuses on second chance romance which from reading this book, I have certified that I really dislike. The protagonists had a lot of history and the yearning just seemed to be dead between them both which made the book quite slow to get through. I also found that the time jumps from past to present were placed at really odd times and again, it kind of made the reading experience a lot longer and harder than it really needed to be. Travelling with these characters was just a little boring and I was really struggling in wanting to pick this book up and considered dnfing it before slugging through it.

There were definitely funny elements of this book, however and whilst I disliked the second chance romance and the travelling within this book, I definitely think that those that like these tropes, would love this book!

Absolutely loved this!
Narrated from both sides of a relationship, getting the two sides of the story. I Loved the characters , in which who you get to see all sides of, the good with the bad! Don’t want to say much as I don’t want to give anything away! But I’m sure a lot of people will relate to the characters in someway or another!
The Perfect summer read! Beth has done it again, if you loved the previous the flat share & the switch you will adore this!

So I absolutely loved both the flatshare and the switch by Beth O’Leary which meant this one had a LOT to live up to.
This book splits between then and now. Now - Addie sets off on a road trip to a friends wedding with her sister and a random wedding guest in tow - only to be unexpectedly joined by her ex boyfriend and his best friend. That’s a lot of people in a Mini Cooper 🤣Then - tells the story of Addie and Dylan’s relationship. The highs and the lows. I enjoyed most of the characters (especially Addie and her sister Deb but Marcus not so much) and you do really get to know them on this long road trip but the first half of the book was a little bit slow for me. It picked up pace in the second half and was overall a goodie. I’m such a Beth O’Leary fan and the charm of the characters in the first 2 books made them 5 🌟 reads for me. I didn’t fall in love with the characters in the road trip the way i did with Eileen and co tho 💖 I think they’re a lot to live up to!