Book: The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary
Read From: 11th September - 15th September
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Summary: Addie and her sister are off to a wedding in Scotland but not long after they set off, their car is crashed into by none other than Dylan, Addie’s ex, and his friend Marcus. Conveniently, both parties are going to the same place so decide to car share. As a result, the 400 mile drive gives Addie and Dylan plenty of opportunity to confront the messy history of their relationship.
This was definitely not my favourite O’Leary - by a mile. I don’t normally give half star ratings but this wasn’t ‘bad’ - I definitely wouldn’t group it with some of the books I’ve previously rated 2 stars. But at the same it’s definitely not on the same level as some other books I’ve recently rated 3 stars. I can see why people would enjoy this but unfortunately it massively fell flat for me and didn’t hit the mark that O’Leary’s novels usually do for me.
I think the book definitely got better in the second half. There were some events and one-liners that admittedly made me chuckle and in true O’Leary fashion there was some exploration of deeper and more sensitive topics. I just wish they were expanded on a little more - so much more could have been sensitively discussed surrounding the themes. Instead, it didn't necessarily progress the plot in any way, and whilst not brushed to the side, I think a lot more could have been done with a lot less (TW: Rape).
I thought the dual timelines were interesting! I liked how in the present day we got hints of stuff that happened previously and it was exciting to know that we'd be going back to relive those moments with the characters. After a while though the present timeline did start to get a bit boring, it just seemed like idle chatter to drag the book out while we waited to dive into the past again. The forced proximity trope was interesting though!👀 The past felt a little too insta-lovey for my liking. I’m very rarely a fan of this trope and so it's unsurprising that I didn't love it in this book.
As for the characters, I liked Addie. By no means is she my favourite protagonist but I didn't mind reading from her and being in her head - she was likeable and in some parts relatable. Deb was okay too although she did make some really random choices - especially surrounding Kevin (if you know, you know). Talking of random, RODNEY? Even when you find out why he is there - it still just seems super random, and to be honest not really needed.
Marcus and Dylan were absolutely detestable male characters. Marcus was just toxic and his redemption arc should have, in my opinion, been non-existent. I just don't think there's any coming back from what he did - particularly when the reason why seemed quite incomprehensible? Dylan wasn't a great character either and I think it's so important to connect to the characters in a romance book, ESPECIALLY when they are the love interest and half of the book is written from their point of view!
Even though I didn't get on with this book, it will definitely not be my last O'Leary. I'm willing to put this one down as being an outlier because I absolutely loved The Switch and The Flatshare. I'll definitely be reading her fourth book The No-Show when it releases in 2022 and will be crossing my fingers that I like it more than The Road Trip. I personally wouldn't recommend this book, however I do highly recommend both of her other novels.