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A review by paperportals
The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary

emotional hopeful slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I really loved O'Leary's Flatshare and was excited to get into The Roadtrip, but I seem to have a knack of only loving the first book I read from romance authors. 

The Good
  • Extremely readable plot, good set up
  • Great writing (I notice that O'Leary has got a knack for sensory writing. In the Flatshare, I cannot get out of my mind that scene where the MCs are stealing glances at each other via a train's window... like, brilliant. And in the Roadtrip, she pulls off: "The sound of someone getting too close to a microphone--that low, wincing shriek--cuts across Grace's reply, but her smile says enough" And I HEAR that so clearly, and the way O'Leary guides the reader's POV from one scene to another IN THE SAME ROOM is marvelous.)
  • The way she writes re: a strong love connection is pretty good too (though unsure if realistic, tbh, or just the stuff romance books are made of)
  • Represents unhealthy things, including relationships and disorders fairly well, too (depression, co-dependency, trauma-bond)
  • Balanced out by healthy relationships too, particularly the Gilberts

The Not-So-Good
  • Maybe reading a 21-year-old FMC isn't as relatable to me now?
  • Too much action so early in the story
  • Clocked one of the side characters as soon as the description appeared on the page, which didn't add to the fun (especially since I am entirely frightened by that situation happening in real life, and what I thought was a complete horror story was not, in fact, handled with the same gravitas - but that's probably my hypervigilant personality because I live in the Philippines)
  • I didn't end up caring about either of the MCs, which is sad (I like Addie more than Dylan, for sure)
  • Some characters didn't feel believable to me at all, even after "the reveal" 

I'm glad the Flatshare was my first book from O'Leary :) If this was the first book I read, I don't think I'd pick her up again, not for me. 
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