Author: Beth O’ Leary
Publisher: Quercus Publishing
Genre: General Fiction
Year of release: 2021
Release date: 27th April 2021
Rating 🌟🌟🌟
Synopsis
Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in the north of 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 three 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
Addie and her sister Deb are all set to embark on a road trip to their friend cherry’s wedding in Scotland. Road trip essentials such as snacks and playlist are already to go, the pair set off everything is running according to plan until a car collides with theirs from behind. Addie discovers that the driver of the offending vehicle is none other than her ex-Dylan; the two have avoided each other until now.
Dylan and his best mate Marcus are also guests at this wedding and seeing as their car is now on its way to the repair yard the duo must ask Addie if they can tag along for the ride Addie’s once well thought out trip might need some roadside assistance.
Will the passengers make it on time, or will the past beat them all to the ceremony?
If you’ve read ether The Flatshare or The Switch you’ll no doubt, be eager to get your hands on the Road trip.
The humorous events of this book are what kept me reading at a steady pace but along the way I discovered the execution didn’t live up to the hype or enthusiasm of the Authors previous offerings.
Having 5 people crammed in a car listening to Country Music for the most part on their way to a wedding was a very appealing concept especially when you’re like me and love a good Dolly Parton reference.
One of the things that has drawn me to Author Beth O’Leary’s previous two novels was the effortless writing her talent is knowing exactly what to say and when to say it without losing the reader’s interest by over explaining a situation or characters intentions; one of the reason’s I’m usually so quick to glance over the Contemporary, General Fiction genre for the most part is that the characters. Aren’t always three dimensional I praise Beth for doing this well in books one and two.
However, when it comes to the characters and writing in her highly anticipated 3rd novel The Road Trips writing style took a bit of a wrong turn for me constantly switching between the Then and Now Perspectives of Addie and Dylan whilst this is usually a standout technique for me in other genre’s I found it made The Road Trip somewhat of a jarring experience I put this down to warming towards the character of Addie more than the character of Dylan for the most part.
I struggled to view Addie and Deb as sisters I realise your sister can be your best friend but, in this scenario, it come across as a bit of a stretch for me I personally thought of them for quite some time as best friends not realising, they were in fact related.
As a reader who seeks out character based reads I think I can safely say I like to know a bit of detail from all sides and one side I found lacked a lot of attention in this particular story was that of the relationship between Dylan and his father I personally wanted more father and son moments then moments with Marcus, I believe I might have cared more about the outcome for that element of the story rather then just hearing Marcus go on and on about it whilst trying to be a decent friend for once.
The character of Marcus was someone a loathed from start to finish he’s continuous need to put Addie down really got on my nerves it bothered me more so when we discover the reason why Marcus treats Addie the way he does is because he had a romantic interest in her, but Dylan made his intentions clear towards her first; isn’t that the behaviour modern day society tells us we should be acknowledging and fixing? I have romantic feelings for you, so I’ll be that guy who gets on your last nerve by putting you down, this just didn’t sit well for this reader at all.
The character of Cherry was undeveloped and seemed only in this story to fill a space I found even though I loathed Marcus preferred Addie over Dylan I found the character of Cherry uninteresting
The relationship between Addie and Dylan was sweet if somewhat predictable I think we could all use a little comfort these days.
Beth O’ Leary has woven some darker shades into this story, and she has done well to not reveal to the audience to early I admit I was completely off the mark when it come to revealing the twist here hence my high rating that and the fact O’ Leary has another offering on the shelf is reason to celebrate in my opinion.
If you’re a fan of the authors first two reads you’ll be pleased to have another one of her books to add to your collection.