REVIEW: The Road Trip (Beth O'Leary)

Book: The Road Trip

Author: Beth O'Leary

Premise: Addie and her sister are about to embark on a road trip to a wedding in Scotland when 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. Now she has no choice but to offer him and his friend a ride. Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly, is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?

[⚠️: sexual assault, depression, alcohol and drug misuse]

Messy breakup + forced proximity....we all know where this is going! But despite that, I enjoyed reading about Dylan and Addie's relationship and watching them process their feelings over an 8 hour car ride. Neither was perfect and both had insecurities, which I felt made them more human and relatable.

The story had a darker side to it. There was a lot of manipulation going on, especially towards Dylan. I often just wanted to pluck him and Addie out of situations and give them both a pep talk.

That being said, this book was great fun! There was a lot of banter and the side characters were great. I loved Addie's sister, who was a strong independent woman who didn't need a man but would happily tumble with a stranger when she wanted. The trucker Kevin was also an unexpected boon of comedy. Towards the end of the book, the story became ridiculous, but it didn't matter because I was just having a good time!