The Road Trip
Ratings39
Average rating3.5
Two exes reach a new level of awkward when forced to take a road trip together in this endearing and humorous novel by the author of the international bestseller The Flatshare. What if the end of the road is just the beginning? Four years ago, Dylan and Addie fell in love under the Provence sun. Wealthy Oxford student Dylan was staying at his friend Cherry’s enormous French villa; wild child Addie was spending her summer as the on-site caretaker. Two years ago, their relationship officially ended. They haven’t spoken since. Today, Dylan’s and Addie’s lives collide again. It’s the day before Cherry’s wedding, and Addie and Dylan crash cars at the start of the journey there. The car Dylan was driving is wrecked, and the wedding is in rural Scotland—he’ll never get there on time by public transport. So, along with Dylan’s best friend, Addie’s sister, and a random guy on Facebook who needed a ride, they squeeze into a space-challenged Mini and set off across Britain. Cramped into the same space, Dylan and Addie are forced to confront the choices they made that tore them apart—and ask themselves whether that final decision was the right one after all.
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1 primary bookThe Road Trip
The Road Trip is a 1-book series first released in 2021 with contributions by Beth O'Leary.
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I approached this book thinking I was reading a fun romantic romp for the Valentine's holiday, but found a somewhat deeper story. The narrators Addie and Dylan hop back and forth in a dual timeline - one where they meet one summer and the other in present day, a few years later. The story touches on relationships, mental health, finding yourself (sometimes amidst supportive people, sometimes not), and sisterhood in addition to love, and leaves you with some things to think about.
I'll admit that the Addie/Dylan relationship in the ‘before' made me frustrated, which was likely intentional, although the growth in the ‘after' is rewarding. I loved the relationships between most of the women characters, especially Addie and her sister Deb. Deb's character is deserving of her own story, that's how fun and complete she is. Overall, this is a good book, and was worth my time. I've read the author's other books and I'll read more of her in the future. It would be a good book club choice, and the discussion questions at the end of the paperback edition are actually good ones to get a conversation going.
2.5 stars.
Having been a huge fan of The Flatshare, I really, really wanted to like this book. But dear God, there was just no reason to root for these two to get back together, even though they were obviously going to. They make each other utterly miserable as soon as Addie leaves France. We're clearly supposed to feel that the characters have grown and matured between “then” and “now” but I didn't see much evidence of that. This was just a deeply frustrating read.
