‘The Road Trip’ by Beth O’Leary

Happy publication day to ‘The Road Trip’ by Beth O’Leary – published today by Quercus.

I absolutely loved Beth O’Leary’s previous two books – ‘The Flat Share’ and ‘The Switch’ – and so was very happy to be granted an advance copy of this one by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

At the heart of this novel is the love story of Addie and Dylan who were in a relationship before a dramatic split. Two years later, a car accident brings them back together and they embark on one of the most excruciatingly awkward road trips ever. They are travelling to the wedding of their friend, Cherry, in rural Scotland and are accompanied by Addie’s spiky sister (Deb), Dylan’s difficult best friend (Marcus) and a fellow wedding guest (Rodney). The journey seems ill-fated from the start, but it forces Addie and Dylan to confront the past.

If you enjoyed O’Leary’s previous books then there is plenty to like here, The characters are well-drawn and realistic, even if they are a bit over-emotional at times. I particularly liked sassy, tough Deb and I also had a soft spot for Rodney tucking into his reserves of flapjacks in the car full of strangers. Poor Rodney.

As expected from O’Leary, the novel is well-plotted and moves between the present day and the period where Addie and Dylan met during an idyllic summer in the South of France. It did help with investing in the relationship to see their back-story, especially as it narrated the events up to their split.

This was a fairly light and enjoyable read – I did zip through it in a day even though I was slightly frustrated with the awfulness of certain characters. I have no clue why anyone would want to stand by Marcus in his hour of need as he was really quite obnoxious even when not in emotional turmoil! I thought it was a shame that this book was peopled by almost exclusively 20-somethings – O’Leary’s previous book, ‘The Switch’ was more multi-generational and worked better for me, a slightly (ahem) older than 20-something. The older characters in this one were fairly flat, being caricatures like sleazy Uncle Terry.

I’d recommend this to those who enjoy a traditional rom-com featuring beautiful young people. It is engaging, funny and sweet (although does have a darker edge so it isn’t too sickly-sweet). I think perhaps I’m not quite the target audience for this one, although I did enjoy it.

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Header photo by Mitul Gajera on Unsplash