FIVE WAYS TO FALL OUT OF LOVE By Emily Martin

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Five Ways to Fall Out of Love by Emily Martin
Published by Inkyard Press on 3/16/21
Genres: Contemporary, LGBT, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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Aubrey Cash learned the hard way not to rely on love. After all, Webster Casey, the new boy next door she''d been falling for all summer, stood her up at homecoming in front of everyone with no explanation. Proving her theory that love never lasts seems easy when she''s faced with parents whose marriage is falling apart and a best friend who thinks every boy she dates is "the one." But when sparks fly with a boy who turns out to be Webster''s cousin, and then Webster himself becomes her lab partner for the rest of senior year, Aubrey finds her theory—and her commitment to stay single—put to the test.

As she navigates the breakdown of her family, the consequences her cynicism has on her relationship with her best friend, and her own confusing but undeniable feelings for Webster, Aubrey has to ask herself: What really happened the night Webster stood her up? And if there are five ways to fall out of love…could there perhaps be even more ways to fall back in?

Short and Sweet

Aubrey doesn’t rely on love and she learned that the hard way after being stood up by Webster Casey on homecoming night. Aubrey’s parents have a marriage that is falling apart and Aubrey uses that as proof that love doesn’t last but things change after she meets Holland, who also ends up being Webster’s cousin, and now Aubrey’s stuck being Webster’s lab partner for the rest of the school year. Aubrey’s determined to stay single but will she last?

Characters

Aubrey: Aubrey is our main character and has become accustomed to her parents fighting which makes her wonder if love is even worth it. Aubrey focuses on making it through the rest of her senior year and avoiding anything to do with love.

Webster: Webster lives across the street from Aubrey. When he first moved in they spent a lot of time together and they were supposed to go to the homecoming dance together but he stood her up.

Holland: Holland is Webster’s cousin and he meets Aubrey at a party. Holland and Aubrey start going out.

Romance

Aubrey and Webster: Aubrey and Webster haven’t really talked since that night at homecoming so now that they’re lab partners its weird and there’s definitely some tension. I’m not really sure if I liked them together they were either okay or mad at each other and it was just back and forth.

Aubrey and Holland: I liked this relationship more than the one above but for some reason even though Holland treats Aubrey great she can’t stop thinking about Webster so that was the end of this duo.

My Thoughts

Aubrey has sworn off love especially since she got stood up at homecoming. I thought it would be a bigger mystery as to why Webster stood Aubrey up but we get the answer 40% of the way through the book, honestly everything that happened at homecoming could have been avoided if Webster just talked to Aubrey. I didn’t really like any of the characters, I didn’t connect with any of them. Aubrey was probably my least favorite, she was always such a pessimistic person. Aubrey’s best friend, Reese is always there for her but Aubrey for some reason thought it was a good idea to try to calculate how long it would take for Reese and her boyfriend to break up. It was things like that that made me dislike Aubrey. Aubrey just wouldn’t let herself be happy with Holland even though he was a great guy, she just kept thinking about Webster. I didn’t really like how the book ended and thought in general the whole thing could have been better.

Overall

I thought I would enjoy this book, because the synopsis sounded promising and in the end it just fell flat. I didn’t like the characters, the romance wasn’t good and its just not what I thought it would be.