The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel

 

     The synopsis really deceived me for this one. I thought that the people asking to break up the couples were those in the relationship. But to have an outsider as the one who wants you broken up and then adding on that an outsider is doing the breaking up? It just seemed all so cruel. Like what kind of person would do that? Becca Williamson, that’s who.

“‘As far as pick up lines go, it was alright. But just because it sounds pretty doesn’t mean it’s true.“
(ARC)

     Becca is a sixteen year old girl who is already 110% against love. She hates everything to do with it. From movies to real life, she hates it all. So much so she decides to break up couples at her high school. This may seem like an unusual job, but it’s all thanks to her jilted sister who’s wedding was called off a mere six hours before. And when I saw jilted, I mean JILTED. And of course she’s passed that on to poor Becca who never even had a chance to find love. And because of her sister, she turned into a complete and utter bitch. I hate to say it, but I really hated the MC. I hated that she never gave it a chance herself and was so quick to judge something she knew nothing about.

“‘That’s what I hate about romance in the movies. A guy looks at a girl once, and suddenly he’s in love.“
(ARC)

     Everything that happens in this novel though is pretty thought provoking though. So much so that there is a spot for discussion questions in the back. I read through them and could see how they could be controversy. Although I could honestly see where those situations were coming from, they still didn’t deserve to be tampered with. Some people need those experiences to grow and some need those experiences to ensure that they never go through anything like that again. And she took that chance away from them. They’ll never know what could’ve been, only what they thought was fate.

“‘The heart doesn’t do anything gradual.“
(ARC)

     But with that being said, I really did like this book. The writing style was funny and despite everything that happened being so heavy, it was still a light and easy read. It really had me intrigued and wanting to know what happened next. I can’t lie, part of the reason I wanted to keep reading this was because there was a small part that wanted Becca to be unhappy, but another part was because I wasn’t finished with Siegel’s writing yet.

“‘No offense to your sister […], but you only know her side of the story.“
(ARC)

     This controversial debut gives high school dram a completely different name. Things go from bad to worse for someone that gave up on love before she ever knew what it was like to be liked.