[Review] The Break-Up Pact - Emma Lord

Summary: June and Levi were best friends as teenagers—until the day they weren’t. Now June is struggling to make rent on her beachside tea shop, Levi is living a New York cliché as a disillusioned hedge fund manager and failed novelist, and they've barely spoken in years.

But after they both experience public, humiliating break-ups with their exes that spread like wildfire across TikTok rabbit holes and daytime talk shows alike, they accidentally make some juicy gossip of their own—a photo of them together has the internet convinced they're a couple. With so many people rooting for them, they decide to put aside their rocky past and make a pact to fuel the fire. Pretending to date will help June’s shop get back on its feet and make Levi’s ex realize that she made a mistake. All they have to do is convince the world they're in love, one swoon-worthy photo opp at a time.

Two viral break-ups. One fake relationship. Five sparkling, heart-pounding dates. June and Levi can definitely pull this off without their hearts getting involved. Because everyone knows fake dating doesn’t come with real feelings. Right? (Pub Date: Aug 13, 2024)

 

3+

I hadn't realized this wasn't YA. It might be the first book by Emma Lord that I read that isn't but it's kind of funny. Her last book was still officially YA (although about a character in college, it had all the other elements) but you already felt it was trying not to be it. Meanwhile this book is about two adults well after their college years, dealing with their careers and relationships, but it had a very YA tone to it. June may have been the owner of a tea shop by the beach, but I was always surprised whenever they mentioned something teenagers shouldn't be doing.

I'm saying it as a good thing, by the way. At least for me. I love YA's, and it was good to see one dealing with conflicts closer to my reality but maintaining the ways I love so much about them. But I do understand it could sound like criticism and even push away some potential reader who prefers more mature stories. 

Another theme present in most of Lord's stories is also here. Grief. The loss of a loved one. In June's case, it's her sister, who suddenly died while June was away, living adventures to follow her boyfriend. Yes, the same boyfriend who'll dump her before the beginning of the book in the most humiliating way possible. I found it surgical how Lord managed to explore such a sad theme in a way that isn't light, that isn't insensitive but that doesn't drag the whole story with it. It's very real.

Okay, so about the main story, we've got to estranged friends who meet after many years in new circumstances, they both broke up in a too public way. And so they're thrown in the great trope of pretend lovers. At first, I expected them to argue more, they did give those airs since whatever business that had pulled them apart was far from solved. But really, this is a very friends-to-lovers story. And it's undeniable that June and Levi make a cute couple.

So why I'm rating it more like an average book? It is indeed not average, but those above were the points that would make it stick out. In other words, I don't think they were memorable enough for four or five stars. It's not your everyday "let's pretend this is a date" story, but even if I knew it was different, and it wasn't a bad different, it still wasn't that exciting. To be honest, most of the time the two already felt like a couple. It was realistic they still needed to solve issues to get to together, but just realistic isn't enough to make it a fun read. It was good but it wasn't a blast.

I do recommend this to all those older readers of YA, it was lovely.

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 3 out of 5.