The Break-Up Artist (The Break-Up Artist, #1)

by Philip Siegel

[Leah]

When I spotted Philip Siegel’s debut novel I thought it sounded utterly fantastic! I love young adult novels that don’t conform to the rest, that have a plot that I’m going to remember, and The Break-Up Artist immediately became a book I HAD to read. So when I spotted it on Netgalley (thank you, Netgalley) I got the chance to read it a little bit sooner than I expected, which was a really great thing, because boy, is it a fantastic read! I never knew breaking up couples could be this fun, but this is one of the most fun, adventurous, enjoyable young adult novels I’ve read in ages. I can easily see this novel being a but debut during 2014, because it has such a unique angle and Becca is a very, very interesting charcter. I admire her chutzpah, greatly. It takes balls to do what Becca does, and she does it very well indeed.

I admit to being a tad cynical when I first started the novel. For the first little while, I truly thought that perhaps Becca was being a tad harsh in her break-ups, and that she perhaps a little bit bitter, not having a boyfriend herself, but that feeling soon drifted away as I got further and further into the story. It became irrelevent, if I’m honest. I sort of didn’t care what Becca’s motives were because I enjoyed reading her break-up tales so much (does that make me a bad person? I suspect it does a little bit, but read the book and you’ll understand). Because it just sort of works. Becca is a fantastic, fascinating heroine and I love her reasons for being a break-up artist and I’ll admit that there are times when I, too, wonder if love is all it’s cracked up to be and if it’s worth the hassle. And, anyway, something that’s said later in the novel about the fact if the couples weren’t strong enough to overcome Becca’s obstacles (which were AWESOME, the wedding binder in particular was hilarious) than they clearly weren’t meant to be, so it sort of doesn’t make it so bad to enjoy what Becca does, because she’s sorta doing the couples a favour, if you REALLY think about it…

Once I got over my cycnical suspicions, I sped through the rest of the book, I was DESPERATE to see if Becca could break up the golden couple at her school – her former best friend, Huxley (I am SO with Val on this, what kind of a name is Huxley?!?!) and her boyfriend Steve. It wasn’t as simple as some of Becca’s other break-ups and it really required some in-depth thinking, and a bit of undercover work and I sort of liked seeing Huxley and Becca mending their broken friendship, whether it was deceitfully or not. I was kinda sorta hoping they would end up as friends again, not as they were, but just tolerant towards each other, respectful, because I know what’s it’s like to be in school and have your best friends suddenly not notice you, or care about you, and ostracise you, although mine wasn’t because of a boy, and it’s awful and I sort of wanted Huxley to apologise for being a total cow towards Becca, who is actually one of the nicest, sweetest characters I think I’ll ever meet in a book! I would HAPPILY be her friend, and I thought it was stupid her best friend Val was falling into the same slippery trap Huxley fell into (Ie. the boyfriend trap that ceases to mean your best friends exist unless you say so).

The Break-Up Artist is such a clever, well-rounded novel. It had everything I wanted – a character to root for, a plot that no other author has ever thought of, a fantastic high school setting, and it was actually really, really believable. I felt for Becca the entire novel, and I understood her motives completely for doing what she does. The only questionable part of the novel was the whole Ezra thing. Honestly, I never really saw what everyone else saw in him, he was far too slick for me, and I was hoping with EVERYTHING crossed he would get some come-uppance. It’s such a charming, enjoyable novel, and I am SO glad I loved it as much as I did! It ticked all of the boxes for me, every one. Philip Seigel has delivered an AMAZING debut novel, it was bloody brilliant and SUPER amusing. So amusing. I could actually read another book about Becca, because she’s just so fun and lovely and so flipping real, guys. It’s been a while since I’ve connected to a character as much as Becca and I just loved her so much. I can’t recommend this book enough, it’s delightful and funny and warm and SO charming and very, very well written, with such an engaging, unique voice. Way to go Philip, and MORE PLEASE ASAP.