I first saw this book as a giveaway, on Goodreads, and since, I didn't win, I thought I was interested enough in this book, to go chase after it anyway...so here I am, reviewing this book, because I read it...Anyhoo...

The beginning of the book was really slow for me, as I was then in a reading slump, but after I passed the 3/4 mark, things finally started picking up!

What really irritated me was how Becca described the couples in school. She made them sound so dominating. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I don't think couples can actually dominate a school like that. It's just not very realistic. Apparently if you weren't dating someone, you were considered uncool, and it seems that for most girls, their life goal is to snag a cute boyfriend. And according to Becca most girls also start their conversations with "My boyfriend..." Ick, I think that's pushing it a teeny bit too far.

Also another negative is the predictability of this book. Right after I read the synopsis of the book, and knew that Becca was going to fall for friend's boyfriend, I knew it wasn't going to end well, I knew it wasn't going to work out, and I was right! I guess even though I knew where this story was going from the beginning, it was still somewhat entertaining to see how this author will carry it out.

Now, onto the positive part. The one thing that instantly comes to mind is Becca's friendship with Val and Huxley. I'm glad that even though it seemed like Val's boyfriend, Ezra was going to come in between their friendship, they still managed to survive at the end.

After doing a few clicks here and there on this site, I have discovered that there will be a second book, I'm not too sure if that's a good thing or not...I had kinda hoped that this would be a standalone. Oh well, I know I will read it eventually, but it's definitely not one of my top priorities. ( )

Philip Siegel's debut novel, The Break-Up Arist, is going to please even the most reluctant readers with its fast pace and entertaining characters. Named a top ten most anticipated YA book by Barnes and Noble, this novel brought me back to my high school years and how painful it can be when friends start pairing up, and friendships begin to change.

Even though Becca has never had a boyfriend, she has witnessed her sister's heartbreak, and that has jaded Becca's view of love and relationships. The girls in the school treat people who have never been in a relationship as "other" and constantly act as if Becca can't possibly understand anything pertaining to relationships since she has never had one. From Becca's POV, relationships are over-rated and not worth having when they force you to change who you are for the other person.

Becca's secret job as the break-up artist was entertaining and kept me wondering how she was going to manipulate or trick people next. It sounds kind of mean, but she justifies it by saying if they were really in love, these things would not break them up. Although you might be tempted to dislike Becca, you can also totally understand why she is doing these things. Plus, she's getting paid to do it. People are hiring her to do it. It's not like she's picking people out of the crowd herself. Right?

Teens will like this fast-paced, simple narrative from Becca's POV. ( )

THE BREAK-UP ARTIST by Philip Siegel is a fun look at high school relationships--and adult relationships too. Sixteen-year-old Becca Williamson has developed a business breaking up teen romances at her high school. She uses her powers of observation, excellent insight into human nature, and her ability to scheme to create plans that hurry along that which she feels is inevitable. Keeping her identity a secret and advertising on the bathroom wall, Becca carries out her job while navigating high school and home life.

I thought this was a well thought out novel, and the characters, for the most part, avoided being stereotypes. THE BREAK-UP ARTIST would be a great one to use in a teen book club (which I hope to do this fall). It sounds like there might be a sequel--I definitely hope so! ( )

The Break-Up Artist came on my radar when I saw it for review on Netgalley. I liked the premise, and even though I knew that the main character, Becca would probably undergo a crazy transformation on her views of dating and love.

Sure enough, at first, Becca was very jaded. She scoffed at PDA, and she felt a solidarity with her other single friend Val. She'd lost her best friend from earlier in life when she dated a new guy quarterback and her popularity skyrocketed, and on top of that Becca's sister was left right before her wedding. So, she has seen the pain and the devastation that being in a relationship can bring, so she offers her services to break up couples, thinking she is saving them from pain later on. She gets pretty divisive in her goals to break up others, and gets a challenge she isn't sure that she can do.

I guess some of my problems were that the characters seemed really immature at times and that there was maybe too much drama for me at times. I know that some of this is just the nature of the book and subject. It's about a girl who breaks up couples, so I should have predicted there would be fall out and then also the actions of Becca catching up to her. And they did, but I think that she first went downhill in her actions rather than a steady character growth and realization about the realities of life, love and relationships. I know that as a freshman in high school that you aren't going to have full understanding, but I think that she just saw things in a slanted light without the full stories on what she made her decisions made on.

I like how things wrapped up though, and I wanted to know what would happen overall, so while I had the above issues, I also didn't want to stop reading and it kept my interest. I liked the friendship between her and Val , that they clicked and understood each other so well. I love when stories emphasize good friendships that can last through the excitement of new boyfriends or even when not-so-smart and harmful to other person decisions are made and there is forgiveness. I also like the closeness of Becca and her sister. Even though a lot of their time together is spent plotting the break-up artist stuff, they do have real conversations and I love how much Becca cared and pushed Diane to face some of the things that was wrong in her life and reconcile with some of her friends.

Disclaimer: There is cheating, and while I hated every minute of it, I think that it taught that character a lot. It was hard to see it behind a best friend's back, but it was okay for me considering nature of the story as well as drama level. I still don't condone it, but understand that hormones can make us believe crazy stuff and make poor decisions.

Bottom Line: Solid friendship and family relationships but as expected a lot of drama and people hurt, but also healed. ( )