I am a Taylor Swift fan. So, when I saw this book marketed to Swifties as a Taylor Swift-inspired romance, I was all for it. Unfortunately, three pages in was the moment I knew that The Breakup Tour was a massive failure.
A rising-star musician has a second chance at love with an old flame she remembers all too well in this swoony romance from the acclaimed authors of The Roughest Draft.
Riley Wynn went from a promising singer-songwriter to a superstar overnight, thanks to her breakup song concept album and its unforgettable lead single. When Riley’s ex-husband claims the hit song is about him, she does something she hasn’t in ten years and calls Max Harcourt, her college boyfriend and the real inspiration for the song of the summer.
Max hasn’t spoken to Riley since their relationship ended. He’s content with managing the retirement home his family owns, but it’s not the life filled with music he dreamed of. When Riley asks him to go public as her songwriting muse, he agrees on one condition: he’ll join her band on tour.
As they perform across the country, Max and Riley start to realize that while they hit some wrong notes in the past, their future could hold incredible things. And their rekindled relationship will either last forever or go down in flames.
Treasure Maps
I should begin by clarifying that while you can see the “Taylor Swift” inspiration, just barely, the main character (Riley) is more similar to the classic spoiled pop star princess trope. She is unlikeable, and the constant disrespect she shows to those she is in a relationship with made me wish she would end up alone when the book finished, since she clearly loved her career and fame more than any of the boys she dated. In addition, this book makes a caricature of a real person. The reason Taylor Swift has become so popular and is so inspiring to young women is because she is a woman who made her own way in the world and never gave up on her dreams, no matter the obstacles. Instead, this book portrays her as a serial dater that dates to make music and money, the very image the media attempts to paint her as.
The plot itself was poorly written and repetitive. The two main characters had no chemistry, and it felt like the authors were trying to wrap the book up nicely without writing any of the proper foundation to do so. I found myself skipping entire chunks of the book because of the endless conversations and “conflicts” that felt, as one review so eloquently put, like “poor Taylor Swift fanfiction.” The only difference is that any reader would guess that the authors actually dislike Taylor Swift, based on how they paint her in the pages of The Breakup Tour.
Even the songs feel poorly written, especially in comparison to the poetry that is Taylor Swift’s lyrics (They told me all of my cages were mental / So I got wasted like all my potential). Instead, pop star Riley Wynn writes lyrics including: “I won’t know what love is / until you / say it’s this.” For a book so focused on pop music, The Breakup Tour has songs that are more akin to a child’s ramblings.
Poisoned Apples:
There is no violence, but there is heavy innuendo with enough suggestive content to throw up red flags. The profanity is harsh and excessive: L5.
Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust
This book does not have any spiritual references. In fact, it’s a great example of what not to do in order to have a healthy relationship. Philippians 2:3 says this: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Instead of respecting Matt, Riley is constantly putting herself and her ambitions first. Although the book ties up with a Hallmark ending, it was clear to me that their relationship wouldn’t have lasted another three pages.
The Frog Prince
I’m not one to bash a book often. As someone who writes, I always appreciate the amount of effort and confidence it takes to write a full novel. Unfortunately, there are no saving graces with this story. The Breakup Tour was profane, lackluster, and ultimately targeted at making money off of Taylor Swift fans. The characters were unlikeable, the plot was repetitive, and the “songs” were more like poetry written by 5th grader. Long story short, don’t waste your time or your money on this book. Just watch the Eras Tour instead… I promise it’s a thousand times better.
You can find The Breakup Tour here.
𝑀𝒶𝓇𝒾𝑒