Book Review: The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel

The Break-Up Artist
Author: Philip Siegel
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: April 29th 2014
Review Source: Harlequin Teen

Some sixteen-year-olds babysit for extra cash. Some work at the Gap. Becca Williamson breaks up couples. 



After watching her sister get left at the altar, Becca knows the true damage that comes when people utter the dreaded L-word. For just $100 via paypal, she can trick and manipulate any couple into smithereens. With relationship zombies overrunning her school, and treating single girls like second class citizens, business is unfortunately booming. Even her best friend Val has resorted to outright lies to snag a boyfriend.

One night, she receives a mysterious offer to break up the homecoming king and queen, the one zombie couple to rule them all: Steve and Huxley. They are a JFK and Jackie O in training, masters of sweeping faux-mantic gestures, but if Becca can split them up, then school will be safe again for singletons. To succeed, she'll have to plan her most elaborate scheme to date and wiggle her way back into her former BFF Huxley’s life – not to mention start a few rumors, sabotage some cell phones, break into a car, and fend off the inappropriate feelings she’s having about Val’s new boyfriend. All while avoiding a past victim out to expose her true identity.

No one said being the Break-Up Artist was easy.

The Break-Up Artist reminds me of a simpler time when I read simpler fiction and enjoyed it. It's a book any fiction reader can pick up off the shelf and read because the plot is substantial enough to be engaging without being overly complex and drawn out. Whether you're an actual high school girl or a successful business person with distant memories of high school, the basic issues in the book are relatable by just about anyone - jealousy, admiration, fear of change & rebellion to name a few. From a practical perspective, I got confused at times because one minute there would be a reference to the 90’s and the next PayPal and Facebook are on the scene, so I am not sure exactly what decade this book is set in.

The main character, Becca Williamson, sees a problem and puts her entrepreneurial spirit behind it - the couples in high school suck and everyone is miserable. She wants to save everyone from the heartbreak that is inevitable when relationships crash and burn and when friends ditch each other for their new fling of the moment. Before you judge and presume Becca is the jealous ugly duckling, you should know that she's only acting on the wishes of her peers. Many of whom are in couples and feel similar to Becca, high school couples are ruining everything!

I enjoyed Becca's pragmatic, everyday voice. It didn't read like an adult trapped in a teen's body or an empty, vapid shell, but like the girl you sit across from in the cafeteria and trade dirt on what happened between homeroom and lunch. She herself struggles with the pull of a potential relationship that has disaster written all over for it, and the touch and go of how she handles it pleasantly surprised me.

I do wish the plot with her sister Diane was flushed out a little more. A lot goes on with a person who has gone into hermit mode. In the end, the Diane ended up looking shallow and petty when I think there was definitely more to her struggle. I also wanted Huxley & Becca to get back together as friends. Val was written so well as the clueless and harmless best friend that I felt like she was rubbing her "ignorance is bliss" mind game in my face. Becca deserves to be friends with someone on the same intellectual and emotional playing field.