This was a fun (but frustrating) book - mostly because of miscommunications. And oh, are there a LOT of them.

If you like -
- love triangles
- friends to enemies to lovers tropes

this is the book for you.

I love Emily Martin, and she tackles a lot of issues with a really authentic teen voice. There's plenty of teen drama, and she handles these topics - from sexuality, divorce (and being put in the middle), teenage drinking, etc deftly. Aubrey's cynicism towards love is understandable, having watched her parents own relationship (particularly after her mom puts her in some unfair situations) but immensely frustrating at times. I love the relationship with her best friend, too - it's probably my favorite part of the book.

Niggles:
I thought the love triangle aspect was a little uncomfortable as Harrison and Winston are cousins, and that seemed to violate bro code (like it would with girl code). I kind of felt sorry for Harrison, who seems like a nice guy, and Aubrey's her cynicism and resulting distancing makes for a tough relationship. ( )

Aubrey Cash has seen first hand that love doesn't last just by living with her parents and their ever deteriorating relationship the past few years. So when she meets and forms a close friendship - that is slowly evolving into something more - with new next door neighbor Webster, the heartbreak is even more devastating when he stands her up at Homecoming.

Now, as Aubrey heads into Senior year, she's just focused on getting out of there, going to college, and leaving everything behind. When she meets a cute guy at a party, she thinks she might want to let down her barriers again, but when she finds out this guy is Webster's cousin, she's pulled back into his orbit and forced to confront what may, or may not, have happened on Homecoming night.

It's pretty apparent from the getgo that things don't add up when it comes to that fateful Homecoming night. So I think that kind of drives the story quite a bit. When are we going to understand where things went wrong between Aubrey and Webster? Not really from Aubrey's perspective, because the entire story is told from her point of view, but from Wester.

So readers have to go through the process of Aubrey and Webster getting to the point where they can move beyond the hurt they've caused one another and actually talk. And really since it's only Aubrey's POV, it's Aubrey coming to terms with the dissolution of her parents' marriage which tarnishes her ideas of love. She's also at a precipice in her own life, where she's getting ready to go off to college by herself, away from her best friend.

It certainly wasn't hard to discern why Aubrey closed herself off so much, and why she kind of begins to hold herself apart from others: self-preservation, protecting herself from a broken heart. I just wish that we got to see more of her finding her way. More of the moments that she does decide that her parents' relationship is, yes, one way a relationship can go, but it's not the only way. More of Aubrey understanding that starting a new chapter in her life, doesn't mean things have to end. By the time we get to that point with Aubrey a majority of the book is done. While one could say that this encompasses Aubrey's journey - which is true - I would have loved to see Aubrey living with her more open persona.

The moments between Aubrey and Webster, you can just feel their connection. You feel them inching their way towards one another. I kept finding myself reading faster to get to their moments together and then savoring those moments when they would come up. I think that Emily Henry utilized this dynamic in the best way possible to keep the story flowing.

I think that Five Ways to Fall Out of Love speaks a lot to the transition time between childhood and adulthood. Having to grow up and be on your own and realizing that you don't have to give up who you are and where you came from to move forward with your life. I just wish we had seen Aubrey have this realization and see her incorporate that into her life a bit before ending. ( )