Make Up Break Up

What's crazy is that when I first tried to read this book, I was struggling to get through the first chapter and thought for sure I wasn't going to enjoy it much. But then I got passed that first chapter and my god, this book was so good!There is just something about Lily's writing style that I love so much! I've read her YA books (written under a different pen name) and it's the one thing I always remember. That she has a way of making you feel so invested in her characters and their story in a way that a lot of author's struggle with. I was rooting for Annika from the very beginning and I just found her character to be so relatable and human. She's just trying so hard to make her dreams come true and it feels like life is constantly throwing her curveballs. That's relatable in itself because life never makes things easy and if you want something, sometimes it feels like you're trying even when the universe is telling you the answer is no.I really loved the romance between Annika and Hudson! They have such great second chance/rivals to lovers vibes and this book really builds the sexual tension between them. Hudson is so soft, by the way! I mean he definitely has some alpha male vibes and is so sexy in this obvious way but also this quiet way that somehow makes him like 10x more attractive in my opinion. But also, it's obvious to the readers from almost the beginning that he is soft as hell for the heroine and she is just so oblivious to his feelings and it's the *best*.I think my one complaint about this book is that I feel like the romance could've used more development. I feel like we spend so much of this book just waiting for them to *finally* admit their feelings and then when they do, the book just...ends. I wish we got to see them together as a real couple, more chapters of them in that domestic bliss stage. But instead, we never really get that. We don't even get an epilogue though I guess in some ways, you could say we do if you look at a certain hint but I wanted it explicitly said, like, with an epilogue.Overall though, this book was too perfect for me to give it anything less than 5 stars. It made me stay up way passed my bedtime, telling myself "just one more chapter" for hours and I honestly cannot say that another book has made me feel that way in months. Read this book if you're looking for a book that gives you all the things I state above but also, this book gave me some "The Hating Game" vibes so if you liked that book, definitely check this book out!

Make Up Break Up is Lily Menon’s first adult novel but you can tell instantly that it will not be her last. Not only is the cast diverse but the main character is a strong women who has thrown her hat into the technology world where women are normally outnumbered. Annika Dev is a character that doesn’t cower but instead stands up for herself and is not afraid of a little competition.The book begins with us being introduced to not only Annika but her best friend and colleague June Stewart. We learn that the two are working on creating and launching an app called Make Up with the purpose of giving couples a second chance. We also quickly learn about Hudson Craft whose app Break Up allows users to hire them to break up with their significant other without doing it face to face. Annika assumes that Hudson stole her idea and twisted it into his own project. It isn’t long before the two of them battle head to head with mind games to try to outwit each other to become the better company but in the process will these two find a connection with each other?Only time will tell!

I really wanted to love this book, but overall it was just a decent read. This is an enemies to lovers story about two competing app developers. I loved the premise of this book, but something just didn't connect. As far as content I feel like we did get quite a bit about both apps and background stories. I didn't love the heroine. She seemed very immature, like I could not believe she was a successful business owner. I liked Hudson enough, I wish that we could have had his POV. I think it would have helped the story for me. The banter between the MCs was fun, the chemistry was good, steamy scene was okay. I really liked the secondary characters. I wouldn't really say there was anything swoony about this book, and one thing I didn't care for was the fact that there was no epilogue.

I have read all of Menon's works thus far, and have yet to be disappointed. This novel takes her romances a step further, and I loved every second of it. The main character is delightfully flawed and her relationships with friends, family, and partners are so real. I was particularly grateful for the affirmative consent, because consent is super sexy, and the way she made sure there was no gray areas of consent in any way. I loved that she incorporated neural networks, business sense, and baby yoda as well, making it such a three dimensional work.

Enemies to lovers still isn't my favorite trope but I would read Lily's grocery list tbh. I adore the close dad + daughter relationship and female friendships in this, and of course the dedication. Swoon Squad for life 🥰And all the YAAAAAY for badass WOC in the STE(A)M field!!Content warning: racism, sexism, hospitalization of a loved one, cancer, death of a parent (off page)

3½ stars. The ending was abrupt. Annika was a little too in her head for me. June was lovely as her best friend.I'm wondering if this will be a series of books.

The characters in this series are to die for. Lily's writing is off the charts amazing as usual. If you want a slow burn steamy novel then I recommend MUBU HIGHLY

Great!

“Make Up Break Up” should have been perfect for me: it’s the story of two competing app-developers: Annika, founder of “Make up”, the Google translate for failing relationships, and Hudson, founder of -you guessed it- the Uber for break-ups.It’s a classic enemies-to-lovers trope, girl CEO, struggling in a man’s world, interracial relationship, etc. But somehow I couldn’t enjoy the story, because, for me, the premise is faulty. And here’s why:- SPOILER ALERT! AVERT YOUR EYES IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW -As the main character, who believes in happily ever afters and second chances, it doesn’t make any sense that Annika would engage in a “Vegas romance” with Hudson and then disappear from his life without so much as a message. For all her talk of looking for the one, she spends this amazing week with Hudson and then just... leaves? Does that make any sense? No, it doesn’t.From the book start, there’s a lovestruck Hudson who *very clearly* expresses his surprise and incredulity at Annika’s behaviour towards him, and it’s also obvious that Annika ghosting him was the reason why he founded his company... but Annika is not listening to him.Throughout the book, I was utterly annoyed with Annika for not talking things through with Hudson - which, actually, is hilarious, since she is literally developing an AI to make people in a relationship communicate, but is incapable of applying this very simple skill to her own life.Honestly, I resent Annika (and the author) for putting me through this miscommunication inferno.