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 he dreamed of filled with music. When Riley asks him to go public as her songwriting muse, he agrees on one he’ll join her in 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.
- Title: The Breakup Tour
- Author: Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
- Publisher: Berkeley
- Publication Date: January 23rd 2024
- Genre: Contemporary romance
- Source: Digital ARC provided by Publisher/Author in exchange for an honest review
- Targeted Age Range: Adult
- Content Warnings: Divorce
- Rating: ★.5
As someone who grew up on Tumblr in 2013 (yes, that 2013-Tumblr) and has listened to The 1975 since their first EP dropped, a Swiftie, and someone who generally likes Wibbroka’s works, I don’t think there’s anyone more equipped to read and review Wibbroka’s newest romance, The Breakup Tour. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that has made me feel more insane, and I mean that in all the ways. I know the premise of The Breakup Tour was pitched back in January 2022, and so a lot of references could just be coincidental, but I do wonder how much of it was rewritten once news of Taylor Swift and Matty Healy’s relationship dropped, or if Wibbroka was inspired by the lore back in 2015.
The Breakup Tour follows Riley Wynn, who according to the cover art, looks just like Taylor Swift, and is known as “The Breakup Queen”. A recent divorcee, Riley has just released an 12-song LP titled The Breakup Record, with each song focusing on a different failed relationship — in a similar vein to Taylor Swift’s Midnights concept, where each song was inspired by something that kept her up at night. When Riley’s ex-husband claims the lead single, Until You, is about him, Riley decides to call its true inspiration, Max Harcourt, and ask him to come forward. Max, who has been running the retirement home that his family manages, and playing music for their residents, has his own proposition in mind: he’ll let Riley spin whatever story she wants if he can play the piano on her tour.
More often than not, a book dedicated to Taylor Swift herself means one of two things — it’s either going to be the best book I’ve ever read (unlikely), or incredibly disappointing. This one was the latter. The inspiration for The Breakup Tour seems obvious from the name and cover art alone — We already know that Riley is inspired by Taylor Swift, but the name Riley also calls to mind Daisy Jones & The Six, which is also a book centered around a touring band and a fascinating relationship, and Max Harcourt and Matty Healy share the same initials. But the similarities and references don’t end there. We’ve got references to Max’s “tousled hair”, his wardrobe for tour seems eerily reminiscent of what Matty Healy has been wearing on tour for The 1975’s At Their Very Best and Still… At Their Very Best in the current Being Funny in a Foreign Language era, mentions of “thirteens” and “wildest dreams”, and don’t even get me started on the main song, Until You. Until You is described as a “TikTok hit” which The 1975’s About You is undeniably one. About You is a continuation of The 1975’s song, Robbers, and also has lyrics like “Do you think I have forgotten about you?”, and is very thematically similar to Until You. And then there’s the book synopsis that references Taylor Swift’s Blank Space — “it’s gonna be forever or it’s gonna go down in flames”. The list goes on and on. I wonder if other people will pick up on all the references as easily as I did — and if it’ll be just as distracting to them. Hopefully not.
Unfortunately, a book riddled with easter eggs does not make it good. For a second-chance romance, and a semi-secret relationship, there was so much potential for angst and yearning, but ultimately, the potential was wasted. I didn’t feel much chemistry between Riley or Max, and I never got entirely invested in their relationship — not when they were college sweethearts, and not when they got back together years later. A lot of the plot felt like a movie montage; things simultaneously felt like they were happening too quickly, and also not at all. I also struggled with the pacing of The Breakup Tour, and wanted more character growth for Riley — and Max.
I think there was so much potential for The Breakup Tour — the dynamic between the touring musicians, different adventures on each tour stop, angst/yearning/pining, Max struggling with Riley’s fame, among many other things, but was ultimately left disappointed. I’ll be left thinking about what this book could’ve been, and what it was. I do wonder how others who are less involved in the Taylor Swift fandom will perceive this book, and if they’ll find it more enjoyable!
Links for The Breakup Tour: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop.org
Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka met and fell in love in high school. Austin went on to graduate from Harvard, while Emily graduated from Princeton. Together, they are the authors of The Roughest Draft and Do I Know You?, as well as several novels about romance for teens. Now married, they live in Los Angeles, where they continue to take daily inspiration from their own love story.