Firstly, huge thank you to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. 

The beautiful cover with sakura and Mount Fuji caught my attention, and when I read that this novel was pretty much my dream (the travelling Japan for a month bit, not the marriage being called off bit!) I was dying to get stuck in. 

As the name suggests, The Broken Hearts Honeymoon, follows Charlotte in the wake of breaking off her engagement. Not wanting to lose out on a non-refundable trip that she has wanted to do since she was a child, she decides to go on her honeymoon to Japan by herself. After being in the same relationship since she was a teenager, she thinks that this trip would be the perfect place to find herself and her own place in the world as a single woman. 

I liked Charlotte as the protagonist of the novel and felt that her reactions to her relationship breaking up, and making the decision to still go on her honeymoon, believable. I enjoyed how enthusiastic she was about experiencing as much as she could in Japan, and as a tourist she was really relatable too. I also really liked the relationship she had with her siblings, especially her younger brother Benny. Due to the plot of the novel, Charlotte is the only character you’re really able to form a bond with as most other characters only make fleeting appearances. Despite her being a good protagonist, I think she could have been more developed as there were a few instances where her actions and thoughts felt repetitive.

There were many moments in the novel where I got excited reading about Charlotte’s adventures, especially at the beginning in Tokyo, as I have done a lot of that myself so it was lovely to experience these things again through the eyes of someone experiencing it for the first time. It’s because of this that I think people who have been to Japan may connect with this book more as they are able to reflect on their own experiences and project onto Charlotte as, at times, it feels more like an informational travel book rather than a novel. That isn’t to say that other people won’t enjoy the novel, as I think Charlotte could make anyone excited by the prospect of travelling anywhere. 

Additionally, I found the use of flashbacks to be quite unnecessary and felt that it disrupted the pacing of the novel at times. Whilst it was nice to learn more about Charlotte and her past, I feel it didn’t add a whole lot to her current story as it had already been explained well already. I did enjoy the use of social media and emails through the novel, they were nice little reminders that there is a world outside of her travelling which gives you another dose of reality whilst reading this novel and also how her adventures were personal but were also helping her take steps towards achieving her dream job. 

Overall, I think due to my own experiences I am a little biased. The novel was a nice read that had me reminiscing a lot on my own travels to Japan and gave me several new places that I want to discover myself when I next visit.

Charlotte after calling off her wedding decides to go on what supposed to be their honeymoon by herself, little she knew that this trip would change her life completely.

The story narrated in first person by the main character is presented as an introspective diary with some flashbacks to her life which help underline Charlotte growth throughout the book.
The book is set in Japan, and the author has been describing every single place and presented the culture of this country in such a wonderful way that I wished I could be right there experiencing that adventures with the protagonist.

Perfect for people looking for a light hearted read!

The review will be posted on Amazon, Facebook, Instagram and Goodreads

Charlotte and Matt have been together for forever, school, university and now panning to get married and move to London to start their careers together. 3 weeks before they get married they call off the wedding. Charlotte decides to go on honeymoon to Japan by herself as Japan has always been on bucket list.

The novel flits from her current journey to back to memories with Matt. It is a very charming story about self reflection and falling in love with yourself. There is the concept of "Forest Bathing" and I think I would like to try that for myself. It is basically being in nature and being mindful of the sights and sounds around you notice things stop and see. I loved the incite into Japanese culture and the off the beaten track aspect of her adventure.

Read in 2 sittings (I only stopped because, midnight).

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for my copy to review.

When Charlie, a young woman aspiring to become a writer, calls off her wedding, everything around her seems to fall apart. Knowing she needs to rediscover herself, she decides to move forward with her honeymoon trip in Japan, alone.

I’ve read this book with a huge smile on my face.

I have enjoyed following Charlie’s adventures, and I am forever grateful to her for bringing back all the memories from my own adventures in Japan.
What a magical country!
If you haven’t had the pleasure of travelling the country of rising sun, fret not, Evans does a fantastic job describing its people and country, and for sure your mouth will water with with every morsel of Japanese food that Charlotte has!
This book is perfectly timely. If, like me, you are spending your summer stuck at home, it will let your mind wander, as if you were too discovering Japan and living your own adventures.
Charlotte goes on a journey of discovery after a heartbreak. Not only does she heal, but also grows and learns to love herself

I really enjoyed the book immensely and I hope there is a sequel to this to find out what happens to Charlie.

This book is about Charlie and 3 weeks before she gets married the wedding is called off. The only thing is they cannot get a refund on the honeymoon so Charlie decides to go.

This story is about how Charlie finds herself and decides to not go with the honeymooners on the trip that she paid for and branch out on her own which is really brave to do.

She encounters things in Japan that she hadn't planned to do and go out her comfort zone.

I could not put this book down.

I would recommend this to readers to read this as it tells you about Japan.

This book was amazing ! I did not expect to love it as much as I did ! Honestly when I first read the back of it, I easily thought she was going to redefine herself with another man to get over her breakup! BUT NO!!! Instead she goes solo on her honeymoon, in order to find herself! And that was so refreshing!!!

There is so much to love in this book, not only is this book about a young woman struggling to figure out herself which is so relatable ! It is also a love story to Japan!! Dickens does such a great job with her descriptions that I felt I could taste, see and hear everything that was being described to me ! And Charlie is just such a fun and great character to read about !! I honestly am thrilled with the conclusion, but I would love to see another book about her and her travel adventures!!

Thank you so much NetGalley and the publishers for this amazing read!! It is going on my favourite books of 2020!!!

Charlie and Matt the quintessential high school sweethearts, joined at the hip all through to adulthood. Now, they are going to take their relationship to the next level and are due to get married in three weeks. sounds perfect doesn't it?
Brace yourself for ominous background music:

Matt has a proposal for his sweetheart : "A holiday/break from EACH OTHER to "sow some wild oats" and confirm that getting married to each other is the RIGHT THING TO DO. All this happens during a dinner with friends, how ROMANTIC! Poor Charlotte's heart plummets and she is suddenly having identity crisis. Well, obviously Matt was her other half for the last decade and more and she couldn't imagine herself or her life without him .
So, she CALLS OFF THE WEDDING BUT GOES ON THE HONEYMOON, ALONE.

Charlotte always wanted to be a travel writer and one place she was agog to visit was JAPAN. Thats where she was supposed to be honeymooning, but after the bomb Matt dropped on her, she decided to still go by herself and this honeymoon turned into a SOUL SEARCHING AND SELF LOVE EXPERIENCE.

This book reminded me of EAT, PRAY , LOVE at times and it was great as I love that movie. The first half of the book was a page turner, immersive but after that the story had unnecessary details going on for pages. So I have an amalgamation of the good and not so good moments with the book.

What I liked about it:
- Soul searching, empowering
- Relatable protagonist and scenarios
- Positive and inspiring
- vicarious JAPAN travel
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What I didn't like:
- Abrupt and unnecessarily long winded flashbacks
- character development was shallow
- it felt like reading a travel journal for JAPAN more and novel less
- probably a short epilogue about when she returns back to UK.

Nonetheless, its a sweet and uplifting book perfect for in between intense reads.

Thankyou NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an e ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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This was a really delightful book on self-love and learning to find yourself again. Charlotte was extremely relatable and I'm sure an inspiration to those, like myself, who would love to solo travel. Lucy provides the most in-depth storyline between Charlotte and her new found love for Japan, it has made me extremely desperate to visit myself and Japan is not often on my list of places I would like to travel. From the food, the locations, the people, it was all detailed perfectly and descriptively.

An extremely cute read and if you are in the same position as Charlotte, a great book to inspire and motivate those next steps.

3.5 Stars! This was really cute and I really enjoyed it. It was light and cute and made me want to go to Japan so bad. I felt like I was there. Charlotte was relatable and made me want to go on a solo trip again. Was it mind blowing 5 stars? No. But was it worth the read and really enjoyable? 100% It was filled with great self help vibes about finding yourself and I really needed it.

My only thing I could have lived without is a couple of those flashbacks. Besides the wedding planning in the beginning with Matt, I didn't think they were needed. i was much more interested in the present story line rather than the past.

Summary

The book has some funny verging on crazy moments; for example all the hangers on coming along to look at wedding venues, including Matt’s parents’ nosy neighbour Evie!

I love that Charlotte goes to a Tokyo alone and I love the descriptive narrative; at times it became all immersive. I love that the author has either been to Tokyo or has done her research. I was able to google things she mentions like Steve McQueen popcorn buckets or green alien mochi and see what they really look like! I found myself pretty immersed in the idea of travel in Japan and started struggling to put the book down.

I started off feeling great empathy for Charlotte, but my feelings were organic and by the end of the story I felt nothing but admiration for this books main character;  put in the same situation as Charlotte, many people would just crumble. The way she triumphed over adversity was an excellent example for all women out there.

I am about 3/4 of the way through this book and I am finding it hard to put down. The thing is,  I can’t really tell where the plot is going and I am finding that refreshing. We are not going down that tried and tested route of girl meets boy, there’s a bit of a problem, it gets sorted, they go off into the sunset together........saying that I don’t really know where the storyline is going - fantastic.


Finished at last. I have been struggling to put this book down. I loved the character that was Charlotte and I love the unorthodox ending. Highly recommended.

Three weeks before her wedding, Charlotte's fiance suggests that they take a week to sow some wild oats. They've only ever dated each other since they were 14 and he wants to make sure that they are doing the right thing. So they break up. While cancelling all the wedding hoopla, Charlotte decides to take the honeymoon to Japan by herself.

This book should have been for me, England, travel, heartbreak but growth. It 100% wasn't. The writing style turned me off in more than one way. The characters were childish and not well fleshed out. The constant flashbacks in italics that we REALLY didn't need were annoying. I found that by the time she was on the plane for Japan I didn't care what happened in the rest of the book and promptly decided to move on to the next one. Too many good books in the world to waste time on ones that aren't.

I don't recommend this book. To anyone.

Thanks, netgalley, for the chance to read this one.

After Charlotte’s relationship ends she decides to do something for herself. Finally taking the plunge and actually going on that long dreamed about trip to Japan. Let’s just say I was willing Charlotte on every step of the way! Charlotte’s journey certainly provided me with an emotional, heartwarming and fun story that was so lovely to experience. I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved every moment of this story. It was so easy to be whisked away on an adventure with Charlotte. From being completely immersed in the sights to the new experiences that Charlotte discovered along the way. At first glance this book may look like a romance but there is so much more to it. There is only a hint of romance and it actually made a refreshing change to not be the main focus.

The Broken Hearts Honeymoon completely wrapped me up in a warm and comforting bubble that was the perfect escape from everyday life. I really do love a book that will whisk me away and give me that experience of travel all while I’m sat cosy on my sofa. The Broken Hearts Honeymoon offered this in abundance. I do think this story felt even more special because while I was reading travel just seemed so out of reach! Japan was well and truly brought to me with Lucy Dickens creating a story that kept me invested the whole way through. It was the perfect book at the perfect time and as I turned the final page I couldn’t keep the smile from my face! I’m so very glad I picked this book up.

Charlotte calls off her wedding after her fiance wants a break to 'sew his wild oats' before the wedding. She is heartbroken and goes off on the month long honeymoon to Japan. Along the way she realises she learns more about herself as finds out more about Japanese culture.

I wouldn't really say this is a romance novel though.

An enjoyable read - Japan seems like an amazin country and this book makes you want to visit.

As the blurb says “A feelgood tale that will transport you to the cherry blossoms of Tokyo”. Charlotte and Matt are getting married and going to Japan for their honeymoon but when the wedding is called off, Charlotte decides to still go - on her own.
This is a lovely trip through Japan, covering all sorts of things from karaoke to snow monkeys, from temples to cherry blossom, forest bathing to snorkeling. The descriptions of the Japanese scenery are beautiful and this book will make you want to have your own adventures in the Land of the Rising Sun. I also found it very interesting when talking about meditation and self-discovery on a deeper level than just as a romantic, feelgood novel. Well worth reading.

Oh, how I loved this book. 😍. This is my first Lucy Dickens novel, but I won't hesitate to read her works in the future.

This is the story of a young couple about to be married. They have only ever dated each other and they have been together since early teenage years (~10 years). The jackass groom (Matt) decides to tell his bride to be (Charlotte) three weeks before their wedding that they should take a one week break. So he can sow his oats with a chick at his gym without technically cheating on Charlotte. Afterall, he's only ever been with Charlotte so how is he totally sure that she's "the one"? And he told Charlotte this in front of all their friends. I'd kill him right then and there. Charlotte does the right thing and calls off the wedding - I mean, who wants to be married to someone that feels that way???

Charlotte decides to take their honeymoon to Japan as a solo traveler. And it was beautiful. I really haven't ever wanted to visit Japan before, but after the detailed descriptions and places Charlotte visited, now I want to visit Japan. Seriously.

This is a story about growth and healing. Charlotte's mission was to "find herself" and discover who she wanted to be - we had the pleasure of traveling with her on this journey and I loved every minute of it.

I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The opinions states above are mine without biases.

I really enjoyed this book.
I love the theme of this book. Really enjoyed travelling through Japan with Charlotte.
Loved it.
4/5

A delightful story written much like a travel journal. Some of the dialogue explaining the Japanese culture was stilted and I felt like some details were missing, like the art of kintsugi. I appreciated the bravery for her to go on her own and show the truth of fear and worry that often comes when traveling alone in a foreign country.

I was provided with an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Just weeks before her wedding, Charlottes husband to be Matt announces her wants a relationship break to ‘sow his oats’. Having been together sine they were at school Matt has never been with anyone else but Charlotte. Whilst Charlotte is completely happy and content with this Matt isn’t. Following this announcement Charlotte calls the wedding but decides to head off on her month-long honeymoon to Japan alone. Having always wanted to be a travel journalist and with an internship with a travel magazine starting soon she finally feels this could be her opportunity to live her dream. Along the way Charlotte begins to learn a lot about herself and questions what the future holds for her.

I blooming loved this book! It took me quite a while to read it but that wasn’t due to a lack of wanting too. I found myself really savouring the story and looking forward to sitting in bed and having half am hour catching up with Charlotte on her trip and seeing what she as up to. I loved our main character; I just found her so down to earth and relatable. I really felt for her at the beginning of this story as she was absolutely floored when out of the blue fiancé Matt announced he wanted a pre wedding break to essentially sleep with another women to check he wasn’t missing out by getting married! As if this wasn’t bad enough, he makes this announcement in front of all their friends. Matt certainly wasn’t a bad guy or a villain he just seemed a little bit of a bumbling fool who was completely oblivious. He was actually quite shocked when Charlotte doesn’t agree to this. As I say I felt so bad for Charlotte as her whole life was turned upside down in a matter of minutes, but she handled it with such poise and dignity even though she was completely heartbroken. I so admired that she did not mess around when it came to Matt. She called off the wedding right away as she knew her worth and wasn't going to settle for someone whose heart was on 100% hers.

She then went on to further prove just how strong she was by venturing off travelling around Japan alone. In a book or in real life I have so much admiration and respect for people who go travelling alone as this is something I just could not contemplate doing. Charlotte was scared but she was brave enough to give it a go as it was a place, she always dreams of going.

I also adore books that involve travel; I am not very brave when it comes to travel, not just alone but with other people to. I get very anxious in unknown and uncertain locations or situations and whilst the idea of exploring beautiful countries sounds great, I'm always scared and hesitant going to new places. For this reason, I love going on my travels via books. It's one of the reasons I enjoy reading so much and boy did this book take me on a travelling adventure! Japan has never been a country I have really considered visiting before, however, after reading this story is it is very appealing. I mentioned to my husband some of the places and things Charlotte had been doing and seeing (yes, I talk to my husband about book characters as if they were real people) and he too said it sounded like a great place to visit. Will we ever get there? I'm not sure but, it sounded stunning.

Charlotte initially started travelling as part of a tour but soon broke away as she decides to explore alone. We got to see her spending her first day in Disneyland and I loved that she did this. As a big Disney and Disneyworld fan I appreciated a glimpse into a Disney park I haven't visited before. Charlotte then proceeded to meet her group made up of two couples and a tour leader. She immediately got on with everyone in her group and I loved how quickly she made friends and how they welcomed her so warmly especially as she was a little fragile. It was during this meeting that this book first gave me the book tingles. I got that warm happy buzz and first thought that it could be a 5-star read. I felt quite protective of Charlotte by this point, so I was really pleased that the group welcomed and looked after her.

Not too long after the start of the tour Charlotte decided to break away on her own. We were then with her as she experiences some of the most stunning sites of activities Japan has to offer. From snorkelling to mountain climbing to drunk karaoke and kisses with a stranger to a wellness retreat and a monastery. That was just the tip of the iceberg. With every stop I was more drawn into the location and wishing I was there to see the sites for myself. As we went on this journey with Charlotte, we saw a change in her. From someone lacking in confidence and self-belief to someone who is happy to take risks and chances and be on her own. It was wonderful to watch the character I had become so invested grow so much. Charlotte was due to start an internship when she went home with a travel magazine Adventure Awaits having always dreams of being a travel writer. Whilst away she started making short vlog style clips to share to her Instagram. She enjoys it so much and had grown so much that when her dream role came up, she thought she may stand a chance and applied.

One of my favourite parts of this book was the family component. Charlotte came from a large family with two brothers and two sisters. They were all so close and I loved that the story depicted such a lovely relationship between them all. At multiple points in this book Charlotte has periods of self-doubt and every time she immediately went to her siblings and they were all there in a group chat in an instant offering her advice. I just thought this was such a lovely touch.

In case you hadn't realised by now I love this book. It is a new favourite, one of the best I've read this year and a book I can see myself returning to in the future. I thought Charlotte was great and loved going along on her adventure with her. I also adored seeing her grow and really like the added element of her vlogging her trip. This book has made me curious about Japan as a place to visit and it gave me warm, happy buzzy feelings in my tummy that I get when reading a 5-star book. It was just fabulous!

Thank you to Netgalley and to Arrow Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book for review.
*Please note the ebook is available now for download and the paperback will be published on 1st April 2021.

This was not my favorite read. I found the story hard to follow will all the flashbacks and it felt very choppy instead of fluid. I also didn't feel the story or characters were very compelling, I had to force myself to read it and, at the end, didn't enjoy the experience at all.

Found this particularly difficult to get into and part of me was sad that there was no great live story as that’s mostly my thing but still thoroughly enjoyed reading it and absolutely loved the idea.