5 Reasons Why ‘The Broken Hearts Honeymoon’ by Lucy Dickens Is The Perfect Armchair Adventure

Many thanks to NetGalley, Arrow Books and the author for an advanced reader’s copy of The Broken Hearts Honeymoon in exchange for my honest review.

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• Title: The Broken Hearts Honeymoon
• Author: Lisa Dickenson writing as Lucy Dickens
• Publisher: Arrow Books
• Pub. date: 27 May 2021
• Series: none
• Pages: 384
• Source: NetGalley
• Genres: women’s fiction, chick-lit, contemporary

When disaster strikes, adventure calls…

Charlotte had a plan. The perfect country wedding, followed by a month-long honeymoon in Japan – but when her fiancé starts having second thoughts, she knows there’s no choice but to call off the wedding.

Charlotte isn’t sure she knows how to be single, but she is going to try, starting with taking that trip of a lifetime – alone.

Will she find herself in the hills of Mount Fuji, or in the karaoke bars of Tokyo?

And will she be ready for romance by the time the cherry blossom flowers?

A feel-good story of reclaiming your life, set among the cherry blossom of Japan. The Broken Hearts Honeymoon is Eat, Pray, Love for the Instagram generation.

It feels like it has been months of quarantine and I miss travelling very very much… not that I travelled lots before but I like to move around. Then there is the fact that I practically grew up wanting to travel to Japan ever since I started watching Naruto when I was maybe twelve years old or maybe even younger. I bought books based on Japanese culture and made Pinterest boards on everything Japanese. So yes, I chose to read an armchair adventure where the main character lives her lifelong dream of travelling to Japan. Everything makes complete sense!

The Broken Hearts Honeymoon follows Charlotte or Charlie as everyone calls her, whose fiancé Matt suggests they take a break to “sow their wild oats” weeks before their wedding date. Huge ol’ red flag there, so Charlie’s dream of the perfect wedding and life crumbles, leaving her with non-refundable bills and the Honeymoon Highlights tour they booked to Japan. Rather than cancel the tour, Charlie decides to join the tour on her own. Ever since she was little, Charlie had wanted to be a travel writer and travel to Japan like her idol Ariel Cortez.

What follows is Charlie’s first wild adventure where she discovers all the amazing riches Japan has to offer while discovering herself and what it means to be Charlie.

1. Charlie felt like a best friend I would treasure having.

The whole book is told through Charlie’s eyes, both present and past, so the story felt like Charlie letting me in on her innermost thoughts and fears. It reminded me of a journal-style of writing: personal, open and self-probing. I myself journal quite a lot and this style really spoke to me.

2. Charlie’s family are the best cheerleaders anyone could ever want.

Charlie has a big family of 4 siblings and they are all so very close to each other. Since Charlie is travelling in Japan for most of the book, there were group videocalls and her own memories to give the reader a feel of what Charlie’s support group was like. It reminded me so much of my own family!

I also love that the author managed the give all her siblings their own individual personalities and show them off through videocalls. I felt like I knew them all personally. They were such a fun addition to the book and to Charlie’s own life.

3. The humour is very British and I loved it!

When I scrolled through my highlights of the book, a good portion of them were me laughing at jokes Charlie made. Being in this woman’s head was such a delightful experience because all her experiences were tinged with her unapologetic sense of humour.

I would drag Charlie off with me on any adventure I would plan on going just to keep the mood fun and light!

4. Japan is beautifully brought to life.

The author does a mighty fine job of employing imagery to describe the beauty and grace of Japan. She employed such beautiful language to describe everything from urban neighbourhoods to serene countryside. I was deeply immersed in the whole experience and I honestly felt like crying from all the wanderlust this book brought out in me!

At this point, I would read anything travel-related this author publishes just to experience that imagery in my mind’s eye!

I also loved that through the journal-style writing, the author takes the time to show Charlie learning Japanese concepts like ikigai and wabi-sabi. Personally, I felt like a learnt a lot just reading this book and that’s something I’ll cherish.

5. Charlie’s journey of self-discovery wrenched tears out of me!

Through all the hilarity and beauty of the setting, Charlie’s growth was the main star of the story. I liked how her evolution was subtle and gradual. I did not end up continually getting reminded about Charlie needing to grow up or grow independent or anything. Her growth was very organic and reminded me of my own journey.

At the end of the book, I was so proud of Charlie that I teared up a little. I was literary cheering her on so enthusiastically! As I said before, I felt like Charlie and I got ridiculously close and seeing her grow into a better, stronger version of herself was just amazing. And a lot of her journey felt familiar and relatable.

The Broken Hearts Honeymoon started out as a jilted bride’s escape from her problems to the beautiful land of Japan, but ended up being the story of a woman’s amazing journey to find herself and what she wants from life in the beauty and grace of Japanese culture. This is what I would call a wholesome story with just the right amount of heart and adventure to inspire the reader.

Have you read The Broken Hearts Honeymoon or do you plan to?

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