The Breakup Artist

by Shannen Crane Camp

Breaking up with someone is a major pain---unless you can hire someone else to do it for you! And Amelia demands top dollar for her professional break-up services. Everything's business as usual until David, one of the boys she's been hired to dump, throws her for a loop. Now she must decide if David’s intentions are genuine, or if there’s something sinister behind his flirting.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy, High School

218 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 8, 2011

About the author

Shannen Crane Camp was born and raised in Southern California, where she developed a love of reading, writing, and anything having to do with film. After high school, she moved to Utah to attend Brigham Young University, where she received a degree in Media Arts and found herself a husband in fellow California native Josh Camp. The two now live in Utah with their miniature schnauzer Hemingway. Shannen's true love is Young Adult Fiction though she often dabbles in New Adult, Paranormal, and Mystery. She takes any opportunity to include her love of film and video games in her writing and you might just find a nerdy Easter Egg or two hidden in her works.
Shannen loves to hear from readers, so feel free to contact her at Shannencbooks@hotmail.com or visit her website for more information: http://shannencbooks.blogspot.com

Reviews

[Alaina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Breakup Artist was an okay and kind of cute book. I really liked Amelia and how helps other girls breakup with their boyfriends. Honestly, it kinds of a genius idea especially for people who don't know how to get out of a relationship or don't want to hurt anyone's feelings in the process. Breakups are hard man.

I mean Amelia takes her jobs super seriously. She changes everything about her, because she has an impressive process, and her identity has to remain secret - obviously! However, David steps into her life and he may know everything about her.

DUN DUN DUN!

David was likable but also mysterious. WHY? Well I don't really know much about him.. even after reading the book.. Plus, he does a complete 180 on you in the book at some random ass point and I was like.. wtf.. what just happened..

In the end, I liked the book. It was cute, short, and easy to breeze through.

[Jolene Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super Fun :D

Okay, so at about 30%, I thought I had this book figured - I mean, there's only so much you can do with a fun romantic-comedy, right?
WRONG.
It was SO fun, she added a LOT of twists and turns that weren't expected. The characters felt real, the tension felt real, and I loved how she wrapped up the ending.

This book felt like the fun-ness of the eighties high-school movies. And I loved it :D

[Kathy * Bookworm Nation · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably more like a four star read, if you don’t overanalyze it like I did.

Overall, it’s a cute story. I liked our heroine Amelia. To earn a little extra college money she helps girls breakup with their boyfriends. Because of her “profession” she doesn’t have any friends, mainly because she changes personality depending on who she is breaking up with. She goes through multiple hair colors, clothes and names to get the job done and keep her identity a secret. Then one day she stumbles upon a guy who just may be onto her little secret. Which brings us to David, who seems to be the perfect guy for Amelia. He was a likable lead, although by the end I still felt like I knew very little about him. I also thought that their feelings for each other moved WAY too fast to be believable. His change from being “out-to-get-her” to “I’m-so-in-love” was too quick. I thought it was fun to see Amelia at work. Amelia goes through a lot of changes and starts to really want a normal high school life. So, if you just want a quick escape and not dwell too much on the details then this is a fun read. I look forward to seeing what Shannen Crane Camp comes up with next!

If you want to read my over-analyzed review (contains spoilers), then read below.

I guess I had a hard time buying Amelia’s job. People would recognize her, even if she changes hair/clothes and schools frequently. Sure, if there are 2000+ kids in the student body most wouldn’t notice, but the kids she takes daily classes with totally would. If her teachers can see past her daily changes then of course her fellow classmates would. Also, if she is as pretty as she claims why aren’t more guys talking to her? It’s hard to believe that the only guys who are interested in her are the one’s she approaches to breakup with. I have a hard time buying that she is so pretty guys are willing to dumb their girlfriends after one meeting, but not pretty enough that no one will talk to her and no other guy is hitting on her.

I like David, but I felt he somehow got lost along the way. He was so against her job at the beginning, claiming that some of his friends had been hurt (I would have liked Amelia to acknowledge them, like “oh, yeah, I remember dumping him”). But, by the end he was on Team Amelia and wanting to be her accomplice. I liked him when he was wanting people to fight their own battles and wanting Amelia to stop and have a normal life. My other problem with the David storyline is how he was writing an article about her and nothing came of it. Amelia finds it and after reading only half (yeah right, like anyone would stop reading after half) decides to still beg him to forgive her and not even bring it up? I wanted a confrontation! He wrote some pretty mean stuff and I think she let him off the hook way to easily. In fact, I think it may have been a better story if he had published an article about her in the school paper and then had them hash things out, fight a bit and eventually get a HEA after he then got to know her, IMO.

Amelia has a LOT of inner dialog. I would have liked more conversations to propel the story. The general idea is interesting, but a lot of the time I just didn’t think things made sense. Why was her mom willing to move around all the time so Amelia could go to different school? Anyway, David lost a lot of his appeal once he became Amelia’s puppy and I wanted a big event for Amelia to open her eyes and see how she’d closed herself off and really want to make a change. But, she doesn’t and instead is going to keep doing what she’s doing, only this time David will do a “background check” to make sure her victims are worthy of their girlfriends cowardly breakups. Would he really be okay with her flirting with other guys? Changing her hair, name and personality constantly? Wouldn’t he want her to finally take the time to figure out who she is?

There were just too many things that didn’t make sense for me to love this story. Again, if I just read it without thinking then I really did think it was fun. I liked the idea and the writing was well done, I do look forward to seeing what else Shannen Crane Camp will come up with next.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Cute high school story, full of twists, kept waiting for her to get caught. Cute characters.

Moral note: kissing, heck once, otherwise pretty clean

[Mesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a really cute book. It’s a fun, easy, cute and quick read you don’t want to miss. I was in the mood for a great YA chick-lit that are easy, fun and just a book that will put a smile on my face—and The Break-Up Artist just did that. From the moment I started reading, I was sure I’d love it.

Amelia has lived most of her life as an outcast and she loved it. She doesn’t have a friend or any social life for that matter (she doesn’t even have relationship with her mother), and she was happy with it. She breaks up people for fifty dollars—I admire this girl. Fifty dollars just to break you up with your boyfriend/girlfriend? That’s business but that’s beside the point. But when she met David and he didn’t like what she does, he threatens to destroy her business. Amelia and David started with love/hate relationship but turn into only love relationship. I really enjoyed seeing Amelia reaction to her relationship with David; she was like a girl on a Christmas day, that’s how excited she was to start a relationship with him. I fell in love with both Amelia and David; they both portray a high school teen. I loved Amelia change of fashion every week/day. And David … aww! he’s so cute, nice and caring. I really liked him—I think I like him more that Amelia. He really cares about Amelia and helped her with her issues.

The Break-Up Artist comprises a lot of topic such as: first love, how your parent’s relationship might affect your understanding of relationship, and how hard it is to break up with someone without breaking their heart. I didn’t know this book would have all of those topics included, and it surprised me. I was able to see Amelia grow throughout the book. She learned about relationships and love. Shannen did an amazing job capturing most of teen’s relationship with their boyfriend/girlfriends. If you are in the mood for a sweet and cute book … this is for you. The Break-Up Artist is the perfect read for everyone.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book because I thought it sounded cute and different. I thought the book was really funny at times and I found Amelia to be a likeable enough character. It was a nice, quick read. Overall, it was a cute book and I did enjoy it.

However, there were some things that bothered me: I didn't understand how David could so easily change from being so against Amelia's work to wanting to help her. To me, that didn't seem likely since he was constantly trying to get her to stop and threatening to ruin her business. It made it seem like he had been on the receiving end of her break up services by the way he was acting, instead of his "friends" as he said. One thing that really bothered me was how quick he was to help Amelia when the rich girl (for the life of me I can't remember her name) wanted Amelia to break up with her boyfriend. It almost seemed like he wanted to get revenge on her, which made me think he had dated her previously or something. Also, I didn't think it was believable how quickly Amelia was able to go from hating David to loving him. That didn't seem realistic to me. Also, I felt like there wasn't enough information on David and his family. They were barely mentioned, which I thought was weird. It also bothered me how nothing really came up with the article he wrote. It wasn't truly believable that she could simply forgive him for all the mean things he wrote. I didn't understand the somewhat developing of Amelia and her mom's relationship at the end. It seemed like they were making progress, but then the book ended. I felt like there were a lot of things that could have been explained better or should have developed more throughout the book, but didn't.

[Suzana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. It was a cute, fun and light read, but I had some issues with it.

First, the things I liked about it. Amelia is confident and hard-working. She knows what she wants to be when she "grows up." She knows how much work is involved and is willing to sacrifice to achieve that goal. She has not had an easy life and does not have a relationship with her mother, but she is not giving up. She grows during the course of the book and is willing to change because she can see how her "job" is not doing anyone any favors. She's not helping as much as she thought she was. I liked David. She realizes that she has been hiding from life and doesn't want to hide anymore. Sshe wants to experience high school, not watch it go by.

Now, the things I didn't like or bothered me about the book. Amelia is 16, but no 16-year-old that I know of knows as much as Amelia does about human behavior, which is why she is so good at her job. She's been at this job for "years," at 16 - really? She seems sooo much older. It bothered me that the author would be okay putting that it's okay for a guy to spend the night in a girl's home, especially since no adult was present. Yes, Amelia had a shock and she was upset, but I don't think having David sleep at Amelia's house was the appropriate answer. The last thing that bothered me was David was so against what Amelia did for a job he had her convinced to quit, but by the end of the book Amelia had him convinced it was okay for certain people; people who didn't care about anyone and were willing pay big money to get their way. Why does this make it okay?

Overall, I liked the book. It was well written and a quick read.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I should probably wait a couple months to post this review. The Break-Up Artist by Shannen Crane Camp doesn't even have a cover yet and won't be released until December. However I know myself well enough to know that if I wait any longer I won't remember the book well enough to say much more than I loved it.

I received an early review copy of this book and had no intention of reading it yet. It was a digital review copy that I didn't have a clue how to transfer to my Kindle so I had to sit at my computer to read. I hate reading at my computer but I opened it up to read just the first couple pages and didn't want to stop reading. With as much as I read it has become increasingly hard for a book to grab me and suck me in. The Break-Up Artist managed to do that. I found it light, refreshing, humorous and I just kept reading and reading while sitting at my computer.

This book has potential to be a 5 Star book. It is still in editing so I'm hoping a couple things will be cleared up and clarified while it goes through editing. Even if nothing gets tightened up in editing I would still highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys clean, light, fun young adult books.


4.5 Stars - Highly recommend

Content: Clean

Release date: December 8, 2011

[emma grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

The storyline was very promising, and I feel like this could have been such a great book. That is probably my biggest pet peeve. Where the author has such a strong idea/framework for their book, and you get really excited about how good you think it will be, but then it turns out to be poorly written.

It started out good; I enjoyed the first couple chapters a lot. But things didn't move along well and the same thing kept happening over and over again. The characters weren't expanding, and I got bored to fast. I really wanted to enjoyed this book, but it just did not feel finished or expanded to its fullest potential. I wanted the main character to grow so much more, because she started off being really enjoyable, but I just found myself getting irritated with her.

I am not sure what the trend is with poorly written YA fiction. I don't know if it is because the standard for published work has gone down a lot, or if it is because authors feel like they have to dumb it down for teenagers...

[Danyelle Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Breakup Artist starts off with a quick pace and lots of sass. I love the characters, their backgrounds. I especially loved when Amelia is discovered and falls for the guy who wants her to give up her "job". The ending wasn't as great as the rest of the book. I felt like the story didn't get wrapped up in a satisfying way. Overall though, I enjoyed the book. I especially think teens and college students will enjoy The Breakup Artist.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was kind of dumb. yet still kind of entertaining. i DID finish it, so i guess that says something. my main problem with the book is that the plot is just so ridiculous i almost couldn't handle it. anything else that might be good about the book is kind of hidden in the shadows.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Break-Up Artist by Shannen Crane Camp is absolutely delightful! I laughed, I cried, and I fell in love with Amelia. I can't wait for the sequel (hint hint!)

[Charity Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Breakup Artist by Shannen Crane Camp came out back in 2011, but I just finished reading this book for the second time. The first time I read the book was back before she even had a publisher for the book. I then recommended a few publishers that she can send the manuscript to and one of them picked it up.

As I reread this book, I was reminded of how much I enjoyed reading it the first time, because it was like reading it for the first time again. It is definitely a unique read. I have yet to read anything else like it. Even though this is about a high school girl, being in my 30’s did not stop me from enjoying living the life of Amelia Marie Bedford, because it is so fun pretending to be her…at least while she is at school.

I recommend this book to all teenage girls and those who want to feel like a teenager again.

[Debbie Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute, clean, high school romance.

[Shaylee Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read that really surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. I couldn’t put it down!

[Kathryn Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! The summary sounded so fun, and it did not disappoint. Just thinking about it makes me want to read it again. It's perfect if you're in the mood for a light hearted, funny, romantic book!

There was a lot more involved with being a breakup artist than I realized. I thought Amelia's friends would ask her to breakup with their boyfriends and she'd break it to the guys like in junior high. I was happily surprised, Amelia got paid by girls to breakup with their boyfriends in a way that kept the boys happy. Let's just say she got to wear lots of cute outfits and changed her hair color often when she was on the job.

I love how serious Amelia was about her "work". She had files of each guy she had to breakup with for someone else. She studied up on the guy and practically went undercover. She was like a spy or something. Really fun.

David came along and was handsome, fun, smart, caring, what more can I say?

Go out and read this book! You'll love it!

I also reviewed this book on my book blog. Clean Teen Fiction

[Luisa B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro me gustó muchísimo más de lo que esperaba. Aunque la historia puede parecer simple y completamente predecible, tuvo algunas cosas que realmente fueron de mi agrado.
Mi mayor problema con él está en el final.
No que tuviese un final triste o trágico, pero sentí una doble moral de parte de algunos personajes que sinceramente me pareció completamente desagradable, además de inesperado. Para mí, fue como si en 10 hojas destruyeran todo lo que se estuvo hablando a lo largo del libro. Se supone que la protagonista debía madurar, cambiar su vida, hacer algo... pero no sentí que sucediera.

Aun así la historia es dulce, es ligera, y entretenida. Pasas un tiempo agradable leyéndola, y para todos aquellos que aun disfrutan de sus vacaciones, puede ser una buena lectura ligera. No es una obra maestra y definitivamente no está entre mi lista de los mejores libros que he leído, pero pues, para una lectura rapidilla no está mal.

Reseña completa...

[Katie (hiding in the pages) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amelia has an interesting job--she's the girl other girls go to when they want to break up with their boyfriends. She does the job that most high schoolers dread--and gets paid for it, usually making the guy fall for her and then breaking the news to him. One job goes awry when the guy, David, seems to see her for what she is. Will her career go up in smoke when he threatens to expose her?

Amelia...I felt sooo sorry for her. She changes hair colors, styles, and personalities with each job. She doesn't seem to know who she really is. Her mother isn't ever home and her dad walked out about ten years earlier. She has no real friends, since they move a lot and she changes schools. She seems so adult about life, yet seems incredibly lonely.

David...he is a little mysterious, yet seems to sincerely want to help Amelia. He really seems like a decent guy.

A fun, cute read, perfect for Valentine's Day.

Content: one instance where a guy and girl fall asleep overnight on a couch together, but nothing happens; mild kissing; no language that I can recall.

[Mandi Slack · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Breakup Artist by Shannen C. Camp is just the sort of book that will leave you laughing until the very end. The plot is a fun, witty, and it's just the sort of book I love to read. Amelia, a high school teen, has created a very profitable business as a "breakup artist". You can pay her fifty bucks, and she'll dump your current boyfriend, leaving you free of guilt and free to pursue another crush. Amelia runs a professional business, and her busy schedule leaves her no time for relationships of her own, but she'd like to keep it that way. However, when she meets David, a boy she's been hired to dump, her carefully organized world begins to fall apart. Amelia is definitely a character to love. I loved her "professional" manner and her quirky personality. As the story progresses, you begin to realize the "whys" behind Amelia's choice of "profession", and you watch her grow and change until the very end. Author Shannen C. Camp does a wonderful job of building characters and plot. I highly recommend The Breakup Artist and congratulate the author on a job well done!

[Thuan Chi · Rating 2 out of 5]

i was going into this book with little expectation and it turn out the way i expect it to be, poorly written and bad ending. I mean I do enjoy the 200 pages of it but I felt little connection to the character and did not really care what happen to them. I feel like this could've been longer because the ending didn't match up anyhow. First of all why did David agree to let Amelia continue her business at the end when he opposes to it the whole entire book. He simply encourage her to continue it because he thought they can make big bucks together??? I think it's the huge amount of money that was offer in the end that finally convince him to it. Not only he doesn't oppose to Amelia's business, he want to help her, what even? And also I feel like the book could talk about Amelia and her mom's relationship more and should focus on them instead of Amelia and David. Overall, I liked it but there's a lot of issues with this book. i also found out that there's another book with the same title and similar concept, what's up with that?

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the book. It sounded like an interesting story and I was not disappointed. A girl that gets paid to break up with your boyfriend for you. She had files of each guy she had to breakup with for someone else. She studied up on the guy and practically went undercover. She had different hair colors, hairstyles, clothes, the whole getup.It was so she could be anonymous and never be recognized. Pretty clever if you ask me.There were a lot of twists and turns that were not expected. The Break-Up Artist deals with a lot of topics. First love, how your parent’s relationship might affect your understanding of relationship, and how hard it is to break up with someone without breaking their heart. It was a cute, fun and fast read.

[Tamera Westhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very interesting for me, because I remember high school romances being so short-lived. I liked a different guy for each block day, so I understand Amelia's ability to break others up without any qualms. I thought the mysterious stalker thing was very unexpected and her inability to figure out who she really was, was sad. I know there are a lot of teens (and early twenties) who are still figuring it out, so they could relate. I liked the romance and the plot. I thought the relationship with her mom was very disappointing. They really needed some dialogue. Otherwise, a nice, "short" read.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick read! In terms of writing the author does a nice job in her dialogue and description of keeping the story interesting, and overall, I thought it was cute!

Unfortunately, the main character is someone I would've related to in a negative way as an early teen wanting validation. Even though the boyfriend seemed great, their reactions to various obstacles seemed to not match the weight of the situation and some of his responses felt like they were reinforcing the very things she was trying to overcome. He is frequently painted as perfect while she is the one messing up, even when they both need to take more responsibility for their actions.

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought there was a lot to like about this book. It was young and had a fresh feel to it. I'm not sure I could exactly pinpoint it right now but there was just something towards the end part of the book that didn't sit well. I was disappointed, I guess. Maybe I expected a bigger fallout between the MC's after certain things happened? Or maybe their reactions just didn't jive with the how I perceived the characters to be? I don't know for sure. But, having said that, I really did love the MC and I thought the book was fun.

[Stas · Rating 1 out of 5]

The storyline was promising and rather interesting. The actual execution leaves much to be desired.

The books lures you in and then - BAM! And things become a little surreal. For me anyway. Believability slipped and toppled and crashed and burned. I didn't feel connected to the characters or the story, at all, in any way. In the end things have become so ridiculous that I resorted to skimming.

Perhaps this book will finds its audience in someone else.
Not in me though.
And in all honesty, I cannot recommend this book. Not when there are so many better written ones around.

[Book Geek Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked several aspects of this book. I felt the basic concept/theme was good. I liked Amelia's character. But some of the other characters fell short. They didn't seem realistic to me. I also thought the ending was too fast and not quite satisfying. However, it was an okay read.

(The girl on the cover looks way too old for the character. I know the author has nothing to do with that, it just sort of irks me.)

[Nellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, cute, easy read. Clean enough for my teen daughter. From the book: Breaking up with someone is a major pain—-unless you can hire someone else to do it for you! And Amelia demands top dollar for her professional break-up services. Everything's business as usual until David, one of the boys she's been hired to dump, throws her for a loop. Now she must decide if David's intentions are genuine, or if there's something sinister behind his flirting.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Breakup Artist gives a refreshing, new perspective to the high school story. The heroine, Amelia, is likeable and relatable. Though you feel like you know her well by the end of the story, you'll be surprised by the outcome. I would recommend this book to adults and young readers alike. Very impressive debut novel!

[Jeanette Dummer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun book! At first, I didn't know if I'd like Amelia because she appeared to have no personality, but as we get to know her, we discover she has a very fun personality and she's a very likable character. Fun, original premise. Would probably recommend for a little younger crowd, but I'm in my late 20's and enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe closer to 3.5. I got sucked right into this cute and witty teenage girl book. It was a fast read and had a good story line that kept me reading. What I didn't love was how physically intimate 16 yr olds were acting after just meeting. Not the best example for young girls. I also didn't love that the boy ended compromising his own moral standards to meet the girl halfway.