I wasn’t able to get into this book. I tried multiple times but couldn’t connect. I got about halfway through the book and couldn’t finish it . This is why I originally did not give any feedback.

Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Long Ride Home. I voluntarily chose to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

After the devastating loss of her mother, Harley is understandably grief stricken. Living with her mother's best friend on the West Coast, does not give Harley enough separation from the life she had. Will a cross country journey provide the answers Harley seeks and help her heal?

Harley is a young woman struggling with both grief and guilt. Her life has changed immeasurably and Harley is having trouble dealing with everything. Her relationships with Dean and Mercy provide the stability that Harley needs, even as she falters. Although I did not like some of the plot, nor did I think that it was always realistic, I did like the way that the characters were written. In older times, Harley would be described as a character who is plucky, as she shows courage in the face of adversity. There is a bit of humor and charm in the writing, taking a difficult subject matter and giving it a bit of levity. Overall, I liked The Long Ride Home, but I do wish that it had been a little less transparent. A quick read with good characters, I would recommend this novel to other readers.

Unfortunately I didn't finish this book, as I couldn't get into it - nothing against the author or book, just not to my personal taste. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

When I started this last night I didn't expect to find myself crying my eyes out at 3am. And yet that's exactly what happened.I really enjoyed this book a lot more then I was expecting too. It went down a completely different path then I thought it would. It showed the struggles a teenage mother goes through deciding what's best for her baby and for her whether that be keeping the baby, adoption or abortion as well as someone dealing with their grief.
I found Harley could occasionally come off as a bitch but she recognised that and to be honest who wouldn't be a bitch when you're terrified of falling in love and drowning with grief and fear. I loved Dean, Harleys baby daddy, he was such a supportive guy and so sweet.
The epilogue had me sobbing. Why is it always the epilogue? Since my room's been decorated at the minute I'm sleeping in the room next to my brother and all I could imagine was me walking him up accidently at stupid o'clock in the morning.

For some reason this book was missing something. To me the storyline went by too fast and there was a lot of things that happened and was just brushed past. I can say this book was very quick but I would have enjoyed it more if the story was a bit longer and the characters were more flushed out.

I DNF'd this book, I found it excruciatingly boring and cringe-worthy.

This book didn't really meet my expectations, I thought it was going to have a much deeper plot. I also found it really hard to connect with the main character

The premise sounded really good but I just couldn't get into the book, sadly.

The main character was really frustrating and I eventually gave up on reading this.

While The Long Ride Home tackles some major issues, such as abortion, this book was an okay read. I just couldn't get into like I wanted too. I really felt no connection to any of the characters. I didn't care what happened to them one way or the other.

Secondly, while reading this something was bothering me but I can't quite put my finger on it. I'll skim through to see what it was and update this review.

Again while the author tackles some tough issues this book lacked emotion. At least in my opinion.

Thank you Netgalley.

The Long Ride Home is about Harley, a girl who just lost her mother in a fire and is now trying to deal with the aftermath. She’s staying with a close family friend, but when summer comes she decides to go on a cross-country roadtrip with her best friend/love interest Dean to spread her mom’s ashes.

Let’s talk about the good things first. I liked the book’s focus on Harley’s relationship with her mother and how devastating it was for Harley to lose her. Harley was traumatized and not doing too well, which sounds depressing, but it’s a pretty depressing thing to go through, so I liked that the author didn’t shy away from that. Harley’s voice was fairly distinct and snippets from her past were revealed throughout the book.

Now to the things I enjoyed less, of which there are a little more. I didn’t particularly like the book’s stance on taking medicine when you’re not feeling okay. Harley doesn’t take them, which is obviously fine, and she does say to each their own, but it just seemed a little too judgemental for me overall. Harley does use a method she learned in therapy when she starts to panic, but therapy overall isn’t depicted in the best way possible either, and Harley was even suicidal at some points in the book. I would have like a more positive and inclusive approach to therapy and meds.

At the beginning of the book, Harley doesn’t believe in god, but then later on there are more and more Christian themes, and Harley thinks her mom is watching from above. Obviously a lot of people do find solace in religion and maybe I’m being disrespectful, but it all kind of seemed a bit… too easy at the end? I just didn’t expect the book to take this route, and I felt like it let the beginning down. I can totally understand believing your mom is watching out for you, but suddenly Harley saw all these signs, and I don’t know… If it had been a serious discussion of belief, I expect I would have felt different, but it was all hastily thrown in towards the end, and it just didn’t really work for me here.

Sadly, I also didn’t enjoy the romantic aspect of the book. If the book hadn’t mainly been about Harley’s struggle with grief, I would have stopped reading after chapter two. Dean was bland and perfect without at least offering anything that would have made it entertaining to read about him. In fact, reading about him from Harley’s perspective was taxing. I was happy that she had something good going on in her life, but I honestly couldn’t have taken more schmoop. To be fair, their relationship becomes slightly more interesting later on, but still. Meh. I would have been so much more involved if we had seen their relationship develop from the beginning and Dean had been more of an actual person.

Some parts of Harley’s journey were glanced over too quickly. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there are some pretty major life events that the author just skims over. It does make sense that everything else takes a backseat to Harley’s pain over losing her mother, but I’m not talking papercuts here – these were really intense experiences. They would have been interesting to read about, but we didn’t get to see any of them in detail. It would have been fine to not have these elements in the book, but as it is the story seems all over the place.

This just wasn’t a me book. It’s not horrible, but it’s not great either. It’s somewhere in the lukewarm middle: I didn’t hate it, and I was even touched by some aspects, but overall this is not going on my favorites shelf. If the description sounds interesting to you, you might want to check it out anyway though.

Road trip books are a favourite! This book didn't disappoint, Harley and Dean were great characters that kept my interest. It was hard to see Harley so upset and angsty to everyone around her, although it was understandable for the most part since her mom had just died. I'd recommend this as a YA road trip book!

I couldn't connect with the characters, I really tried hard but I couldnt.Something was bothering me while I was reading it.

My thoughts:

First off thank you to netgalley for the arc. This review took me a while to write because I was just not a big fan of this book it was not for me. I just could not get into it at all and it was hard to finish. If you like contemporary novels and road trip novels this one is for you.

Plot:

Harley's mother died in a tragic accident and know she wants to go on a road trip to bring her ashes back to her hometown. Dean goes along with her and sparks fly. She ends up pregnant with Dean's child and has to decide what to do. She learns about her mom and how she dealt with Harley's birth.
That is basically the whole plot.

Characters:

They were okay and not my favorite. I could not connect with them and they fell flat for me. Harley was okay but annoying at times.

Harley lost her mother a few months ago, and she hasn’t even begun to recover. But it’s summer now, and summer is a time of change. So, Harley sets off on a road trip to come to terms with her loss, find out more about her mother’s past, and scatter her mother’s ashes. Her best friend, Dean, goes along for the ride, but Harley doesn’t know what to do about their relationship—which caused her to shut Dean out when they became more than friends.

Soon enough, Harley realizes she’s pregnant with Dean’s child. Hiding her secret as she learns more about her mother’s life, she realizes her mother faced the same choices she now does. If she is ever to know what the right decision for her is, she’ll have to find out the truth about her mother’s past.

From the first page, Harley’s voice drew me into this story. She’s hurting so badly from her loss, and she’s shut everyone out as a result, but she wants to change. Her internal journey is as compelling as it is painful, and the reader is dragged along for the ride, over the bumps and through the bruises, until Harley finds clarity.

(Galley provided by Sourcebooks via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

***Also reviewed on Amazon.***

Was very disappointed in this story. Just felt like their road trip could have been a little more and that the relationships were not necessarily rushed, but just not built. Disappointed in the end.

The story was quick which sometimes is great but in this one nope.I wanted more and I needed more.The story didn't felt complete, there are things I didn't understand or I didn't feel it was well developed .

I have a soft spot for road trip stories. And this one has a super angsty premise that drew me in from the get-go.

Harley (not her real name) has a lot going on in her life. Her mother died a tragic death, she moved across the country, there aren't many people in the world she's close to, she has a friend-with-benefits she doesn't know how she feels about, and she has to figure out what to do with her mother's ashes. Oh, and she's pregnant (spoiler alert, but only if you didn't read the blurb).

That's a lot going on! Harley and Dean set out on a cross-country road trip to take her mother's ashes back to their favorite spot. In typical road-trip-story fashion, there's love, fighting, and revelations coming out the wazoo. There's a lot of grief here while also trying to navigate very real and adult situations. 

Harley (I won't spoil her real name for you) is a tough cookie. Her voice could be off-putting to some readers, but I enjoyed her. She's a smart character, capable of looking back on her actions and realizing how and when she screwed up, but also unable to keep herself from doing the screwed-up thing time and again. With that said, many threads also wrap up a little too nicely.

I DNF'd this after a couple chapters because I couldn't really get into it and skimmed over the rest. Just wasn't right for me. I think the story and plot in this book are important but I wasn't a huge fan of the execution and of exactly how it was handled, but that is me personally—everyone is different.

Road trip books aren’t my cup of tea, but I keep giving them a shot because it’s a favorite YA trope to many of my fellow reviewers. Sometimes this trope is very well done, but there was something about it here that I didn’t like. I picked up this book expecting more from it. The entire text seems too short for the intertwined plot it contains and the heavy subjects it touches on. I found Harley kind of hard to connect to, and I really don’t like all the questions it left me with.
It’s a quick read that’ll help you spend the afternoon, but I feel like it could be so much better. Maybe it just wasn't for me.