Silly, cute, and a touch heartwarming. These are the best words to describe this book. I thought Stevie and Kat were a great best friend duo who were dealing with some of the trials of growing up. Kat's annoying theater kid energy was off the charts (I can say that, I was an annoying theater kid). The pacing was a little slow at the beginning as their environment was being set up, but basically as soon as they actually got to New York, it really picked up and I had a great time!

Kat and Stevie are best friends, living in the Connecticut suburbs not far from New York City. They have planned to go on a night to New York City without their parents knowing, because Kat wants to see the Broadway play her drama teacher plays in, and to celebratie Stevie's birthday. Kat wants to keep their evening secret from their parents so she leaves her phone with her friend Teri, who also covers Kat's babysitting job for the night.
So they step on the train to NYC, and from then, everything goes different then planned. First of all, they walk into Stevie's stepsister Mallory, who asks them to bring back her wallet to her apartment in the city. This is the start of the derailing of their evening, because Mallory's pomeranian dog Brady runs out of the front door, which then falls back into the lock, while Kat, Stevie and Brady standing in the hallway,with Stevie's bag still inside Mallory's apartment!! They try to get help from the building's superintendent, but the only one they find is his cousin in his office, because his uncle, the superintendent of the building is stuck on the highway with car trouble. The only one with spare keys it seems is Stevie's stepbrother Matteo, who lives at college in the city, but while they are on the way to his building, Stevie's phone lands on the subway tracks and Kat and Stevie get separated for the rest of the night without their phones, and a night full of unexpected adventures follows!

It was a very long time ago that I've read a book by Morgan Matson. And this latest book by her reminded me of how much I like them. The story of Kat and Stevie is just fabulous, it is truly a night full of unexpected twists and turns in the middle of New York City. It is a story with a fun undertone, and as a reader, you totally have no clue what will happen next. I won't leave to many spoilers here, I just recommend you to read this brilliant book!! There is also quite a side story with Teri, who finds herself in quite a situation, while you ask yourself afterwards if it was just Teri's dream or reality (there is no further explanation by the author on that!) This book has everything a good, fun and exciting YA novel needs to have, and I loved every part of it!

This book was kind of all over the place. It’s a YA book which isn’t my top genre but I like to continuously read in hopes it will sway my opinion. I just find that high schoolers really get on my nerves and the ones in books seem to always be made out to be even more naive than most are—or maybe I was just really independent and responsible as a teenager. Kay & Stevie did have a great best friends vibe going which made me always wonder what was going to happen next with them.

This definitely wasn't Matson's best. Both main characters were insufferable, the tori plot was dumb and too far fetched to even be believed as a far fetched plotline. It gets two stars from me only because some of the secondary characters were okay.

I'm always a fan of Morgan Matson's novels. She truly never misses and this one was so much fun. I loved the best friends angle here.

Sometimes I just need a book that I am reading solely for the entertainment factor. When I am not looking to ponder life’s bigger questions and issues, I usually reach for a lighthearted YA novel. Morgan Matson’s new book Take Me Home Tonight is a 24 hour story, which is one of my favorite literary themes, so I was pumped to pick up this novel about two best friends who spend an epic night alone in New York City.

Kat and Stevie are drama kids in their high school’s renowned theater program. When their theater director decides to postpone announcing the cast for their school’s production of King Lear, Kat is thrown for a loop - she has been on pins and needles waiting to see if she will be cast as Cordelia. Stevie was supposed to be headed to New York City tonight to celebrate her birthday with her dad, but when he cancels on her, the girls decide to cast their worries aside and make a night of it in the Big Apple. Alone. Without phones. What could possibly go wrong?

Turns out everything, as you’ll soon discover when you read this delightful novel complete with every catastrophe teenagers alone in the most populous city in the USA might face! I have never had a book give me so much anxiety, yet entertain me at the same time. Not only is Matson a master at writing a developed plot, she is also fantastic at creating scenes fraught with tension and drama. There were several times in this novel that I read with bated breath, feeling actual emotions for the characters. If a YA novel can make me feel this much, it has to be good!

Admittedly, there are many scenarios in this book where the reader has to suspend disbelief and just go with the flow. As I previously mentioned, I read this novel solely for entertainment, so I didn’t mind looking past the fact that many situations in this story were implausible, and that these girls definitely had luck on their side throughout their hijinks in the city. If you need your reads to be 100% realistic, then this novel may not be for you, but if you enjoy books that are simply a lot of fun, then pick up Take Me Home Tonight!

Recommended to fans of Maurene Goo’s Somewhere Only We Know, which both take place over 24 hours in a bustling city.

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

I really felt like this book could have been two separate stories. Kat and Stevie had so many adventures with twists and the Teri storyline was very far fetched and seemed to be thrown in as an afterthought. There were way too many mishaps, just made it seem like the author kept adding more to make sure the book was interesting. I wouldn’t say I disliked it. However, it just seemed forced.

I received this novel as an advanced reader copy from NetGalley and exchange for an honest review. This was a fun, lighthearted and honest look at youthful life experience!

Take Me Home Tonight by Morgan Matson is the cute and quirky book that you needed for 2021. I always make time for Morgan Matson. Her books always bring a smile to my face. Matson writes such good characters and character relationships.

This story is about Kat and Stevie’s friendship. These two friends started off rough in the beginning and it only gets worse. Stevie and Kat have to learn how to navigate their night and their friendship. I can’t even imagine being stranded in New York City and then having a rough time with my best friend. (Brie, if we ever make it NYC, let’s stick together forever no matter what.) There were points in the story that I struggled a bit. Kat’s character was a bit difficult and annoying at times. I loved Stevie’s character. Then we also have Teri that makes an appearance as well. Teri story arc is a bit ridiculous but still enjoyable.

If you are a Matson book reader, then you will recognize a few of the characters in this book. I really enjoyed the cameos. I am really glad that Matson put them in the story. Take Me Home Tonight is a really good book and brought me some joy when I needed it. I love how entertaining and relatable this story is. I may never have been lost in New York City but I have had plenty of times where I have ups and downs in friendships.

Let’s talk about the writing before I wrap this up as I am writing this review in the car on the road to San Diego for a funeral. When you see this review, I will have already arrived in SD, CA but at the moment, I am on my iPad typing in the car as I am 2.5 hours away from San Diego. This has been a bit of an emergency trip since my grandfather passed away on Friday and we are having a memorial service for him on Thursday. In some ways, I am on my own adventure just instead of with a friend, it is with my family. Instead of New York it is in California. No I don’t live in California and I have been in the car since 6am PST.

The writing is so welcoming. I love how Matson is able to draw her readers in right away and you feel apart of the story immediately. One is able to fall in love with the characters so easily. I love having the different point of views even thought sometimes I was annoyed with Kat. This novel is quite enjoyable so if you need something fun and light hearted, pick up Take Me Home Tonight by Morgan Matson.

I wanted to really like this because I remembered LOVING Morgan Matson books when I was in high school and college. And this one… just didn’t do it for me. It wasn’t awful, but I just kept getting really annoyed throughout the whole thing about both characters (but specifically Kat). Stevie’s side quests weren’t awful up until the end, but the FBI side-plot and all of Kat’s adventures were too over the top. I also didn’t really love the romance (didn’t hate it) and I hated the teacher subplot.

One to miss, for me.

Morgan Matson is one of my absolute favorite YA Authors and is an automatic buy at this point. Take Me Home Tonight did not disappoint and the exploration of friendship was particularly great.

In this novel, Morgan Matson truly highlights the power of friendship and family (including stepfamilies) as well as the importance of being true to yourself and choosing to do what makes you happy. This book would be ideally suited for those who enjoy fast-paced novels filled with adventure, drama, and romance. It would also be an awesome read for people who have travelled to or want to travel to New York City; Stevie and Kat end up (unintentionally) doing a lot of exploring in the city!

I love Morgan Matson and this book is no different. A fun, one night adventure in NYC. Students who are about to graduate will find a lot to relate to.

Kat and Stevie are two theater kids from the suburbs who find themselves with a whole night of adventure in New York City. When it starts, they have no idea it'll include destroyed phones, locked doors, secret parties, fluffy pomeranians, and family drama. Can two suburban, phoneless teens manage the big city for an entire night?

I can't start this review without stating the obvious: this book is utterly ridiculous. The number of crazy coincidences and strange mishaps that occur is a little absurd. But I guess that's the magic of NYC, right? So, if you can just go with it and hop on for the ride, you'll very much enjoy this silly book. It's perfect for lovers of YA that are looking for a bit of a palette cleanser.

This book does have a lot to love which is a given for Morgan Matson. There are so many great characters, plus a few not-so-loveable ones. Aside from the adventures (which are great), this is a book about finding yourself and figuring out your future (a least a little bit), mending friendships and relationships, and learning to be just a little more independent.

So if you can suspend belief in reality just a little, pick this one up for a wild ride filled with all the best YA features.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for my eARC of this book.

I really, really wanted to like this book, but I just wasn't connecting with it. I'll try and pick it up again someday, but for now, it's a no from me.

Take Me Home Tonight is a fantastic book and would make a lovely gift for any teen (or adult who loved the movie Adventures in Babysitting). Kat and Stevie head to New York City for a night of fun when everything could go wrong (and more) does. This is about 1/2 way through the book. What happens to them is so bad that it gave me a little anxiety reading it. But the resolutions are so perfect. The ending makes up for the anxious reading earlier. I will recommend this to loads of people.

Take Me Home Tonight might be a romance novel but it also has strong friendship themes. While I am a romance lover, I really enjoyed that the focus of this story revolved around the friendship of Kat and Stevie. What made the novel even better was that Kat and Stevie’s friendship was realistic, these friends were best friends who were drifting apart - something that many friends go through. There is a lot of self discovery and character development as the story goes on and we learn a lot about our best friends.

This novel is laugh out loud funny and the story is too crazy to be believable at some points but I had so much fun reading it. Morgan Matson did a phenomenal job with Take Me Home Tonight and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for an escape from their reality. I will definitely be checking out Matson’s work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Morgan Matson and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Take Me Home Tonight is a young adult contemporary by Morgan Matson. I really enjoy Morgan Matson’s books because she is wonderful at creating stories that are full of heart and feature realistic teenage characters finding out who they want to be, and Take Me Home Tonight is a great example of this. I loved this book. It was so much fun and completely took me by surprise.

In Take Me Home Tonight we meet our main characters Kat, Teri and Stevie. The book is told in multiple points of view. Kat and Stevie plan a big night out in New York City for Stevie’s birthday and things kind of spiral out of control from there. They go off on an epic adventure of their own. And that is all I am going to tell you because the summary of the book leaves it off there and I was absolutely delighted at the surprising directions this book went off in. There are lots of side characters that weave into the various plotlines. There is so much going on this book and I had a blast while reading- kidnapping, friendships, fights, revelations, and perhaps the scariest of all…no cell phones! Oh the horror!

Out of the three girls Teri was my favorite. I felt so bad for her. Her storyline was completely bonkers. Fun and very surprising, but very out there. Kat and Stevi are wonderful friends but like with many friendships, sometimes people get annoyed at each other and sometimes friends fight. This is one of the things that I appreciate most about Morgan Matson’s books, she writes books about relationships that feel very real.

Overall, if you are looking for a contemporary standalone that is a wild ride with a big group of characters and different interwoven storylines, then I think you will enjoy Take me Home Tonight. It was a fun book that was not at all like I expected.

Take Me Home Tonight is about two teens, Kat and Stevie, embarking on an adventure that turns out differently than they expected. After heading into the city alone, they soon find themselves separated. Throughout their differing storylines, they learn more about themselves and how to be better friends.

Overall the story was fun and full of exciting situations that, while hard to believe, helped develop the characters. One piece of the story that did not quite make sense to me was everything involving their friend Teri, but other than that the story was interesting and had themes that many teens can connect to.

A great YA novel from Morgan Matson! (And isn't that cover fantastic?!)

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.