This was one of my MOST anticipated YA reads of the year, and I was absolutely THRILLED to be able to read and review it prior to publication day thanks to NetGalley + Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing + Rockstar Book Tours - I am SO excited to be a part of the Book Tour for this title & I’ll be sharing my full review on my blog, booksaremagictoo.com on 5/11!

Basically, anything with theatre kids / performing arts is a MUST read for me, and I loved the premise of this one. Two best friends sneak away to the city for a fantastic evening when EVERYTHING goes wrong.

Kat and Stevie were so well-written, I felt like I was a part of their friendship and was there cheering them both on! From their individual struggles to the constant feelings of it ALL going wrong no matter what they tried, Matson wrote this in a way that made me feel nostalgically SEEN. When you’re in high school it all seems SO important until it doesn’t, and what teen doesn’t want the ultimate evening of adventure + shenanigans?!

The different points of view and interesting cast of side characters kept the story moving and interesting, always something new at each turn! Matson does such a great job of showing teens dealing with family, friends and that looming future, highly recommend reading this one if you’re a YA fan.

I cannot believe this is my first book by Matson, I obviously need to check out her backlist ASAP.

I cannot say ENOUGH about this book! It was a love letter to NYC, to best friends, to growing into who you are, to letting go of who you think you're supposed to be, to drama club! I would highly recommend this book to any age and readers of any genre.

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Take Me Home Tonight

Author: Morgan Matson

Book Series: Standalone

Diversity: 2 background characters mentioned were in f/f and m/m relationships

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: ya readers, contemporary fans

Genre: YA Contemporary

Publication Date: May 4, 2021

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's

Pages: 403

Recommended Age: 14+ (TW jokes about emotional support animals, underage alcohol usage, language, gun violence, slight gore)

Synopsis: Two girls. One night. Zero phones.

Kat and Stevie—best friends, theater kids, polar opposites—have snuck away from the suburbs to spend a night in New York City. They have it all planned out. They’ll see a play, eat at the city’s hottest restaurant, and have the best. Night. Ever. What could go wrong?

Well. Kind of a lot?

They’re barely off the train before they’re dealing with destroyed phones, family drama, and unexpected Pomeranians. Over the next few hours, they’ll have to grapple with old flames, terrible theater, and unhelpful cab drivers. But there are also cute boys to kiss, parties to crash, dry cleaning to deliver (don’t ask), and the world’s best museum to explore.

Over the course of a wild night in the city that never sleeps, both Kat and Stevie will get a wake-up call about their friendship, their choices…and finally discover what they really want for their future.

That is, assuming they can make it to Grand Central before the clock strikes midnight.

Review: For the most part I enjoyed this book. It was a classic take on getting lost in New York and trying to get home. The characters were well developed, the world building was fairly good, and the majority of the book is character led instead of plot led.

However, I did have some issues with the book. I thought it was a bit of a simple book and there weren't any real twists or turns. It was fairly predictable. The book pacing was a little too slow for me. My biggest issue with the book is how the characters lie about how a dog is their emotional support animal. The book makes this thing into a joke but there are real people out there that need those and people, real or fictional, who lie to just get around with a dog or other pet for the sake of it are horrible people. The other issue I had with the book is that most of the main characters are 18 (one of them is confirmed 18 while the others ages aren't confirmed but they're all very close in age). My main concern with this is that their all old enough to do what they want to legally without a parent stopping them, so why is this such a big deal throughout the book? Even when one of them gets caught it's made to be this big deal, but 18 is legally an adult and you can do whatever you want at that age without parental consent. I get that for the majority of the book the characters couldn't have been aged down but it just didn't make sense to me why the parents would be this big issue.

Verdict: it was good, just not anything special.

I will read anything from Morgan Matson - and I know that I’ll love it! This book was no exception. Kat and Stevie’s friendship was perfection and so relatable! I loved how even when they spoke their minds things didn’t really change (with the exception of them being separated) I feel like so many times something happens or there’s conflict and the friendship is just over - so this was a pleasant change from that.

And can we talk about Cary? I loved him! And yelled at Kat when she left him for the play (thankfully it wasn’t the last of him!) And the way he tied to in to everything?! Perfect and so unexpected!

I will say, I could have done without Teri’s storyline. I liked her as friend, and the looks between Kat and Stevie when it came to Teri’s stories and love life. But her whole thing just seemed unnecessary (not to mention suuuuuper far fetched)

Other than that I 100% loved this book and definitely recommend giving it a read!

okay so i was super looking forward to this book and i was so obsessed with morgan branching out from her usual type of story! this is definitely different from her other books - partially because it's not set in the summer and partially because it has multiple POVs - and even though the vibe does feel a little different at times, it's also totally morgan. she does such a great job of creating a FEELING and writing about setting in a way that's transportive and immersive. i FELT like i was in new york and i spent the whole time wishing i was there with my own best friend. the different perspectives were really fun and interesting - although i didn't really love teri's pov ): - and i think it really did a lot for the two main characters to show their individual arcs. personally i really connected to stevie and her arc, and it was really cool to see her grow as the book goes on.

also can we PLEASE talk about the CAMEOS!!!! there were a few really juicy ones and even though the one at the end took me by surprise it was also really sweet! it's so great getting to see morgan's old characters brought back to life in a new light.

AND BRAD WAS SO STINKIN CUTE I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

i don't think this is my favorite morgan matson book (just because some of her others are SO GREAT), but i really loved what this book's core message was, that you shouldn't just accept life as you think it should be, you can take the time to change and evolve and try new things no matter where you are in life. and i think that's especially poignant after a year of living in a pandemic. even more so when it's set in the wonderful city of new york where everything is chaotic and cooky and fun.

i will always and forever be a morgan matson fan, and i'm so excited to see where she goes next now that she's exploring new types of writing!

Morgan Matson is always a winner with me and this one was no exception. She writes friendships so beautifully, and sprinkles in the swoon and romance in just the right amount. Her writing is always excellent, mastering the teenage voice and making me believe in her characters. Of course this is reminiscent of Nick and Norah, but in the best way possible.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers and Morgan Matson for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Kat and Stevie are BFFs. They do everything together. So when they decide to have a girls’ night in New York City behind their parents’ back, it sounds like the best night ever. What happens is a crazy ride through New York and they discover who they are and what their priorities are.
This was such fun. Honestly, everything Morgan Matson writes is. This was one of my favorites though, along with “The Unexpected Everything”. The characters were so wonderfully realistic and likable. I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next. I love how Ms. Matson’s books always contain dog characters too. I’m not normally a big YA fan but I make an exception occasionally. Sometimes the exception is made for scouting books for my daughters but, sometimes, they’re for me. Some of the themes in this book will never be outgrown. Most notably, the need to win the approval of your parents and what a good friendship really adds to your life. This book was so well-written and filled with so much heart.
The character of Mr. Campbell was intolerable!! I loved how that wasn’t obvious until the latter half of the book. He was arrogant and immature. Gross! I loved how Kat gave him his payback without stooping to his level.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and am grateful for the opportunity to read it.

Morgan Matson knows how to write the most lovely, down-to-earth characters and Take Me Home Tonight was no different. I absolutely adored Kat and Stevie's friendship and their adventures in New York City are exactly what I would've been up to as a teenage girl. A perfect contemporary YA read.

Matson has a talent for accurately capturing the teenage experience, the intricacies of friendship, and taking readers on an exciting ride. This story isn’t quite like the ones that have come before, and the adventure we get to go on with Stevie and Kat is worth the read.

TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT is an unexpected YA contemporary read, told from three perspectives. Kat, Stevie, and Teri are all good friends from the intense theater club at their Connecticut high school. The book begins with them eagerly anticipating the casting list (well, at least for Kat) for the Shakespeare play they will be putting on. The casting list being postponed starts a series of errors that quickly take their Friday night off the rails.

Kat and Stevie use Teri as their cover to head into NYC alone for the night, supposedly to enjoy Stevie's birthday dinner - but Kat has an ulterior motive. As the pieces of their night begin to go haywire, they will need to reevaluate their friendship, priorities, and deal with everything life seems determined to throw their way, beginning with a forgotten cell phone.

What I loved: This book is anything but boring, and there was a lot happening throughout. There are definitely some humorous moments that keep a light-hearted nature to these series of misfortunes. I also appreciated the light romances that help to carry the plot forward, with some really fun characters sprinkled throughout. There are some themes that are interesting around family/stepsiblings difficulty and misunderstandings, the importance of digging a bit deeper, the power of friendship, and cellphone use. This was definitely an entertaining read that kept the pages turning and laughter coming.

What left me wanting more: I found some of the themes to be a bit troubling, such as the frequent lying to parents, which could have ended more dangerously, and the repeated pretending of a dog to be service dog (it was definitely not - a really bad practice for people who really need them and for those with allergies). The characters were often selfish and inconsiderate, and it was hard to feel too badly for them when their plots seemed to fail. It also treats a lot of themes very lightly, with a mugging that turns into humor and a kidnapping that was frightening but somehow turned into a government spy thing with little kids pulled in (this book got pretty WILD). It does ask the reader to suspend disbelief and the side plot with Teri felt like a whole other story.

Final verdict: With a lot of mishaps, wild adventures, and humor, TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT is an overall entertaining YA contemporary fiction.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

**An ARC of this book was provided to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Kat and Stevie are ride or die friends about to go on a crazy adventure and the title is my favorite song from the 80s? I am in! Kat and Stevie decide to take the train and travel to NY city for an evening of fun and freedom, but their evening goes hilariously wrong so quickly. I was charmed (dogs with human names for the win!) and quickly finished the book with such feelings of nostalgia. Several other reviewers mentioned Teri's subplot being not necessary, but I enjoyed it.

This novel felt like a love story from the author to their younger self, to explore and try new things, and to break from the Graduate, College, Career mold. I loved it. I think this will be a popular novel among older teens who are unsure what they want to do in the future.

I was hooked from the description of "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off meets Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist in this romp through the city that never sleeps from the New York Times bestselling author of Since You’ve Been Gone."

I'm a huge fan of Morgan Matson's stories and she has a way of telling the stories of young girls that captures them as a whole picture instead of as a flat idea of a girl. Both Kat and Stevie are complex and interesting without being trite and trope-y. They have issues: with school, family, boys, and drama - the class.

Kat and Stevie sneak away from the suburbs to spend a night in New York City. They have a plan but it goes immediately wrong, and the drama that ensues is fun and they learn a little bit more about themselves and each other.

They barely make it into the city at Grand Central before they run into a mountain of problems with destroyed phones, family drama, and unexpected Pomeranians. Over the next few hours, they’ll go their separate ways on an adventure, and maybe make their way back to each other by midnight.

Take me Home Tonight by Morgan Matson is a cute story about friendship and adventure.

Best friends Kat and Stevie are opposites in every physical way. They even have different personalities. But somehow when they are together people mistake them for sisters. But on an unexpected visit to New York City, these friends are about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime.

This book started off pretty slow. It was difficult to get into the characters and their storyline. While I do not read many Young Adult books, I stuck with it and enjoyed the remainder of the story. Things really picked up once Kat and Stevie started their trip to NYC. There are many funny parts as well as sweet scenes that really show the bond these two characters have.

If you enjoy Young Adult novels, this book would definitely be a must read for you. It was a fun and light-hearted read. I would give this book a 3.5/5 but will round up for theater aspect that is weaved into the storyline. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for the ARC.

*Review will be posted to my blog on 4/17/21**

Likes:
*The title ALWAYS makes me sing that 80’s song, “Take me home tonight, I don’t want let you go till you see the light…” – it’s such a good song and reminds me of my childhood! Such a fun title!

*Everything happens in one night in NYC of all places which is always a good time, right? It’s such an exciting city, so I loved the setting. It’s the perfect place for nightly shenanigans.

*I did enjoy Kat and Stevie’s friendship. At the start you just know they are tight, and they do get separated during their wild night in NYC but it helped them deal with their own issues for a few hours before meeting up. I like their separate emotional journeys and when they come back together, they are better for it.

*Kat has a cute little romantic encounter, but I loved Stevie’s interactions with her family even more. We get to meet her step-siblings and watch her deal with family issues, I thought it brought the emotional feels in the story.

Random Notes:

*I appreciate the whole Adventures in Babysitting references with Teri’s storyline but I mostly skipped it. It didn’t work for me because I was more interested in Kat and Stevie’s adventure and it really went off in a whole direction with Teri. In the end I thought it was sorta funny and cute but during the story, it would take me out of the story.

*This would make an entertaining movie.

*More suited towards teen readers.

Final Thoughts:
This story is about one wild night in New York City shared between two best friends who have a falling out along the way but find their way back to one another. There is Teri’s storyline who is on an Adventures of Babysitting kick and it’s funny in the end but unfortunately took me out of the story multiple times. I think teen readers will enjoy this one and relate to Kat and Stevie’s personalities and friendship.

I have to admit – it was the Ferris Bueller comp title that cinched the deal on requesting this book from NetGalley. There were no Save Ferris water towers, but this sure was a fun romp.

Kat and Stevie are ride or die besties, but polar opposites in interests, actions, and physical attributes. Despite a planning checklist for their trip into NYC, their adventure goes sideways from the moment they step off the train at Grand Central Station. The evening lands them in some unexpected, chaotic, and humorous situations, and they meet a Pomeranian named Brad who will steal your heart. Kat and Stevie are both very relatable and flawed, and each of them experience their own coming of age moments over the course of the story. Those more serious moments aren’t something I expected going into this book, but I like how they’re life-changing issues and the ways the girls deal with them.

Something I feel could have been left out was Teri’s subplot. After reading Kat’s and Stevie’s chapters, her sections felt like a speed bump that took me out of the story.

Is it likely most of this storyline could happen? No. But if you suspend your disbelief and just go with the flow, you’ll soon find yourself caught up in an unlikely, but whimsical adventure.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

overall: love love loved this! loved all the different points of view, the chapters split up by time, brad, the insane plot with teri and co, BRAD, the theatre community, stevie’s growth, cary dressed like a fighter pilot, all of the insane coincidences. man. this was a truly stellar read!!!! without a doubt 5 beautiful, bright-as-new-york-at-night stars!

my thoughts while reading:*
- 7: I love how all of morgan's books overlap.... just saw a shoutout to gelsey from second chance summer! (and a beckett ref on 24 from since you've been gone! 31: an amy ref!) also what is a sitzprobe
- 10: cute friend nicknames!!
- 24: prediction of how many times bug juice will be mentioned in this book: 4
- 35: starbucks putting their names as cat and steve. classic starbucks move. side note, it took 3 uses of “bux” before I realized that meant starbucks. guess I’m not hip anymore
- 44: classic dad move/opinion there. also GRADY, love this kid already. he “prefers plain almonds” lmaooo
- 56: things are going well so far... I give it 14 pages before everything falls apart (64: “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” is usually the wrong way to start off a plan)
- 57: the fbi raided the office??? I have questions
- 70: 14 pages after my prediction and things are still going alright....
- 102: there’s a guy IN THE TRUNK WHAT
- 103: brad is perfect omg. also realizing that the book’s cover is absolutely perfect for the story
- 105: ah, is this going to be kat’s love interest? hmmm
- 110: smh. must be nice to not have to worry about how to pay for college
- 134: it’s happening. things are falling apart. don’t they know you’re supposed to never split up?!?! BABY SHARK DO DO DA DO DO DA DO
- 136: “how do you eat a whale, pumpkin?”
- 144: I’m so stressed
- 157: why is everybody getting held up at gunpoint or knifepoint?!!?
- 178: I want to hear archie’s a cappella group
- 190: I’m sorry, what? he’s a cia spy agent who’s been operating undercover as...... part of the.... bulgarian mob? there’s no way this is real. this book is a roller coaster
- 217: they missed each other AGAIN. NO
- 235: I was wondering when beckett would come up again. love that guy
- 266: no, kat, you don’t have to do it. go find your friend
- 282: this is a jewel heist now????
- 300: FINALLY we get to know what happened at the boxcar cantina!
- 315: you TELL EM STEVIE
- 331: are amy and roger not together??? I’m crying
- 340: FULL BODY CHILLS. SHE FOUND THE PAINTING. NO WAY. NO POSSIBLE WAY IT WAS THERE ALL ALONG
- 363: teri has got to be tripping. there is no possible way this is real. I mean the royal canadian mounted police? really? please
- 370: I swear if cary works at this party I’ll lose my mind
- 371: the sixth job! of course
- 375: did she just..... get recruited..... by the cia?
- 404: OKAY YEAH, TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT WAS SO GOOD 😭

*these page numbers are based on the advance reader's copy!

This quasi-review will be posted on Goodreads, Edelweiss, here, Target, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, Half Price Books, and Kobo! 💕

3.5 Stars

Kat and Stevie need a distraction from desperately waiting for their High School's casting list for King Lear to be announced. When Stevie's father cancels on her birthday dinner in NYC but suggests she keep the reservation, the two besties decide to escape Connecticut for a night of adventure in the big city. But right away, everything goes wrong. From losing a purse and dropping a phone on the train tracks, to getting mugged and chasing after a lost dog...their super fun evening goes from bad to worse. With tensions running high, Kat and Stevie have a big fight and then get separated. Will they be able to find each other in the New York crowds and salvage their friendship as well as their big night out?

Morgan Matson's voice is a pretty hard not to love. You get sucked in right away because it's just so conversational and chill, and before you know it, you've read 5 chapters and can't wait to see what's going to happen next. I especially loved that in her first few books, which I think of as falling into the "Smart YA" genre: the characters are clearly teens and have some growing and learning to do, but there's still a clever maturity there (which means adults can read and enjoy them, too). Matson has made a bit of a switch in her last two books, however (Save the Date and this one), and her plots now seem to entirely consist of long lists of hijinks that ensue from a simple premise. It's like there isn't an actual story, she just throws every single crazy thing that can happen in a situation (Save the Date: wedding, Take Me Home Tonight: night in NYC) at the characters and then connects the dots. It's still fun to read, but it gets a little ridiculous after a while.

Luckily, Matson's writing is intelligent and compelling, so even as you're rolling your eyes, you know you're still going to keep going. And despite the fact that the plot was weak, I was still going to give this one 4 stars at first because it was still fun to read. But I had to knock it down half star because of the inexplicable sub-plot about Kat and Stevie's friend, Teri, who stays behind in Connecticut to cover for them but then goes to babysit and ends up dealing with CIA agents and stolen diamonds. Was it real? Was it all a dream? Who knows, but it was WEIRD and entirely unnecessary. It didn't move the rest of the story along at all, and all I could think the whole time was, "WHY is Morgan Matson ripping off Adventures in Babysitting so blatantly, all the way down to character names?" (This is explained later as it's revealed that Teri's Netflix queue did, in fact, include Adventures in Babysitting.) Anyway, it's entirely possible that this storyline won't make it into the finished copy of the book, and I hope it doesn't. It just makes the long list of crazy things that happen to these girls EVEN crazier and harder to believe.

So while this was a fluffy read and a good escape, I just wanted a little bit more of a solid plot that made the girls' growth seem more intentional and less of a coincidence. I enjoy Matson's writing, and I'm hopeful that she moves back towards a more organized and cohesive plot with her next book.

**Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.**

This was not, to be honest, my favorite Morgan Matson book. Don't get me wrong, it was still very good, but it wasn't my favorite. In the beginning, I just didn't really like Kat and Stevie as characters. Kat was too too pushy and self-centered. Stevie was too... I don't know... milquetoast, I guess. And all of this drama about drama - when will casting be posted? who will get which part? I'll die if I don't get this part! how will I survive the next 30 minutes until the list is posted?! I get it. I did theater in high school and college. Getting cast (or not) is a big deal, especially in high school when everything feels like life or death. But it was a lot. Then, the trip into the city and the "quick errand as a favor" that you know if going to NOT be quick but WILL be disastrous. Trope after trope after trope. But this is Morgan Matson. The book HAD TO get better, right?

YES. It did. Slowly but surely, as the crazy night in New York proceeded, these characters grew and evolved and had hilarious misadventures that truly endeared them to you. (Does that sentence even make sense?) And while only 50% of the things that happened would realistically happen in the real world, all of the things were perfect and necessary and absolutely *should* be able to happen. And seeing how the individual, unrelated events ended up overlapping and pulling the characters back together was my favorite aspect of the story. It was what won me over.

Oh, and let's not forget Teri. She wins the award for the least believable but most bada** character in the whole thing!

While this may not have been my favorite title by Matson, I will definitely be buying it for my classroom and recommending it to students. It's a GREAT mix of comedy, adventure, real life, and romance. Certainly worth checking out!

Morgan Matson's books are marked by hijinks and friendship, and Take Me Home Tonight is no exception. Connecticut high school seniors Kat and Stevie go on a spontaneous trip to Manhattan to catch dinner and their theatre teacher's play, but nothing goes to plan. Dog-sitting, subway-missing, and a host of new acquaintances accompany them, and the two girls have to grapple with some of their fundamental differences.

I hate to say it... but this is the first of Matson's books that is a miss for me. Although the premise is intentionally a little farfetched, I felt that there were just *too many* coincidences and crazy situations. The addition of their friend Teri's subplot felt forced and too disconnected from Kat and Stevie's story. I really struggled to get into this book, as the majority of the first third is from Kat's point of view and I found her unlikeable. While this book is still, technically, realistic fiction, it felt light years away from Matson's Save the Date or The Unexpected Everything. Will I still read her next book? Absolutely! But not with as much enthusiasm or urgency as before.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's for providing an ARC!

What a joyful celebration of female friendship. Take Me Home Tonight touches on codependency, the uncertainties of college, and relationships between blended families, among so many other important topics. Morgan Matson continues to be one of my favorite authors of all time.

Best friends Stevie and Kat are seniors who spend one wild, crazy, and unbelievable night in New York City. They have a plan--see their drama teacher’s play, celebrate Stevie’s 18th birthday at a fancy restaurant, and make it back to their friend Teri’s house for the sleepover that their parents assume they’re really having. But if that plan followed through perfectly and with no conflict, that wouldn’t be much fun, would it? No phones, a dog named Brad, a missing piece of art, a celebrity encounter, and a one hundred dollar bill that nobody can accept all make for one stressful but amazing evening.

Two other important notes:
Cary was charming AF. I think he’s up there with Sarah Dessen’s Owen and Wes for me.
Teri and the Adventures in Babysitting interludes? Come on. SUBLIME.

My advice: read this with every seemingly insignificant detail tucked away in the back of your mind, because each one will come back around in the most satisfying of ways.