Cover Image: The Map to You

The Map to You

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Member Reviews

"The Map to You" by Rachel Stockbridge is a captivating read, weaving together themes of self-discovery and adventure in a beautifully crafted narrative. The protagonist's journey to find herself is both relatable and inspiring, making it a must-read for anyone seeking a heartfelt story with depth.

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I unfortunately couldn't get into this one, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend it to someone else!

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Map to You is a cute story about finding love in unexpected places. Sasha and Kinsey desperately want each other, but find themselves pushing each other away due to the fear of ruining yet another relationship, until finding themselves stuck together heading out to a medical emergency that has drawn them both away from school.

Kinsey and Sasha are fun, loving, and caring, and you can't help but love them immensely. Definitely a 5 star read for me!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review!

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Thank you to NetGalley and Rachel Stockbridge for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

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Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

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3.5 stars.

I received an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. This has in no way influenced my review.

This is the second book in a series but you can dive straight in with The Map to You without any problems.

I liked that this book was relatively free from the identity issues which are often present in diverse YA and NA fiction. The main characters have more or less figured out who they are, and the conflict instead centres around the tension between Kinsey and Sasha as they try to hide their feelings for one another and miscommunicate their way into a romance.

I do wish the romance between the characters had been a bit more straightforwardly sweet- as others have mentioned, the tension sometimes veers into full-on angst.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read and I look forward to reading other books in the series.

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3.5 stars. A sweet but angsty new adult romance. I was really enjoying this in the first half, so much so that I was kicking myself for letting it languish on my kindle for so long. I don't really have the best track record with new adult romances, and I saw that this wasn't getting the best reviews. But the first half really made me smile, really impressed me in a few ways... before it fumbled a lot during the middle portion and ambled its way to a conclusion that just wasn't satisfying enough.

First, the good. I love friends to lovers; it is such a superior trope. Both main characters are just the type that are easy for me to love. Sasha especially. I love sweet, caring, bubbly strong women who hide their insecurity behind their strength, and aren't used to letting others take care of them. It's always so satisfying seeing a character like that eventually get taken care of, and get used to accepting help and love.  Kinsey was also wonderful, because I just love a grump, and prickly women who don't pretend to be otherwise. Especially when they're got a soft centre for the love interest. Grumpy/sunshine is, again, another trope that I adore. I love all their flirting, their easy camaraderie, all the witty banter, the mutual pining. And honestly, I thought the miscommunication and misunderstandings in the first half were good, because they were realistic and fit with what we knew of these characters and their insecurities. It made sense that they were slow to open up.

But like I said, unfortunately, around the middle of the book we reached a sort of emotional plateau where neither of them were really changing, and all of their issues seemed stagnant, and we kept rehashing them over and over and OVER in their minds. Narratively and emotionally, it was not fun to read. I get that they are new adults, but the misunderstandings just went on for a bit too long. The pace started to feel glacial. If we had seen a bit more gradual progress, or how they were each slowly coming to grips with their own issues, maybe it would have been more satisfying to read. But unfortunately all of the good feelings that I had in the first half were sort of eroded in the face of my frustration.

Again, great characters and great writing. I'm still sad that I forgot about this, because I did end up having a mostly good time with it. But I needed a little bit more from the romance, from the characters' lives, and just more character development in general.

Content warnings: parental abuse and neglect, drug addiction

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3⭐️

Kinsey and Sasha become dorm mates after Kinsey’s messy breakup with her ex-girlfriend, Evie. Sasha has been secretly crushing on Kinsey, and helps her new roommate pick up the pieces. The two become best friends, and Sasha frequently flirts with Kinsey. Their relationship is full of sarcasm and banter, but when Kinsey’s mom has a heart attack, Sasha offers to drive her from New York to North Carolina to be with her family. They set off on a roadtrip that changes the trajectory of their relationship, and forces them to confront their true feelings for each other.

Sasha’s home life wasn’t/isn’t great, and her relationship with her own mother is strained. She definitely self-sabotage’s a lot and has a lot of insecurities about herself that prevent her from fully opening up to those around her. I liked her, but it was frustrating to watch her convince herself that she needed to suffer in silence.

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I wanted to like this one, but unfortunately the writing style just wasn't for me. The cover is adorable and drew me in, as I am a huge fan of sapphic romance novels. The writing felt somewhat stilted, and the romance didn't feel real to me. While I would give future books by this author a chance, The Map to You just wasn't right for me!

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Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish this one before it was archived. I'm always a fan of Sapphic new adult romance, and I loved what I've read so far. Hoping to pick it up again soon!

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An adorable, queer story about two women who are friends to lovers. I loved the flirtation between Kinsey and Sasha, and while this book seemed light and fluffy in the beginning, it did have its darker moments. Both characters have issues of their own which prevent them from having serious commitments. Kinsey and Sasha had great chemistry and I loved reading about how their friendship blossomed into a relationship. Overall, great read and relationship.

Trigger warnings: child abuse (neglect), drug abuse, hospitalization of side characters, alcohol (intoxication), past abusive relationships

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It’s taken me a while to review this book because I didn’t realize when I requested it that it was a sequel, so I had to get the first book because I’m incapable of reading a sequel without reading the prior books first, even if it works as a standalone (which this one does).

I love how Stockbridge writes sweet, adorable, cheesy romances about strong yet flawed protagonists with deeply real problems. Although I don’t think it’s ever specifically named, she writes about trauma and anxiety really well. She writes characters who just love and support each other with everything they have and even amongst darker situations than the average romance, it makes you feel good and hopeful about love and kindness. Kinsey and Sasha are such great characters. I definitely recommend this story and I hope to read more by Stockbridge in the future.

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This book was darker and dealt with heavier topics than I expected, based on the cover and description, but it was still a very enjoyable read! The chemistry between the main characters is great, The heavier topics are addressed well, and the flirting between the characters is very playful and fun. Overall it's a good LGBT sapphic romance, though less light and fluffy than I expected!

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When I requested the ARC for this book I wanted to read a fluffy and light f/f romance and the cover of the book looked like it would be exactly the kind of book I was searching for. So the big question is: Did I get fluffy and light-hearted? Well, yes , to some extent I did, but I also got some serious topics I didn’t expect and this certainly made the book an even more interesting read. At least for me it did. I always enjoy it if bookish characters have a background story and both characters; Kinsey as well as Sasha delivered on that front. Both in a very different manner, but still in a way that added quite some substance to the story.

What I really loved about this book was the flirty and easy banter between the two MCs. It’s so rare to see an f/f couple flirt like that on page and I personally lived and breathed for it. Honestly, there could have been even more of those scenes and I’d have been an even happier camper. The author made sure to give us the right mixture of push and pull though so I can’t really complain about it. Another thing I liked was the fact that Kinsey and Sasha were friends long before they became a thing and since the friends-to-lovers trope is still so rare in literature I really appreciated that the author went for it. It was extremely wholesome to see a couple that knew each other’s habits and quirks and had absolutely no problems to handle them.

But of course not everything in the book was sunshine and rainbows and the darker and serious topics were a constant presence that wove like a red thread through the entire storyline. Sasha’s bad experiences made her the person she was though and they made her character even more real and complex. Whenever Sasha’s past was mentioned I felt really sad for her and I think no kid should ever have to suffer the way she did. Of course it was also very frustrating to see how she tried to shut everything out and sometimes I became as exasperated with her as Kinsey. There were really some moments I just wanted to make her listen so that she’d finally understand, yet at the same time I totally got where she was coming from. With a past like that it’s not easy to trust others and Sasha’s constant struggle to open up and to fight against her inner demons wasn’t only comprehensible but also palpable throughout the entire book.

All told I really enjoyed reading “The Map to You”! I didn’t expect the book to have such heavy topics and some parts were really stressful to read, the strong friendships and the two MCs did a great job at managing to balance the serious topics though. So if you want to read a book with a cute love story that also has some rough edges to it this one might be the perfect fit for you. ;-)

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Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc !!!

Oh god where do I start, at first the book caught my attention and I was intrigued just by reading the description and looking at the cute cover.

But the friends-to-lovers plot, I’ve never NEVER been a fan of it, specifically because most of the times it was about a straight couple and it just felt forced. With “The Map To You” I was expecting something good, solely because it was wlw and I was like yk what, “I’m going to give it a try, maybe I’ve been wrong the whole time”. I was not.

The pace in the book was good. The first half, THE SECOND HALF kinda messy.

Now moving onto the characters, Sasha ily, Kinsley, WHY DID THEY MADE HER SO MOODY 😩.

That’s pretty much it. 🥸

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This book was honestly a bit of an emotional roller coaster and definitely doesn’t match the cover. This New Adult book follows Sasha and Kinsey as a family emergency bring them together and the progression of their relationship slowly unfolds and progresses from friends to lovers. The pacing of this book was completely different from the first half to the second half of the book - it took me over 2 months to get through the first half but i binged the second half in one night. Overall I really loved Sasha and Kinsey’s cute banter and support for each other ad watching their relationship develop. However it covered some heavy topics of overdoses, child abuse/neglect, difficult family relationships and quite a few more - so definitely check the trigger warnings before you read.

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I really enjoyed this friend to lover book by Rachel Stockbridge. Two college friends have been in love for some time, each believing their feelings to be hopeless. A family emergency brings them together and they finally open up to one another. However, the reasons that kept them apart, mainly believing that each of their flaws make them unworthy of the other, rear themselves back in quickly.

I like the banter between Kinsey and Sasha, it really helped me feel their connection. Although a prologue is given, I wish we had a bit more of their “falling in love” background. However, it didn’t stop me from feeling their love and rooting for them. I also wish we got more of them together, but the truly nice part of this book was the emotional growth on both of their parts. They showed a lot of maturity and growth and I enjoyed it.

A nice read. I finished it in a single day. The will they won’t they really got me hooked. I recommend it!

** arc provided by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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📖Summary: Sasha Deforest keeps her heart safe by only falling for girls who won’t like her back. Afraid that her family and her past will push them away in the end, Sasha keeps everyone at arms length. Kinsey Han is her stubborn and cranky best friend. Who she happens to be in love with. When a family emergency pushes them together, will their relationship last? Or do they have some things to work on before they can have their happily ever after?
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✨Rating & Review✨: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sasha needs a really good therapist. That girl has been through hell and back without any support. Reading about her family history and how it has affected her has made want to fight her whole family. There’s no reason a child should be taking care of their parent. Especially when there is other family, other ADULTS, who should be taking care of that child. Kinsey is my whole personality and for that I related HEAVILY to all her insecurities and worries. It really be like that. A truly wonderful, and realistic, love story about college students. Thank you @netgalley and Rachel Stockbridge for giving me this opportunity to read and review this book.
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The cover gave different vibes because this was darker than expected but I didn't hate it at all. I appreciated that surpise. I also think the story and characters were fleshed out incredibly well. Overall, I did love this book!

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This was a cute book - I love the friends to lovers trope, it's one of my favorites and it was done so well in the book. I liked that each character has their own story and depth and emotional growth. This is definitely one I want on my shelves because the cover is equally as adorable as the story.

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