Wanderlust
By: Elle Everhart
Review Score: 3 1/2 Stars

Five Key Feels
-I love the overall premise of this story, and how Dylan and Jack began traveling together.

-I loved reading about their travels, but I wish there was more about certain locations.

-This book really showcased the good and the bad sides of social media.

-I enjoyed the evolution of Dylan and Jack’s relationship as the trip goes on.

-Some of this book felt a bit too preachy for me, I feel like some of the storylines didn’t really add to the characters.

———

Wanderlust was kindly provided as an ARC by Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam. Thank you for allowing me to read this wonderful book!

Release Date: 7/4/23

I went into Wanderlust with really high hopes. Two people with minimal contact are taking a trip around the world? Sounds like a ton of fun.

I did enjoy the locations they went too, although, as I mentioned above, I wish there was more detail about certain places.

I also enjoyed Dylan and Jack’s relationship. It was fun to see them figure each other out, and really build some great chemistry.

This book, however, felt a bit ranty and preachy to me at certain points. There is some triggering content that honestly, I do not feel was necessary to the story. This book seemed like a fun and funny adventure, and all of that negativity weighed it down a bit.

With that being said, I did still enjoy this book and I do recommend it.

#bookstagram #books #readingnow #boogiereadsbooks #fivekeyfeels #audiobooks #audiobook #fiction #arcreview #netgalley #wanderlust #elleeverhart #penguingroupputnam

Wanderlust is a really cute strangers to lovers/grumpy sunshine story about Dylan a writer and Jack a lawyer, both find themselves after meeting once, traveling the world together. Dylan on a whim, frustrated with her existence working at Buxom (a magazine company), calls in to a radio contest to win a trip to travel around the world… and shockingly wins! The only catch, the radio station gets to randomly pick someone from her phone to accompany her on the journey of a lifetime. They choose Jack, who at first she honestly couldn’t even remember who he was. Regardless they jet off on a trip of a lifetime and slowly find their way to each other’s hearts, but not without a lot of grump (from Jack).

I really loved this book, it felt like a mix of “The Unhoneymooners” by Christina Lauren and “Just my Type” by Fallon Ballard, though still uniquely its own. I didn’t want to stop reading, I loved the character growth and Dylan’s strong character, willing to fight for herself and stand up for what is right.

Wanderlust was a really enjoyable debut! It has such a great premise: magazine writer Dylan spontaneously enters a radio contest for a trip around the world, but there’s a catch — she has to go on the trip with someone randomly selected from her phone’s contacts. Her travel companion is Jack, a man she met at a club several months ago and never contacted again.

Dylan and Jack aren’t happy to be traveling together at first, but it was a joy to watch them warm up to each other. I loved reading about all the places they visited and the different activities they did as they fell in love.

My review makes this book sound light, and parts of it are, but there are also some heavy themes, so take care while reading. The year before the story starts, Dylan wrote an article about an abortion she had in college and was subsequently harassed and doxxed. She had to move while dealing with receiving death threats, and her very Catholic parents didn’t support her through any of it. Jack also has a difficult relationship with his parents, who pushed him into a law career. He has a difficult experience in his past with someone breaking his trust in a very public way (I don’t want to spoil anything), and that plays into his conflict with Dylan writing about him.

Despite some of the more serious aspects of the story, overall I thought this was a fun read. After reading it, you’ll also wish you won a trip around the world — and had someone like Jack to travel with.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

For the most part, this was a fun romance read (though it also dealt with some heavy topics). The travel premise was cute (though it seemed like it was always a big rush to get to the next destination). I felt like this really needed Jack's POV though to help tell the story.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am lover of rom coms and while this one had a great premise, it didn't quite do it for me. The characters lacked the chemistry, the slow burn that I look for in these novels. I was not invested and kept wishing Dylan would just give Jack a chance to express himself a little sooner instead of always assuming he's as posh as they come. Still enjoyed it but not my favorite!

Really like the premise of this book, and both main characters! Wish there was a little more detail on the destinations they visited on their trip, but still enjoyed it overall.

I absolutely loved this book! It was the perfect escape that truly encapsulates the magic of reading by getting to visit wonderful places without leaving the comfort of your own home. Needless to say, I devoured this book in one sitting.

Although some of the locations around the world weren't absolutely necessary to the plot (and as a result were just glazed over), the cities we visit in depth are so fun to read about. Everhart's writing and setting descriptions are stunning, Dylan's voice is so captivating, and the rest of the cast brings so much vibrancy to the pages. I couldn't help falling in love with Dylan, Jack, and of course Gwen (because who doesn't love spunky best friends?)! Both characters exhibited such great growth as a result of being together and leaning on each other, which was so heartwarming to read.

The feminist message is so empowering, well-written, and necessary for women to read in the aftermath of the overturning of that pivotal court case recently (which I won't mention the name of because of spoilers). The discussions of these heavy topics were handled very well, and for that, I truly commend the author.

Overall, this was a very refreshing and quick read to anyone who wants to take a quick trip around the world in under a few hours. I highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the eARC!

Talk about Wanderlust! This book gave me a serious want to travel. I loved that this covered a little bit of everything- work woes, family issues, abortion, travel, romance. What a fantastic debut novel.

The story follows Dylan Coughlan, a lucky magazine writer who wins a radio station's once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world. The only catch is her travel partner has to be randomly selected in her phone. Drumroll, please ... she will be traveling with ... Jack the Posho ... a guy she met at a club and accidentally ghosted.

The premise was interesting enough however, I felt the story focused on the wrong details. There weren't enough descriptions about the places, nor did they capture the excitement of traveling the world. The book is called Wanderlust, but it did not portray Dylan or Jack with a strong desire to travel. Dylan and Jack banter is okay, but Dylan constantly goes overboard and becomes cruel. Even learning about her backstory didn't help me understand her as a character. Jack developed throughout the story, but I felt like Dylan's character development was rushed towards the end and was not believable.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP PUTNAM for sharing this digital advanced review copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

It’s mistitled. It’s not about wanderlust. It’s about a woman winning a trip and being forced to travel to secure her job. Wanderlust is a state of mind and totally missing in this story. Honestly, she lost me completely when she tried to call chivalry sexism. Soooo ridiculous.

This book is an alluring combination of "The Unhoneymooners" and "People We Met on Vacation and "Layover"," with hints of enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity tropes.

Dylan Coughlan is the luckiest person who wins a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world by calling a radio station, but her reward comes with a catch: she must take this trip with a person randomly selected from her phone contacts. That person turns out to be the man she met in a bar and ghosted her afterward, whom she calls "Jack the Posho."

There are many things I enjoyed about this premise, starting with the characters' witty banter, palpable chemistry, and the descriptions of the places they visit. However, I was a little disappointed that even though the book is advertised as focusing on the main character's ghosting incident, there wasn't much discussion or explanation about why Jack did it. Dylan keeps calling him "posh," but there are not many clues about his manners or appearance to support her point.

The other thing that bothered me was Dylan's cruelty in wanting to avenge Jack for not contacting her. It took me a while to connect with her character because her meanness tone seemed exaggerated. It felt like a one-sided enemies-to-lovers trope, where the only one attacking the other was the heroine, as Jack was clearly reluctant to go on this vacation from the beginning.

Overall, the positive aspects of the book outweighed my criticisms, and I decided to round up my rating from 3.5 to 4 stars. It's an entertaining, feel-good, self-growth novel, and a great choice for a beach read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP PUTNAM / G. P. Putnam's Sons for sharing this digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

I don't think it was that bad, just not for me. A half-baked romance with a plot that relies too much on social media, and not even in consistently interesting or realistic ways. 2.5 stars.

This book made me want to pack a bag and travel the world. I really enjoyed the premise. The characters had good depth and their stories were unique, but relatable. The experiences Dylan and Jack had throughout their travels sounded fun, but I wish the story had included more of their adventures together. There is a lot of time spent talking about posting to instagram and dealing with internet trolls. While these are important to the story, it started to get repetitive.
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 (one scene without a lot of detail, can easily be skipped if that’s not your jam)
I was provided an advanced copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

WOW what an insufferable main character. She’s so rude to Jack for the majority of the book. Jack might be on the blunt side, but he’s not outright rude to her the way she is to him. I felt very disconnected from this story because I didn’t care about the character who was doing the telling. I really didn’t have anything to root for, so it was very difficult to get through the book.

Thank you netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for allowing me to read this book. This was a cute inspiring story! I really liked that I felt the chemistry in the beginning but it did start to fizzle out for me as time went on. I felt like the romance was sweet but I wasn’t in love with them as a couple. I really enjoyed reading about two people coming together and giving each other the courage to go after their dreams. It was really interesting to see the growth the characters had throughout the book.

Great book and so enjoyable to read. Perfect light story to enjoy poolside or at the beach. I loved the main character. She was so well done.

Wanderlust follows Dylan who enters a radio contest and wins. The contest is an all expense paid trip around the world. But there is just one catch, the radio station will choose a person at random from her contacts to go with her. The person that gets picked is someone named Jack. Jack is the person that Dylan accidently ghosted. The two go on the trip together and it seems like Jack doesn't want to be there. However, as the trip goes on Dylan and Jack end up liking each other.

This book had similar vibes to People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. I liked this book. But I wish it was just a little more unique and not similar to other books I have read. I thought the writing was good. I enjoyed the overall story. I thought it was a good romance book. I am not a fan of forced proximity romance books though. So this one did miss the mark for me a little bit. I do not think I will go back and reread this one though. But I would suggest it.

Thank you Elle Everhart, Putnam Sons, and Netgalley for this ARC.

I stopped reading it about a third of the way through. I was interested in the concept at first, but I lost interest. Cannot really pinpoint why, but I might try reading it again someday, I got distracted while I was reading it and that might have made me lost interest.

I really enjoyed this! As someone who never deletes their contacts, I would probably never go on the adventure of a lifetime that Dylan and Jack go on in this story, so I loved traveling around the world with them for a bit through this book.

Although I think this is already a really solid enemies to lovers romcom, I would have loved a dual POV in this story so that I could have learned a little bit more about Jack and his feelings throughout their journey around the world. I loved the little glimpses we got of his personality, but it was more about his personality in relation to Dylan than him as an individual. I would have also selfishly loved to hear more about the places that they visited together, because I feel they both grew as people in each of these locations.

Overall, I thought this was really great! I loved that it wasn't afraid to tackle big issues while also remaining a pleasant escape for readers. I can't wait to see what Elle Everhart comes up with next!

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the eARC!

Wanderlust felt like a fresh and modernized take on "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days".

Dylan is a passionate but uninspired writer for a popular magazine and website called Buxom, and Jack is a stuffy lawyer who has had his entire life mapped out for him by his parents.

When Dylan wins a radio contest that allows her to travel all over the world, with the caveat of having to take a random contact that's in her phone, she quickly hops on it. She couldn't be more excited, until the radio station calls a random contact in her phone labeled as "Jack the Posho", whom she has no recollection of. When the radio station calls Jack, he very much does remember Dylan, and the fact that after a steamy night at the club, she ghosted him. In spite of that, and much to her surprise, he agrees to go on the trip with Dylan.

Watching Jack slowly come out of his shell and open himself up to Dylan was so sweet, and their slow burn, enemies to lovers relationship was very endearing. I really enjoyed watching them both find themselves along the way of their travels, and in turn, finding each other as well.

I would have loved to have seen a bit more interaction between Jack and his sister, Charlie, to help him feel a little more fleshed out and fully realized, but even so, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely find myself reaching for it again!