Emma Lord is an auto-read author for me, and she stays true to what she does best in her latest YA novel. She articulates well the coming-of-age struggles of teenagers, and mixes in a sweet love story too.

Tom and Riley, or shall we say TomandRiley or RileyandTom, are childhood best friends who have been physically separated for the past few years. Riley decides to head to New York to see Tom in a spur of the moment decision, and after a fight with her mom, she decides to stay in NYC to help find her old self... or find her new self. Tom, Riley, and their new friends set off to complete tasks on their "Getaway List", which takes them all over the city, and helps them learn more about themselves and come to terms with who they used to be and who they want to be.

This story is adventurous, fun, and relatable. I found the characters endearing for the most part. I loved Riley's curiosity but disliked her attitude at the beginning. I loved Tom's willingness to do so much for others, but disliked how uncommunicative he could be at times. But all of that is what led to the struggle of the characters as they learn and grow. Tom and Riley are sweet together - and while I think their level of BFF always seemed more physical than just friends, it was sweet to see them realize their love for each other and to come together.

All in all, this wasn't my favorite of Lord's, but I did really enjoy it!

CW: lots of cuss words including lots of F-words (which surprised me, I don't remember her previous books having so much language), kissing only

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the free advanced e-book in exchange for my honest review.

{ Vivid. Ragtag. Uplifting.

Emma Lord has done it again. 

The Getaway List *may* have replaced When You Get the Chance as my favorite of her novels. 

The characters are lovable, the dialogue is hilarious, the emotions are heartfelt, and the pacing is perfect. 

It's truly a must-read for fans of young adult coming-of-age stories.

Riley graduates high school and has no idea who she is anymore, so she packs her bags and moves to New York for the summer to reconnect with her best friend Tom and get in touch with her old adventurous self.

This is a sweet coming of age story as Riley grows up and learns how to make decisions for herself. There is a great group of supportive friends, fun bucket-list adventures, and explorations throughout New York City.

We see complex family dynamics between Riley and her mom, and some brewing romance with her bestie Tom. It's an uplifting story for anyone who has felt a bit lost in the world.

Emma Lord is an auto-read author for me so I always recommend her books, and now I'm even more excited for her contemporary romance debut this summer.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for my complimentary copy; it hits shelves January 23.

I am trying very hard to not scream about this but I’m so sorry I cannot contain it. I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF THIS BOOK!!!!!! I’ve loved everything Emma has ever written and I will follow her to the ends of the earth but this was my favorite book she’s written.

I very rarely highlight the books I read and I found myself highlighting so many lines because they felt like they came deep from within my soul. The best way I can describe this book is that it made me feel seen while also hugging me.

Thank you, thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I absolutely cannot wait to buy a copy when it releases!

“The Getaway List” is an adventure through New York City! Taking place at a pivotal time in the main character’s life, she must decide what’s next after high school graduation. This story is fast-paced, and filled with fun and friendship.

For those who enjoy:
🌇 New York City
🌆 Friends-to-Lovers
🌇 Young Adult
🌆 Found family
🌇 Adventures with your best friends

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 STARS

Content Warning: neglectful parent, challenging parent relationships

+ There is a lot I like about this book. I could relate to Riley’s confusion about what to do with her life now that she graduated high school and how she and her mom don’t see eye to eye on her future. I loved seeing New York City through her eyes and trying to find herself after being what her mom wanted for years in high school.

+ New York City is the perfect city for this story. It’s a place of endless possibilities as Riley finds out, but I did also like Riley’s mom’s backstory about why NYC wasn’t the best place for Riley. In the end it’s a good fit for Riley and she makes a bunch of new friends and even helps her best friend, Tom, fall in love with the city. The secondary characters really bring this story to life.

+ Riley isn’t the only one dealing with parental issues. Tom’s mom is neglectful and spends most of her time on work -which really sucks for Tom. Both Riley and Tom doesn’t have any ties to their fathers or at least they’re not in the picture while this story is unfolding. But where Riley can actually argue with her mom and talk things out, Tom and his mom barely have any communication which is sad. 

+ This is a best-friends to lovers romance and it’s a slow burn. There are so many other issues Riley and Tom need to take care of to really talk about their relationship. It builds and I love their friendship so much, it almost felt natural for them to take it a step further – but they do so while keeping in mind they both have some issues to work on with their mothers and their plans going forward.

My Thoughts:

I enjoy this book a lot – there is just something about books set in New York City that is so much fun. I love Riley and Tom and the group of friends they have together. They are all in the same age group and trying to basically find their way but having fun at it! It’s a really enjoyable coming of age story. If you like a best friends to lovers romance and you love stories set in New York City – you will definitely enjoy this one.

Riley has just graduated highschool, she hasn't been accepted into any colleges. She feels lost. When she chats with her best friend Tom, she decides to go to NYC for the weekend. Her mom is less than happy about her plans. Riley and Tom decide to work on their getaway list and find new friends in the process. I really loved this book. Their friendships and adventures were so much fun. I've added some things to see when I go to NYC. This book had me laughing and crying in parts.

I really love Emma Lord's engaging YA stories and this one did not disappoint! As Riley participates in her high school graduation and is facing a mountain of college refusals, she decides to take a quick weekend trip to NYC to visit her childhood best friend Tom. Tom's been increasingly distant and Riley's hoping to get his support as she navigates figuring out what she wants to do. Like Lord's other YA stories. NYC is almost its own character and Riley's expanded friend group is wonderful. Riley grows up and navigates adult decisions including understanding her budding attraction for Tom, while also trying to establish an adult relationship with her mother.
Highly recommend if you like friends-to-lovers or fun 'found family' stories.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review..

Emma Lord delivers again with fun characters that one can imagine as friends. Riley's decision to visit her friend Tom and tackle the remainder of the Getaway List they made before he moved made for an interesting adventure. I love the focus on the friendship between Riley and Tom. While it is obvious they have feelings for each other, they took a backseat to the support they needed to give each other over their relationships with their moms. I really enjoyed this one!

This book was a really cute coming of age story. Tom & Riley were so easy to fall in love with along and easy to root for. I felt like I maybe would’ve enjoyed this more if I was a little bit younger and possibly going through a lot of what the characters went through (18, graduating, moving to a new city, starting fresh, etc.). Although still loveable, after awhile the characters felt really needy / complained a lot which is not what I cared to read about. It was cute, just a slight miss for me personally!

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press & Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this book / audiobook!

Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book! I will happily edit my review for The Getaway List on Netgalley, and other platforms, when the racist remarks by one of their employees is addressed.

Emma Lord writes some of the most endearing YA novels. The characters in this book felt like they were truly my friends by the end of it. This friend group was so special and it made the story for me!

Riley and Tom have been best friends for a long time, but things changed when Tom moved from Virginia to NYC with his mom. It's been years since they've seen each other, but they've done a decent job of staying in touch. The day Riley graduates she decides enough is enough and makes her way to NYC to see Tom.

Riley thought she was going to see Tom and would be home after the weekend, but she ended up finding herself in the process. I loved the character growth of both Riley and Tom. I wanted to give Tom the biggest hug ever. The two of them were the most adorable together.

The Getaway List itself was such a fun addition to the story. I liked that it wasn't just Tom and Riley participating, it was Jesse, Luca, and Mariella as well. This book was charming, sweet, had a fun adventure and was one of the best YA friends to lovers I've read in a while!

On the day of her high school graduation, Riley realises two things: one, she has no idea what she is going to do now and two, she misses her best friend Tom more than she can bear. Rejected from every college she applied to and her days being dictated by her mother for the past four years, Riley has no clue who she even is anymore beyond the good kid she needed to be for her mom and decides that enough is enough and that she needs to take her life back into her own hands. Impulsively, she moves to New York City for the summer to reunite with her childhood best friend to complete The Getaway List, a list full of all the adventures they’ve always wanted to do together ever since he moved away. Maybe by reconnecting with her best friend, Riley can figure out who she is and more importantly, who she wants to be. As their dynamic comes back to them effortlessly and their days are spent together, Riley learns that there’s one item she never expected to land on the Getaway List but can tick off without even trying: falling in love with her best friend.

From now on, this book will be the evidence I cite whenever I need to convince someone that friends-to-lovers (if done well) is the superior trope. Excuse me, who needs enemies to lovers when you can have best friends who haven’t seen each other in ages finding their way back to each other? No one, that’s who. I can always trust Emma Lord with my favourite tropes because she delivers every single time. Tom and Riley’s chemistry was impeccable from the very first moment they graced the pages. Tom’s cinnamon roll vibes and Riley’s vivacious attitude meshed so well together and as they fell right back into rhythm with each other, there’s no way you can read this without grinning like a Cheshire cat.

In every interaction, you could tell just how much they mean to each other and how formative their friendship – as well as the time in between reuniting—really is. Slow burn is one of my least favourite tropes but hot damn, did it work in this novel. I was giggling, groaning, sobbing watching Tom and Riley figure out how much they are into each other and that they are a perfect match. Also, their relationship is literally the song Timeless by Taylor Swift, I will take no criticism on this point, thank you. No one deserves a happily ever after more than they do and they certainly have to work for it as they tick off items on their Getaway List, which by the way, is such a cool concept and gave this love story the perfect frame.

The found family in The Getaway List may just be one of my favourites. Their shenanigans while trying to help Riley and Tom to finish the Getaway List makes for fun storytelling but there’s the added bonus that all of them are intricately linked to each other and have their own struggles which only add to the enjoyment of the overall story instead of taking away the focus from Riley and Tom. The way Riley finds her place with Mariella and Luca but then also somehow strengthening her relationship with Jesse that seemed almost too good to be true was so wholesome. It’s a tough balance to make sure side characters are well-rounded without making them more important than the main plot and Lord balances this perfectly.

As with all stories by Lord, there are also more emotional topics covered and this time around, we really hone in on relationships with parents and just how much they can shape the way you not only approach other people but your own sense of self and future. Both Riley and Tom struggle with their mothers for very different reasons (one is hovering while the other is basically absent) and their attempts to come to terms with that

There is so much vulnerability shown in Riley and Tom confronting their respective mothers and the heart-to-hearts feel cathartic to a degree where you will most likely shed a tear or two. All I can say is, this might just be my favourite Lord book yet.

Hopeful, inspiring and escapist in the most wonderful way, The Getaway List is the joyous coming-of-age story that is a must-read for fans of the friends-to-lovers trope and Taylor Swift’s Welcome to New York.

This book had an adorable concept, but the pacing was off for me and I ended up skimming quite a bit of it in the last third.

Riley is at a crossroads in her life. She is graduating high school but has no further plans, until she decides to visit her former bff, Tom, in NYC. They have a goal of completing their "Getaway List" that they created together throughout the past few years. Lots of new friends will join them on their journey.

I had high hopes for this book after really enjoying some of Emma Lord's previous YA novels. This one was slow for me. It took forever to get from point A to point B, even when it was obvious. Some of the hard conversations that I was looking for didn't happen and some stuff got wrapped up too quickly. Ultimately, this was a cute YA coming of age novel, but it didn't impact me as much as I hoped.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced e-book in exchange for my honest review.

As a rule of thumb, if Emma Lord writes it, I’m reading it! (Seriously—she can do no wrong!)

This book was a cute coming of age story featuring Riley and Tom! They were best friends who never lost touch even separated by miles, and set off to check off everything on their childhood bucket list! (The writing group was fun!)

This would make for such a fun film adaptation!

This book is the definition of a coming-of-age book. Riley has just graduated high school and is contemplating what to do with her life after graduation. In comes her long-time best friend Tom who moved to New York early in their high school career. After graduation, Riley packs up a few of her clothes to reunite with Tom and tackle their Getaway list for a weekend. Riley ends up staying in NYC for the summer and goes on an adventure with new and old friends to find out who she is. If I had to relate this book to anything, I feel like this is a YA version of Friends. Every friend that Riley comes into contact with is also answering the question of what to do next in their life. I found this book wholesome and the obstacles each character faced realistic. I also really enjoyed how the issues each character faced weren't just brushed over, they were given a good amount of attention and made this story compelling.

4/5 stars for this book as it kept me interested and falling in love with Riley and the gang. Tropes (found family, friends to lovers, slow burn)

Thank you to Netgalley, Emma Lord, and St. Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Getaway List is a charming YA romance that has so much heart and humor, I couldn’t put it down. I alternated between the audiobook and the ebook and spent much of New Year’s Eve and Day enjoying it. Perfect way to relax—I fell in love with Riley and Tom and their good-natured hijinks. The will-they/won’t they dynamic was believable and felt natural.

The characters are 18 and on the cusp of figuring out what it means to be an adult, to find your true self, and to love selflessly. The adventures through NYC made me want to plan a visit (maybe next year?) and made me wish some of the fictional aspects were a reality.

Thank you @macmillanaudio @wednesdaybooks and @stmartinspress for the free arcs! I’m excited for everyone to get a copy of this lovely book.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

In short, I absolutely adored this book. I've read all of the author's previous works and enjoyed them, and this was no exception. The characters are SO relatable and SO real. I definitely saw a lot of myself in Riley. I could not put this one down and I found the ending so satisfying, and, to be a broken record, real. The fact that I could see all of this actually happening made it even more enjoyable for me.
I will be recommending this to others.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Riley is newly 18 and graduated from high school and ready to figure out who she is. Apparently, that includes taking the bus from Virginia to NYC to see her best friend Tom, who her mom has kept her away from for a few years. Cue hijinks.

The premise and some of the plot lines were cute, but overall, I found the characters frustrating. I just didn't care what happened to them, and I found some of their behaviors annoying. It wasn't even that they were young - it was like they were purposely choosing poorly for themselves and being whiny about it. Also, it's giving mommy issues.

Some parts were cute though! Not an overall mess! Just not for me.