Emma Lord's book are always a delightful change of pace. As a reader of mostly adult romance, it's nice to dip my toes back into YA from time to time, and Lord's books are wonderful.

The Getaway List is about two best friends who haven't seen each other in three years, since Tom moved away from their small town. The story starts the day of Riley's graduation, and a combination of nostalgia and spontaneity lead to her getting on a bus and traveling to NYC to finally FINALLY see her friend Tom in person again--and hopefully together they can check some items off their Getaway List, a list they've added to over the years as a someday bucket list.

Her visit was originally for the weekend but it stretches into a summer-long adventure, as they get to know each other as the people they are now. Their friendship is wonderful to watch, as their connection deepens and grows into more. I loved the side-characters, too--their friendship group is a hoot and a half.

The tension between Riley and her mom, and Tom's distance, emotionally and physically, from his provided the conflict for the story, and it felt very relatable and real--the growing pains you go through as the old parent-child relationship begins to change.

I'm so glad I listened to this one. Norma Butikofer delivered a great narration. She really captured the energy of a young girl at the cusp of adulthood.

Loved the story! The narrator is really good. The story flowed easily and kept me interested. I'd recommend it.

The Getaway List is a list of the adventures that are missed opportunities - kind of like a bucket list. While the idea of this novel was intriguing to me - two best friends that grew apart after high school, move to New York on a whim to reconnect with him and complete their "Getaway List"

This book was a little all over the place for me. There were many characters and many things going on, and it seemed a little disjointed. The book did conclude nicely and made it worth it in the end bumped my rating back up to a 4 star. I've read all of Emma Lord's books, this one is just not my favorite.

A cute, clean, and uplifting young-adult rom-com.

At her high school graduation, Riley realizes that she does not know who she is or what she wants for her future. During graduation, Riley reconnects with Tom, her childhood best friend who moved to NYC a few years earlier. When they were younger, Riley and Tom wrote "The Getaway List" - a list of adventures that they wanted to do together. After reconnecting at graduation, Riley decides to visit Tom in NYC for a weekend. This weekend leads them to embark on completing the Getaway List together, reconnecting with each other and discovering who they are along the way.

The audio narrator was perfect for this!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Emma Lord for an eARC copy of this audiobook via NetGalley.

Riley and Tom were best friends since they were young, and spent all their free time with one another, well at least they did until Tom and his mom moved to New York City to further his Mom's Career. Since then, their communication has gradually dissipated and Riley no longer feels like she knows who she is. But that's all about to change. Riley has now graduated high school and all she wants to do is go visit Tom and complete their Getaway List they compiled together. Have things changed too much, or can Riley and Tom feel like no time has passed?

The Getaway list was a sweet YA Summer Bucket List Romance that also has our main characters developing their found family along the way. I love the simplicity of YA novels, but did feel like for the length of the book, the days stretched on and on, and often felt the pacing was very slow. I think Lord did a great job of foreshadowing conflicts the characters come upon, without being too explicit, and it kept me guessing. The delivery service was such a cute idea, and I loved how nerdy the whole group of friends are, each had special interests they celebrate with one another.

Overall, it was a cute read. It would be the perfect read for a young adult.

Emma Lord is definitely one of my auto-buy authors. And, while I didn’t need to read the description before picking The Getaway List from Netgalley, a coming age story, where after her high school graduation, Riley decides to move to New York City to spend the summer with her childhood best friend, Tom. They spend the summer exploring the city and competing their “Getaway List.”

I really enjoyed The Getaway List as an audiobook. It felt like I was spending time with friends; and this was such a love letter to New York. Seriously, Emma Lord should write sightseeing guides for the city (or, someone please tell me she already does!).

Oh! And the epilogue in this book I actually liked and thought it made sense to be included! Yay for authors using this space properly.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the audio review copy of this book.

Emma Lord is a master when it comes to young adult rom-coms. This book was full of sweetness, love, and friendship. I loved it so much

Riley has just graduated high school but she is unsure of her next move as her college applications were all rejections. So, she decides on a whim to go and visit her childhood best friend Tom in New York City. They have created The Getaway List (all of the things that they would like to do together since Tom left to live in NYC). Will she find love? Will she find her calling? This light hearted read (or listen) has a great cast of characters for you to meet. The narrator, Norma Butikofer, is pleasing to the ear and is able to capture the essence of each character.

Thank you #NetGalley, #EmmaLord and #MacmillianAudio for allowing me to listen to this ARC.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6199139782

Happy publication day to this awesome book! I really enjoyed listening to this one while at work. It's definitely a captivating story and I cannot wait to share it with my patrons at the library!

🅐🅡🅒 🅑🅞🅞🅚 🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦

the getaway list by emma lord
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

personally I love a ya coming of age/rom com. so this was a fun read for me. I loved all the characters and new friends along the way. Reilly and Tom were so cute together and the will they/wont they slow burn of it all was perfect. Watching them discover themselves throughout the book and also realize they want to be more than friends was so sweet.

I also loved that this was a love story in many ways, not only was it a friends to lovers story, but it was a story of mother/child love and navigating that as you grow up, and it also was a story of learning to love yourself. Almost all the characters had moments of learning to love themselves throughout the book and it was amazing watching them all find themselves.

It was lighthearted, quirky and cute. Definitely an easy read.

*I received an advanced copy of the audiobook through Netgalley in return for an honest review.*

I really enjoyed this story overall. It was sweet and cozy even though the characters are dealing with life. I felt like I was hanging out with friends. I didn’t like some of the language but other than that it was a clean read. Some of the content was not for me but it was a sweet read.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to this audiobook early.

This is my second listen from Emma Lord - I didn’t love the first and waited a while to make a second attempt… I’m hoping the adult romance coming this summer changes my mind! The Getaway List was absolutely better than the summer camp half sisters one from before, but both had big problems with their parents and this seems to be the main theme.

The list was like a bucket list but because they’re kids they gave it a different name - some things they wanted to accomplish when the best friends finally reunited. Tim’s mom moved them to New York a couple years back and Riley headed up there to spend the summer after graduation so they finally work on the list. They complain about their moms. They have typical freshly graduated teenage problems. Riley makes big decisions. Tom makes big decisions. Their moms make decisions.

I’m still not convinced I liked it - but it’s better than the other one! I will be reading The Break-Up Pact and hoping a foray into adult romance improves my opinion and gets me to go back and listen to the copy of Tweet Cute I bought, first!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio (Macmillan Young Listeners), and this is my honest feedback.

this was such a charming little book! i'm a sucker for a good coming-of-age story!! it took me a minute to get into it, but i found myself really enjoying every single character. emma lord somehow managed to perfectly express how it feels to be 18 and not have a clue what you want to do with your life. even as an adult, the themes in this book are still relatable. will absolutely be moving her other books further up my to-read list!

Finally, a friends to lovers romance I can buy into!! And such a sweet one at that. This was such a fun and adventurous book, exactly what I've come to expect from Emma Lord. She is such a solid writer that I know I each of her books will be a sure-thing good read. Don't you just love having an author like that??

There were a few slightly unbelievable things about the novel, like the fact that two 18 year olds created an app that hires people and pays them wages, all seemingly without any outside help. I mean hello, who is handling the taxes?? Tom, you better watch your back because the IRS is coming after you.

If you can set that aside though, you're left with a fun adventure with a group of entertaining teens just trying to find their way in NYC, all while trying to accomplish a very personal bucket list along the way.

This was such a cute story with great characters you'll want to be friends with. After Riley graduates, she travels to visit her best friend Tom in New York, whom she hasn't seen in 3 years.

While there, they instantly resume the friendship they've always had, even if there might be some growing ones as well. The side characters brought the story to life with hilarious interactions.

I love their friendship and the easy banter between Riley and Tom. Such a wonderful journey as they cross items off The Getaway List, and discover what truly makes them happy in life.

The narration was great and made the characters come to life. I devoured this in one day and wish I could read it again for the first time!

This was a good coming of age novel and a love letter to New York City and found family. The adventure around NYC was really fun and I think is enjoyable to read no matter if you live there or not. The romance was very slow burn, typical in a lot of books of this genre and targeted age. It was cute and realistic!

The Getaway List by Emma Lord 1/23/24, Run time 9:49

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC💛 ! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are mine alone.

The narrator was Norma Butikofer, who did all the characters. I believe the voice fit the characters with standouts of Tom's brooding, and Luca and Jesse's excitement. Their voices were the most distinct, but I could easily tell the difference between all characters. The reading style did bring the story to life especially their time in New York. The pacing was great and flowed easily with the story. The narration and the author were in sync, and they fit together perfectly.

The audiobook's flow was pretty good. I loved the descriptions of New York and its landmarks. The narrator paused and announced every time a new chapter came. The book had a table of contents which helped me follow along with the e-book and audio.

Riley Larson is a high school graduate, rejected by all her college choices. She is okay with it but feels she has lost herself being the perfect daughter. Her mother Genny believes trouble finds her everywhere, especially when she and BFF Tom Whitz were together. Riley wants to visit him in New York after he moved with his Hollywood writer mother four years ago. Genny is against it, but Riley goes anyway to find herself.

Overall, this YA rom-com was great. Riley made new friendships, reconnected with Tom, and found her love of writing. Even the romance between Riley and Tom was sweet and slow burn. It was hard for them to confess their feelings, but vowed to always have each other regardless of what happens romantically.

My recommendation is to read the audiobook because you can adjust the speed, skip parts easily (if desired), and picture the characters more vividly.

This is my second experience with Emma Lord's writing, the first being When You Get the Chance. My overall impressions are similar—age-appropriate behaviors and feelings, with little/mild profanity and kissing.

In addition to Riley and her long-distance best friend/budding romantic interest Tom, several other late-teenagers join the Getaway List (bucket list) team. Jesse is a childhood friend of Riley and Tom's who has relocated to New York City to try to make it big with his band. Mariella is a newer friend of Tom's—they met in high school. Riley and Tom meet Luca at a writing class as soon as Riley arrives, and he grows on them. The various relationships that bloom within this group add significantly to the story.

I didn't want to stop reading—real world be damned! Throughout, I was rooting for the teens in their quest. It's easy reading: not too much angst, danger, or stress; plenty of adventure, growth, mystery, and humor. The teens are caring to—and generous with—each other, and they work cooperatively for the good of individuals and the group. Each has talents, skills, or connections to contribute.

I will definitely seek out more of Lord's work. I put her YA rom-com debut on my Overdrive wish list. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for her upcoming book targeted at adults, which I hope will be every bit as delightful as her two YA books I've read.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. Publication is expected January 23. 3.66⭐

Emma Lord is consistently a young adult author (can't wait for her adult debut later this year) I'm excited to pick up and recommend to my students. Her books always have so much depth beautifully presented in compelling stories. She does it again here. On the surface, this is a cute story about two long distance friends who catch feelings and spend the summer after they graduate checking things off a "bucket list" of sorts. Below that is a story of friendship, family dynamics, especially how things change as kids become adults, and figure out who you are/what you want to be. There's a great cast of secondary characters and the whole thing is narrated perfectly by Norma Butikofer, a new to me narrator. I'll be recommending this to students as soon as it hits shelves!

When she graduates high school, Riley feels a bit lost. She’s spent the last few years trying to be the perfect daughter and stay out of trouble for her mom, but she has no idea who she really is or what she wants out of life. So she decides to take a spur of the moment trip to visit her best friend Tom, who she hasn’t seen in years. When she arrives, the two decide to complete the items on their Getaway List, a list of all the adventures they want to do together since Tom moved away. As they go through the adventures on their list, they make new friends, they begin to find themselves, and they reconnect with each other, maybe even developing feelings for each other along the way.

I have loved all of Emma Lord’s books, but this might just be my favorite. This is a love letter to NYC and a beautiful story about friendship and finding your own way. I loved Emma’s journey in particular. Seeing her come into her own and fall in love with NYC was so fun. She and Tom were so cute together and I loved how the friends to lovers trope played out. This book was just so sweet!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Macmillan Audio for the advance copies.