I was so excited to receive this ARC from Net Galley. I have loved everyone of Cochrun’s book and a couldn’t wait to dive into another story. What I loved most about this book is how I was able to relate to both of the main characters. I greatly enjoyed reading about their journey on the Camino and of course their love story. The rest of characters also have their heartwarming stories. I highly recommend this book!

I loved this! It was a truly adorable sapphic read. Love the self discovery and validation our main character got.

This story had a lot of promise but I felt like the main character completely 180’d in such a short amount of time that it wasn’t believable. At about the 60% mark it felt like someone else took over writing the book the way they wanted and it switched tones.
I did enjoy the adventure though!

There was a lot I enjoyed about this. The discover of self on the camino made me move up walking the camino on my “future trips” list. I enjoyed Sadie’s later in life discovery of self. IDK the relationship fell a little flat. It was unclear to me how Mal wasn’t repeating the same exact patterns. Alas. Still enjoyable.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for a complimentary earc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fantastic romance! I sped through this book in just over a day and had a great time. The characters are endearing and relatable, even if your experiences aren’t quite like theirs. I loved it.

I do wish that Sadie actually looked plus size on the cover, bc it was great to have a fat MC!!

I loved Sadie! All of her worries and insecurities were so relatable that I felt like I was reading about a friend from the first chapter. Like Sadie, I am a homebody with zero desire to travel even though the rest of my family does; I enjoyed watching her grow along her trek and found plenty of opportunity for reflection and introspection myself as she was walking. This novel provided me with a much deeper emotional and reflective experience than I’d anticipated and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This book was a fun read. The descriptions of where they were and what they ate were detailed enough to set the scene without making the whole thing into a travel book. Both women had some issues to work through and, while they did get together in some ways, they both put in the work to deal with their hangups before the end. It was a bit too spicy for my liking, but that's completely subjective.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!!

I fell in love with Sadie in the first chapter. Not going to lie I low key relate to her ALOT!!! That being said it did take me a while to vibe with Mal. I’m not sure how I feel about the instalove trope… or the whole practice relationship but it is what it is.

I did enjoy the diverse character and the adventure aspect of this story.

Overall a pretty good experience.

A coming of age story centering on two women in there 30s... it's never too late to learn who you are.

When her travel influencer sister can't make the trip she was supposed to blog, overworked Sadie volunteers to walk El Camino for her. The two week journey will be a break from the antique store she's been running since high school, the emotional labor managing her family, and the men who even when they are plenty fine don't inspire her to not count down to the end of the date. On the Camino Sadie meets a cast of traveling queer characters, including Mal who is running from another failed relationship and figuring out what to do with her late father's company. Most people drawn to El Camino are running from something or toward something, but what will Sadie and Mal find?

Every time I read about the Camino I want to do it, but I wish I was with this little group. There is a bit of over explanation of queer lingo and therapy speak sometimes, but overall it is very sweet.

4/5 stars

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publishers for access to an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Every Step She Takes follows Mal and Sadie as they embark on a journey both literal and of internal discovery along the Camino de Santiago in Portugal/Spain. Sadie, 35, is coming to terms with her sexuality and Mal, 38, is trying to figure out what to do next now that her estranged father has died and she has inherited his business. To start with the positives, I really enjoyed the setting. Cochrun brings the trail to life with vivid details and fun anecdotes about the trail. You can clearly tell that she has walked these roads herself. I also really enjoyed the characterization and how fleshed out the two main characters and all of the side characters were. The group of side characters form a found family and I really enjoyed every one of them. Would LOVE to read Rebecca's book. I also think that all of the conversations about body image and sexuality were very well done and were handled with care and understanding.

That said, I have read all of Cochrun's full length novels and, unfortunately, this is my least favorite. I was excited to read about more mature characters (as most romance novels follow 20-somethings) but found the execution of the "practice relationship" to be completely juvenile. I understand the whole second adolescence thing but, come on, these women are in their late 30s. They would not truly believe that having sex with someone is somehow really just practice. This is compounded by the fact that Mal in particular is extremely immature. I mean, at one point she literally <spoiler>runs away from a former caretaker in order to avoid talking to her. She is also unnecessarily flippant and rude to a family member who is only trying to help her.</spoiler> This is not the behavior of a 38 year old I would want to read about. I am also not a huge fan of insta love but that is more of a trope preference. All and all, these factors came together such that while I enjoyed the beginning of this book, I wasn't really having a great time by the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“Every Step She Takes” pulls you alongside Sadie, who unexpectedly finds herself in Portugal to walk and blog about the Camino, a pilgrimage that ends in Spain. Surrounded by a wonderfully diverse cast of characters, including Mal who is also trying to navigate her own past, Sadie learns how to push herself to figure out who she truly is. It’s about being authentic and accepting yourself, about letting go to figure out who you really are. It’s also about friendship and moving forward. “Every Step She Takes” shows how much can happen in a journey that is both literal and figurative. I also appreciated Alison Cochrun’s skillful writing, the depth of the characters, and the descriptive settings.

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read “Every Step She Takes.”

Another great book from Alison Cochrun! I absolutely adored her book, "Here We Go Again", and I enjoyed this one just as much if not more. Somehow this book managed to make walking actually seem fun, and made me dream of going on my own Camino someday.

In terms of the characters, I loved both Sadie and Mal. Particularly, Sadie's ability to share parts of herself so freely was incredibly appealing to me as someone who struggles with that very thing. This is why I related so much to Mal, who is closed off and a perfect opposite match to Sadie's way of life. Watching them fall in love was adorable, hot, and funny at the same time. They were both super into each other and I ate up every minute they spent together.

The side characters were pretty likeable as well. Each of them had their own unique personalities and stories, athough I didn't always feel quite as connected to some of them as I'd have liked. When the whole group was together the dynamic was fun and reflective.

Overall, this book is funny, romantic, and full of heart. 5/5 stars.

Just want to start off with the biggest thank you to Atria for this galley and to Alison Cochrun for writing another instant favorite. When yall need a hype person for the next one let me know heheh. I can not wait to talk about this book nonstop for the rest of time.
Going into this book I knew I was going to leave wanting to do the Camino. Brb looking for flights to Spain right now.

Normally the second hand embarrassment gets to me but honestly from page one I was fully enamored with Sadie and her awkwardness. I too had the messiest coming out.

Honestly I loved the adventure they had. Every side character/ lifelong friend they made and their journey of falling in love and then realizing it. The growth was so beautiful to read. I normally hate a third act breakup but this one felt so important so they could grow and heal (and go to therapy!!!) Mal felt so genuine in her grief and the unlearning and understanding of her behaviors and actions -I love her your honor.

All in all I love Sadie & Mal and won’t be shutting up about them anytime soon.

I think the back half of this book is much, much better than the first half. I thought the first part just didn’t get the set up quite right. There’s also, for some reason, this sapphic rom com desire to put as many brand names and pop culture references in as possible which I find distracting and weak, aging the book almost immediately and acting as almost a queer inventory or checklist to gatekeeper experience.

All of that out of my system, I enjoyed the portrayal of grief from Mal’s character. I thought it was well done and given the room to have depth. The coming out or figuring out sexuality thing that Sadie works on isn’t as gripping personally. I almost wish this entire thing had been from Mal’s point of view.

Anyway, fun if not in need of some better, stronger editing.

Thanks for the ARC.

It’s always refreshing when there’s a main character that is older and not had sexual experience. I’m not sure why, but I feel like it needs to be talked about more and the way the author handled it was great.

I saw myself in both Mal and Sadie. Even though the Camino is only two weeks, it was believable when the two main characters fell for each other and it didn’t seem too fast oddly enough. The cultural references were on point and I was cracking up at all the references.

I do believe that it would’ve been better to have an epilogue due to how abrupt I felt the book ended and due to Mal’s pattern of not liking the middle of things. It would’ve been a nice full circle moment to flash forward into “the middle” of their relationship and see how Mal embraces that and to see that Sadie was different and the situation was different from her other relationships.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I highly enjoyed this story of a pilgrimage on the Portuguese coastal route of the Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. I was immediately engaged with the meeting of the two main characters, thirty-five-year-old Seattleite Sadie Wells and thirty-eight-year-old blue haired, mullet wearing Portuguese native, Mal. Their meeting on a plane from Seattle to London was unique in how it occurred and what Mal quickly learned about Sadie. Once they land in London and both get to their respective destinations, the uniqueness of their interactions and journey continues. Ironically, I began reading the book when the dated entries of the first chapter commenced.

Reading through the pilgrimage destinations (I googled each location) and growing to know all of the characters, provided an interesting perspective to the reader in addition to the happenings between Sadie and Mal and their group. Along the journey, the story provides a lot of life and relationship lessons, but I liked that the writer crafted them around the theme of self-discovery.

I'd highly recommend this book to other readers, especially those who like a good travel story.

I received an ARC from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Atria & Alison for an e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first read of Alison Cochrun and it won't be my last. I really enjoyed the pacing of this book and read it in one sitting.

This is my favorite Alison Cochrun novel! I love a coming of age but later in life story with a journey both literal and figurative. The two main characters Sadie and Mal are on the Camino from Portugal to Spain where they fall in love but can’t quite admit it to themselves for each of their own reasons. This book has a lot to say about fluidity of identity, the powerful hold heteronormativity can have on people, and how there is no wrong time to learn about our authentic selves. EVERY STEP SHE TAKES was a delightful untraditional rom-com that makes me want to travel to Portugal ASAP!

*4.5 Stars*

First, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

God, I loved this book. I found myself reading this book at every chance I got, forgoing lunch breaks at work to keep trekking along the Camino with Sadie and Mal, and when I wasn’t reading I wanted to be reading!

Every Step She Takes is a journey through self-acceptance and discovering that everyone is walking their own path at their own pace and that that is perfectly normal. This story shows that it’s never too late to meet yourself and to start living unapologetically and honestly, to take up space and not be sorry for it. It made me feel seen and strangely at peace.

I loved the characters and the plot, and even though there were times where I had to put down my phone and pace out of frustration at the lack of simple communication, I had an amazing time! So amazing that I even thought about looking up travel info for my own Camino.

For anyone who loves road trip/tavel stories, books highlighting self-reflection and self-discovery, or a quirky, queer found family, Every Step She Takes is definitely for you. Bom caminho!

Swoon. Hiking the Camino is now on my bucket list. Alison Cochrun has a great habit of making me fall in love with characters I’m not necessarily attracted to. They’re just so human and trying so hard to human - and then they get it right and the payoff is chef’s kiss. I loved the vulnerability but that it wasn’t cliche. I loved the scenery. I loved the characters, each unique in their own way. Stefano cracked me up- I wish I had a friend like him. But the others too. Great cast for both Sadie and Mal’s journey. Everything clicked. Highly recommend this one whether you’re on a journey or not.

Short summary: Sadie’s existential crisis becomes an out loud problem when she thinks her plane is going down and she comes out to her seat mate - beautiful/handsome Mal. Who she’s never going to see again. Until Mal shows up on her 200mile trek through Portugal.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.