Thanks so much for this review copy. On the surface THE MAP FROM HERE TO THERE by Emery Lord might seem like a typical YA romance/coming of age novel, but dig deeper and you’ll see it’s so much more. Paige is starting her senior year in high school, after wrapping up an amazing summer – a program at NYU, a pretty fun job at the local movie theater and her wonderful boyfriend, Max is back after spending a summer in Italy. She has a terrific bunch of friends (who I’d like to adopt as my friends!) and everything seems perfect. But then anxiety starts rearing its ugly head and Paige is struggling with all the decisions and changes that come with senior year.
This book! I loved the characters and the dialogue and loved the honest way big themes like family relationships, love, life changes and mental health are dealt with. I laughed out loud sometimes and there were lots of times I wanted to reach out and hug Paige. Add this to your January 2020 to read list!

It's been a while since I read The Start of Me and You, but this book can also function as a standalone. (Details came back to me as I read this one, but all I remembered at first was how much I loved the first one.)

The best part about this book is the way it deals with how it goes after you get what you wanted. Paige and Max are a great couple and they're now dealing with waiting for college acceptance letters. I don't think that time is dealt with enough in YA (although it's highly possible that I'm just reading the wrong books) and The Map from Here to There shows how stressful it is to actually try and decide your entire life, based on very little information. What if you pick the wrong school or the wrong major? What if you don't get in anywhere? What if you hate it?

It was stressful for me but it all feels so much worse now. 

This book is also really fun. I liked reading about Paige and Max but my favorite was Paige and her friends. They feel like real best friends and they're fantastic. 

I love everything about this book. Highly recommended.

**Review will be posted on my blog http://pastmidnight.home.blog on January 4, 2020**

3.5 Stars

Thank you to Bloomsbury YA and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

This book encompasses everything about senior year in high school, from boy problems, making memories, college choices anxiety, family dynamics and just about everything that could happen before graduating from high school. Apparently there is a book before this one where Paige and Max are featured and unfortunately I never read that book, but that’s okay! I think this book stood on it’s own pretty good, only a few parts got me confused. Paige and Max are dating, and trying to figure out their futures as their last year in high school comes to a close. What will happen after high school? That is THE question every senior in high school asks themselves and this book addresses a lot of the options that could happen.

What I Liked:

*The friendship between Paige and her friends is what friendship is all about! They were there for her as she was there for them and that made me miss my own high school days when all my friends were together in one state.

*Paige’s friendship with Hunter!! Not gonna lie, I was kind of hoping they would hook up. 😅 Hunter was just so fun and Paige was fun around him. I liked her a lot when she was talking to him!

*Paige and Max’s relationship got tested a few times but they stuck it out. I was in her shoes during my Senior year and I was in the majority where the relationship ended two months after we went to college. Those that stick it out – it’s admirable, just not for everyone and that’s okay too.

*Showcasing anxiety!!! Everyone has their fair share of anxiety but now I have a 7 year old who is just like Paige, highly sensitive, stomach problems when he gets super nervous and I’ve only noticed the signs now. He is just like Paige where he worries about the safety of our family, or he’s such a good student in class because he’s afraid of getting scoldings, it was kind of a relief to get to know Paige’s character because of my son. But it’s not only my son…Paige’s past with her ex-boyfriend’s death caused her anxiety, same with me when I lost my first husband in an accident. So this book really was weirdly reminiscent of things in my own life.

Things That Made Me Go HMMM:

~Not a fault of the book, but I was lost about Paige’s past. So I need to read The Start of Me and You and that’s on me, not the book or author.

~I got a little impatient with Paige and Max’s relationship drama, but that’s because I’m older. Haha…but this seriously was like my senior year and some parts made me cringe, remembering how I was with my own boyfriend as senior year came to an end. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Oh the back and forth of deciding to break up or not, to make it last or not, to leave the state or not. Again, not a fault of the book! Maybe the book is that good that it made me remember my past! LOL

~I wanted Paige to date Hunter. Again…not a mark against the book at all! 🤣

Final Thoughts:

This book is SO young adult, like it is perfect for teenagers, especially those in their Senior year trying to hang on to their friends, the life they know, going hard at making their last high school memories! Paige’s anxieties about her relationship with Max, her choices for college and how to make the right choice is everyone when they are eighteen. Everything Paige and her friends go through is so real and I appreciated that. The Map From Here to There is an emotional journey about life and deciding what will happen after high school.

I still love Lord's characters, but this sequel fell a bit flat compared to the first. While I highly recommend the first in this series, I felt the second novel was just okay. I wanted to love this book, but it didn't click with me.

I love love love Lord’s prose and characters. Paige and her friends are possibly the best depiction of real, beautiful relationships of adolescence I’ve read in YA. They are as sweet and fun as they are authentic and powerful. I enjoyed this continuation of their story and the suggestion of how they continue in to college. Also, Max and Paige are the sweetest and I would read five more books just about the two of them. So grateful to the publisher for the chance to read an early copy of this delightful sequel!

The Quick Cut: A teen girl struggles with the tough decisions that come with senior year.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Bloomsbury for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sequels can be really tricky. Yes, you have a built in fan base to work from, but there is also an additional pressure that comes with the expectations. These are characters and environments that your audience loves and adores. It's for these reasons that this particular sequel misses the mark with its heroine Paige.

Paige is going into senior year of high school riding high. After a win at Quizbowl, a lovely relationship with a boyfriend, and an amazing summer - everything is looking up. However, when her and her boyfriend Max are seemingly heading in different directions. Will her anxiety eat her alive or can she find a way through?

The first book started slow, but ended up taking off really well after it managed to get it's footing. With the sequel, that slow start never launches into an intriguing storyline and to add to the disappointment, the characters manage to regress rather than progress.

Where Paige managed to break through her issues and rise above in book 1, she seemingly forgets what she learned and goes back to falling apart. Her sad and whining nature makes me begin to loathe her where I rooted for her previously - the opposite reaction you want from your reader.

Readers are better off reading book one and pretending this one isn't in the Canon.

My rating: 1 out of 5

Lord does a great job of showcasing all the emotions of senior year - my heart felt like it was brimming over the whole time. The importance of Paige's friend group to her and how much they cared about each other was especially relatable and refreshing to see.

I really loved The Start of Me and You and was very excited to pick up this sequel. Unfortunately, it wasn't as magical for me as the first novel. Still great character and a good story, but I wanted a bit more romance and it fell a little flat. I will continue to check out and read books by Emery Lord!

I have mixed feelings about this book.

Max and Paige captured my heart in the first contemporary romance. I was excited to see where senior year would take them. But this one fell a little flat for me.

I liked revisit the characters a lot. It’s still very friendship based with Paige’s three girlfriends front and center like the first book. I like the tensions and give and take between their relationships. I still got two of the friends mixed up a bit and wish we had more time with them, but oh well. If anything, it’s a buddy story with just a touch of romance.

Or is it?

There wasn’t a lot of romance actually. For most of the book, Paige is waiting for the other shoe to drop. Max might want to go to college in the same city she goes to! Panic! Sorry, I can’t help but roll my eyes a bit. Honestly, the two cities in question are NYC and Los Angeles. Like two of the biggest cities in the world. Honestly, Paige, get a grip. If you don’t want to see him, you won’t.

Also all the wonderful charming things that I liked about the first book were sadly absent in the second. (Quiz bowl? Team building? New friends and taking on new challenges?)


And yes, while I remember trying to make these huge college decisions while jugging boyfriend and stay/breakup conversations, I think a lot of this was over the top. Sure, there is some anxiety and discussion but Paige was almost all consuming.


Overall, I think it was a good chapter in the Paige and Max saga and I still like them by the end of the book. But maybe this one just wasn’t for me.

This is a sequel to “The Start of Me and You” although it is not necessary to have read the first book in order to enjoy this one.

Paige Hancock is now a senior in high school, and full of anxiety over all the choices she has to make about her future. In spite of having understanding parents, a supportive group of friends, and a boyfriend who adores her, Paige is so overcome with angst that she begins seeing a therapist as well as taking medication for anxiety.

High school readers may well relate to how overwhelming Paige’s life choices are. While not much happens outside the normal experiences of a high school senior year, the combination of excitement and scariness rings true.

DNF @ 62%. There was nothing in particular that I disliked about this book, but I found it a little bit...bland. (The fact that I had no idea it was a sequel to a book I have not read probably didn’t help.) I tried to get into “The Map From Here yo There,” but I couldn’t connect with it, and it was taking forever to make any headway. Promising but a bit dull.

#TheMapFromHereToThere #NetGalley
First, the realistic feel of this novel made me love it. Paige is a well written and thought out character. I love that she is flawed with real feelings and anxieties. The long distance of romance and growing up make this novel feel like you are reading about real teenagers. Emery Lord is a well established author, but I think this is one of her best books by far from a character perspective. It is book two in a series, but I didn't realize it until I had already read a third of the novel.

I was so excited to receive this an ARC from NetGalley. I adore Emory Lord and I love these characters. I had a hard time with Paige and Max's relationship and how they didn't communicate with each other. I wanted them to be together and enjoy their time together but they both had issues that it took them awhile to work out. I am glad they talked it out and were able to enjoy some time together before they head off to college.
I understand Paige's reservations about deciding where to go to college and I really liked how Ms. Pepper made the statement that choosing the college is just one decision. I was so glad that Paige really found herself with theater at Mythos and was slowing figuring out where she might want to be during college and becoming closing to a decision.
I love the friendships that Morgan, Paige, Kayleigh, and Tessa share. It is such a great bond and I can see them remaining friends for life. I was glad they stuck by each other but I also understood about them having fights and working it out. Life isn't always easy and perfect all of the time.
I would totally read more if Emory Lord decides to write more for these characters, but I also like how she ended it with us going forth to imagine their endings.

I want to start by saying, I had no idea when I started this that it was book two in a series. Oops. I'd highly recommend reading The Start of Me and You first. By the time I realized I was reading a story that began in a previous book, I'd already spoiled myself on the ending of that book, so I just kept reading, but I think it diminished my enjoyment of the story. My star rating assumes that I would have liked it better if I was reading it as book two, not a standalone.

What I did love about the book was its inclusion of Paige's anxiety struggles. It treated the topic of mental health with care and respect. The book showed a rare glimpse into life after the moment when the two people who have been pining for each other all book long finally get together. The big feelings and struggles Paige and her friends were dealing with as far as selecting colleges, applying, dealing with rejection letters from colleges, seeing their group of friends go in different directions and so on seemed incredibly realistic. I feel like this book would be an especially great read for those around the same age as the characters, or a little younger, who are beginning to deal with these same issues, especially as that struggle often seems to be glossed over in fiction. On the downside, this wasn't one of the YA books that seemed to have as much YA/Adult crossover appeal, for me personally. But that's okay, because obviously the target audience is teens, and I wish I'd had books that were this honest when I was in High School.

A struggle I had with the book is that it begins with introducing us to a new guy that Paige (the main character) is hanging out with. And since he was the first guy we met, I latched on to him as the love interest. I had no idea book one ended with her dating someone else. I then had a hard time liking the guy Paige was actually dating once he entered the scene. Not having the backstory of how the two of them fell in love, and all his endearing qualities, I didn't see how the two of them were a good fit. I didn't connect as well with the story overall as I'd have liked, and I can't say for sure if that's simply because I was dropped into the middle of the story, or if I just didn't fully connect with the writing style. Either way, I love that this story deals with anxieties and worries and emotions that are very real but not often written about, and I recommend it to those beginning to think about college, or even in college and missing friends and family and struggling to deal with everything.

Thanks so much to Bloomsbury Children's and NetGalley for the chance to read an advanced copy of the ebook for free. Opinions are my own.

#TheMapFromHereToThere #NetGalley

[ Bloomsbury - I will post this review on Goodreads and my social media channels a month before the on sale date, as requested. ]

I absolutely love books like this one, it was so amazing to read. It was funny when it needed to be and had all the other emotions at all the right times.

I truly hope to see this author on shelves again soon!

A sequel to The Start of Me and You, The main character Paige is heading into senior year and has anxiety about all the decisions she has to make. It seemed like the character moved backwards instead of forwards a lot in this novel but I did enjoy the honesty of that and with anxiety. Max is always a great addition to any page on the book, great character!

What a great sequel. The author was able to pull me back into the story. I really connected to the main character and though it’s been several years, I could relate to the characters viewpoint and feelings. I think young adults will relate to many parts of the story. This is one where you definitely need to read the first book in the series. Realistic and cute!

I think I'm going to have a love hate relationship with this book...unless Emery Lord decided to write another...I will GLADLY follow Max and Paige to college! Okay so things I LOVED: MAX, MAX and MAX. Also I loved that a YA book talked about endometriosis and mental health. I seriously cheered out loud when this happened.
Bravo Ms. Lord!
A great YA book can talk about real issues and still be rooted in heart and love. The Map to Here and There does exactly this. It's charming, messy and real. It was hard for me to read about one my favorite couples have issues, but alas you want a sequel you're going to get a little bit of drama. This book is an absolute GEM.