🚌 The story follows Norah who is all excited for three weeks RV road trip which her mother and her best friend have planned. More than the trip she is excited for meeting her childhood best friend, Skyler whom she hasn’t seen in years. But when she finally meets Skyler, he seems distant and uninterested in taking the road trip. Has her childhood best friend turned into her enemy? And what secrets her mom and brother are hiding from her. Read this amazing story to find out.

🚌 Oh my goodness this was literally the best YA romance I have read recently. Plus it ticked all the following boxes for me:
✔️ Friend to enemies to lovers
✔️ Cute little banters between the MC
✔️ Road trip
✔️ Close proximity with nowhere to escape
✔️ Family drama & secrets
✔️ Siblings banters
✔️ No spice ⬅️ This was the best part for me. And by no I literally mean NO, not even a sprinkle.
✔️ Cute YA romance

🚌 This was my first book by the author and I can say with certainty that this won’t be the last. Because her book had everything I always look for in a romance book: closed door romance, cuteness and the kind of love that fills your heart with warmth. And I loved the main characters, their passion for drawing ✍🏻 and Norah’s transformation throughout the book.

🚌 Reading this book was like eating double chocolate donuts because yeah it was bursting with sweetness. Highly recommended! Thanks NetGalley for the ebook.

🚌 PS: Nope I haven’t been paid to write this review. That’s 💯 my honest opinion. 😆

I really thought I was going to enjoy this book but I was thoroughly disappointed by the characters and the plot. My issues with the plot is that the characters were one dimensional and lacked depth hence leading me to not really care about their road trip/adventure. This book was also predictable because I knew when the big revelations and twists were coming, as well as the "big climax."

Other readers might enjoy this more than I did but it is a no for me and I cannot recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Kasie West and Random House Children's Delacorte Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 5/31/22

Kasie West is an auto buy author for me. All her stories just capture the real feel of cute ya romance and this story didn’t disappoint. It was for sure swoon worthy.

Norah and Skyler are childhood best friends but they haven’t seen each other in a while since he moved away. Their normal every day talking started to dwindle into only Instagram likings. The summer is finally the chance for them to meet again, after 4 years, with a fun family RV trip, that is until Skyler seems like he wants nothing to do with Norah. But can a trip in close contact make new discoveries and a new meaning for their relationship happen?

I love the friends to not friends to lovers this story weaves. Kasie always has a way of building perfect tension and romance. I really enjoyed the aspect of the story, a good old fashion summer road trip. Close corners can make anyone feel things.

I love Kasie West's previous books, and this one did not disappoint. I love how she explores the different characters and sets up the plot. Great read, would recommend.

The cover (and title) of this book first caught my attention. It screamed road trip! I love Kasie West's stories. She has such a wholesome writing style. I feel like this particular book would also be appropriate for mature middle grade readers. I thought the characters had growth throughout the story and learned along the way. There were real life situations that were believable and weren't over the top that the characters had to work through. I like that it had LGBTQ+ and BIPOC representation. Now, who's ready for that road trip?

In this story the characters have such growth. I loved watching how they had struggles, learned from them and grow. It was an easy read to me that was light hearted. A really great feel good story to read.

I love Kasie West and Places We’ve Never Been is one of my new favorites from her! This one is more of a second Chance type of romance and the characters felt authentic and real. I really loved the storyline and the development of the plot!

Places We’ve Never Been by Kasie West
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Norah is excited for her family’s RV trip this summer. It will be the first time she has seen her childhood best friend in four years. But when she sees him she has to quickly admit to herself that maybe he isn’t the same boy she knew back then. And maybe she isn’t the same girl. And does EVERYONE have secrets on this trip?!?!
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What I liked:
-I love me a fun, fast paced YA story that hooks me quick emotionally, yet has GREAT dialogue with lots of snark. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 This book DELIVERED.
-Sometimes YA books fail to deliver believable drama, but this book did. The drama didn’t feel too teenager-y, but was just the right amounts of sober.
-This book also made me really want to go on a three week RV trip to various state parks, which is big because I am so NOT an outdoorsy or camping kind of girl. 😂😂😂
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really enjoyed this story. If you love YA books, then definitely add this to your list. Pub date 5/31/22.

This is the first YA that I'd read in a while and it was well worth it. Norah's mother and Skyler's mother are BFFs and so were Norah and Skyler until his family moved to another state 4 years ago. The moms decided to go on a cross country trek with two campers, no husbands but all the kids. Nerdy Norah is very excited to see Skyler but the reunion does not go well. Skyler is stiff and standoffish. Norah is disappointed but decides to make the best of the time with her family. She quickly realizes that there may be another reason for this trip besides a normal vacation. She also realizes that her feelings for Skyler have moved beyond the friend zone. This story was fun and emotional-lots of national parks and family dynamics but also sweet, swoony YA romance.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.

I was disappointed by this book. I usually love road trip books, but this book and its locations fell flat. The characters were undeveloped, and their relationships were not well defined. I didn't care about Norah or Skylar or their relationship. Plus, every surprise twist and romantic declaration was obvious. Some readers may enjoy this book, but it wasn't for me.

NOTE TO SCHOOL LIBRARIANS - this is the kind of YA romance that's entirely appropriate for middle school. The kind that is in constant circulation because everyone wants to believe in love and maybe, just maybe, their best friend will one day become something more.
First crushes and friendship - There is something so sweet about those relationships and that's what Norah and Skyler have. With a road trip using forced proximity inside an RV bound for the National Parks of the West, this is a fun story that takes a look at the events of the past and how they play out in the future. Norah is also trying to smash the glass ceiling of the gaming world, so there is a Women in STEM/the Arts connection that is a strong point as part of the trip is leading to a college interview. There are nuances to family relationships in the story, and it is really a relatable novel for middle-class white kids from the suburbs with two-parent households. There is an LGBTQ+ character and BIPOC characters, so Kasie West is adding a thread of diversity to the story.

"'I just feel like you two are different. It's not some fleeting, new thing. It's something real, something that doesn't come along very often, something you shouldn't just let go of because of some temporary inconvenience.'"
When Norah finds out that she gets to spend a road trip getting to see her childhood best friend, she can't wait. Ever since Skyler moved away, she has missed him and getting to spend time together. Within the first few minutes of seeing each other again, she is disappointed to discover that Skyler has changed, and doesn't seem to be interested in being her friend anymore. The further they travel, the more she finds that there is more to the trip than she originally figured, and more to Skyler than she expected. Will they be able to save their friendship, and maybe find more to their relationship, or will the trip solidify the cracks in their friendship?
Kasie West is one of my favorites and this story was a wonderful read! I enjoyed seeing how the story progressed with learning more about Skyler and Norah's past and present. Both of their characters were well written, as well as, the secondary characters and what they added to the story. I loved joining the group on this trip, and would highly recommend this read!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was my first read of Katie west and all I can say is I loved this book. Skyler and Norah are childhood best friends that haven't talked or seen each other in years. They are reunited on a combined family RV trip. It's a friends to enemies to friends love trip. I loved the plot line and writing style kept me hooked through the hole book. I give this 5 star review and would recommend this to my booksta friends.

Places We’ve Never Been is a super cute YA read. I really liked Nora. She is an earnest young woman who knows where she wants to go in life, but has to avoid many potholes On the path. She is excited to go on an RV trip with her former best friend and his family. The 2 moms engineered the trip and the kids are trying to find out what the big secret is. I loved all the national parks they visited and all the things Nora is forced to face.
There is one part of the story that is unfathomable to me. I don’t believe the moms would have been so blasé and casual about it nor not have noticed something was missing for that long.
It’s a touching tender read.

I read about a third of this book and found that I was really struggling to connect with the characters. I was vaguely curious about the secret the protagonist thought everyone was keeping from her, so I decided to flip to the end and find out that was. The reveal ended up being something I typically try to avoid in books, so then I decided this was just not the book for me. The central relationship of the story - childhood best friends who have inexplicably grown apart - was great, but it felt too unclear what their conflict actually was, and it was hard to stay engaged. I've read other books by this author that felt lighter and quicker, and I enjoyed those a lot more.

Places I've Never Been is the cute road trip story of two families who used to be neighbors. They decide to take a three week RV road trip and reunite their families after several years. Norah and Skyler were best friends until he moved at the beginning of high school. Their reunion wasn't the amazing moment that Norah expected and conflict and misunderstanding lead the way through their adventures. Growth, both personal and together, family issues and finding their friendship again take the lead as we go with them on their trip up the west coast.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have not been into YA books lately, however, Kasie West wrote a beautiful story. I loved the family dynamic and the travel experiences. You felt like you were right there with them. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy first love reconnections, forced proximity, travel, and family.

Thank you NetGalley and Delacourt Press for the advanced reader copy of Places We’ve Never Been! This was such a sweet story, and an easy YA read. It would make a great choice for a summer vacation book!

Kasie West always writes books that are such enjoyable and light-hearted reads. Places We’ve Never Been is exactly that. This book had some of my favorite tropes: road trips, second chance romance, forced proximity. I loved seeing Norah and Skyler rediscover their friendship. I haven’t traveled often, so I always enjoy when I can travel through a book. There were also some secrets from minor characters that were revealed and kept the story interesting for me, especially the secret between the moms. I also really enjoyed a lot of the minor characters, especially Paisley, Skyler’s 14-year-old sister, and Willow, Norah’s BFF since 8th grade. Overall, this was an enjoyable read from an author who never fails to provide a good reading experience.

Kasie West never seems to disappoint. If I am ever in a reading slump leave it to kasie west to get me out of it.

This book is about a road trip with another family. It’s about somebody you used to know who is now a stranger. It’s sort of enemy to lovers but secrets Hidden within. I love the aspects of traveling. I enjoyed the characters. I just wanted more from the book. The ending seemed to rushed. I felt like why did we even need a secret. I think the characters could of known ahead of time and talked about how to deal with it.

I just want to thank Netgalley and Random house for a copy of this book for an honest review.