3.5 stars

Norah and Skyler were childhood best friends, and they haven't seen each other in years. When their families get together for a summer road trip, the reunion is not all Norah hoped for.

This was a cute story but not my favorite from Kasie West. The miscommunication trope was kicked up to the max; everybody had a secret: Skyler, the moms, Norah's brother, Norah's best friend. I understand that teens are still learning how to communicate but this was really frustrating to read. The ending was also a little anticlimactic, but I can appreciate a low-stakes story. Sometimes that's just what you need for an escape, so I can't take off too many stars for that.

I think that the audience for this would be on the lower end of YA, probably 13-15, which is a good thing. Many YA books now are following the same formula, so this was a nice change of pace. I also liked that Norah was popular and had friends and that it was portrayed as being ok. The popular kids aren't necessarily bad or mean.

Overall a very cute book!

I adore Places We've Never Been by Kasie West. I love Kasie West books because she writes really authentic and engaging teenage characters. This book is no exception to that. I fell in love with Norah and Skyler. The reason why I'll always recommend Kasie West books to others is that there is always a good balance of love story, coming of age and a family/friendship in all of her books. Kasie West once again proves to me that she knows how to write a compelling contemporary teen novel full of heart.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's- Delacorte Press for providing me with an ARC of Places We've Never Been in exchange for an honest review. This review will be posted on Goodreads/Amazon upon publication of the book.

I have read almost all of Kasie West's other books and this one is just as good!
Having the characters be traveling together makes it so they are unable to get away from each other as easily forcing them to face what they are dealing with internally making this a great forced proximity romance. This book also explores what it is like to reconnect with a friend after years apart when both individuals have changed (even if it is just a little).
Some of the twists seemed a little predictable but others caught me by surprise! Overall I loved the book!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me access to this ARC.
I grew up reading Kasie West books and loved her romance stories. Places we’ve never been took me on a really sweet journey between to people who used to be best friends but let time and space separate them. Skyler and Norah find their way back to each other through a family roadtrip. I wish we had more time to see them interacting once their feelings had been confirmed. Or even more after we find out the big secret that was looming over the road trip. Nonetheless, Kasie’s writing was engaging and had me wanting more.

Charming!

This book was so sweet and all the characters are so lovable. You definitely fall for them all from the get go. From sibling banter, to best friend banter, to new friendship banter this book is witty!

A three week road trip and two families dealing with everything life has to offer in between. From broken down RV’s to best friend betrayal to sick family they are out through it!

You cannot help but fall for Norah and Skyler!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this advanced copy

Places We've Never Been by Kasie West is a charming coming of age tale of friendship, love, and finding yourself. In this story, Norah and her family are getting ready to head on a road trip with her childhood friend's family who had moved away years before. This trip takes a the families on a RV trip with each family having their own RV, that doesn't last long as the kids insist on traveling in one RV while the moms travel in the other. This sounds like that would make the trip more fun except for the fact that Norah and her once best friend Skylar had a less than thrilling reunion. The pair has found their relationship strained after years apart and they are struggling to get back into step with each other. As they make their way to Seattle so Norah can go to a interview at an art college, they try to figure out their new dynamics and discover more about themselves.
This book has the charm of all the Kasie West books that have come before it and is a beautiful story about growing up and figuring out how to be true to yourself while growing up.

Kasie West is one of my favorite young adult authors and I'm always excited to read her latest romance. Norah and Skyler are childhood best friends who haven't seen each other since Skyler and his family moved from California to Ohio years ago. Now their families are going on a RV road trip together and not everything is how it used to be between them. This is a sweet friends-turned kinda enemies-to-lovers romance that is perfect for summer reading!

I think we can all relate to the feeling of trying to hold on to relationships that have slipped away; wishing things could be what they were but also realizing that too much has changed. West did a great job balancing all the appropriate emotions and pulling us along for the ride.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Places We’ve Never Been is an intriguing pick for me, as I first heard about Kasie West from a BookTuber who enjoyed her books in the past, but has now outgrown her work. As we are close in age, I expected it was possible there might be similar results here, even though I like a lot of YA contemporaries, and I found myself proven right. However, that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy my time reading this book, especially on the heels of the up-and-down inconsistent experiences I’ve had, many of them with adult romances of late.
West crafts a sweet, romantic YA road-trip escape. The initial setup is such fun with former best friends until one moves away having to awkwardly interact with each other on a joint family road trip.
Things start off on the wrong foot, with Skyler being a bit of an ass to Norah, but she holds her own. And ultimately, Skyler’s reasoning is believable. They take their time to really come together and work things out, but it never crossed a line where I felt like they couldn’t have come back from that and been at least friends again.
There’s drama and secrets among the entire gang going on the trip (and even involving some members of the families who for some reason didn’t come), so there’s a lot going on, without distracting too much from Norah and Skyler as the main focus. But ultimately these two families getting together again for a vacation brings out some drama, a ton of fun, and is infused with love.
This is such a cute book, and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA contemporary romances.

I was so excited for this book because the story sounded adorable. Norah and Skyler were best friends until they were 13, then Skyler’s family moved across the country and they stop talking. Then their moms plan an RV trip for their families four years later and they’re brought back together.

Things I loved:
- Best friends to lovers ❤️
- Sibling bickering 😂
- RV road-trips (I love reading about these, I would never do this ever)
- Norah struggling with being herself, or being the person people “like”. This is such a struggle in high school and was so relatable.

What didn’t work:
- Some of the writing was just not that strong.
- Characters that I didn’t feel like were written to their age. I read quite a bit of YA, and Norah and Skyler were supposed to be 17. I felt like they acted a lot younger sometimes?
- The flashbacks weren’t always clear right away, which I think contributed to the difference between when they were 17 and when they were 13 not being very drastic.
- Paisley was supposed to be in 8th grade but I also felt like she was written too young for that age and sometimes acted like a little kid instead of 13-14.
- I didn’t love the parents in this book. They were sort of shadowy background characters that were there because they needed to be, and also Norah’s mom was sort of ridiculous near the end.
- Norah and Skyler made me stressed cause they’d be cool and then I just expected them so start fighting again cause every little thing set them off. 17 is such a rough age 😂😂.

Overall, I loved the story of this novel. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but there was some funny dialogue, the relationships between the siblings in both families was really sweet, and the epilogue was cute. Though some areas felt rushed and not fleshed out enough, this is a quick enjoyable read.

Look for this one on May 31!

The Quick Cut: A cross country road trip between childhood best friends gets awkward when one of them is cold and distant.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Delacorte Press for providing the ARC for an honest review.

The friends we make as kids often don't last into adulthood, but when they do it can be the strongest relationships they have. So I this book between two teenagers who used to be best friends, the awkward tension is real when their families go together on an RV road trip.

Norah and Skylar were best friends as kids; that is, until Skylar's family moved away. Now, years later, they are finally seeing each other again and spending the summer crossing the country. Norah has been excited about it until Skylar shows up cold and distant. Where is the tension coming from? And how will the trip unfold?

Katie West is known for her bubbly young adult contemporary romances that put a smile on your face. While this story eventually put one on mine, it took quite awhile to get there. This story is a slow burn that frustrated me with how long it took to get to the true plot.

A significant portion of the story takes place in U.S. National Parks, such as Zion and Yellowstone. Having been to these places myself, it was easy to imagine being there again while reading. It certainly inspired me to want to go back there again. If you are looking for a story that will inspire a certain level of wanderlust, this story is a match for you.

Norah and Skylar are lovable characters, but even at the end it seems like I never got to really know them. So much of the story is focused on their angst that we never really understand them on a deeper level. I kept hoping for more complex conversations.

A slow burn romance that takes it's time to get to the point.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5

I’ve always enjoyed Kasie West stories, so I was really looking forward to Places We’ve Never Been. Sadly, while the beginning was promising and full of potential, things started to go downhill after the first quarter of the story. I feel like the characters were immature and that Ms. West was trying too hard to incorporate a feminist storyline. I also felt that parts of the story dragged a bit. I did enjoy the small mystery aspect of the story. While I didn’t love Places We’ve Never Been, I will definitely be looking forward to Kasie West’s next story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Places We've Never Been is a summer-y, light-hearted contemporary romance about old-childhood friends, road trips, family, and love! 5 stars!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was absolutely adorable and perfect in every way. I'm such a sucker for the "childhood friends to strangers to lovers" trope and this book did it really well! Norah and Skyler were so freaking cute, I could not stop smiling at their every interaction and they're an amazing couple. The roadtrip environment makes me want summer to be here SO BAD, it made me feel very nostalgic of old family camping trips. I also thought this book perfectly showed sibling relationships, I was laughing so many times at how relatable it was (coming from a girl with three siblings). I really enjoyed how this book touched the topic of the underrepresentation of women in the gaming industry, specifically in video game design, as that is what the main character is going to college for! Anyways, Kasie West is one of my all-time favorite romance authors and I'm so glad I got a chance to read an early copy of this book! She did NOT disappoint with this one.

Kasie West never fails at writing clean, feel-good romance. Fans of her other books will definitely enjoy Places We’ve Never Been.

I love that the set-up for the relationship in this story is they used to be childhood best friends and have drifted apart and are reunited. It's a super cute dynamic and worked so well for the other elements of the plot. The banter between Norah and Skyler is also adorable. I always appreciate Kasie West's knack for writing cute character interactions.

The other relationships (siblings and friendships) were fun as well. I love all different dynamics packed into this book. It really helped bring the road trip setting to life.

I am also always impressed that Kasie West manages to give each of her protagonist’s interesting and unique hobbies and interests. I love that Norah loves art and video games, and I like how those aspects played into the bigger plot and also her relationship with Skyler.

Some of the "plot twists" were kind of predictable, but I didn't mind since I wasn't really reading this book for plot or to guess what might be coming. I was reading it for the feel-good romance since it makes me happy.

Fans of YA contemporary books, fun road trips, cute romance, and art will enjoy this one!

I’ve never read a Kasie West novel before, but she might be an author I have to read more from now. This was a nice YA romance novel and it was such a sweet story. Norah and Skyler quickly grew on me (even though Skyler isn’t the nicest as first and I was scared he wasn’t going to be likeable). Norah isn’t sure why her old friend is acting like he is, but we do get an explanation on that front at least. I enjoyed the friends to enemies to lovers and second chance type of romance that we get in this story. I was surprised at how emotional this one got me, that was unexpected to be honest. A nice story overall.

Place We've Never Been by Kasie West brings a fun road trip story to the reader. While her books always seem cute, sweet, with a fun romance, this one is no different. The family dynamics also bring something to the story. If you enjoy a good friends to lovers mixed with the enemies to lovers trope, then this book is for you! The reader can't help but smile and want more when they finish a book by Kasie West.

I enjoyed reading this book but I didn't love reading this book.

I think the biggest thing for me is that it was very predictable. I guessed the two twists prior to them happening at the end. It kind of ruins a novel when you know what's going to happen.

I also was not able to connect well with the main character because of her passion for video games. I have zero interest or knowledge surrounding the topic so I had to gloss over any gaming sections.

I did like the setting of the book. It was a fun idea to have a road trip and get to view a lot of different areas in the US through the eyes of the characters.

I would recommend this for people who love wholesome, predictable, young adult books.

4.5 stars

Yep, West is definitely one of my favorite contemporary authors. This was such a cute book, featuring a summer road trip, best friends reunited, and a secret that I was dying to learn about. The pacing is even and the story is easy to binge in one sitting. This was a great read going into summer!

Norah and her childhood best friend Skyler haven't spoken for a couple years and she is beyond excited to reunite with him for a three week RV trip. Unfortunately, Skyler is distant and not the kid she remembers. As the trip goes on, they begin to open up to each other and realize that they may be able to rekindle their friendship after all.

I love a best friends to lovers storyline and this was well written. It happened slowly but not too much and the little moments Norah and Skyler shared were so sweet. I also liked the families interacting, especially Norah and Paisley. I was happy that Norah treated her like a friend and not an annoying little sister.

A couple moments of drama felt too easily resolved and the ending came a bit too soon for me. I would have like this to be fifty pages longer so the ending wasn't as rushed. I did enjoy this though and it's another hit for me!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Delcorte Press and NetGalley for the copy

This was such a cute book! It totally hooked me, and I just wanted to read more and more! Norah was a really fun narrator--I liked how she was both driven and nervous. She knew what wanted (especially with regards to her college/career plans), but also worried about how she came across to other people, which I think made her feel totally realistic and relatable. This book was just lots of fun to read. although the ending was a little more abrupt than I would have liked. I highly recommend this to those looking for a quick, upbeat escape.
I read an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I was drawn by this cover and excited to dive in. In practice, though, I struggled with the writing style, as the story or chemistry felt forced and unrealistic. Despite a few attempts I did not finish the book. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.