Kasie West did it again! Kasie does contemporary YA so well. I've read almost everything she's written, and Places We've Never Been might be my favorite of her books so far! I really enjoyed this book - perfect for a summer read!

This was such a cute book! I love this trope (two best friends who have grown apart) and I love Kasie West, so I knew I was going to love this book.

I’m convinced Kasie West writes the cutest, most wholesome romances I’ve ever read! I’ve been reading her books for years now, and they’re all so good. I loved this one especially because of the road trip element! It was just so fun to read about all the different activities/ places Norah and Skyler went to together. I also loved the friends to enemies to lovers trope. I think it really worked for the plot of the book. All in all, I definitely recommend this one if you’re looking for a sweet YA romance

Fair warning, I’ve been a Kasie West fan for years and I did receive a free eARC copy of the book from Netgalley, so take my comments with the usual grain of salt. I was intrigued by this novel for a variety of reasons, starting with the author (a perennial favorite) and ending with the plot for this particular piece (cross country road trip with old best friend/crush has some serious potential for the plot of a teen romance novel). West’s signature blend of clean romance, complex character interactions, and real-life problems (that verge into the maudlin less often than some of her contemporaries’ work) helped build the book to a satisfying conclusion (which I shall not spoil for you here).
This one isn’t going to be for everyone, reader’s who dislike teen romance novels or who are looking for a steamier read may want to look elsewhere. However, for readers already familiar with West’s body of work or for readers interested in clean teen romance, this may be just the right book for a fun, light summer read. Enjoy!

This was such a cute read! I read it in less than an hour and a half, I couldn't put it down. The characters were so addicting and I loved reading about all the places they visited. I did expect the twist, which was a bit annoying.

I loved Paisley. She was my favorite character, but Skyler is a close second.

I felt that this book was a bit more 'mature' than West's other books. Maybe that's because of the twist or the fact that I haven't reread any of her other books in awhile, but I really enjoyed it.

This was a very sweet summer romance about two friends who grew apart, then came back together and admitted their feelings for one another. The chemistry between the two leads was there right from the start, and I love a good (fake) enemies-to-lovers plot! I like that the family dynamics are a huge part of the story, too, and it's always so fun to go along a road trip with the characters!

Thank you Random House Children's, Delacorte Press and NetGalley!

Norah hasn't seen her bff, Skyler, in years. Now their families are taking an RV trip over the summer. Norah is excited to see Skyler, but his reaction to seeing her isn't the best. Will this be a good idea?

I thought this was a cute YA read. I liked how it didn't focus exclusively on Norah and Skyler. You learn a lot about Norah, Skyler, and everyone else. I wish there would have been a little more focus on Norah's school decision at the end (but maybe that's just the mom in me talking!)

This sweet YA book has two families taking an RV road trip through national parks and sights in the west. Norah and Skylar were best friends who shared everything till Skyler’s family moved half was across the United States. There hasn’t been any contact between the two for a couple of years. Their moms are best friends and plan a three week road trip visiting some of my favorite places like Zions National Park, Park City, UT and Yellowstone. Norah has the added extra stress of stopping in for a college interview at a school she hopes to attend. Things don’t start smoothly for the two past friends. Skylar is aloof and then shares a private and embarrassing story about Norah to everyone. But within the forced proximity of the two RV’s a lot of secrets spill out including feelings. And the biggest of all is one about one of the moms.

This is a gentle book with feelings, misunderstandings, and teasing among siblings. Along the way Norah and Skylar work out their differences with the help of their art and an old notebook. This is a true YA book with the main characters about to start their senior year of high school. Intimacy never goes beyond kissing and this would be appropriate for middle school shelves and up. The ending happens very quickly and you don’t get to see Skylar’s mother tell her secret to her family, although we know it. Also I felt the added pressure from Norah’s mom about Skylar didn’t fit. Otherwise a sweet and enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s (Delacorte Press) for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Typical Kasie West. This is the second book of hers I’ve read (Sunkissed) being fist. It will not be my last. I’m a grown adult with children so some of the YA moments make me roll my eyes and cringe. Not in a bad way but because I remember being young myself. This would be a great book for a younger reader.

Kasie West always has the most adorable stories and characters and this one was no different.
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I loved both Norah and Skyler so much and found them both to be such likable characters, although Skyler was kind of a jerk in the beginning if you give him a chance he is definitely worth it.
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This book was way too much fun! I loved the road trip setting and the childhood best friends to lovers trope. This book had me laughing and feeling for all of the characters.
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thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

"Love is a pretty powerful thing. It doesn't take away all of life's disappointments, but it can provide a nice place to fall."

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Children's / Delacorte Press for sharing this digital
reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Once upon a time, Norah Simons and Skyler Hutton were best friends. They just understood each other. But at age 13, Skyler moved away and the two friends slowly fell out of contact.

Out of nowhere, their moms plan a summer road trip. Norah can't wait to see Skyler again. She’s been dreaming of their reunion and how it would be when they saw each other again after all this time. Then, Skylar acts like a huge jerk. This is the last place he wants to be and he makes it known.

One of my favorite parts were the small moments. I loved that West flashed us back in the past to be able to see more.
Oh and that notebook!
It reminds them of what they were going through and just how much they really meant to each other. From their art, embarrassing moments, and secrets.

There’s definitely some things I had more questions on and I felt it ended abruptly. Also, the beginning felt slow for me. I also figured out Ezra’s secret way quicker than she did. I feel like sometimes she was immature BUT she acted very much her age and the way everything was coming together in the ending just made me feel so 🥰🥰🥰.

Kasie West just creates such wholesome young romances and they’re fantastic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced e copy of this book.

I am a big Kasie West fan so I knew I would want to read this book. I absolutely loved it. I was immediately sucked into the story and just enjoyed it to the end.

This is a YA story following 17 year old Nora and her family. Nora's mom has been best friends with Olivia since college so it is only natural that the two families would also become life long friends. As a child, Nora became close friends with Olivia's son Skyler. However, in middle school Olivia moves her family to another state and the families are apart for 4 years. A road trip is being planned with the two mom's and all the kids. At first Nora and Skyler are not connecting again, there is some distance between them but over the course of the road trip they begin to see what caused the distance and the two become close again.

If a book has a road trip, I am going be drawn to it.
This one is about friends that become more, so a friends to lovers romance.
Kasie West does a great job of writing about YA characters without bringing in graphic sex scenes and I really appreciate that.
There are a lot of friendships in this book that are tested. I love that too.
Also, we see the siblings and how they interact with each other and that is great too.
As always, there is a much heavier, hard hitting topic that comes out as well and we see how that is handled between friends and family too.
I loved the characters. They are very unique and distinct. It isn't like I am always reading about the same person.
I highly recommend this book. It will be a great summer read. It is sweet and funny and emotional at times too.

First, thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC!

I will always read a Kasie West book because they're sweet, swoony, and a delightful way to spend a few hours. This book was no exception, with a super cute slow burn slow romance.

This was a solid 4 stars for me, buuuuuuuut...while I loved the romance and the family road trip dynamics, the climactic twist didn't work for me. It was cliche and rushed, as it happened with not nearly enough time to resolve it. Also a certain's mom's reaction to the situation was super out of character for her and it didn't fit.

Overall this is real cute, but the ending didn't work for me at all.

I absolutely adored this sweet YA romance. Kasie West has a gift for writing age-appropriate, wholesome love stories for tweens. Each of her characters is fully developed and likable, and I found myself rooting for each one of them on this quirky little family road trip. Teachers, this is a YA romance to recommend to your students without exposing them to content that is too mature or graphic. A must read!

Places We've Never Been by Kasie West was such a fun read, and perfect for those of us longing for a road trip with friends and family.

The main character, Norah, has been looking forward to reuniting with her best friend, Skyler, who she hasn't seen for years. Their mothers get RV's and plan a road trip, and Norah can't wait. She's quickly disappointed, when Skyler is less than excited to spend time with her. Through their summer journey, we slowly watch their friendship reconnect, figure out their misunderstandings and disappointments, and more.

This was an excellent read, and I'll definitely recommend it to my students as a summer reading book!

A huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was a very quick, cute read. Say what you will about YA romance but I do like that I can go into a Kasie West book pretty much knowing exactly what I’m going to get. This book gave me those cute, endearing second hand embarrassment moments that I was hoping to get and I liked that predictable aspect.

I wouldn’t say that this book ranks in my top three of Kasie West but I did still enjoy it. It’s got childhood best friends reuniting and learning to navigate their new dynamic, complicated family conflicts, growing up and going to college, and discussion about women in traditionally male-dominated fields.

I love a good road trip story so this book definitely ticked that box. The idea of going on a road trip with your siblings, mother, and your mother’s best friend’s family may sound awful to some but it’s definitely one of the things that drew me into this story. I enjoyed seeing how everyone interacted with each other and seeing how Norah and Skyler relearned their relationship. Norah’s dynamic with her brother was so cute and I really, really loved their own little storyline throughout the book.

Norah was, to me, a bit of an average main character. She wasn’t bad by any means but there wasn’t a whole lot about her that made her stand out from other protagonists in West’s books. Skyler was similar- nothing bad about him but also nothing really notable. I was less invested in their romance and more interested in their friendship, Norah’s college interview, and her relationship with her brother. This is one of those situations where I would have been completely fine if the main characters had just remained friends.

There’s a bit of mystery involved in the plot when Norah starts to realize this trip was not actually the long-in-advance planned excursion she was led to believe it was and instead was thrown together quickly by the mothers. Norah begins to feel that there is something wrong with her mother or her parents and decides to do a little investigating. I figured out pretty quickly what was going on but I still liked that mystery aspect in the story and what it eventually led to.

There were a number of typical Kasie West-style moments of humor and shennagains that fit right into this road trip story. Mishaps tubing in one state, embarrassing moments during an RV park party in another, and many humorously uncomfortable scenes between the characters forced into close quarters in the RV. These moments all helped to keep the book moving and led to come great conflicts in the plot.

Overall I would definitely recommend this book to teen readers. Kasie West does a great job of combining humor with more serious topics in a very relatable and authentic way. I personally no longer feel as much of a connection to them as I used to but I do think they are good books for teen readers and make great mood-lifting summer reads for all ages.

I have been struggling with YA books as of late, but this book was like sunshine peeking through the storm clouds. I am a longtime fan of Kasie West’s books, and as expected, I adored this Places We’ve Never Been.

It’s a road trip book!

There is nothing I like more than taking a trip while I read, and I like it even more, if I have actually visited a few of the places. Though most of the destinations were new to me, I delighted in revisiting Utah. West did a great job showing me the locations, too. From Wyoming to Seattle, I had a most enjoyable time visiting all these places.

It’s about friendship

Norah and Skyler shared so many important years together. Unfortunately, time, distance, and some unsaid things, caused their friendship to fade. This was their chance to rebuild something beautiful. It was wonderful to see them mend those broken bridges and watch what was they shared grow into something new. I also loved the glimpses from their past. These two were adorable, and I could only wish to ever have a friendship such as theirs.

It’s about family

The motivation for this road trip was a bit sad, but I was a fan of all the family time shared. There were some really beautiful moments, as well as some rather realistic moments, and I enjoyed them all. I think the whole family grew a bit during this trip, and some important decisions were made, as well.

Overall, this book delivered what I have grown to expect from West. It was the perfect combination of drama, humor, shenanigans, and romance. I loved the characters, as well as the group dynamic, and I found myself grateful for the jump-ahead epilogue (which was very necessary in my opinion). Once again, I am left with a full, warm heart and a smile on my face.

Another wonderful Kasie West book. This was about a two family RV trip across the West and PNW. And oh was it delightful! I have always thought traveling by RV would be amazing although I suspect in reality it’s not. I loved the friends to lovers romance and the relationships in this book. It felt very true to life.

4.5 Stars!

It’s been quite some time since I’ve picked up a Kasie West novel and I’m happy to report that she didn’t disappoint. Places We’ve Never Been is a captivating Young Adult romance that is sure to steal readers’ hearts no matter their age.

When we first meet up with Norah, she’s excited to embark on a road trip adventure of a lifetime. Not only will she be reunited with her best friend, but she’ll also be interviewing with her dream college. However, her excitement is dimmed when she discovers that her bestie, Skyler, has changed into someone she doesn’t recognize. As their summer trip moves along will these former besties be able to mend fences and possibly see one another in a different light? There’s only one way to find out….

Places We’ve Never Been is exactly what I’ve been searching for when it comes to Young Adult reads. This story is well-written and entertaining. It deals with real-world issues and how time changes everyone and everything. I really dug the enemies to lovers vibe between Skyler and Norah. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to these two and if they’d ever find their way back to one another.

If I had to make one complaint about this story is that I thought the conflicts were resolved a little too easily. I still had some things that I wanted to see play out, but sadly didn’t get to see. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely happy with how this story ends, I guess I was just left more when it came to the whole picture.

Overall, Places We’ve Never Been is a wonderful and entertaining story of young love, friendships, and family. This book was filled with all of the sweet and swoon-worthy moments that I’ve come to love and enjoy from this author. And in the end, this book reminded me of just how special Young Adult books can be.

This book kept getting better and better as I kept reading! I enjoyed following Norah's journey throughout the story, and now I really want to go on an RV trip out west. This was a fun read that I recommend!