Places We've Never Been

So, basically, it's a friends to strangers to enemies to lovers, but with travels and cute things and background motivations that make me feel comfortable reading. It's my first contact with the author and the piece of the story was always very slow, I don't know if every book is like this or if I just had this bad luck, but I didn't want this to happen TODAY. however, I find all the other factors in the book funny and i liked the main plot, the story and all the characters, - and i really love anything involving that love thing and travel.

3,5.

I love Kasie West’s romance books, and this one is no exception! I loved Nora and Skyler’s story and how there were little flashbacks to their interactions in the past. And this story had a mix of my two favorite romance tropes (hate to love and best friends to more)! There was also some humorous/embarrassing events in this story as well as a bit of a mystery (trying to figure out what secrets are being kept from Nora). And it was also entertaining to read about how the different siblings interacted with one another and how they messed with one another. 😂

After 4 years apart, Nora and Skyler’s moms decided to plan a road trip for them and their kids to spend time together. Nora is excited for the trip and to see her best friend again, but is shocked to be treated as someone unimportant to him. Why is he doing it? Nora certainly doesn’t know but it hurts and she’ll give him the same treatment. With Skyler being distant, Nora spends more time with his little sister.

But as the road trip goes on, Nora and Skyler start to drop their barriers bit by bit until they are friends once again. And maybe there’s something more there than they thought…

the perfect spring/summer break read - friends to enemies to lovers always hits different

this book is wholesome energy only. norah & skyler are so cute. they make me so happy. they make each other so happy. and no third act breakup!! yes!! we love good communication!! ugh they're adorable i cannot

the plot of this book was really fun - it takes place during a month-long RV trip, so the characters spend a lot of time in the RVs, at RV parks, or at various national parks/tourist attractions. a super cool backdrop to the story.

the characters in this book are my favorites. such lovable family & sibling dynamics. would like to hug miranda, olivia, and all their kids <3

norah's really into game design, which is super cool. the book touches on her (and skyler's) art a lot, some of the game ideas that are always popping into her head, and breaking barriers as a woman in gaming.

overall, a great feel-good read for when you have a bit of wanderlust!

thank you to netgalley and random house children's for an e-arc in exchange for a review!

I loved the premise of this book, and thought Norah and Skylar both seemed to jump off the page—especially Norah and her "weird girl" persona. I did feel like Skylar's issues were fairly predictable, which resulted in Norah floundering for answers more than seemed necessary. All in all, a bit anticlimactic, but a nice quick read.

First and foremost, special thanks go to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

Now that that’s out of the way, onto my feelings about the book. I’ve read a decent amount of Kasie West books, and after reading them, I can always tell just how much the author loves writing about love (I mean, she even says so in the Acknowledgments). She excels at crafting cute and sweet romances while inserting dialogue regarding relevant teen issues, like sense of self and authenticity in this one. However, I also always walk away from her novels wishing she would delve a little deeper into the characters’ psyches and emotions. Her writing is very surface-level, which puts distance between me as the reader and the main character.

That being said, though, I did enjoy the relationship between Norah and Skyler, especially once they stopped being petty and actually started talking to each other (which happened two-thirds of the way through, making the beginning quite slow). I also enjoyed the backdrop of the RV trip and the various unique locations they stopped at along the way. But again, because of the surface-level writing, I never felt absorbed in the book, and it was difficult to feel invested in the characters’ development and the ending as a whole.

That’s all to say, I’m happy I got the chance to read an advanced copy, but it won’t be a book I pick up again.

This book was an absolute delight. I loved the characters, the little mystery on the side, and the romance. Kasie West does it again. I loved the setting and the descriptions of where they went on their trip. I loved the lifelong friends and the friends-to-lovers aspect. This book was a fun and quick read. The only complaint in the ending felt a little aburpt.

“Places We’ve Never Been” by Kasie West follows Norah, her family, and her estranged childhood best friend on a cross-country road trip. It’s been years since Norah has seen Skyler. After his family moved from Fresno to Ohio, the two tried to stay in touch but eventually the only communication was through social media. Now, their parents have arranged a joint RV road trip for the summer. While Norah is excited, Skyler seems put off by the sight of her.

I think I’ve outgrown Kasie West books. For a YA book, it felt very juvenile and definitely read like a middle grade book. I honestly would’ve preferred this as a middle grade book because the way the characters talked, their problems and actions didn’t match up with their age. I’m disappointed because childhood friends to lovers is my most favorite trope – when done right. There were also just random spurts of conversation where Norah would just rant about philosophical principles which again, felt so weird for a 16/17 year old to say. Overall, this is just another generic contemporary YA novel.

What a bittersweet YA romance! Too often YA romances seem forced and over-the-top, but what Kasie West has done here is just the right amount of teenage angst and romance mixed with family drama. I loved the relationship West created between Norah and the other characters, especially Willow and Skyler. While it's a bit too mature for my middle schoolers, I'd highly recommend this to anyone high school and above.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story is about two teenagers who were great friends as kids but were estranged once he moved away. Both of their families decide to take a road trip, and they are forced to spend time together. It has a rather obvious ending, but there are some unexpected turns along the way. The author does an excellent job of keeping things a mystery and keeping you intrigued as to how everything will finally come together. It was a good, cute read that I would suggest to others.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC!

Such an AMAZING book!! Friends to lovers is so beautiful and Kasie West did a great job capturing the friendship and the subsequent romantic feelings. I was hooked and I enjoyed the Norah’s journey of self discovery while juggling her feelings and some secrets mixed in. This book is totally worth the read!

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the Digital Advanced Copy!

A cross-country family road trip that brings change, growth and love.
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Norah is so excited to go on a cross country RV road trip with her childhood best friend and his family. Since they moved away four years ago, Norah and Skyler haven’t talked much so this trip will be the best way to reconnect. Unfortunately as soon as Norah sees Skyler again he’s standoffish and cold towards her. With their friendship on the rocks, a secret her mother and brother are keeping from her and a college interview in front of her, Norah ‘s fun summer trip just became a miserable journey. Can she turn it around?
🚐
Last year I read all of @kasiewest books and this is another adorable YA romance addition to her collection. I loved that Norah was an artist and a gamer—such a great role model for girls in STEM. This summer romance releases May 1.
CW: illness


3.75 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I first found Kasie West's books in May of 2020, at the beginnings of the pandemic when I was on 100% lockdown and starting to feel extreme anxiety. I was looking for any sort of outlet for this that I could do indoors, since all of my outdoor outlets were gone, and most of the books I enjoy were not quite lighthearted enough for me to handle. I needed something light but still meaningful, and I came across Kasie's books through my library's digital database. I read her entire catalogue (outside of the Pivot Point duology) that year, I read Sunkissed last year when it came out, and when this came up as something to request on NetGalley I knew I needed to try my luck.

This book is about Norah and the summer before her senior year of high school. She is going to be going on a three-week RV road trip with her family and the family of her childhood best friend Skyler (dad's excluded). The intent is to bond/reconnect, have a bit of a vacation, and then also get Norah to the interview she is having at a tiny gaming college in Seattle that she wants to go to - which she is stressed out about. She has hopes and dreams about this reunion, is fully confident that it will be incredibly magical, and then reality hits. Life keeps throwing speed bumps at her, both literally in the form of RV trouble and figuratively in the form of miscommunications between everyone she cares about.

This book has a HEA/HFN ending, but there were still trials and tribulations throughout the book. Norah had to grow and develop her identity in ways that are so realistic to anyone who is used to watering themselves down or masking, especially at 17. There are real life problems in this book, and while I knew I was going to end up happy, because that is something I have come to find as a comfort with these books, I also knew that Kasie would tug at me before I did. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I have all of her books, and I couldn't put it down until I finished it. If you need something that is realistic but still will give you the feel-good feels, just nice YA love, check this book out.

Norah and Skyler have been the best of friends for years. Inseparable since first meeting, they are both devastated when his family moves far away and they are no longer able to see one another. Four years later, and they are forced to reunite for a three week RV road trip with their Moms and siblings.

While Norah has been looking forward to reconnecting with Skyler, the feeling is far from mutual. Forced to spend the trip in the same RV, Norah and Skyler slowly begin to repair the damage that time and miscommunication has caused their relationship.

This was such a charming young adult romance. As anyone who has met me knows, friends-to-lovers is my favorite romance trope, and I will pick up and read any that feature it. So as soon as I saw the synopsis for “Places We’ve Never Been”, I knew it was a must read and was ecstatic to receive an early copy.

I connected immediately with Norah, a female game developer in a male dominated industry. Her goals and ambitions, her fears and insecurities, all built an incredibly well rounded and relatable character. Her determination to solve the mystery of why they embarked on the trip at this moment in time was something I could see myself doing, and I enjoyed getting to know her and what makes her tick.

I felt the same about Skyler, although he is not as well developed, and so I didn’t have the same emotional tie to him as I did Norah. I loved their dialogue, especially towards the beginning when most of it was feisty banter. Their rapport was evident immediately, even through their wonderful snark, and I found myself wanting more one-on-ones between them.

This was my first Kasie West novel, but it most definitely will not be my last. A perfect - albeit predictable - YA romance, it’s exactly the kind of book I would have loved reading when I was younger.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House and Delacorte Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Kasie West is at her best in Places We've Never Been. She brings a charm to the page that a YA romance needs. She is constantly writing relatable and swoon worthy characters and this new book is no different. Norah's childhood bestie moved away years ago and they haven't talked much lately. But when her moms decide they need to go a family road trip tougher, they are thrown back together. The trip is awkward, confusing and emotional. Norah and Skyler have to figure out a way to reconnect after years of observing each others lives from social media. They learn not everything is what it seems and have to navigate the future of their relationship together.

4 Stars
The relationship between the MC and her love interest was so adorable. This was a cute, sweet, cozy read. I was hooked from the first paragraph until the last sentence. It kept me entertained and left me with all the feels. Great summer read for sure.

I was given this arc in exchange for an honest review.

@kasiewest

#netgalley #kasiewest #placesweveneverbeen #yaromance #roadtrip #romancebooks #bookreccomendation #bookreview #bookreviewer #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #books

This book also releases in May. It was a quick, sweet YA read. The two main characters were best friends until one of them moved across the country. Now, four years later-they along with their moms and siblings are going on a bucket list RV camping adventure. This book was good and has me wishing for camping season to hurry up and get here.

The first part of the book was a but rough for me but it got better once they actually decided to be friends again. I did not really like any of the adults because I feel like they put too much pressure on Norah. She just wanted to hang out with her boyfriend.

I received an arc through netgalley.

I feel like it has been a whole since I have read a Kasie West book (did I miss one?) and I really need more of this sort of sweetness in my life.

Two adorable main characters and some mild drama that had me tearing up occasionally. A quick and easy read (devoured in one sitting)

Recommended.

Kasie West really is the queen of ya contemporary fiction. I flew through the book and loved the wholesomeness of this. The relationship between the main character and her love interest was so sweet. I enjoyed the flash backs. I also liked the layers of relationships (romantic and otherwise) happening here. West is an autoread summer author for me.

Places we have never been took me to so many places but mostly to my humble abode of comfort reads and I’m definitely not complaining. This was a really sweet, entertaining and a fast paced read for me. I really loved and enjoyed it.