I received a copy of this book from Net Galley. This was a mother daughter road trip book and the daughter figuring out her issues with her mom . They are on a trip to Graceland. The daughter is dealing with a breakup the mother is obsessed with Elvis with health issues of her own. Book had a budding romance a best friend. Well written book would read another book by the author

Sometimes a book absolutely blows me away, and sometimes a book will make me smile. A Thousand Miles to Graceland, which combines a lot of my favorite fictional tropes into a single book, managed to make me do both. Kristen Mei Chase’s writing is extremely engaging, the trip she takes readers on a delight.

Boston-based Grace Johnson’s life is stuck in stasis – the torpor of a dull accounting job, and a marriage to Jeff that is strictly mediocre (and for which they’re currently in couples counseling). These are choices she has deliberately made – her extremely colorful, Elvis-obsessed mom, Loralynn, has never made a dull decision in her life, and Grace has a somewhat avoidant relationship with her due to her outréness and Grace’s past emotional scars. When her mother announces she’s going to take a road trip from her home in El Paso, Texas to Graceland for her seventieth birthday, Grace has a million reasons why her mom shouldn’t go, and why they shouldn’t go together. Then Jeff abruptly tells Grace, right in the middle of a counseling session, that he wants a divorce because he’s met someone new. Suddenly, Grace has no reason not to shake up her life.

Concealing the truth about her impending divorce from her mother, Grace soon finds herself on a wild, cross-country trip with her mom at her side. As they coast the highways and byways of America, mother and daughter soon find themselves learning more and more about one another – and coming to understand and forgive each other (Grace has some major resentment connecting to her abusive, alcoholic father, which has also landed her in the staid life she disdains) as time goes on. Grace finds herself on the trip of her lifetime – even as she learns something about her mother that makes their time together all the more precious.

There’s a twist up ahead you can see coming a mile away, but that didn’t stop me from loving A Thousand Miles to Graceland (and doesn’t stop a surprising amount of hope from shining through). Grace starts out as a milquetoast sort and ends up landing a possible relationship with a handsome man, as well as newfound respect for her mom. Loralynn is the centerpiece of this novel – she SPARKLES and lives in a way that few fictional characters get to – an irrepressible woman who lives and lives. Mother and daughter grow and grow together, and hovering over it all are the spangles and sparkles of The King.

The road trip itself is engaging, hitting all the expected Elvis spots but also taking unusual side trips. More importantly, mother and daughter tease and poke, cry and forgive. The reader will, too. A Thousand Miles From Graceland is Chase’s first novel, which is utterly astonishing to me. May she keep on writing novels that are just as lively, wise and interesting as this one.

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I enjoyed this book about a mother daughter road trip to Graceland. Though for me it was kind of bittersweet because I loved the relationship between Grace and her mother. But it also made it me miss my own mother even more. As she would have loved a road trip to Graceland.

I thought I would like this book. It had things I should have liked: mother and daughter on a road trip to see Graceland. I made it about 25 % into the book and had no desire to continue.

The writing style was fine but I just didn’t gel with the characters.

It may have been a better read during the summer and I may have enjoyed it more as an audio book.

This was such a fun read! I enjoyed the characters, the adventure, and the story. It kept me reading all the way through. Thank you for the opportunity!

A Thousand Miles to Graceland is a sometimes funny, sometimes heart-breaking story of a mother-daughter road trip. Loralynn is a big Elvis fan. For her seventieth birthday she wants to take a trip to Graceland and she wants her daughter Grace to drive her from El Paso to Memphis. So Loralynn rents a purple Cadillac and packs her quirky outfits, wigs, and makeup. Somewhere along the way, both mother and daughter, forgive past grievances and learn to accept what the future will bring. This is a very enjoyable book. Thanks to author Kristen Mei Chase, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

3.5 stars An enjoyable road trip story about a mother and daughter with a strained relationship who find some healing along the way. It has been 25 years since Grace left home for university never looking back and her relationship with her mother, Loralynn, now consists primarily of a once a month telephone conversation. Loralynn, a devoted Elvis Presley fan, is turning 70, however, and announces that she wants Grace to accompany her on a road trip from her home in Texas to Graceland in Tennessee. Grace would typically have said no but her marriage is falling apart and she could use an escape so reluctantly agrees to the week-long trip. The two of them set off from El Paso in a rented purple convertible and amidst the quirky stops and road trip mishaps the two women finally open up along the way and begin to heal their relationship. The novel has a nice balance of lighthearted hijinks on the road trip with serious issues from the present as well as the family's past. I enjoyed the story but didn't love the writing style - too many clumsy metaphors that detracted from it for me so I rated it a bit lower than I might otherwise have.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

A THOUSAND MILES TO GRACELAND by Kristen Mei Chase is filled with so much heart and depth. After separating with her husband, Grace Johnson agrees to a birthday road trip (and in a purple convertible, no less!) to Graceland with her Elvis-obsessed Mama, Loralynn, who's turning 70 years old. I adored the representation in this book—Grace is bi-racial and her Mama is Chinese—and riding along on this healing journey of a mother and daughter whose relationship has been strained over the years. With heavy topics (such as child abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence, grief, and medical diagnoses), this novel also has humorous moments of levity, capturing both the highs and lows in life. The road trip is an adventurous one with unexpected stops along the way that weren't part of the original itinerary. It's in these moments that important lessons are learned for both Grace and Loralynn. This book squeezed my heart and took me on an emotional and fulfilling ride, complete with a sweet and satisfying ending.

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and Kristen Mei Chase for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I throughly enjoyed this novel. In fact, it’s one of the few lately that has held my attention throughout the entire story. While I could see a few things coming, I never felt like rushing though it. I would definitely recommend it to friends.

This was a quick read. Grace returns home to take her mom on a road trip to Graceland. I enjoyed the mother/daughter relationship and how at times it can be hard. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I love anything that has an Elvis twist and this book's title gave me that. It was perfect and that cover is magical.

What a wonderful mother daughter book. I love that they went on a quest together and “found” each other. The fact that the quest was to Graceland added some comic relief to the story. Any daughter or mother will have a connection to this story.

This is a great novel about focusing on what is important. The main character sets out on a road-trip with her mother to Graceland and finds out that there is more to focus on during the trip than just the journey. Definitely has great themes throughout including enjoying time with family and you never know what someone else is going through.

This is a story about a mother and daughter who are very different from one another and haven’t spent a lot of time together since our heroine, Grace went off to college, around 25 years ago. She returns to El Paso, TX, to take her mother, Loralynn, on a pilgrimage to Graceland for her 70th birthday. There is a lot of Elvis in this book as you can imagine.

Grace’s life is in flux and she figures she’d rather go on a road-trip with her mother than stay in Boston, while her husband moves out.

The tale meanders quite a bit, like the road-trip, but Loralynn is an endearing character and her antics and enthusiasm are delightful and sweet. By comparison, Grace seems like a wet blanket, which given her parent’s dynamics, make sense. There are a number of moments when you get a real sense of Grace’s exasperation with her over-the-top mom, who dresses outlandishly and wears wigs to hide her hair loss from cancer treatment. They’re not always comfortable, and at times frustrating.

There is a budding romance with a childhood friend that blossoms along the way for Grace. I appreciated so much that Grace is in her forties, and so is her love interest, and that they’re both part Asian. There are some snapshots of the Asian diaspora experience throughout the book, but it’s minimal.

The writing is good, although there were metaphors that seemed like a stretch, “Mama was in her glory, sucking everything in like a thirsty child with a juice box.”, and a description that could have been more creative, “A tall Black man who could have easily played an American Idris Elba strolled into the room…” Writers please stop describing characters of color by comparing them to famous people.

This is a book for Elvis fans by a fresh voice, and the lane for Asian American writers is widening.

CW’s for death of an infant in the past; cancer; alcoholism; abuse

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

#AThousandMilestoGraceland #KristenMeiChase #ReadForeverPub #NetGalley #Romance #Bookstagram #ReadingRomance

I absolutely love love love this book. I think the author did a fantastic job writing about the experience most Asians and Asian Americans have to endure as part of our culture. We sometimes don't associate this behavior as abuse because we have been told it is normal or that it should not be publicized. Thank you for bringing awareness and representing our culture in your book.

This book is about a mother-daughter road trip to Graceland for the mom's 70th birthday because she loves Elvis. During the road trip, we discovered that Grace, the daughter, resented her mom for not protecting her against her father's abuse. However, both Grace and her mom were abused by their father. During this journey to Graceland, Grace realized that her resentment towards her mother was the cause of their estranged relationship and the root of her inability to take risks in her adult life. Being in close proximity, the two of them learned to forgive and accept each other, and mend their relationship.

I highly recommend this book. Great representation of the Asian community and definitely shined a light into our lives and culture.

Thank you, NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.5 rounded up
Wonderful main characters meet some very interesting characters on their road trip. Fast paced and easy to read. It had me laughing and crying. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

In this book you get to road trip with a mother and daughter as they head to graceland. This book is funny and emotional. This is a.quick and great read. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a complimentary ARC in exchange for a review.

This book was phenomenal. As an elvis fan myself i appreciate a mother and daughter bonding and getting along because of him. And honestly its became one of my favorite books.

I wanted to like this but ultimately DNF'd this around the 60% mark. I just wasn't invested in the story or the romance and felt that it was unoriginal.

Yooooo I loved everything about this one! I highly recommend. Everything about it was very cute. 4.5 stars!