3.5 stars!

I love Emma Lord and this was a sweet book where I mostly cared about the friendships and the rich and authentic descriptions of New York City. I liked all of the characters and I found myself smiling on more than one occasion. My main issue is that I didn't find anything surprising, but another great example of Emma Lord's exquisite writing!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Respectfully, Can I have my identity back now?”
“Ugh. I was really enjoying being hot, and nerdy and six foot holy shit. Can’t you just let me have this?”

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the copy of this eARC. I was lucky enough to receive one of Begin Again and it made me a Emma Lord fan for life, so when this popped up, I knew it would be a must read.

Emma write YA in a way that makes me forget it's YA. The character themselves are just graduating high school, but they have so much dimension to them that I feel as though I am there with them, becoming a part of the friend group invited along on all of there adventures.

This story tackles something I think a lot of my generation can attest to--the feeling of obligation to pursue higher education and the fallout with your parents when you don't live up to their dreams and aspirations of you. As a teen we are almost forced into a box with others telling us what to do and where to go, but suddenly we graduate and we're expected to know how to be the adults we've been looking up to our entire lives.

I adore Riley as a character. Rebellious to a fault, and a little unsure on where her life is about to take her, she is so brave for uprooting everything she knows in for the sake of finding herself. I just visited New York alone for the first time just before my 28th birthday, and it was quite possible one of the scariest things I've ever done.

For her to do it 18 is unimaginable to me, but her coming out the other side note wanting to leave was something I felt at a cellular level. My first solo trip to the city mirrored hers so much, though I took a plane instead of a bus, I had to do the whole "figure it the hell out" thing with my friend refusing to meet me at the airport because it was a "character development" opportunity. Love you and hate you Mia.

I left that trip with aa new respect for myself and the overwhelming urge to do it again. Riley feeling like she learned to much about herself in the giant city was something I understood so well, and I wish I didn't have to see her story end.

Apart from my immense love of our Main Character, the entire cast in this story was so amazing, and the premise of "The Getaway List" was so fun, and something I wish my friends and I could've done growing up. Along with that I am never typically a fan of Friends to Lovers stories but everything about Riley and Tom was something I admired and brings back the reminder of how much our parents think they are there for us, when we feel quite the opposite.

There are so many little threads and life lessons in this book that I could talk about for hours, but honestly I think this needs to be a required reading for all soon to be graduating teens. The reminders that it's okay to make your own path, its okay to not know who you are. You are only 18, and you have your entire life to figure it out. Who you are today is not who you will be in four years, nor who you will be four years after that. Embrace it, make mistakes, love with your whole heart, and never forget that you are the author of your own adventure.

Such a cute read with the most lovable characters and sweetest love story
What I loved
Lovable and relatable characters
New York
Riley and Tom
Dear love
Friends to lovers
Fandom love

After reading The Getaway List I want to make my own and force my friends to do it with me.

First let me start off by explaining what a Getaway list is: Childhood best friends Riley and Tom, who haven't seen each other in 4 years, create essentially a bucket list of activities they want to do together that they were unable to do before. For example go on a camping trip they missed out on or go to a writing class about a book series they read as children and are obsessed with (I deeply respect their commitment to the book series).

What I liked: I liked the dynamic of the friend group and the found family concept was very strong. I also appreciate the romance isn't the main aspect instead the Getaway list is more focused on Riley and all her friends finding their place and how they can add value. As a young adult I completely understand the fear and gravity of going into the unknown and trying to piece together what you want your life to look like. I think the author did a great job of analyzing the different ways individuals respond to these difficult moments and that is demonstrated by comparing how Riley and Tom reacted. Although there are moments that leave you thinking and realizing everyone has their hidden structures this was also a fun read.

My only complaints: The part I struggled with was certain unrealistic parts of the book. For me the use of profanity throughout felt almost forced and as a young adult no one I have ever met really talked like that. It wasn't anything major it just didn't read right for me personally since the profanity felt overused and unnecessary at times at least for Riley's character. I think the use of profanity for her character was to give her an edge and it felt overdone sometimes. Also, again this is my personal opinion, I felt that the going out and about all alone in New York as an 18 year old girl was unrealistic. Riley had no unsavory confrontations with anyone and was never worried about the fact that she was alone which is fine she is a very independent main character but I felt that wasn't super realistic especially since it was a city she was unfamiliar with.

Those are just my nitpicks but I did enjoy reading this book and getting to see all the adventures they went on. If you enjoy a book with found family, advocating for your future, and romance that grows with the characters I suggest picking up The Getaway List!

3.5 stars

I have to admit a hard truth to myself. It’s time to accept it.

*deep breath*

I don’t enjoy YA romcoms anymore so I need to stop choosing them.

That was hard. I’ve always found them cute and charming and sweet, but the last few years I’ve found them unrelatable (says the 34-year-old woman 🤪) and too simple. A bit boring. And I’m realizing that makes it impossible for me to rate them objectively. There are a few authors that churn out really deep and enjoyable YA romance, but it’s few and far between.

So now that that is out of the way, here are some components to this story that I did enjoy!

This story and its characters are just so wholesome and sweet. There’s no debauchary, no scandal. Just good, wholesome young adults living life. (I don’t mean wholesome in a Christian value way, just in a not wild and rebellious way). The setting is fun (NYC baby!). I wish they would have given Tom more depth. He’s the character I feel like I know least out of this friend group, which is a bummer.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC to review!

This was a fun book! Right after graduation, Riley takes off to New York to visit her friend Tom. They both make some new friends. They decide to work on the activities on their getaway list. There are connections made and connections missed. And there is a little romance.

Emma Lord has a unique way of using words and creating characters who say them. The only thing I hate about the THE GETAWAY LIST is that I’ve let it sit in the need to listen to pile for wayyyyy too long. And now that I have heard Riley and Tom’s story, I’m wondering how soon it is too soon to listen again?

Three main things I loved about this book:
1 The adventure. The idea of the actual getaway list is so cute. I love that Riley and Tom have made it since high school and decided to achieve it after graduation.
2 The found family. It’s a favorite trope of mine. When the perfect group of people works together, and you look forward to group scenes, you know something is done right.
3 Multiple Swiftie and AO3 mentions. As a fan of both, it made me giggle and my heart happy!

I found Norma Butikofer to be a great narrator for the book. Excellent job at differentiating the characters and bringing them to life!

I recommend THE GETAWAY LIST as an audiobook. You’ll have a great time listening and might want to go on an adventure with your own getaway list!

Thanks, Macmillan Audio, for the ALC!

Content Warnings: abandonment, bullying

This was a cute friends-to-lovers story about finding yourself in a new city. Some said it's giving "Welcome to New York" and "People We Meet on Vacation," and I agree.

This was so great. I love how so many of Emma's books take place in NYC and/or have something to do with adventures and friendship. They are so great and I adore them. I love the different friends that Riley and Tom make along the way. This was really great. I wanted more of her mom and her relationship being resolved.

I'm a fan of Emma Lord and have read all of her books so far. Unfortunately, I feel like she is in a downward trend. I did not really enjoy Begin Again, and now The Getaway List has proven to be even more disappointing. To start with the few positives, I did appreciate the ways in which this book serves as a love letter to NYC. I also liked the found family aspect with the friend group that Riley pieces together.

Other than that, this book was a huge miss. The plot was really slow and uneventful, and it was a struggle to force myself to actually want to read the book. Friends to lovers is admittedly not my favorite trope, but in The Getaway List this was not executed well at all. The chemistry between Riley and Tom was both obvious and nonexistent. Usually Emma Lord deals with a healthy dose of family issues. Some of her novels execute this better than others, but this one really did not do it well at all. I needed a lot more SHOWING rather than telling me how much friction there was between Riley and her mom. There was so little "meat" to this part of the story so it was nearly impossible for me as a reader to care about their relationship or lackthereof. Same with Tom and his mom, only even moreso! I also did not understand Riley as a character. Initially she was presented as a kind of bad kid who was always in trouble, but that quickly proves to be not true at all once she arrives in NYC. Nothing really made sense or stayed consistent throughout the novel.. Lastly, for this to be marketed as YA, for me, personally, it had way too much language....or basically just "the F-word" a lot.

I want to say I'm still an Emma Lord fan, but I really hope she digs deep in her future novels and presents something more engaging and fresh for her readers.

i’ve read everything emma lord has ever released. ya will always have my heart but i fear i’ve just grown out of ya novels. i will be withholding review until further notice due to the smp boycott

I had a really fun time with this book! It was weird remembering what it felt like to be right out of school, but Emma Lord made the transition easy! This had all of the cute rom-com things in it, exactly what I was looking for! Definitely a great beach read for this year.

I loved pretty much everything about Lord’s latest release. At first, I had trouble empathizing and connecting with Riley. The secondary characters were fun and engaging. I always appreciate how Lord uses the city as a character and setting becomes vital to the story.

A great addition to the "summer in New York City" canon and very romantic. I love how bright this cover is.

I am a huge Emma Lord fan but this one was just not my fave. I just couldn't get over the initial conflict between Riley and her mom. Nothing about it felt realistic -- like if her mom were that controlling and protective she sure as hell wouldn't have let her run away to New York. And Riley just felt incredibly spoiled and entitled. I ended up DNF'ing this one because I just wasn't vibing with Riley, even when she linked up with Tom. I love all of Lord's other work so maybe this was just a right book wrong time situation and I'll might circle back eventually but for now this one wasn't for me!

In the search to reconnect with herself and her dreams, Riley decides visit her best friend Tom in New York for the summer following her high school graduation.

The Getaway List was such a cute and fun book, I absolutely adored the found family in this. This book made me feel happy and fluffy and im here for it, I really love a feel good story and this was that and so much more.

Thank you to netgalley and to the publisher for this!!

This adorable, romantic story absolutely swept me away! I loved the sweet and heartwarming relationship that developed between Riley and Tom. This book will live in my heart for a long, long time!

I enjoyed it - and yet, I think this was my least favorite Emma Lord book - and I devour all of them easily! And, I largely think it is because I listened to it via audio; had I read a physical or digital copy, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

First, there is quite a motley crew of characters - so it can be difficult to keep track of everyone when listening to an audio recording. But overall, there was a lot going on and it all felt a bit flat for me; I just wasn't invested in the story or the characters. We have multiple difficult relationships with parents, a group of friends navigating feelings, relationships, and next steps in life. And delicious sounding brownies (for some reason, this is the scene that stuck with me the most).

Overall, I will still read anything from Emma Lord (and loved her upcoming adult romance!), but this one just wanted my favorite.

The Getaway List by Emma Lord. Pub Date: January 23, 2024. Rating: 3 stars. In this coming of age story, Riley takes an adventure to NYC to see her childhood best friend Tom. Here, they plan to go on adventures as a part of their "Getaway List." Riley is a young teen who is struggling with identity, independence, teenage angst with her relationship with her mother and attraction feelings towards Tom. This book highlights the beautiful experience of NYC as well as teenage feelings we all go through as we are transitioning into adults. I liked this one, but did not love it and felt at times it dragged. Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

If you know me, you know that I love, love, love Emma Lord's novels (I'm still fangirling over the time I got to interview her!)! And this book, of course, was no exception. Heart-warming, hilarious, and just so wholesome, THE GETAWAY LIST is yet another example of how Emma Lord shines in the YA world. If you've read any of Emma Lord's books AND if you haven't, definitely pick up this book right away and start the sweet adventure!

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)