THE GETAWAY LIST is a fun (and funny!) story following Riley and Tom, childhood best friends separated when he moved to NYC, but reunited for the summer after graduation. I read and enjoyed TWEET CUTE by Emma Lord, and if you liked the easy humor and fun plot of her debut, you'll enjoy this one as well! Riley is snarky and fun-loving and willing to take a risk, and has always gotten into a fun kind of trouble with Tom. When she moves to NYC for the summer (against her mother's wishes), they get into a few more hijinks as inspired by their "Getaway List," which they developed years ago. This takes them all over the city and, like any good YA romcom, explores their relationship while also revealing that Riley has a lot of learning to do about herself. She finds a passion for writing, for NYC, and, of course, for Tom and the friendships they're building with the people they run into along the way. There's also a fair bit of where-do-I-stand-with-my-single-mom-who-doesn't-want-me-to-move-away drama between Riley and her mom, and a similar dilemma with Tom and his mother, both of which were done well. The book is fun, light, and somewhat predictable, but perfect for teenagers who don't have life figured out yet.

Dear Emma Lord - if you write it, I will read it. I would even read your grocery list.

As for the book - I just wanted to give Riley and Tom both a huge hug. I loved their friendship, their chemistry, the idea of a Getaway List and even more, I loved that they both have huge hearts. I love how we truly got to experience New York through Emma's writing and Riley's adventures around the Big City. I love how she's on a mission to find herself, while still trying to hold onto those that are important. Also - the FOOD. I can never get enough of how much that food is involved in all of Emma's books. The found family & relationships were felt so strongly in this book.

Overall, this is another brilliant story, but also showed just how much that Emma is growing as a writer. It will not beat Tweet Cute as my favorite EL book, but it's taken second place.

I highly recommend Emma Lord to all fans of YA who wear their heart on their sleeve.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks Netgally and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange of an honest review!! This book was a sweet ride!! The emotional connection to the characters was something special! I loved seeing how Tom handled his struggles, how Riley handled her, but most of all, how their relationship and friendship evolved as a whole!! Plus it happens in NYC so it’s a 5 star read to me!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Getaway List by Emma Lord!

Riley is graduating high school with a bit of an identity crisis. Since her best friend, Tom, moved to New York City with his mother, and her own mom started sticking her into every possible extracurricular to keep her out of trouble, it’s been hard for Riley to see where her future might take her (her stack of college rejection letters doesn’t help). Luckily, Riley and Tom have a list of adventures. They’ve been planning called the getaway list after a brief bus ride to NYC, Riley, Tom, and a lovable group of new friends start working through the list and finding their futures.
Emma Lord does a tremendous job of creating characters that you can root for and putting them into situations that are humerus and enjoyable. Like most romcoms, The Getaway List can be a little predictable (and the occasional plot point can feel a little contrived), but although you know where you’re going it is fun to be along for the ride. I enjoyed the banter between the characters, and the authors description of New York City felt inspirational- a city of endless possibilities. I continue to be a big fan of Emma Lord after reading this book and look forward to her next!

Emma Lord never misses, and this book is a testament to that. Riley’s life felt real and raw, and the best kind of coming of age story. It captures the messiness and chaos of life that everyone experiences. I also found all of the relationships very realistic and I loved how they all developed. This book acknowledges that everything isn’t always neat and tidy when it comes to the future, but that’s okay. The romance was also amazing, and so well written. I loved this love letter to New York and the uncertainty of life so much!

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the digital advanced copy!

I just adore Emma Lord's writing. She writes such fun YA novels with chaotic characters, a bit of wackiness and quirkiness, and sweet romance. The stories are also always heartfelt and grounded in relatable, deeply felt young adult emotions (which can even hit as a late-20s reader). The Getaway List follows in this tradition, with Riley escaping the Virginia suburbs for a summer in New York City with her best friend Tom after being separated for four years. They embark on a summer of running around the city, making new friends, and restarting their in-person friendship. Underneath their adventures, Riley and Tom are both dealing with coming of age: distance and isolation, not communicating and connecting with their mothers, figuring out what and where they want to be. Their relationship and journeys over the summer spoke to me more than the escapades, though I enjoyed the friend group they formed, but perhaps because they called me back to being an 18-year-old moving to New York and dealing with some of the same questions. Emma Lord balances the inner dilemmas with a light and fun plot for this latest happy, warm NYC novel.

This is my favorite Emma Lord book so far. She has outdone herself. I was instantly sucked into this read when Riley decides right after her graduation to head to NYC to visit her best friend, Tom, who she hasn't seen in years. What was supposed to be a weekend trip turns into a summer in the city.

There are so many things to love about this book. First, is the friendship between Riley and Tom. I loved their communication and how easy and free they were with one another. This may be the perfect YA romance. I wanted them to be together in the end but was not sure if they would be. Second, we have found family. This is an absolute favorite trope of mine. Lord does this so well. Getting to know Mariella, Jesse, and Luca was such a delight. These weren't just some supportive side characters. They were fully formed people with stories of their own. Then there is the relationship between mother and a coming of age child and what that looks like. I really appreciated this aspect of the book. Finally, the setting of NYC is perfection. Getting to travel around the city with this crew simply made an amazing reading experience that much better.

The audio version of this book is super well done. The narrator captures Riley and her gang flawlessly. The banter flowed. i felt like I was in the same room as the characters.

In short, I loved every aspect of this book. The themes around finding your way, who you are, and who you want to be are so very well done. I binged this book and highly recommend you do as well.

Just wanted to start by saying thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me an early copy of this book!

I absolutely loved this book! I enjoyed following the story of Riley, who finds herself going to visit her friend Tom in NYC and she brought over her Getaway list that they made before he moved away but never got a chance to work on it. I loved the development and the journey of self discovery in both characters as they find the true meaning of friendship and more! I highly recommend this book to everyone that enjoys a light read filled with romance, self discovery and friendship to something more!

I absolutely ADORED this book.

This coming-of-age romantic comedy was such a quick, light and fun read. I loved Riley and Tom’s relationship and how they grew with each other. I loved their little pack of friends and the whole concept of “The Getaway List” was just 🥹

I think this novel accurately depicts that 18-year-old feeling that everyone goes through… When you finally graduate high school and the world is so overwhelming with infinite possibilities that’s it’s absolutely terrifying and exhilarating. Albeit, not everyone is in NYC but I still resonated with that general feeling of not exactly having a plan and a constant feeling of “what’s next?” It honestly just made me feel a lot of things that I haven’t felt in a few years. 🥹

Overall, it was such a cute, light, heartfelt, romantic novel that made me feel all warm and happy inside. I could totally see this becoming a movie (think of all the great 2000s teen movies but with a modern twist).

And finally - thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

The Getaway List is my fifth Emma Lord book, and unfortunately I just don’t find myself connecting with her stories or characters anymore. Riley, eighteen and fresh out of high school, is struggling under the constant pressure her mother puts on her and decides to up and leave for New York City for the summer, reconciling with her best friend Tom who had moved away a few summers back. Throughout the story, they pick up a ragtag group of friends and embark on the “Getaway List”, which is comprised of all of the things that Riley and Tom missed out on doing together in the years they had been separated.

Overall, I just didn’t feel like this story went anywhere. I never quite understood the connection that Riley and Tom had to each other so their romance did not land well for me. There was also quite a bit of miscommunication involved throughout the story, and it was a bit more infuriating when coming from a 17/18 year old who thinks she has the whole world figured out — like, you think you’re mature enough to do all of these things but you don’t even know how to express your feelings and communicate with the people you’ve known the deepest and the longest?

I did enjoy some of the humor and found family moments in the book and it was a quick and easy read, but it definitely is not one of my favorite Emma Lord books. I am, however, very curious to see how she fares in the adult romance book with her new release later in 2024.

Wow! I love this! I’ve enjoyed every Emma Lord book I’ve read, but this might be a new favorite. I loved Riley and Tom and tbr found family they create with their friends in the city.

Riley heads to NYC and her best friend after she graduates from high school. She’s listless and not sure what she wants to do with her future. She only plans to spend a weekend with Tom, her best friend who moved away a few years ago, but after that she can’t seem to leave the city and stays for the summer. I loved their adventures, completing the items from the Getaway List and just finding themselves and their place in NYC. I just loved this one. I binged it in just a few hours and I think it’ll stick with me.

Emma Lord nails down the feeling of being young and carefree in NYC. The characters were relatable in this breezy, fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read exchange for an honest review.

Emma Lord is such an amazing author, especially when it comes to writing rich and real characters. I absolutely love how she depicts the relationship between Riley and her mother. The strong family bond can often be ignored in YA books, but not here. This is a wonderful books about knowing yourself first and foremost. Secondary is the relationships between friends and what having a strong support system means, particularly for young adults.

This is a sweet story about an 18 year old girl named Riley, who has just graduated from high school. She takes a bus to New York on a whim to visit her best friend, Tom, who moved there two years prior. Riley falls in love with New York and decides to stay for the summer, against her mom’s wishes. She makes new friends, has many adventures, and has to determine who she is and what she wants for her future.

This story is perfect for older teens and young adults who can relate to the characters and their need to be independent - while still needing a connection to their parent(s).

The book was an easy read and kept my attention. While as an adult, I found it to be a bit repetitive at times, with overdone teen angst, it fits the audience it was meant for. I have high school students I know would definitely enjoy the novel.

Thank you to #NetGalley for an eARC of #TheGetawayList by #EmmaLord in exchange for honest feedback. - 3.5 stars

This is the second book I've read from Emma Lord and I loved it just as much as Begin Again. Emma has a way of writing witty, down-to-earth, relatable characters that I can see parts of my younger self in and characters that I would want to be friends with. I loved the unique, fun, and supportive friends in NYC and the idea of having a list of life goals to complete with a friend/friends. I adored Tom and Riley together and they had the perfect amount of chemistry to make this slow burn, friends to lovers romance one of my new favorites.

4⭐️

Overall I thought this book was a really charming story of new adults finding themselves beyond their parents. Learning independence while finding themselves.

There was a lot more to this story than just the best friends to lovers romance between Riley and Tom. This focuses primarily on Riley as she learns how to
step away from her mothers helicopter style parenting, going out on her own to
New York but it places a strain on their relationship as her mom is worried. I enjoyed this part of the story as we watch Riley learn how to do this while not hurting her mom. I also enjoyed Tom as well as he tries to determine what he wants to do with his future.

The part I struggled with was the romance. I just couldn't connect and found myself invested. There just didn't seem to have chemistry between the two characters and felt a bit out of place.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St Martins press for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I am clearly not the demographic for this novel, but I still enjoy a solid YA story and loved the premise of “The Getaway List.” There was so much good here, that I’m surprised that I didn’t really enjoy this one. The cast of characters is interesting and quirky, the romp through New York is delightful and I had to look up whether “Dear Love” was an actual company and where to find a “Milkshake Club” because those ideas are genius!

Where things fell flat for me was the relationship between the two main characters, Riley and Tom. I guess I sort of understood the friendship due to history, but never really bought into them as possible romantic partners. There just wasn’t much chemistry. Or maybe I am just too old to spot it?

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book. This is a coming of age story about stepping out on your own and finding yourself and your people. Riley feels stuck after not getting into college but decides to visit her best friend in NY for a weekend, right after graduation. Since they were young they have been putting together their getaway list, a list of things they would do together when they finally saw each other again after their many year apart.

This was such a fun story of friendship, love, finding yourself and growing up.

4.25⭐️

The Getaway List is a wonderful, sweet YA story that centers around Riley. Riley has just graduated from high school and has no idea what her future holds. All she really knows is that she’s spent the last four years miserable, doing everything to try to gain her mother’s trust and approval, while setting her own needs and personality aside. And she also misses her best friend, Tom, who moved away at the start of that dark period, and who she feels further and further removed from even as she needs him more.

Then Riley realizes, what’s really stopping her from going to visit him? She’s done with school, she’s an adult now, she has no plans at the moment, why not take advantage of that fact? And so she does, beginning a delightful journey to reclaiming her agency and her sense of adventure, building new friendships and strengthening old relationships along the way to finding herself at last.

This was such a lovely and enjoyable story and the characters were impossible not to root for. A heartwarming tale that left me hoping Emma Lord will revisit these delightful characters in the future.

Thank you Emma Lord, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.