I have loved all of Emma Lord's books and The Getaway List falls into that category. New York, young love, adventures and sweet treats. This book had it all. I loved the banter and humor of this book of Riley and Tom rediscovering their friendship and more. I hope you fall in love with the side characters as much as I did!


Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me this book for review consideration!

Emma Lord can do no wrong in my eyes, and this was no exception. I loved this adorable coming of age tale about two teens, on their own for the first time, as they find friendship, love, and themselves.

Riley and Tom were adorable, and their friendship felt truly authentic and the chemistry naturally progressed from friends to romance. I loved the exploration of both characters relationships with their very different mothers; Riley and her mom were a great example of how even the best mother-daughter relationships can have issues. I also loved their friendships with Mariella - both a healthy, strictly platonic relationship between Tom and Mariella, and strong, supportive female friendships, with Mariella immediately embracing Riley.

This is definitely YA, so set your expectations accordingly, but I loved this story so much.

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

Emma lord and her Young Adult’ book are my kryptonite. I so loved this!! Emma Lord’s writing style and this book, the combo didn't disappoint. Loved this storyline and the character development. Overall, it was a full 5 stars read for me

While I do not think was the most earth shattering book, it was refreshingly sweet new adult story with characters you would actually want to spend time with and there is really no doubt there is going to be a happy ending with these childhood friends ,Riley and Tom, who become more. Is it realistic? It is absolutely not, but you cannot fault this book for tying up all the loose ends in a neat and happy little bow. The friend group is as endearing as the romance.

It is also a coming of age story that incorporates some of the bumps experienced when attempting to strike out on one’s own when close and loving parents are perhaps not ready. Riley’s Mom is hesitant to let her make her own choices which spurs her to visit her best friend Tom after her High School graduation. Riley comes into her own on this trip with the help of new and old friends.

I wanted to love this book, I really did. I've been in a bit of a reading rut recently and figured a cute YA romance would lift me up. I liked Tweet Cute so I thought this would be a safe bet, unfortunately I was wrong. This book is...okay. It's fine. It's just Ken energy.

Major Tropes:
- Childhood friends to lovers
- He fell first
- Found family
- New York. Literally so much of the book was just a love letter to NYC that it was a personality trait all on its own.

Maybe I would like this more if it was NA rather than YA. The characters are all 18 or older, so I felt like the romances were a little juvenile in the approach (there were only two kisses in the whole book, I think). But also, making the characters younger would have made the fact that Riley just took off to NYC to visit Tom because she's 18 and an adult and can do whatever she wants and doesn't need her mom's permission, kinda strange.

Or maybe I would like it more if the romance was more of the focus. I felt like the focus was just on Riley and her "bORiNg" life at home and how much more "eXciTiNg" New York City is. (Seriously, a form of "boring" is used 13 times throughout, but it feels like much much more, trust me.) I also felt like the book focused more on the found family that Riley accumulates in her starting two days in the city, rather than the romance with Tom.

Also, and maybe this is because I'm based on the west coast, but I just do not get the appeal of NYC. Like, yeah, there's a lot going on, and tons of restaurants, but also there is an appeal to like...being able to open your window and not hear cars honking. So the constant description of how much Riley just absolutely adores NYC made me roll my eyes more than once.

I don't know, it just didn't work for me really, but I did finish it in two days, so do with that what you will.

This book was a fun and breezy read, but unfortunately there were some things that didn't quite hit the mark for me.
I felt like all the conflict was resolved really quickly or off-page, which made the story feel disjointed and rushed. I loved that there were so many different aspects to Riley's coming-of-age (school trouble, strained relationship with her mom, "finding herself" etc), but everything seemed to happen so so fast.
I also felt like the romance between Riley and Tom was underdeveloped at best. I wish we saw more of the development/realization between them instead of just one scene mid-book before he left.
I absolutely loved the secondary characters and the way they encouraged Riley on her journey to find herself. I was rooting for them the whole time, and loved every interaction she had with them.

Overall, the book felt almost like a love story to New York, and if that was the goal, I wish that Riley and Tom's love story had either ended differently or been more pronounced in tandem with Riley falling in love with the city.

Emma Lord is one of my faves, and I will still read her books; I just think this one wasn't for me! Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

While I sometimes find myself wondering if I've aged out of YA (hi, early 30's!), I've never felt that way with Emma Lord. The Getaway List was really freaking cute, and hit that first time leaving home feeling in a way I remember all too well, even though it was a while ago now. Filled with feeling, and written in a way that wraps you up in the story, this is another really good read by Emma.

Emma Lord does not disappoint with this new novel! Just as light and fun as her other books. I loved the banter between Tom and Riley and laughed out loud multiple times. Highly recommend if you like her other books!

This book was exactly what i needed. I have only read a few of Emma Lord's books but her writing makes me feel warm and happy and wholly understood.

Riley and Tom's friendship made me envious of having a relationship where the other person knows you so well, and remembers every piece of you back to your childhood. Lord does a found family side characters so incredibly well and Mariella, Luca and Jesse were the perfect addition to Riley and Tom's summer. I feel like including a full cast of characters always makes the story a little fuller and gives more meet to the usual relationship tropes - friends to lovers/will they won't they.

I have heard people saying this is Lord's best yet, and it is definitely my favourite so far.

This was a really fun, heartwarming book about growing up and figuring out what you want from life. At this point, I feel pretty comfortable going into any book by Emma Lord knowing I'm going to have a good time. But I especially liked this one for the Welcome to New York vibes.

* Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Emma Lord has quickly become one of my favorite authors. When I saw this available on NetGalley I jumped on it and inhaled it in just over a day.

The Getaway List captured the difficulties of being a teen in modern times. They are over scheduled and pressured from a variety of directions. Losing your sense of self can happen easily, as the characters in this book showed. There are times when you have to step out of your comfort zone and try something completely different. I loved the relationships throughout and how each contributed to both Riley and Tom's growth. Emma Lord's books also tend to be pretty clean, which after reading a number of "spicy" titles, was a nice change of pace. While not my absolute favorite of hers, this was still a great read that I would recommend.

There is nothing Emma Lord can't write. Sweet and whimsy and just wondering, The Getaway List fits seamlessly into Lord's other bodies of work

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time, and a huge part of that is the characters we get to know. Their personal journies and growth and conflicts and feelings and lives are all so well written and the way they interact with eachother is just chefs kiss. Im reading this in the car and listening to music, and as I was nearing the end of the book, Meant to Live by Switchfoot (Jon Bellion’s version) came in and I feel like it captures the vibe perfectly. This book was absent the usual frustrating tropes that usually bug the crap out of me and was just so lovely I want everyone to read it.
I also love the setting. I live a couple hours outside of NYC, kinda near where our MC lives actually, and I visited for the first time this year. I loved recognizing the same places the author wrote in, and also recognized the same feelings the MC had being there, which is maybe why I loved this book so much. I’ve loved everything Emma has written so far and I think she keeps getting better because this is her best. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

This was so cute. I always know what to expect when I read an Emma Lord book (even if I didn't love the last two) and I love that she's consistent with what she delivers. This one hit in the same way the others did - heartwarming, funny, found family, a cute romance, dealing with parental issues, self discovery, etc. I loved the best friends to lovers romance in it. Tom and Riley were probably my favorite EL couple. The most frustrating part of the book to me was Riley's mom, but even that was okay by the end.

While the story started out kind of depressing, Riley is rather lost and angry with mother, it picked up as Riley left for NYC to be with an old childhood friend. Not knowing what to do after graduation, against her mother's orders, she moves to NYC. There the fun and very strong friendship begin and Riley becomes responsible for herself and her fate. Wonderful characters and friendship. Growth of her relationship with her mom makes it more endearing.

Emma Lord is one of my auto-buy authors and this book is no exception. This book was such a love letter to Taylor Swift, New York, and fandom culture and it truly feels like it, along with all of Lord's other books were written just for me. There is so, so much packed into this plot but it never once felt bogged down or hard to follow and I enjoyed absolutely every second of it, especially the beautifully written will-they-won't-they dynamic of Riley and Tom, and really the friendship dynamics in the whole found family group. Please read this book and fall in love with Riley, Tom, Mariella, Luca, and Jesse just as much as I have.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Wednesday Books for the ARC!

Emma Lord’s books have always been a serotonin boost for me, and I bumped up this book as soon as I got an ARC. Sadly, it’s probably my least favorite of her books but it did have its own charms. The Getaway List is a story about setting out to find what you want in life instead of always doing what you’re told.

When Riley graduates high school with no college prospects and no plans for the future, she decides to take a trip to New York City for a weekend to visit her best friend Tom, whom she hasn’t seen in years. While they’re together, they try to cross out a few things on their Getaway List, which essentially is a bucket list and a memento of things they haven’t been able to do together. The weekend stretches into the whole summer, and the two of them set out to finish the list with Jesse, their mutual friend who’s just moved to the city; Mariella, Tom’s only friend in the city; and Luca, a newcomer to their group. Along the way, Riley gradually discovers that if she wants to do something in her life, she’ll have to set out herself.

This book felt like a bit of a departure from Lord’s other books, in that Riley is discovering the magic of New York City throughout the story unlike many of her other protagonists who were born and raised there. This only aids in Riley’s journey to find what she wants in life. She’s spent years living under her single mother’s watch, and now she has so much freedom and different magical places to visit.

I liked the characters, especially the side characters! If it’s one thing Emma Lord is going to do, it’s write a fun cast of characters with plenty of chaos to go around. It was fun to see how their little group formed: Riley and Tom reuniting, Mariella being excited to see that Tom isn’t the loner she thinks he is, Jesse just moving to the city as well, and Luca welcomed into the fold. There were a lot of little scenes where I found myself laughing as well.

My main issue with the book, however, is that I think the characterizations were told and not shown, and thus felt very forced, especially Riley. I get that she feels stifled with her mom after years of being forced into extracurriculars so she doesn’t get into any more trouble, but did we need to be told this so often and in so much detail? I think this, as well as the many descriptions of why Riley and Tom haven’t been able to see each other in person in years, just became so repetitive that I got more bored than anything.

This also fed into my disinterest with the romance. Tom felt like a very flat character honestly. I know there’s supposed to be a juxtaposition between how he acts with Riley and the loner persona he’s taken on after moving to New York, but again, we’re more told this than shown it.

Overall, The Getaway List was simply not for me. I liked the characters well enough but a lot of this book didn’t feel very fleshed out. If you’re a fan of friends-to-lovers romances and/or Emma Lord’s other works, you’ll probably enjoy this one more than I did.

Such a cute read! I really enjoyed the characters and the story. It was so heartfelt and so cute. This was an easy read! I would recommend this book!

A sweet (ahem, lots of dessert references) YA book centered around friendships, finding yourself, and of course, young love.

📖 The Details:
The Getaway List by Emma Lord

⏱️Quick Summary:
After realizing she doesn’t have any idea what to do after high school graduation, Riley packs a bag to visit her best friend Tom in NYC to cross off items on their Getaway List - things they haven’t been able to do together since Tom moved away several years ago. They make new friends, learn about themselves and their family relationships, and figure out where they belong.

💁🏻‍♀️ My Take:
I enjoyed this - as I always do with EL books. They’re sweet and well written and so very much teenager. This one has a unique plot and lovable characters (seriously Tom gives major golden retriever vibes). The side characters are also entertaining and have their own development. This one also had a deep storyline with Riley and Tom’s relationships with their moms (maybe it’s just because I’m a mom now, but I’m never a fan of the stories that ALWAYS have the parents in the wrong and the teens knowing it all. There can be a balance.). Anyhow - this was a good book and I would definitely recommend to anyone that loves a good YA rom-com.

👍 recommend!