In the past year or two, I've become a huge Emma Lord fan. I obsessively check NetGalley for her new books around the time I expected them to appear. While a couple things were off to me, I still really enjoyed this book.

Some of the writing felt a bit off for YA - I think there were at least two uses of the word "teenybopper" and I've truly only heard that word from people 50 and up. I also tend to struggle with books that make a city "a character." However, the intense focus on NYC mostly worked for me in this case.

As usual with an Emma Lord book, The Getaway List has sparkling writing and some really fun, creative ideas. I loved "Dear, Love" Dispatch and all the thought that went into it. I loved pretty much every character - Tom, Riley, Mariella, Jesse, and Luca were a lovely crew. I liked the focus on mother/child relationships and the difference explored between Riley/her mom and Tom/his mom.

I will never tire of Emma Lord's boundless enthusiasm. This book is a love letter to New York City and the people that you gather as a family. I loved the adventures, the all-in-this-together vibe, and the growth every character found. There was more swearing in this book than in Lord's others, which would make me pause before recommending to younger readers. The characters are just as charming and loveable as you'd expect. So glad Emma Lord continues to write!

another perfect little gem of a book from emma lord! the getaway list made me laugh, cry, and smile the entire time. lord has a style of writing that makes the reader feel so at home, and like they're part of the story. i loved my adventures with this group of characters and i never wanted to leave. if you've loved lord's previous work, you'll love this one as well!

This book filled my heart with so much joy I'm going to SCREAM.

THE GETAWAY LIST follows Riley, a recent high school graduate who didn't get into any of the colleges she applied to and is trying to find her place in the world. In her journey of self-discovery, she decides to spend the summer in New York with her best friend Tom, who she's been separated from for years. This summer gives them a chance to reconnect and cross off items on their Getaway List with their new group of friends, which is a list Tom and Riley created during their separation as a list of things to do when they reunited.

I don't even know where to begin--the way Emma Lord writes friendships will always be something I adore. The dynamics between each of the characters are done so well, and they all feel so real that you want to be friends with them, too. Both Riley and Tom have complicated relationships with their mothers as well, though in different ways, and those relationships felt so painfully honest as well.

I wish I had this book when I was finishing high school because the way Riley and Tom are struggling to find where they fit in the world and rediscover who they are hit so hard. I rooted for them the entire way and loved every victory and mistake that came with their journeys.

I also love books that make me want to go and create things, and this book definitely did that. Between Riley and Luca being writers and brainstorming story ideas to the friend group having a shared love of a fictional book series--I can't wait to go and work on my own projects with the same enthusiasm they all had.

The way Lord writes about New York City makes it hard to not fall in love with it alongside Riley. While reading, I was reminiscing about my own trip there and fantasizing about my next one.

And, of course, we need to discuss the romance. The chemistry between Riley and Tom was impeccable and undeniable, and the slow burn between them made it incredibly satisfying when they finally revealed their feelings to each other. It's safe to say I will definitely be picking up a physical copy of this book when it comes out next year.

Brb, I'm off to book a ticket to New York.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Emma Lord never disappoints. She consistently delivers feel-good, heartfelt YA with an important message (or two, or three). And the NYC setting! It’s magic all on its own, but it’s so clear that Lord loves NYC, and that love brings something extra to an already wonderful story.

UGH I am so sad that this one just didn't hit me like all of Emma Lord's other books.

Riley and Tom were sweet and the story was sweet and the relationships/friendships were sweet... but this one just fell a bit flat for me in comparison to all her other stories. It very much felt like a love letter to NYC which is awesome but some of it just didn't feel realistic.

I will still religiously grab every Emma Lord book she ever writes and I appreciate the early opportunity to read!

Thank you

3.5/5
“All right. We need a game plan. Do we try to do these in order, or go into full chaos mode for as many as we can in one weekend?” Tom doesn’t bother looking at the list, staring at me with the beginnings of a smirk on his face. “Is that even a question?” “Unmitigated chaos it is.”
One thing to know is that I love books that have bucket/closs off lists. I had a blast reading this! I loved the comedy in it, Lord did a great job at writing this YA Rom-Com. The ending was so sweet and satisfying. The best way I could describe it is a toasted marshmallow.

It's better to not know to much about the plot going in, but I assure you that while you think you know what you're getting when you dive it, what comes has so much more charm and friendship and big-heartedness that you would have imagined. Emma Lord does such a wonderful job at capturing that moment between childhood and adulthood, and does it with a warmth and compassion that is often missing from these tales.

This one moved right up the TBR! Emma Lord is my fav YA author so when I got approved of her newest novel I was ready!

I loved the premise—sort of a second chance romance. Throw in some friends to lovers and we have a fun set up.

Tom and Riley were childhood besties who fell out of touch after Tom moved to NY. After Riley graduates she decides to go to visit him.

I loved seeing the development and how easily they fell into their old friendship—while figuring out if they could have something more.

Both Riley and Tom had hard relationships with their moms and I liked how that was explored too. I thought things cleaned up too nicely in those aspects, but hey it’s YA 🤷🏻‍♀️

This one is out in January! And Emma Lord just announced her first adult rom com! Can’t wait!

4/5⭐️

I absolutely love everything about Emma Lord’s books—the writing, the characters, the food, the settings. The Getaway List was perfectly on brand for her, and I absolutely adored it.

The story follows Riley, a recent high school grad with several college rejections and no idea where her life is going. She could be unbearably angsty sometimes, and incredibly thick-headed, but I absolutely loved her character development in the end.

I will say, I think the side characters all stood out to me more than Riley (which is unusual for me). Tom was shy and guarded and incredibly kind, Mariella was bubbly and written with so much depth, and Jesse and Dai were literally everything. I said it at the beginning of my review but it is worth saying again: I adore the way Emma Lord writes her characters.

I think this book, much like her previous books (specifically You Have a Match and When You Get the Chance) felt more like a contemporary than it did a romance. It centered on found family, and it was more about friendships forged than it was about the romance. There’s nothing wrong with this—but I honestly did feel like it fell short in the romance department for me. I liked Tom and Riley well enough together. But it didn’t feel like a true romance.

Overall, I highly recommend this book.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC! All views reflected are my own.

The Getaway List by Emma Lord, is the perfect YA summer read. Riley, a recent graduate who does not know what she wants next from life, heads to New York City for a last minute weekend trip to reunite with her childhood best friend Tom and ends up staying through the summer. A great cast of both main and side characters, Taylor Swift references and adventures throughout New York City are just a few of the things that make this book worth reading.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, NetGalley and the author for an eARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

As expected, I devoured yet another one of Emma Lord’s books in less than 24 hours!

I don’t know what more I can say about Emma Lord and her books that I already haven’t said. I look forward to reading every one of her new books because there’s this combination of things that’s present in all of her books and it *always* works a little too well for me.

I’ll try to put my thoughts into words using bullet points and mention everything that I loved about The Getaway List (Also, there’s not a single thing I didn’t love about it) :-

- The Getaway List in itself! It was such a cool concept. Of course, I’ve read many books with bucket lists and such but they always make me so happy that I want to create my own one once I finished. Alas I don’t have the amazing group of friends Riley and Tom do to make it happen :(
- Riley and Tom! They’re both such different characters but I deeply resonated with some parts of both of their characters. Tom is a total cinnamon roll, THE mom friend, always there for his friends to solve their issues, what’s not to love? Riley is the main character and though I’m not outgoing/ getting in trouble like her but she was still a very relatable character. Trying to find a place for herself in the world, figuring out what do next, paving a path for herself, balancing her friendships and familial relationships while also having fun! She’s truly an icon!
- Best friends to Lovers Trope! Emma Lord is one of the authors I can blindly trust with this trope because I KNOW she always delivers!! It was so well done and I was rooting for Tom and Riley right from the beginning! You can *see* the chemistry in every one of their interactions. The love they have for each other was so obvious from page one so the slow burn was delicious!
- THE FRIEND GROUP! Gosh, I REALLY love a good found family! I couldn’t get enough of the five of them together! I also really appreciated that all these side characters weren’t there just to have a role in the main story but actually had their own stuff going on. They were all such fleshed out characters. Mariella and Luca were so cute together!! I also really enjoyed watching their friendship develop with Riley! Luca and Riley bonding over their love for writing and him actually encouraging her to write more, a very supportive friend right there!! Of course, Jesse is an ICON! Not only because he’s super cool for being part of a band but because he’s also a SWIFTIE!! All the Taylor Swift references, all thanks to Jesse, made me grin so big!
- The group’s shenanigans together while trying to complete The Getaway List were all so fun, it made me want to somehow jump right into it with them!
- The food references were to die for!! I’m 99% sure I was drooling while reading most of it and it made me super hungry!!
- Of course, there were some serious topics which are always a part of Emma Lord’s books. Last few chapters made me shed tears because of the vulnerability and rawness in them. But as always, it was still a perfect balance between happy and sad.
- You won’t come out feeling sad once you finish this book, it’s so hopeful, inspiring, wonderful and joyous that you’ll want to do something different with your life!

I’m so thankful for this opportunity to review one of my most anticipated reads! Thank you very much NetGalley and St Martins Press/ Wednesday Books for this chance!

I loved this book! It was adorable as well as it made you think about making your own 'getaway list'

My only struggle is reading this book is that as a parent I freaked out thinking of all these 18 year olds running around New York!

Otherwise, the book was definitely cute and I cannot wait to recommend!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC to read and review, and thank you Emma Lord for writing such a great book!

I was super excited when I got approved on NetGalley for the ARC of this book! I had read a previous Emma Lord book and thought it was really cute so I had a feeling this one would deliver the same and I was not disappointed. It is a cute, easy read with great side characters.

The Getaway List is a heartfelt adventure of self-discovery, found family, and the sheer possibilities of being a teenager and having the whole world ahead, waiting for you. The romance is sugar-sweet, showcasing the exhilarating yet terrifying feeling of new love, and has all of the friends-to-lovers tropes I needed in my life. Emma Lord does an incredible job of navigating the complex emotions that come after high school graduation, making this bittersweet life milestone relatable for teens everywhere. Highly recommend!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read this book. Emma Lord has done it again. I could not put this down. Be read to spend a day with this gem.

Not going to lie Emma Lord is my queen of YA. I first discovered her when one of her books got recommended by Reese’s Book Club. I devoured it and started following Emma on Instagram. I have since devoured all the books she has published and loved them all!

Emma Lord is one of the best YA authors out there. I first discovered her from Reese Witherspoon's YA book club and have read every single book since. My personal favorites are "You've Got a Match" and "Tweet Cute." While I am full grown adult, I still love reading the YA genre and I wish I had read these books when I was a YA/ teenager. Her characters are easy to love and I think she balances the cliche with rom-com tropes very well.

While there were definite sparks between our two main characters Riley and Tom, their friendship at its foundation was what really got me. I personally prefer the firends to lovers trope so you can more easily see how they might end up as a couple. Of course there are Taylor Swift references which seem to be all the rage in the rom com genre these days! Totally fair and I love to see them! Taylor Swift's songs are the perfect backdrop from rom coms, just look at The Summer I Turned Pretty.

Oh, and this book will absolutely make you want to book a trip to New York City ASAP!

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and St. Martin’s Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for allowing me to read this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All the views and opinions in this book are purely my own and not affiliated with any brand.

This book as very enjoyable. I haven't found an Emma Lord book that I didn't like. The characters were relatable. The issues that the characters were facing also felt real and relevant. I also enjoyed feeling like I was watching the characters grow over the course of one summer. I was also drowning with them. I have never been to New York but now I would really like to visit to see if the magic feeling described in the book is real!

I would absolutely read this book again and recommend it to a friend!

The Getaway List
By: Emma Lord
Review Score: 4 Stars

Boogie’s Bulletpoints

-I loved Riley’s character arc through this entire book.

-There are so many great layers to this book; I loved how everything came together!

-Riley and Tom really represent teenagers on the brink of starting the next phase of their lives, and you feel what they feel.

-I loved Riley’s relationship with her Mom.

-The scenery made me want to go visit NYC again!

——

The Getaway List was kindly provided as an ARC by Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press. Thank you for allowing me to read this wonderful book!

Release Date: 1/23/24

Y’all, I love Emma Lord’s writing style. She develops amazing characters with surprising depth, tells stories that feel real, and sets them in amazing locations that take you into the story.

The Getaway List is no exception. Lord takes Riley and Tom, two long standing best friends who have not seen each other in a long time, and throws them into an adventure the summer after they graduate high school.

You get all of the emotions of the two characters at that time, plus the friends they make along the way, and get wrapped into their lives.

This book was such a great read. Obviously, it is meant more for teens, but I feel like adults would get something from this book too!

Read this book! You will not regret it.

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