Member Reviews
This was cute. A LOT of dialog- a very dialog driven book for sure. Riley, the main character, was a typical 18 year old high school graduate who just didn't know what she wanted to do with her life (and she didn't have confidence in her talents). Luckily her BFF Tom lives in New York, so she heads out to visit, and over the course of the summer, she figures out that she's actually in love with him. But are her feelings returned? A sweet, happily-ever-after YA rom-com.
The narrator did a great job with the characters.
“The Getaway List” follows Riley, a recent high school grad with no post graduation plans after having a rough few years and a suspension on her record. She’s getting ready to spend the summer working and getting ready for community college courses in the fall. The big hang up is Riley’s best friend, Tom, moved to New York a few years ago and Riley misses him and them being together. She doesn’t know what to do and isn’t sure what is holding her back. A spur of the moment decision to board a bus to New York and a fight with her mom puts Riley in New York seeing Tom after all these years. The book follows Tom, Riley and the bunch of friends they have assembled over the summer through the “getaway list” with adventures and mishaps along the way. I absolutely adored this lighthearted read from Emma Lord, and listening to all of the characters backstories and listening them grow up over a New York summer.
Thank you so much Net Galley for the audiobook advanced read in exchange for my thoughts.
This was the type of audiobook where fun and adventure meets romance and they couldn’t have picked a better narrator. The story was adorable and the narrator kept me engaged the entire time.
This was such a fun new Emma Lord contemporary romance—the story of finding your way after high school, combined with navigating friendship, family, and love, was so relatable and moving. A joy!
I love when a YA makes me feel like a teenager again. The Getaway List put me right back into being 18. The new found freedom, navigating old and new relationships, and discovering who I wanted to be. I enjoyed reading about Riley, Tom, and their friends as they checked off their getaway list, repaired and found new relationships with their moms, and found each other along the way.
Emma Lord can do no wrong! I loved this sweet story; it was the perfect fluffy book for holiday break. Thank you!
Thank you so much to the publisher for my ALC!
The audio was a great quality and I had no issues with static or any other digital feedback/noise. I also thought the narrator was a good fit for the YA genre and I felt her voice wasn't too old to be believable.
What a fun story! I am a big reader of YA since I am closer in age to the parents in the YA books than the young adults. However, I really enjoyed The Getaway List. This is my first book by Emma Lord and I am looking forward to reading more from her.
Perfect for lovers of New York City, When Harry Met Sally, the found family trope, and the friends to more trope readers of all ages will appreciate the themes of finding yourself while finding friendship and love too.
First off, Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for the advance copy!
The book did start off a bit slow for me, but it was still enjoyable. I did give it three stars because I found myself reading a chapter and then putting it down and coming back later. I really like for books to keep me engaged, and wanting to keep reading throughout.
Riley and Tom's relationship was so sweet. I love a good friends-to-lovers trope. There wasn't unnecessary drama between them, which was refreshing! Riley and Tom each go through a lot of growth, and it was sweet to see them be anchors for each other during the harder times. Emma Lord knows how to capture the feeling of being a teenager and the heartaches that come with growing up.
Great, easy read. Predictable, but fun. Loved the found family aspect of the story. The narration was great. Some of the dialogue was too much for me, especially for what were supposedly high school age students, but very enjoyable!
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review.
After graduation, Riley runs to NYC to see her best friend, Tom. As she stays there for the weekend, she realizes how much she 1) misses Tom and 2) loves New York. Deciding to stay, she and Tom set about finishing their "Getaway List" while both try to avoid their problems with their mothers.
Opinion
I thought this was a great book. I do enjoy Lord's writing style and have yet to read a bad book by her. This book was a great story about becoming an adult and living with the consequences of decisions they can now make on their own. I truly looked forward to reading it and was consumed in the story as I read. This is an awesome book for any teenager.
Many thanks to Net Galley and to Macmillan for providing me with an ARC of this story.
This was a cute YA book. It was a fun journey through these kids lives as they go about accomplishing everything on the getaway list that they wrote while they were in high school. It’s coming of age book as they navigate life, parental expectations and unexpected feeling for each other. When you pick up this book, You won’t be disappointed..
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to have an advanced copy to read.
This book brought on a lot of emotions as I followed Riley through high school graduation and then stepping out on her own without her mother’s approval. There is so much development of self that occurs in this book. There are friendships renewed and friendships made. There are adventures around New York City that invite a reader to know a little more about a vast city. Riley and her Mom have hard conversations that lead to positive outcomes for them both.
This is a book that is for more than just the young adult audience. I was drawn into the story and found that Riley learned more about herself than I have bothered to in recent years of working life. What makes life something to look forward to? Adventures, even if they are as small as trying a new restaurant.
Something said in the book struck me - home is not so much a place as a feeling. Do you have a home or more than one?
Thanks to Netgalley, Wednesday Books and MacMillan Audio for the chance to look more closely at how I’ve been going about living.
"The Getaway List" is a teen contemporary romance/fiction. It follows a newly high school grad, Riley, who has the unfortunate luck of not having been accepted to any colleges. In a spur of the moment decision, she decides to travel to NYC for the weekend to see her long time best friend Tom, who she's been dying to see for 3 years. This book explores young love, friendships, tense parent child relationships, and finding who you really are.
I think teens would love this book! At first, I thought Riley was a bit obnoxious. She's the kind of girl who is rude to teachers and loves to play pranks. But her character really grew on me throughout the book. I felt the relationship with her mom was very realistic, both of them not really being able to correctly handle the tense situation they are in during this book. You can see the mom is trying to do her best, despite not handling her choices correctly, and Riley is struggling to find her own way without destroying her relationship with her only parent.
I loved the friend group Riley and Tom make in the city. Everyone has their own distinct personality and I can clearly tell each of their likes and dislikes. Do I think it is super realistic for a bunch of teens to be so mature that they can just go around the city, cook their own food, take care of themselves, etc? No. But it was fun to see the shenanigans they all got up to.
The audiobook narrator was fantastic! I could tell which character was speaking by the tone and inflection she used with her voice, and her vocal quality was enjoyable to listen to. She spoke at a pace that made it easy to understand what was going on, but was not too fast or slow.
Overall, I think this book is geared towards teens and that they would be the target audience. I can see this being on a library display for "Teen Summer Reads". You will enjoy this is you like a bit of romance, but also a fun adventurous story that takes place in NYC.
4/5 stars
Thank you to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday books for giving me the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Right after her high school graduation, Riley decides to move to New York to visit her best friend, Tom. When they were kids, they made the getaway list which sparks fun adventures for the two along with a group of characters that are quite charming.
As the summer progresses, Tom and Riley become even closer; however there’s an important detail about Tom’s life that he had yet to share with Riley.
I have read three other books by Emma Lord and the getaway list delivers! You won’t be disappointed!
This book was a story of young Adventure and growing up it dealt with social interaction and different things that young people go through it was about building relationships and learning to express yourself I enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it to anyone interested it was easy to follow and kept me engaged the whole time I listened to it
I need to start this review by saying I am not the demographic for this book. My oldest child is the same age as Riley. That being said, I did enjoy the story. Riley had a rough go of high school and wanted to move out and forge her own path in NYC with her best friend. It is a sweet coming of age story that deals with friendship, parent-child relationships, and finding out who you are and what you want to do with your life.
I received a digital audiobook of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.
3.5-4 star range.
Narrator: The narrator seemed like a good fit to tell the story, but I didn't get a lot of emotion from it. I don't know if this was the narration or the story being told. She did transition well among the character voices.
Story: I liked the idea/concept of the story, but somewhere it fell flat for me. The story and title lead me to think it would be about big adventures with friends. The list consists of smaller (more realistic adventures), but I do think it could have been more to the story. These adventures felt like short snippets of the story.
The characters are wonderful as always in Lord's books. They are interesting, full of life and add to the MC's story. For this story the characters really made the story.
This was not my favorite Emma Lord book, but it was good. Even thought she writes YA I think her books still give every reader something to relate to. In this story I could see myself as the mom trying to do best by her daughter, but also the daughter who is trying to figure out life.
Thank you MacMillian Young Listeners and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review this audiobook.
f you are looking for lovable main characters, fun adventures, reunited friendships and chasing after your dreams, look no further! This was the first book I read by Emma Lord and it will not be the last. This fun story follows the friendship of Riley and Tom and the lengths friends will go for each other. It was a easy, lightheaded read and I enjoyed every minute of it.
I listened to this one as an audiobook and must add, the narrator did a fantastic job!
*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Getaway List was a fun, fluffy chic flick book that anyone could enjoy if looking for an easy read. I think it felt like a Hallmark movie in a book, and sometimes that is what we all need. I did like the characters, but they seemed fictional and not real. If that experience is what you are looking for, then I would recommend this book. If you looking for a realistic fiction book, this may not be for you. It brought to mind youth and the experience of having one's life in front of you and how scary/awe-inspiring that is.
This coming of age story was a nice light read, with a few heartfelt moments and lots of teenage shenanigans and drama. The main character is Riley, who graduates high school and feels like she lost herself in trying to please her mom over the past few years, so she leaves to visit her best friend, Tom, in NYC, whom she hasn’t seen in years. The majority of the story is Riley and Tom exploring NYC, meeting new friends, rekindling their own friendship, and realizing there are more feelings than what they thought (obviously). They decide to try to complete a “Getaway List” and their new and old friends join in to help, and it’s a really cute found family vibe. Some of the shenanigans feel super impossible, and the characters’ lives aren’t very relatable, like the plot of a 90s/2000s teen movie, but it’s still pretty fun and innocent. They also help each other navigate parent drama and reconcile those relationships. The audiobook narrator was fantastic, and made the experience that much better. I felt like I was listening to a movie from my teen years. Overall, it was an easy 4 star listen. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.