The Getaway List by Emma Lord is an adorable story of teens finding themselves the summer after high school graduation! There’s some love story, but mostly it’s about writing your own story and the importance of friendship. I loved seeing YA emphasize friendship in such a beautiful way.

This was a sweet YA read. Not too much drama but I’m sure it would seem different for someone in the 16-22 year old range. I’m just older and jaded about what constitutes drama in life. :) I recommend for that age range and anyone else who loves a sweet coming of age story of friendship, love and self discovery.

Riley and Tom are the best of friends, but Tom is moving to New York. Once Riley graduates high school, she feels lost and unsure of what she wants to do with her life. She decides to move to New York and connect with Tom. They make a bucket list of things to do together. They navigate new friends, living in the city, while finding out what they really want out of life.

This was a super cute story! Friends turned lovers. New York City. What’s not to love?

Thanks to Wednesday books, Net Galley, and Emma Lord for the ARC! Pub date 1/23/24

The fluidity of this author’s writing style is beyond impressive. She has a way of captivating her audience of all ages and making her characters relatable, though she is writing a YA novel. This book is entertaining and has a nostalgic feeling when it comes to plot. The feeling of being carefree with friends while also finding your place in this world.

It’s a really good coming of age story that takes place in that weird transition from high school to adulthood. Reading the personal growth and new found independence was refreshing to see in a YA novel. The emotions felt authentic and reflected the actions that a newly graduated high schooler would do.

One aspect of a narrator that makes them a phenomenal narrator is the ability to give an individual voice to each of the characters. This is one of the best narrations I have heard from a singular person. She was fluid, animated, and her tone was soft and gave the perfect voice to the main character.

As an adult, this author writes great YA novels that are truly enjoyable for any age. If you do read this book, do the audiobook version. It’s one of the best out there

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC

A cleaner YA adventurous romance about finding yourself and meeting lifelong friends along the way.
I loved this story! I loved the main characters. I loved the NY adventures. Everything was fun and well written and made my want to move to NYC! Tom and Riley’s story seemed real and progressed naturally. I loved every part of it. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this advanced copy!

Cute coming of age/young love story. A little cliche at times but was written well. Best suited for teen and young adult readers but anyone can enjoy. Full review on instagram

I adore Emma Lords writing. Her books are always so lovely and enjoyable, which says a lot coming from me as I’m a very hard YA sell. I almost never fully enjoy them, and I definitely never choose them over other books but I always do hers. They feel real and relatable without over doing it.

While I do feel like a lot of her books follow very similar paths with very similar characters, they’re all special in their own way and they always tug at my heart and put a smile on my face. This one was no exception - I loved it. I loved the relationship with her friends, with her mom and with Tom. I loved her personal journey so much too! Overall it was an excellent book, with excellent writing - just lost that one star for me because I can’t super differentiate between all her books.

The Getaway List is another fantastic YA novel from Emma Lord. Hand this to teens who love friendship turned romance stories. Lord's fans will not be disappointed and this is sure to fly off the shelves. Recommended for all YA collections.

SUPER CUTE!!
With so many adventures and making new friendships this story sucks you in and keeps you wanting more! Riley isn’t sure who she is or what she really wants out of life. Come to find out none of them know. With a little bit of time and friends who stick by your side they all figure it out. TOGETHER. This book is seriously one of the cutest. It has complete hallmark movie vibes!!!

Emma Lord books are truly just like a warm hug.

The Getaway List is charming and fun; a story of a summer of friendship and love. Riley graduates high school with no offers for secondary education and decides to take a trip to New York to reunite with her childhood best friend. Together they embark on their “getaway list” to try to make up for lost time together.

Narration for the audiobook was great, and the story really flowed well!

I loved that this book explores teens finding their own way and managing parental expectations. It was the perfect mix of cute and real. Emma Lord writes fantastic young adult contemporary stories, blending tough issues with humour and fun. I just love the wholesome vibe of it all!

4.5/5 ⭐
0.0/5 🌶️
5.0/5 🎧

The Getaway List was a really cute coming of age story from Emma Lord. The audio was fantastic and I thought it was a great listen. I really loved these characters and their friends and was rooting so hard for them all to find their way as young adults. Tom and Riley were best friends and their journey to being more was filled with angst, right along side Mariella and Luca's. I also loved the bi rep in Jesse and what we saw of his relationship with Di.

As a mom, it broke my heart seeing Tom and Vanessa's relationship... Especially at the end as we find out exactly what's up with her. But ultimately I was happy with how it all turned out. Riley and her mom's relationship was rocky, but I understood her a little more, not wanting Riley to repeat past mistakes, even if those mistakes were the best part of her life.

Up next from Emma is her debut adult novel and I'm so excited to dive in.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.
This is my new favorite Emma Lord book. I have enjoyed all of her previous novels, but the fight for independence in this one resonated with me, and I know it will resonate with young adult readers who are ready to fly, even if their parents are hesitant to let them go. I think this mother/daughter relationship exploration was just so good and needed in this book. While there is some romance here, which is standard for her novels, it did take a backseat to some parental conflict. Lord so eloquently explored what happens when a parental relationship changes due to growing up and wanting to move out/on in life. Riley's exploration of NYC with her friends is the perfect balance to the serious parts of this story. I liked all of the characters here, and they were each richly developed and so fun to spend time with. I just felt like the balance struck in this book was so well done and it kept me engaged and wanting more.
The narration was excellent. I think the performance was done well and it captured all of the emotions Riley felt while spending the summer in NYC.

The Getaway List strikes the perfect YA balance. Recent high school graduates and best friends from way back, Tom and Riley, reunite three years after Tom's move to the Big Apple. They had been working on the "getaway list" since Tom left, and circumstances kept them from completing it until now. But it's not that easy.

I really enjoyed the find-your-way, coming-of-age vibe. The Getaway List strikes the perfect YA balance. Both Tom and Riley have to work through finding their independence in the face of parental growth--Tom with a physically absent mom and Riley with an overly present mom. In between completing the items on the list, bonding with friends, and discovering young love, The Getaway List also delivers so much promise that only the point of being on the precipice of the rest of your life can bring.

The audiobook brings an added hug. The narrator kept the flow moving, and her Mariella accent was spot on. You could feel the humor and emotion in the narration.

Overall, the storyline is wholesome and fully optimistic. You can't help but smile. The only reason I couldn't commit to five stars? It really felt like we were reaching a natural conclusion... then I realized I was only 66% complete. I would have liked to capitalize on the story momentum and tied it up there.

tbh any book that features a fmc with the same name (and spelling!) as me is almost a guarantee for me to pickup, and i'm happy that emma lord's latest ya romance 'the getaway list' was also a really fun read!

the book follows riley, who on the day of her high school graduation realizes she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life, and hops on a bus to nyc to spend the summer with her childhood friend tom, who co-wrote The Getaway List with her, a list of all the adventures they've wanted to do together since he moved away. while not sure what to expect from this older, more mature version of her friend, riley's arrival in the city makes it feel like no time has passed for them (minus riley's newfound romantic feelings for tom). along with their newfound group of friends, the pair work their way throug The Getaway List, and maybe riley will realize that the best adventures are with the people you know best.

this story was really fun, and i really believed in riley & tom's development throughout the story. the side characters & found family element i thought were really well done, and added layers to the story while still ultimately helping riley's plot along. this was a quick, fun read that i recommend to anyone looking for a pick me up this winter!

This is a cute rom com with happy endings for all. The characters are 18 and high school graduates, but the story still feels very innocent and cute. The worries and struggles that they have feel very much like the things that all of us worry about at some point in our lives, and it makes the story and characters so relatable. Even the moms in the story, but that might only be because I'm a mom myself so I also have that POV personally. All of the characters are done really well, there aren't any that I found to be annoying. The setting did seems almost fairy tale-esk since it was supposed to be taking place in New York city - and by that I mean like we were looking at New York with Rose colored glasses, everything was sunshine and rainbows and kids just running around freely. I think if I was a parent of one of these kids I'd be a little more concerned to their safety and well being.

I guess my biggest issue with the story, wasn't really an issue at all - I just don't think that this book was done as well as some of her other ones. There were times where I just didn't want to keep going with the story, because being a rom com I knew it would have a happy ending. That doesn't mean that the story was bad, I just started to lose interest. This is probably a totally personal issue. I'm still a huge fan of Emma Lord and can't wait to read more of her books.

Thanks to #NetGalley for an advance e-copy of #TheGetawayList by Emma Lord to read and review.

This was a super cute & fun coming of age in net work story! Riley and Tom really shined, but the entire cast of characters were well developed and vibrant.

I typically do not enjoy friends to lovers, but this book was without some of the tropes i dislike from the genre. These characters were (mostly) good at communicating their feelings and i truly felt like Riley & Tom were meant for each other.

I finished this one in just two sitting and overall had a good time with it! Thank you Macmillan Audio, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for the ALC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

“The Getaway List” is nice YA read from Emma Lord. It’s a combo of a coming of age, friends to lovers, and bucket list story. I loved the characters and I thought that the plot was sweet and heartwarming and I wish that I could go back and have such a great group of friends like Tom and Riley do.

If you liked “Tweet Cute” this is a great one as well.

Themes: 🌆📋☑️👯‍♀️❤️

My feelings: 🙂😁

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This was a delightful coming of age story. It was tender and funny. The characters felt multidimensional and well-developed. It was full of growth and wrestling and learning what is selfish versus selfless and what it means to love the people in your life through a rekindled childhood friendship.

Solid 4.3 ❤️ I really like Emma Lord’s writing! This was such a fun and enjoyable clean rom-com. The plot was fun and I really liked all the characters! Usually the “side” characters fall to the wayside, but I like that Lord built those characters well and memorable as well as the protagonists.

Emma Lord never disappoints. I love her voice in the YA world as it feels neither too immature nor like it’s attempting too much for what the genre typically holds.

This story was so sweet and left me daydreaming about an alternate universe where I moved to a big city fresh out of high school and found a pack of misfit friends. What I love how this story played out is that it’s all fairly mundane. Nothing incredibly outlandish happens but I think that’s where I found so much comfort. It was nice to watch these just out of high schoolers navigate a very realistic sounding version of New York and all the joys and struggles and confusion that comes with.

I loved all the characters and could have happily continued to spend more time with them. What a rich group of friends and a wonderfully sweet story to inspire young people to let themselves dream up a beautiful life for themselves.

Thanks NetGalley and MacMillan for the opportunity to listen to this book early!