The Getaway List
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Author: Emma Lord

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: When Riley graduates high school with a rearview of shenanigans but an empty road for a future, she does what they all say to do—pack her bags and head for New York. Her plan is a little loose, but her main goal is to find Tom—her childhood best friend and co-creator of The Getaway List. Years ago, they made a list of all the adventures they wanted to do together, but Tom has been increasingly distant ever since he moved to New York with his famous scriptwriter mom four years ago.

When Riley arrives in New York, her reconnection with Tom is as effortless as it was when they were young—except with one, unexpected complication that will pull Riley’s feelings in a direction she didn’t know they could take. As she, Tom, and their newfound friends work their way through the items on The Getaway List, Riley learns that sometimes the biggest adventure is not one you take, but one you feel in your heart.

My Thoughts: Here lately, YA has not been appealing to me, unless Emma Lord writes it, then I am all over it! Lord writes with such an artistic craft, you cannot help but to fall in love with her stories. This particular couple has to be one of the sweetest set of characters I have seen from Lord. The story opens with Riley at graduation, truly missing her best friend, Tom, that moved to New York a few years ago. Riley and Tom made a “getaway list” a few years ago, of all of the adventures they wanted to take together. Riley makes a decision to visit Tom in NY, initially just for the weekend. As soon as they reconnect, it was effortless, like they were never apart. Riley decides to spend the summer in NY with Tom and some of Tom’s closest friends while doing the getaway adventures. Will they connect more during these adventures? Will feelings beyond a friendship bloom? This follows the tropes of childhood best friend, friends to lovers, second chance romance, and young adult love.

Riley and Tom, through their new adventures, both are having their feelings evolve for one another in unexpected ways, and neither is honest about those feelings. While this is a romance, we really get to see Riley grow immensely throughout these adventures, really standing in her truth, and transforming into a beautiful woman. Then you see the relationship between Riley and her mother, Tom and his mother, really evolve over the story. The characters were developed well with depth, were endearing, had witty banter, great chemistry, and were intriguing. The supporting characters of Mariela and Luca really elevates the storyline to another level. The author’s writing style was complex, heartfelt, closed door, funny, connective, and just brilliant for a YA novel. Lord is such a master with words that really capture the essence of being young with the accompanied feelings during that time in your life, and that romance is not the whole story, but an element to the story captured with wonderful characters that you love and root for.

I had the wonderful pleasure of having both the digital and audio ARC versions. The narrator for the audio was Norma Butikofer, at just under ten hours. The narrator did an excellent job with voice variation and voice distinction. The flow and pitch were wonderful, allowing me to listen at 2x speed with no issues with understanding and following along. This was a lighthearted, heartwarming, fun romance, that I really enjoyed. I am an Emma Lord fan and will always read her books. I highly recommend this one.

In the search to reconnect with herself and her dreams, Riley decides visit her best friend Tom in NYC for the summer following her high school graduation.

While the two have grown apart in recent years, they are connected by their childhood invention - the Getaway List - a list of all the adventures they have wanted to do together since Tom’s mom uprooted him. As the two use their Summer together to tackle their list, Riley begins to question newfound feelings for Tom, and whether or not that is an adventure she’d ever be willing to take.

Emma Lord has such a knack for capturing the essence of what it means to be a young adult finding your way in the world, and the emotions that accompany that period in time. I love that her books do have a strong romance element, but that the romance is just one piece of the puzzle. In The Getaway List, Lord explorers the complexities of the mother/child relationship, and how that relationship impacts each of our MC’s upbringings and future decisions.

Over the course of the story, we witness Riley come into her own and conversely, we also witness Tom do the same. And as always, the found family theme is strong, as both of our MC’s rely on their close circle of friends as they navigate through the beginning of the rest of their lives.

I listened to this book on audio, and have to give a shoutout to Norma Butikofer for narrating this story so beautifully. I love when a narrator adds and extra layer of emotional depth to a story and she definitely did that in spades.

Read if you like:
•coming of age
•stories about starting over
•found family
•friends to lovers
•NYC setting

Thank you Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio for my gifted copies.

This book was so sweet. I loved the relationship between Tom and Riley. A BFF for life is always a great person to have. They both meant so much to each other and when Tom moved to the New York City they still tried to keep in touch and be part of one another's lives.

The complex relationship they each had with their single mothers added a lot to the the dynamic and the way they could relate to each other. Becoming an adult is a hard path to take. I feel like Riley especially really listened to what was important to her and followed her dreams. I also really liked that they both choose a path forward that worked for them...independent of each other.

A fun coming of age story with a fabulous group of characters. I loved each character in this book for different reasons, each one is unique and strong willed in their own way. Even New York City becomes a character in this book as the friends explore the city.

The storyline is intriguing with a little bit of teen angst included. There is romance, but it is more a story about friendship and self-discovery with a bit of romance thrown in to it. It is definitely a great character driven storyline that was well-conceived and developed in a very believable way. The characters just graduated high school and yet they are very mature in how they handle themselves in the big city.

Emma Lord's books are always a must read for me because they are uniquely entertaining and keep me interested from beginning to end and this book did not disappoint. Norma Butikofer's narration is done superbly and brings the characters to life flawlessly. I hope you enjoy Riley, Tom and their friends adventure in New York City as much as I did!

I am extremely grateful to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to a complimentary audio copy of this book that leaves you with a smile and a warm heart!

3.5. This was a little hard for me to get into. I kinda forced myself to push through. I'm glad i did. Because the last of the book was good. I didn't really care for the characters much. Maybe its because they are teenagers. I also liked the narrator and that she had a nice voice to follow along too

This was cute. The narrator did a great job. It felt positive and uplifting and just utterly cute from start to finish. 4 stars.

I recently read my first book by Emma Lord, The Irish Goodbye, and I loved it. So I was expecting more of the same from The Getaway List. I didn’t realize it was a YA book. I have to apologize for not noticing that before requesting to read it. However, it was actually a cute, fun, innocent book. It’s not the kind of book I would normally read, but it was really well written. Emma Lord is certainly a very talented writer. If you enjoy YA novels, The Getaway List is for you!

Summary:
Riley and Tom created The Getaway List, a list of all the adventures they would like to take together when he moved away to New York. Upon graduating high school, Riley realizes that she's worked so hard to be good for her mom that she forgot who she was and what she wanted in life. She decides to surprise Tom in New York with a visit so that they can finally complete their Getaway List. Along the way, they create a group of friends who go along with them to complete the list.

Dani's Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this cute YA rom-com. There was a great balance between important life decisions and goals and banter and fun between the group of friends. I loved the found family within this group of friends that came together to complete the list before the end of summer. Both Riley and Tom grew a lot during that summer and finally figured out their dreams. If you need a cute summer romance, definitely check this one out.

I was able to listen to this book and narrator Norma Butikofer did a great job on this audio. It was well paced and I could differentiate between all the different voices throughout the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an alc of this book.

Again Emma Lord’s writing is spot on! Her stories are always fun to read, but also have some truth and real life situations that grow the characters within the book. I especially liked Riley’s character growth. I found it endearing just how similar her and her mom were. It definitely resonated with me as a parent. You want what’s best for your kids and don’t want them to repeat your mistakes. But you also need to let them experience life or they will resent you. I also loved Tom and Riley’s relationship. Friends since they were little and now young adults, exploring what might be.

Overall I think this book was a great YA read, I really loved all the characters in the book and Emma’s writing is always spot on and top notch! And the narration was really good as well.

***Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC copy in return for an honest review***

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I love love love books by Emma Lord and was so disappointed when I could not get into this book. It was a DNF for me, but I love her other books. I did not feel connected to the characters or their stories.

I didn't get a chance to listen to his audiobook before it expired. When I get time I still want to listen to it, but probably through Libby.

I received a copy of this audiobook for a honest review from netGalley.

I loved this coming of age story about two best friends separated during high school finding their joy and friendship circle in New York City one summer.

After getting rejected from all of the colleges that she applied to, Riley attends her high school graduation unsure of what's next. On a whim, she decides that she'll spend her graduation weekend in NYC with her old friend Tom against her mom's wishes. One weekend turns into the summer as she and Tom tackle their "Getaway List," a bucket list they made together when Tom moved in early high school.

The Getaway List is a cute story of self discovery and friendship. I really enjoyed all of the characters and the found family vibes that they developed with each other. It was a fun read, though it took me a while to get into the narrator and enjoy the audio part of it.

Tom and Riley. Riley and Tom. Best friends from age eight, this is an adorable coming-of-age story of two friends whose relationship is tested by time and distance. Layered on top of this is Riley’s journey of self-discovery as, upon her high school graduation day, decides to take a risk by setting off an adventure on her own. It’s a story of finding your place, finding yourself, and finding your people.

As a mom of a young daughter, I found myself not only relating to Riley, recognizing bits of myself when I was a young woman, but also with her mom, often afraid for my girl. I think it’s a fear most parents feel and struggle with, holding your kids too close and allowing them the freedom and space to grow on their own, apart from you. What a great story of love, of all kinds and for all ages. ❤️

Such a great listen! I listened to this while I was reading it so I could continue the story anywhere I was. A main character that you can really root for!!

Just like all of Emma Lords other novels, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was a quick and fun read that even made me laugh out loud in parts. It was friends to lovers, but also had a great supporting cast of unique friends. I really enjoyed Riley’s journey of self discovery and her relationship with her mom was fantastic. The narrator also did a GREAT job, it was very enjoyable to listen to!


BIG thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan audio and Emma lord for allowing me the opportunity to listen to this ALC!


Read if you like:
🗽Books set in NYC
🩵Found friendship
📖YA
👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨Friends to lovers

I enjoyed this story about young kids graduating high school and figuring out their lives, which can be a very scary time. I did not realize that this was a YA novel, so I'm probably not the target audience for it as I'm definitely not YA. It was still very cute though. Not only is it a love letter to growing up and getting older and becoming an independent adult, it is almost a love letter to New York as well, which seemed to be a character in and of itself. Even though I am in my 30s, I remember some of the angst that can happen when you try and figure out how to go out into the world for the first time as a true adult and not under your parents watch. That is what most of the story was to me, getting older and growing up, with just a smattering of a cute love story between Riley and Tom. The narrator did a fantastic job of embodying Riley, which made for it a nice and easy listen. Overall, cute story that would be very poignant for young adults. I give it a 3.5/5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

This is my fourth book by @dilemmalord and I’m obsessed 💛. She nails the friends-to-lovers trope in this one. I just want to climb inside her books and wrap myself in them, like a warm cozy blanket. If books were pastries, her books would be giant freshly baked cinnamon rolls. This is a coming-of-age story about finding yourself, figuring it all out, and taking the path less traveled.
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Riley just graduated from high school with a pile of college rejection letters in hand. As classmates leave for college, she realizes she has no idea what she wants to do with her life. But she’s determined to figure it out. Riley visits her old friend Tom in New York, and the two decide to start crossing off items on the bucket list of adventures they made years ago. A delightful cast of friends join them on their adventures. But will one major decision derail their Getaway List, and their friendship?
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Chock-full of Taylor Swift references and sharp witty banter, my face hurt from smiling so hard 😁. Lord is brilliant at setting the scene and crafting unforgettable side characters. You will fall in love with New York and this group of friends by the end.
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I got major Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares vibes reading this one. (And if @netflix could please turn it into a series that I can watch ASAP, that would be great ☺️.) Thank you @macmillan.audio and @wednesdaybooks for the ARCs. Norma Butikofer does a phenomenal job with the narration.
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The Getaway List - Emma Lord
4.5/5⭐️
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A great coming of age story about two friends who are reunited after years apart and realize that their feelings run deeper than friendship. Looks at the relationships between mothers and daughters and mothers and sons and how our friends can shape our lives. The narrator is great and the story moves quickly.

I absolutely adored this book! I think Emma is becoming one of my auto-buy authors because I just love everything she writes! Loved the idea of the Getaway List and while I had some audible gasps throughout, I loved the book. Definitely keeps you on your toes!