This was cute! I very recently saw Before Sunrise for the first time, so it was nice to explore similar themes here. I wasn't quite as delighted by it as How to Excavate a Heart, but I thought it was a fun premise with some interesting facets (ex-Mormonism, trains, etc). The end was a little too schmaltzy for me, but that's not unforgivable. It'll be a great one for the YA set who like early college books with some gender stuff and, in terms of sexual content, a relatively light romance.

This was a beautifully done novel, it had that element that I was looking for from the description. I was engaged with the characters and how everything worked in this world. Jake Maia Arlow has a strong writing style and was glad it worked well overall.

Leaving the Station by Jake Maia Arlow

3.75

Release Date: August 19, 2025

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books | Storytide

Genre: YA romance/fiction

Spice level: 🌶️🌶️

Zoe is headed home for Thanksgiving after a first college semester that didn’t go to plan- at all. Plagued with questions and confusion about her identity, her relationships, and her desires for the future, she books a days-long train ride to give her space to think before arriving home. Only: she didn’t expect to meet several people on the train that she’d grow to care for in such a short time… or that would help her in ways she didn’t imagine.

I loved this arc!! Going in, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this was a sweet and unexpectedly deep read, delving into topics regarding gender, sexuality, friendship, and romantic relationships. Told in a dual timeline, you get to see both the Tran journey and Zoe’s time at college, giving a lot of necessary context to her current feelings. The train setting provided a sense of urgency in the plot that worked very well with the circumstances, and I loved that each character Zoe met had their own fleshed-out personality. In addition, even though the plot was definitely serious at times, I loved that there was still humor injected throughout. I’ve never read a novel with this concept before, and I highly enjoyed it!

Read if you like:

~ LGBTQIA+ representation

~ dual timelines

~ questions about identity and sexuality

~ unique plots

Thank you to Storytide, an imprint of HarperCollins, for providing a review copy of this book through Netgalley!

Pros of the Story
Queer romance
Setting on the train and all it represents
Conflicts were common to college freshmen

Cons of the Story
Love story too simplistic, even for a train ride
Why do queer people trying to find themselves always have to destroy friendships to figure out themselves? She had a perfectly accepting group of friends at college, why not grow through their friendship?
The blond Mormon was too stereotypical. Love the addition of her but was presented too surface level.

A wonderful queer romcom that tackles some deep content while also being descriptive, sweet and relatable. Sure to be one of the top sapphic romances of 2025.

Zoe is escaping from their first semester in New York, they are figuring out if pre-med is right for them. In fact, they're figuring out a lot of stuff. Zoe has a great group of friends from freshman orientation, but soon becomes interested in Alden, another college student that they love hanging out with.

The narrative is dual-linear, meaning we are following both Zoe's experiences on a cross country train ride from New York to Seattle, as well as Zoe's experiences in their first college semester up until fall break. The experiences on the train are well crafted, character-driven, and nuanced. There is a strong theme of train travel and how the characters of Zoe and Oakley evolve and grow as they are on the journey. There is something so romantic about train travel- and everyone on the train has a story as to why they have chosen that transportation method and how they are experiencing the trip.

The narratives following Zoe in college, while starting only 3 months apart, show us that Zoe has learned more about themselves in the experience. The train gives us a side character of Aya, a 9 year old traveling with her mom, she is precocious, sweet, and very realistic.

Jake Maia Arlow writes young people very well, they are bright, clever, and insecure while being confident. It is the ultimate contradiction of teenagers, they simultaneously view themselves as both inferior to and superior to others. Some YA romantic fiction really misses the mark on an 18 year old, their inner dialogue sounds like a much younger child. That is certainly not the case here, and it is a breath of fresh air. I absolutely loved this book. It's so smart.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. Book to be published August 19, 2025.

“You can’t go back, can’t get rid of that knowledge. But at least now you get to find out who you are in the knowing.”

rating: 4.5★

before sunrise but with a nonbinary jewish lesbian and a freshly ex-mormon lesbian, leading to many conversations about sexuality, gender, and religion.

this was funny and thought-provoking as zoe and oakley sort through their conflicting, confusing, and sometimes illuminating thoughts and revelations around identity and life.

"The room technically labeled me properly; I was a woman. But if that was true, why did it feel like I was playing a part?"

i loved the setting of a cross-country train - it's something i've always wanted to do, but the metaphor of that transient place in life of adolescence / early adulthood (and all of life, really), the mingling of people of all walks of life in a short but intimate voyage, the feeling of temporarily (or maybe even permanently) being a new version of you for the duration.

Because I wasn’t perfect, and I didn’t even know if I was a girl. I was just a mess.

i just read arlow's other book excavate and something about their writing just hits for me. it's exciting and refreshing to see someone writing about gender and identity like this in YA and i genuinely hope it paves the way for more.

"Even if you do the same thing over and over, you can find new people, new places. Even if it’s just for a few days, they can change the course of your life."

an honest arc review ♡

There's a fundamental raw honesty to this book. I did not always <i>like</i> Zoe, but my God, were they relatable. And not just because I'd shared a number of their experiences, from college burnout, to questioning my own identity and sexuality (ace-spec may be orthogonal to non-binary, but it can throw some similar confusion wrenches into everything,) to love of train journeys. Arlow's words serve as a fierce conduit to every one of Zoe's emotions, and watching them grow and develop was pure joy.

What I liked most of all was the subtlety of this growth. Arlow never had to beat me over the head with the fact that Zoe was growing more empathetic and better at meaningfully connecting to others. Just look at the difference in the way the Tees are described early on—very aesthetic-based, almost no internality—and the small yet intimate details we learn about the other passengers on the train. The growth is shown, not told, and it's beautiful.

Like Zoe, I did not always like Oakley, but as with Zoe, I'm glad Arlow let her keep her flaws, instead of idealizing her as a love interest. Both were real, and vulnerable, and messy, and I almost surprised myself with how much I wound up wishing them well. (Still think she was a self-absorbed hypocrite for the way she treated Nanami, though.)

In fact, let me go further with that. Arlow made so, so many wise, empathetic, nuanced character choices throughout this book. A lesser author would have found a way to vilify Alden. Or dismissed Virginia as old and therefore conservative/hostile. Or used Aya as a cute prop instead of a believable, three-dimensional child. Arlow did none of that, leaving their book richer with every choice.

Publishers' comps are not always to be trusted, but in this case, the comparison to Nina LaCour is very apt. Leaving the Station shares the same warmth I associate with LaCour's writing, and I'm so glad I picked it up on the basis of this comparison.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

This book was amazingly accurate in watching a recent ex mormon girl backslide back into the religion because she misses community and she is trying so hard to unlearn all the ingrained beliefs that are harmful and don’t let her be herself. Fresh 18 year olds figuring themselves out and meeting each other on a train, and how such a short period of time can really impact you for the rest of your life. I loved it. I wanted more of it. I wanted to follow these two characters for several hundred more pages.

This book is a mixed bag for me. I really did not gel with the first half, but the second half was alright. Don’t be fooled by the adorable sapphic romance cover though, you’re not really getting that here. In the first half, the way the two main characters talk to each other and flirt came off as a bit rude. It brought back memories of bad dates and negging.

I do want to address some positives first. The plot meanders over the course of a cross country train ride, with occasional flashbacks to a past relationship that led to a falling out in a preexisting friend group. By the time you get to the halfway point, it starts to make sense what the two main characters’ plot lines are. They’re both really struggling and running away from themselves and their lives, but there is substance there, and that was interesting. In the last bit the main characters’ relationship just kind of hits the gas all of a sudden and all plot points are instantly resolved, which was pretty jarring, but at least the plot does resolve by the end, which is a plus. There was a very nice subplot about a side job at a greenhouse that I really enjoyed, and the character of Alden ended up surprising me. There was something that came up with him that I wish got explored a bit more.

On to a few drawbacks. The book is heavy on the social commentary, which is weaponized as a mating display, and there’s not much nuance to it. I’ll admit this is one of my pet peeves, and I couldn’t get past it. Some of the characters are stereotypes who exist just to demonstrate this social commentary. Interactions with side characters feel unnatural at times. At parts it almost had me recalling that movie The Room by Tommy Wiseau, because people were just popping into scenes and saying things you really just wouldn’t expect them to say. The unnatural scenes and dialogue are used to propel the plot in a specific direction and carry the narrative. The narrative kind of presents itself as being groundbreaking while not really clearing the bar, which leaves it feeling a bit pretentious at times. One of the characters is frequently described as being so smart, but it just doesn’t feel earned. That’s a show-don’t-tell type of deal. If you have to spell it out, they probably aren’t pulling weight there. The child in the book doesn’t really act or speak like a child. Kind of on that point, all the characters have the same voice. You could swap out one name for another and not tell the difference in most cases.

About a third of the way in, the girls are running around a train doing a scavenger hunt and one of them finds a breastfeeding mom and main character starts trying to strike up a conversation with her while she’s doing this (girl no). The baby is described as looking up at her, so that means the boobs are just out on display right there on the train. Some man, who apparently has been watching this woman breastfeed (excuse me??) says he noticed she fell asleep with her eyes open! What?? Wild to begin with but no mom should be doing this, it’s very unsafe. Then the mom wakes up and (boobs still out I guess) forces this complete stranger to take her baby for her! I wanted to DNF the book there, but I did want to give it a fair shake so I stuck it out.

Overall though, it’s a no from me dawg. I’m really sorry to the author, I know they are active on here and it’s giving me heartburn. To borrow from the Boulets, literature is art and art is subjective, so if you can stomach some indelicate social commentary, some unintentionally wacky characters and scenes, and the main characters’ borderline unpleasant dispositions in the first half, check it out. 2/5 stars, probably 3.5 for the right audience (I’m rounding up for that reason).

*An uncorrected proof of this book was provided by the publisher at the reviewer’s request in exchange for a fair and uncompromising review.

At the end of the day, this was a great book about a person who is discovering their identity through natural trial and error that comes with life, and also taking a train across the country and maybe finding love and a ton of friends along the way. Oh, how I would love to be on a train right now (or just always). I started this book because it took place on a train and stayed for the relationships Zoe and Oakley formed with each other and with others on the train. However, the rating is lower than I’d hoped it be, mostly because of how many flashbacks there were (it was like 1/4 of the book).

Thank you to Harper Collins Children’s and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! What a wonderful book! I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book, but I ended up enjoying it so much.


Zoe Tauber is on a cross country train ride from New York to their hometown of Seattle, Washington. The last 3 months of their life as a first-time freshman student at Cornell University have been less than ideal. Friends were lost, identities and sexuality were questioned, and familial expectations were shattered as college turned out to be much different than expected. On the train, Zoe meets Oakley, a fellow queer who is also questioning their life and future. Soon, the miles pass by and adventures are had, and Zoe and Oakley find something a little deeper than friendship.

I love a good romance that centers around a train ride, but I didn’t realize when I requested this book how much I would fall in love with it. Firstly, I really appreciated the dual timelines from Zoe’s point of view that take us through their first few months of college interspersed with the train ride. It helped me feel a deeper connection to and understanding of Zoe.

Secondly, I loved the characters, but more specifically the secondary characters Zoe meets on the train. Aya and Edward were so wholesome. I wanted to be friends with them, myself!

All in all, this book was so much more than a train ride and a budding romance between two young queers. It was a journey of self discovery, a deconstruction of gender, religion, and sexuality, and a lesson in what it means to be authentic to yourself.

This was the first book I’ve read by Jake Maia Arlow but it won’t be my last! I think once this publishes in 2025, many young queers will find this book, resonate with the characters, and feel confident in knowing it’s okay to question everything.

Many thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

lesbians on a train! nonbinary lesbians on a train! FOR TEENS!

if u couldn’t tell, i was extremely excited to start this. i loved the author’s previous christmas jewish romcom, and i found this to be just as delightful. jake maia arlow is writing what little lesbian teen me needed to read but didn’t have access to— fun romances full of heart, self discovery, and ofc lots of sapphic longing.

Zoe’s life is spiraling, but a chance meeting on a cross-country train with Oakley might just be the fresh start they both need.

*thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book to review.*

First of all… this cover and premise is iconic. Road trip, but make it a train. Religion questions, gender, queerness… this book has a little bit of everything!!

*spoilers*

I absolutely loved the back and forth between before the trip and during. It was such an effective storytelling tool. I felt everything right along with Zoe. When they start questioning everything about who they are and why they are attracted to Alden. When the wonder about Oakley. Ugh I just loved it!

The train characters were so incredibly great. Who wasn’t crying by the end with Aya and Edward?? And the epic grand gesture. Truly wonderful.

I really enjoyed my time in this world. 💜

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

jake arlow is becoming one of my favorite authors. i couldn't put this book down, it had everything starting with lesbians (kinda) trans (nonbinary??) rep, jewish rep and more!
i loved the alden subplot and related a lot to zoe, i never read a book where they put everything into words so well

thank you netgalley for the e-arc!

This is the first book I've read with a non-binary lesbian as the main character, and it is not helping my gender crisis but I loved it so much!! I loved this author's last book How to Excavate A Heart, and this somehow kept the same queer joy while addressing complicated topics like deconstructing gender and religious identities. It took me a little bit to warm up to this book, I didn't care that much about Zoe's college life with Alden until the gender themes started to arise. I now want to take the train across the country and see if I can get a girlfriend. Also, there's a super cute kid who is reading Percy Jackson on the train!