This young adult novel is a quick breath of fresh air, perfect for spring and summer alike. I have not read anything by Crystal Maldonado before, but this delivered exactly what it promised: it was fun, it was emotional, it was quintessential young adult.
You are going to love travelling with these girls who have been through so much together, and whose bond is so frail it could be cut with a safety pin. Together, we rediscover this friendship, and if you eYou know what I’ll never say no to? A road trip book. Give me a car, some snacks, a chaotic playlist, and a group of slightly estranged besties trying to figure their lives out, and I’m in. Chloe and the Chaos of Reconnecting with Your Childhood Friends Over a Boy Band Concert (okay, that’s not the actual title, but it should be) delivers exactly that kind of ride.

We meet Chloe Torres just after high school graduation. She’s older, maybe wiser, and definitely feeling that post-senior-year swirl of nostalgia and possibility. Once inseparable from her childhood best friends, Ramona Cruz and Sienna Aguilar, Chloe has grown apart from them since entering high school—like many friendships do. But when her dad surprises her with three VIP tickets to their favorite boy band’s reunion concert (in Vegas, no less), Chloe decides to shoot her shot and invites them on one last hurrah.

And thus begins a cross-country road trip from Boston to Las Vegas—with stops at Niagara Falls, the Indianapolis Zoo, and a few emotional rest stops in between.

This book has serious “just graduated, the world is a mystery, let's scream-sing in the car” energy. It’s breezy, heartfelt, and full of those sweet little in-between moments: the kind that don’t seem like much at the time but end up meaning everything. There are singalongs. There are gas station snacks. There are grudges and awkward silences and then... forgiveness, because something about being young makes it easier to let go when the vibe is right and the windows are down.

The friendships are the real heart of this story—messy, complicated, and totally believable. Chloe, Ramona, and Sienna all feel like they’re toeing the line between adolescence and adulthood, trying to figure out who they are and who they want to become. I especially loved how their dynamic slowly rebuilt itself across state lines, with past hurts being acknowledged but not over-explained.

And shoutout to the supporting cast, particularly Diego, Chloe’s cousin and proud alter ego Coquí Monster, who absolutely stole every scene he was in. Someone please give this man a reality show and a glitter budget.

Now, truthfully? I didn’t always feel super connected to the main trio. Sometimes they read more like mature 20-somethings than 18-year-olds, and a couple of side plots felt a bit random or underdeveloped. But even so, the story as a whole had such charm that I didn’t really mind. The romance is there, but it’s more of a sweet background hum to the louder, more important anthem: friendship.ver went through a friend breakup, you will heal a tad bit of yourself too in the process.

The roadtrip aspect of this book was so fun, and I loved the experiences Chloe, Ramona and Sienna had together during this roadtrip.
It was very YA and sometimes the characters felt younger than 18, but i didn’t mind.
I loved the queer representation and especially Chloe’s cousin Diego (or Coqui Monster), he was so fun and a great friend to Chloe.
If you enjoy YA books that are lighthearted and fun, I definitely think you should give this a try. It’s full of female friendship and finding your place in a new life as an adult.

Chlor Torres is a character I wish I’d had growing up. Bold, messy, layered, and real. Maldonado nails the teen voice without ever talking down to the audience. It’s a story about identity, performance, and the masks we wear, wrapped in a colorful, heartfelt narrative. Easily one of my favorite YA reads this year.

Get Real, Chloe Torres is another must read from the powerhouse that is Crystal Maldonado and I need you all to read her books if you haven’t yet! Each time I read a new one from her it’s something special and healing. Get Real, Chloe Torres felt like a love letter to self discovery and friendship. It was a book that spoke to me on so many levels, I didn’t know it until I read it but I needed to read this one at the exact moment I read it because it helped me heal from something that I had been struggling with. I thought each character was handled so well and I especially was rooting for the girlies and their friendship to make it through all the many changes in their lives and the rekindling. I am so so happy to be celebrating yet another book release from Crystal and I hope we get many more because her voice is absolutely needed in the book world and her books are exactly the kind of books we need more of!

This was a new author for me and I really enjoyed this one! It was such a quick read with the perfect amount of emotion, friendship, and romance! It really was cute! Bonus that it was LBGTQ too! It was done so well and didn’t feel forced! I will be reading whatever is next from this author! Highly recommend!

I always love a roadtrip in books, and this one was a lot of fun! Heading cross-country with the goal of seeing your favourite band live is something I can get behind, and I feel like the roadtrip setting worked really well for this trio of characters, who've drifted apart over the years. There is a romance, but it's definitely a subplot compared to the main story of rekindling these friendships. It was an easy read, lighthearted and breezy - I just didn't feel connected to the characters, and there's a few side plots that felt a bit unnecessary and out of place with the story.

super cute ya story filled with boybands travel, friendships, and life lessons. thanks, netgalley. I really enjoyed this author.

First and foremost thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review. All thoughts are my own.

This book was such a beautiful read about friendships and how they can drift apart but don't have to be lost forever,. I love the road trip aspect and the growth of each character. Sometimes younger characters can feel.. too young, this book was not that. This story was so relatable no matter your age. I truly loved this story and I can not wait to recommend it to literally everyone.

get real, chloe torres totally made me fall in love with the roadtrip + female friendship trope. there’s something so emotionally raw and refreshing about watching girls reconnect while literally moving forward. the mix of nostalgia, tension, and tenderness that happens when friendships are tested and rebuilt in close quarters just hits different. it felt honest, a little chaotic, and full of heart.

the story follows chloe, who’s about to turn eighteen and head off to art school, but not before she tries to reunite with her two ex-best friends for one last summer hurrah: a cross-country trip to see their favorite boy band. the only catch? they haven’t talked in ages, and last time they did, everything kind of exploded. cue the messy feelings, awkward conversations, and a lot of unresolved stuff bubbling up during seven days on the road.

what really makes this book shine is the representation. all three main characters are queer, and the story features body diversity, adhd rep, and a range of latine identities. what stuck with me most, though, was how the book explored different types of family dynamics. some of these characters deeply love their families but still want more, more space, more understanding, more freedom, and that was acknowledged in such a validating way. sometimes love and frustration exist side by side, and this book lets that be true without judgment.

i also really appreciated the emotional growth that happened over the course of the trip. the tension wasn’t magically solved just because they were on vacation. they had to talk it out, confront the past, and decide whether their friendships were worth saving. it was vulnerable and sometimes uncomfortable, but that made their healing feel real, and honestly, healing to witness.

my one major issue with the book, and maybe this is just me, is that the dialogue and tone didn’t always feel age-accurate. the characters are 18, but the way they spoke and interacted often felt younger, like they were closer to 14 or 15. it made it a little hard to stay grounded in their experiences at times.

overall, this is a fun and sweet summer read with so much heart. if you’re into stories about friendship, healing, and finding your way back to the people you love, this one’s worth the trip.

thank you to @netgalley and @holidayhousebks for the e-arc. :)

a very fun and summery book filled with fangirling, friendship and romance and a whole lot of chaos, as a boy band fan forever i had the best time reading this !!!!

This was such a cute teen sapphic romance!! Crystal Maldonado created such lovable characters that felt like a realistic friend group. It reminded me of my years in high school when my friends and I were also obsessed with a boy band. This also had really great ADHD representation.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

As usual with any Crystal Maldonado book, I desperately wish I could go back and give this book to high school me. Crystal has such a way of writing healing books that have flawed, teenage characters with insecurities who are also incredibly brave.

I instantly felt transported back to my teenage years thinking about growing apart from friends and that desperate need to want to salvage those friendships. All three of these character felt so distinct and different, yet it was easy to see why they would be friends. I had a little trouble at first buying into why these two would go along with Chloe's idea after they hadn't talked in so long, but I think Crystal did a great job of showing their reasoning and also giving them believable conflict throughout the roadtrip. It also was really fun to see Whit Rivera!

All in all, I thought this was just so sweet and a nostalgic summer roadtrip story. I loved the romance as well and thought the two of them were so cute together! I'll read anything Crystal writes at this point, and I hope all actual teenagers do too.

I am a big fan of Crystal Maldonado's work, and this book, Get Real Chloe Torres, did not disappoint. All of Maldonado's books are YA romance, but I loved that this one was more new adult, focusing on life after high-school and that scary time of transition post-graduation. Chloe Torres is a sentimental person who has an unexpected opportunity to reconnect with her two former best friends, Ramona and Sienna, when her father buys her tickets to see the reunion tour of their favorite boy band, Intonation, the summer before college. Chloe comes up with a hairbrained scheme to invite Sienna and Ramona on a road trip to see the concert in Las Vegas, hopeful that this will be a way to rekindle their friendships. The only problem is, she has had a crush on both of them, and their friendships ended right before high-school on less than friendly terms. But when Sienna and Ramona reluctantly accept, it is up to Chloe to help them all learn how to be friends again, and decide what her true feelings are for both of them. Along the way and through several adventures and shenanigans, the girls reconnect in loving and unexpected ways, and Chloe grows in her sense of who she is becoming as she prepares to embark on the next phase of her life.

I loved the kind of wild but beautiful premise of this book and that this book was a queer romance that also centered the deep knowing love of friendships with people who care deeply for one another. It left my heart feeling full, and I read it all in one go, not wanting to put it down. I want to give this to my sister who just graduated high-school as a reminder to honor her friendships, even as they change or fade, and most importantly, to honor yourself.

Get Real, Chloe Torres was an absolute joy to read!

This one is for the girlies who loved Crossroads in the early 2000’s, truly. Chloe and her friends made me remember why friendship is truly so important, and also that it is never too late to try and mend seemingly broken relationships. The romance felt very natural and authentic and was such a lovely touch, too.

I loved this book!

I just finished Get Real, Chloe Torres by Crystal Maldonado over the weekend while sipping on a café de olla coffee and eating a delicious breakfast sandwich. As I was finishing the book, I was reflecting on how, eighteen years ago, I was on the cusp of graduating high school and beginning my adventure into college life and adulthood. Everything felt wide open and full of possibility, but also completely overwhelming then. All that to say, that I completely related to the story of Chloe Torres.

Set against the backdrop of a boy band's reunion tour, the story follows Chloe Torres as she attempts to reunite with her estranged best
friends, Sienna and Ramona, for a summer adventure filled with nostalgia and the bittersweet promise of the future. Chloe herself is on the cusp of adulthood, grappling with her school and major choices (which can feel so static and final), her life is shifting in unexpected ways, including the arrival of a new baby sister after a lifetime of being an only child.

The book dives into the complexities of friendship, impending changes in life, life with ADHD (the good and not so good parts of it), while introducing us to a host of queer relationships and characters among them her cousin Diego, who is navigating his own journey while trying to win a drag competition as his alter ago, Coquito.

The story was engaging from beginning to end, delving back into Maldonado’s writing that braids a story rich with characters and prose that makes me ache to have had this book back when I was a new adult. Get Real, Chloe Torres is a celebration of friendship, identity, Latine culture, and the transformative power of shared experience. While there is romance in this book its strength is found in its portrayal of friendships. The connections we build with people, how they shape us, and how we still carry them with us even when the friendship ends.

This novel is a must-read for everyone but especially those of us who didn’t have this representation growing up. I’m so happy to live in a world where I can gift this book to my nieces and baby sister. I’m happy that Crystal Maldonado writes, she’s become a No Skip Author for me. Also,
I have to add that reading about Chloe Torres’ love for Intonation, the fictional boy band reuniting in this story, really took me back to my love for the Backstreet Boys and the 2017 concert where I got a chance to see them life. My teen heart will never forget that experience. Being a fangirl can have so many negative connotations but truly, screw the haters, embrace the cringe, cause life is so freaking short

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Holiday House, for letting me read an eARC of this book! This book released on May 13, 2025.

In this book we follow Chloe Torres as she grapples with getting older, gradating high school, and eventually going to college. This book takes place during the summer before her freshman year of college! Chloe Torres gets surprised with 3 tickets to go see her favorite boy band, and she comes up with a hair brained scheme to get her old best friend group back together. She devises a plan to go on a road trip to Las Vegas with her 2 best friends whom she hasn't spoken to in years. They agree and off they go on a wild ride across the United States!

This book explores themes of love, loss, friendship, nostalgic boy bands, and growing up. I adored this book! Sometimes characters in YA books don't seem as old as they're supposed to be, but I feel like Chloe, Sienna, and Ramona acted perfectly their age. Their trip was a little chaotic, but in a good way. I adored getting to know the friend group and watching them work through all their issues. The queer representation was amazing also! I've never read a book that featured a drag queen so that was awesome. I loved it. Overall, I really enjoyed this book! There was something missing for me though, so that's why I didn't give it 5 stars. I think I just didn't connect with the main character as much as I had hoped I would. Otherwise, i highly recommend you pick this one up!

Thank you to Holiday House and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so fun!! I loved Chloe getting her old best friends together to go on a road trip of a lifetime together to fulfill an old bucket list and to see their favorite band. I really loved getting Chloe’s perspective throughout the book. Her personality, family, vibes, etc made the story so fun.

I loved how they slowly made their way through their bucket list throughout the trip. They were able to go and see/do some pretty cool things.

Since they haven’t spoken in a few years, they all have to have some difficult conversations with one another… what more of a perfect way to do that than being confined in a car and hotel rooms together for a week? They were able to display their hurts and frustrations to one another and work through them together. They were all able to be there for each other in different ways, and I loved watching their friendships blossom once again.

The slow reconciliation between Chloe and Ramona after their kiss 4 years ago felt authentic and easy to route for them. 🫶🏻

We don’t get to see him throughout the road trip much, but I truly loved getting glimpses of Chloe’s relationship with her cousin Diego. They’re so supportive of one another, and I thought it was so special that Chloe knew she always had Diego to come back to if everything went terribly wrong.

There’s queer rep (bisexual, gay, pan, lesbian), ADHD rep, fat rep, Latine rep… I meaaaaan, what more could you want in a YA novel?!

CW: abandonment, cursing, alcohol, fatphobia

Get Real, Chloe Torres (publication day May 13, 2025) by Crystal Maldonado is young adult chick lit of the finest kind–it centers on rekindling an old friendship, through a cross-country road trip and boy-band fandom!

Newly-graduated Chloe is working at her summer job as a non-Disney princess at little-kid birthday parties, when she realizes that a cousin of the birthday girl is Sienna–her longtime former crush, and one of her former two best friends, who went to a different school for high school and who she hasn’t seen for 4 years. Chloe has ADHD and is super-awkward when they interact. Then, later that night while she’s supporting her own cousin in a drag competition, she sees the third member of their friend group–Ramona–at the club, and hides behind the bar so she is not seen.

Chloe has a lot of feelings about leaving home to go to college–in this case, Rhode Island School of Design–and, after her father gets her tickets to see the famed boy band in Las Vegas for her birthday, hatches a plan to invite her two former best friends to take a road trip across the country (they are in Massachusetts). So she writes a letter to them inviting them on the trip and explaining why she’d like to rekindle their friendship.

And they both actually come! There are awkward moments, but Chloe is relieved to find that her former crush on Sienna is completely over. But she finds herself very drawn to tattooed Ramona, who had disclosed her own feelings about Chloe 4 years ago which resulted in Chloe ghosting her and the end of their friendship. So she has some bad behavior to make up for.

All three are different varieties of queer; Chloe is neurodiverse and fat; and all three are Latina–Maldonado does a good job of writing fat characters–I reviewed her Fat Chance, Charlie Vega two years ago. And I loved the road trip aspect, especially because Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Zoo had a small feature in the book.

I highly recommend if you’re looking for a YA road trip book primarily about friendship with great queer and fat representation!

This was a super fun coming of age summer road trip between three estranged queer friends who agree to take a road trip together in order to attend a reunion show of one of their fav boy bands in Vegas. I loved the female friendship in this book, the ADHD rep, the diverse characters, the humor and heart and of course the swoony Sapphic romance between Chloe and her former crush Ramona. Great on audio and perfect for fans of books like Sisterhood of the travelling pants and Once upon a Quinceañera by Monica Gomez-Hira. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review.

this one was so exciting and relatable! the whole aspect of fandom culture and a boy band was so nostalgic and hilarious i was utterly obsessed! the friendship group in this was also amazingly unique and misshaped and felt so raw as a girl who has experienced queer female friendships. Chloe was realistic and open and i loved that about her. Ramona was eerily attractive and cool which gave so much lesbian jealously 🤭. their whole relationship dynamic was soo adorable and i loved the whole rekindling!!!