This book was a magical nostalgic journey! I loved everything about "Get Real, Chloe Torres", and I will definitely be purchasing a copy of this book for my personal collection along with a copy for my classroom.

Where do I even begin? This book was not only well written, but it takes place in an area that I actually live in! I love how Crystal Maldonado writes about Western Mass, and Massachusetts in general. Living here my whole life, it's so nice to hear an author capture the small town and quirky vibes of this area. I connected with this book because of where it takes place, but also because of the literal and figurative journey that Chloe takes throughout this book.

Chloe has grown apart from her middle school friends, but when presented with the opportunity to reunite on a road trip to see their favorite boy reunite in Las Vegas, she embarks on a mission to rekindle her lost friendship. Equipped with a love for "their boys" and a BFF bucket list, Chloe and her friends drive from Massachusetts to Nevada over a week's time reconnecting with each other along the way.

Epic friendships and fangirling for boy bands is exactly what I lived for when I was in high school, and this book is a love letter to both of those. I loved every minute of this journey, and now I want to plan a road trip of my own! I highly recommend this book!

disclaimer: I don't normally rate books, but since someone else on SG rated this 0.75 stars, I had to counteract it, and honestly, this book was near perfect to me so I'm okay with this rating!

It's no secret that I love Crystal Maldonado. The way she writes brings me back to when I was a teenager feeling all the things, and I particularly related to Chloe. She's sentimental, emotional, and dreading the next chapter of her life. For her eighteenth birthday, her dad gifts her with three tickets to her favorite boy band's reunion charity concert in Las Vegas. Four years ago, she had a falling out with her two best friends, Ramona (not sure if we're ever told her Latinidad, but she's brown) and Sienna (white Argentinian American), who she bonded with over Intonation. Her cousin/best friend, Diego, can't go to the concert with her because of work, her dad and stepmom, Karina, are expecting a baby soon and can't go, and her one friend Whit (loved Whit's cameos!) already has tickets. So Chloe gets all up in her feels and finds the BFF bucket list she made with Sienna and Ramona in middle school. One of the items on the bucket list was to go to an Intonation concert together. She decides she needs to try inviting both of them on a week long road trip as a final hurrah to high school before they go their separate ways. And maybe they can even be friends again....

As always with a Crystal Maldonado book, I loved all the characters. They were complex and imperfect and relatable. Diego is a new-ish drag queen (fun! we love her!). Chloe's papi is SO endearing/funny in his protectiveness of her. Karina mellows Chloe's father out. Ramona has a tough exterior but is a total softie (don't tell anyone). Sienna is so bubbly and cheerful with a lot of pressure in her home life. Chloe's character really hit close to home for me, as I alluded to above. She has ADHD, and while not all ADHD is the same, I related a lot to hers (especially the time blindness!). She's so nostalgic, which fuels her to invite her former BFFs on a road trip (honestly so bold). She's impulsive when upset, and she's upset when her big expectations don't match up with reality. Sometimes I wanted to scream at her to stop living in the past, but then I realized I also live in the past sooo we love the introspection!

I don't really remember Chloe from Whit's book, so this has made me want to go back and reread that. Whit's book was my first five star read of 2024 and Chloe's book is my first five star read of 2025! (forget that I said I don't normally rate books, LOL, I exist in multitudes)

Read this book for:
🩷 a cast of queer characters, and a queer (sapphic) main romance!
🩷 a semi-love triangle (more like Chloe starts crushing on one of them and then discovers, wait no, she has a crush on the other!)
🩷 the magic you feel when seeing your favorite band in concert (iykyk)
🩷 ALL Latine characters! (Chloe is Puerto Rican, like the author)
🩷 ADHD rep!
🩷 road trips
🩷 reconnecting with old friends and growing together

Thank you so much to Holiday House and Crystal Maldonado for the advanced copy of this book!!! Seriously one of my most anticipated of the year, and you blew it out of the park. Can't wait for the next one!