Emma Lord has quickly become a must-read author for me. Though I have (accidentally, it seems) missed some of her novels, I still think about her debut novel Tweet Cute every so often—and actually I think about Begin Again, as well. She’s a writer who clearly loves her characters and loves to make teens feel like real people with complicated relationships. When I got my hands on The Getaway List (another subtle Taylor Swift reference), I was excited to see what kind of adventure I was about to take.

The day of her high school graduation, Riley realizes two things: One, that she has spent the last four years trying so hard to be a Good Kid for her mom that she has no idea who she really is anymore, and two, she has no idea what she wants because of it. The solution? Pack her bags and move to New York for the summer, where her childhood best friend Tom and co-creator of The Getaway List ― a list of all the adventures they’ve wanted to do together since he moved away ― will hopefully help her get in touch with her old adventurous self, and pave the road to a new future.

Riley isn’t sure what to expect from Tom, who has been distant since his famous mom’s scriptwriting career pulled him away. But when Riley arrives in the city, their reconnection 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 delightfully chaotic items on The Getaway List, Riley learns that sometimes the biggest adventure is not one you take, but one you feel in your heart.

I’m on my third Emma Lord book and I’m starting to think that she can do no wrong in my book. I really love her characters and how they interact with each other, and she really gets the essence of being a teenager without making them whiny or annoying like actual teenagers tend to be. Great YA for adults to read, too. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

What didn’t work for me

The getaway list itself: I love a good list. In fact, I add things to my checklist just to cross them off. But I feel like the list wasn’t all that exciting. They were teenagers who were literally free to do almost whatever they wanted over the summer—I felt like there was some adventure missing.

Tom’s mother: No spoilers but I don’t understand how someone who could have such a close relationship with Riley’s mom and who had a son on her own could make some of the decisions she made…famous Hollywood person or not. I don’t think that tension was necessary and I think it might have been one too many things happening in the plot.

What I liked

The friendship(s): This group of friends is everything. They seem real and genuine and actually nice to each other. They listen, they notice when something is off…they feel like real people. Yes, there’s miscommunication in this book (there always seems to be), but this isn’t a group of people who are making assumptions and not actually talking to each other. And they sometimes do things with different members of the group instead of always being the whole group together, which adds some fun dynamics.

All of the plot points: I know I mentioned above that there were maybe one-to-many plot points, but despite that, I loved how there were a lot of interesting things happening—and that they were done well. There was the coming-of-age story, the friendship group, complicated mother-kid relationships, the love story, the side love story, nerdy book stuff, etc. Nothing seemed to be mentioned for no reason, and everything was tied together beautifully.

Emma Lord: Yup, she gets a point here because her stories are so nice to read. They’re not complicated, the characters are great and she’s a very consistent writer that I love to read.

4 STARS

“The unknown becoming known. A strange place becoming home.” —Emma Lord, The Getaway List

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for an advanced book copy in exchange for my honest review.