The Getaway List

Always been an Emma Lord fan and this book expresses why. I’ve recently fallen out of love with YA as I found the plots becoming samey. But dear ‘Lord’, this book made me fall in love again.

I wish this book had been released years ago when I was an actual teenager. It’s got everything I wanted/longed for at the time. A new city, found family and realising who I am on my own. And New York. Come on, New York has always been my dream.

I love all of the characters. The way they found each other and bonded instantly. Ready to show the commitment and love for each other. It was such a gorgeous arc to the story.

But Riley and Tom stole my heart. They’re both so loveable and their flaws are evident which I love. I’m a sucker for a romance arc, but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t take over the general plot of the book. Yes, they found each other again and I had a little squeal at the end of the book when they finally got together because I’m only human.

Emma has already been an auto-buy author for me and she will continue to be. Thank you NetGalley for a chance to review this dream of a book.

The Getaway List is a fun YA story with a range of characters. It’s written in a very easy to read style and includes the excitement of the big city. Riley needs to escape the control of her mother and travels to New York to stay with her best friend, Tom. Whilst there she meets a group of friends who support her journey. I did feel like even though the characters were young adults they were dipping in things that normally come when you’re older, for example, creating and running apps.

Another amazing YA novel from Emma Lord! Riley and Tom are just the best characters! NYC was its own character in this story, which made it even more of an enjoyable read.

This was incredibly charming! I'm such a sucker for friends to lovers stories so this is was definitely up my alley!

The characters and each of their journeys were wonderful, they all felt very developed and I grew attached to each of them. Often side characters are used as a way to bring the main couple together but I really connected with Mariella, Luca, Jesse and the rest of the cast. They each added to the story in their own, unique way and I loved learning more about them. I wish I had a friendship group like this! I love a found family storyline.

Loved Tom and Riley too, both as friends and as a couple, really felt their bond and was eager for them to finally admit their feelings.

Enjoyed the NYC setting, which always feels like a character in itself. The idea of the app was so fun, too, and would do well in a city like New York. I love reading about creative ideas like this.

One criticism for me was that it felt a bit too long, but I am clawing my way out of a reading slump.

This was a really fun and charming book, the characters were all very likeable and distinctive, however I felt the main character Tom, wasn't as developed as everyone else and for that reason the romance took a while to feel believable.

This extremely sweet book was as much of a love story to New York, and friendships, and working out who you are in the world, as it was a love story between the two protagonists. And i loved every second of all of it, so that's a lot of love to go around.

The book made me want to be friends with everyone in it, and go on adventures with them and hug them when things weren't so clear. But it mostly made me want to jump on a plane and rekindle my friendship with New York City.

This was such a cute read; it was slow and gentle, and Riley's emotions come across so clearly. Looking up to realise that you aren't sure who you are is scary and empowering, and the book follows this awakening as Rily gets to the 'big city' to start to live and, possibly, to find her happy ever after in Tom.
The whole cast of friends adds a lot to the book and helps it bounce along joyfully. Tom and Riley and all their friends work their way through a list of things to do, and these mad, odd and touching things help them find out who they are and who and where they want to be. A lovely romance.

I have to start this review by saying that @dilemmalord is my instant must-read no questions asked author! I've adored all her books and is the reason why I've aspired become an ARC reader. After seeing her post about her new releases getting their NetGalley reviews years ago, I started wishing I could be one of those lucky people early readers.
Well, a few years, 1000 bookstagram followers and an approved NetGalley account later, I was eagerly awaiting her next novel to be added to NetGalley. Here it is, I was approved and here's my review!!
This was such a lovely story about friendship, love, reconnecting, relationships changing and taking different forms over time, finding your own purpose and place in this crazy thing we call life but not having to go on the journey alone!
It was so easy to read with relatable and funny characters, lots of humour and sentimental moments too!
The brownies sounded so delicious and I'm jealous I can't ever experience the wonders of Brownie Bonanza myself!
It also really makes me want to go on a New York adventure of my own! ✈️

Thank you to Emma Lord, Macmillan and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a lovely, young adult novel about coming of age. If you liked the authors previous books, you would like this story. I enjoyed this piece of escapist fiction.

I don’t even know how to explain how much I loved this book, it was one of those books with a cast of characters where I fell in love with every single one of them and could have happily have read another 300 pages of them just living their lives together after the main story had finished.

Riley and Tom are one of my favourite friends to lovers stories I’ve ever read, I loved the way they bounced off each other and the way they cared so deeply about each other having already been the best of friends for years before they dared explore anything further between them.

The side characters didn’t ever feel like side characters and the found family this group of friends made for each other felt so natural and effortless and the relationships they formed with each other so important. I wanted to part of their adventures around New York too!

While being very fun and lighthearted there was also some big feelings and things each of the characters had to face that had them learning to put themselves to find the part of themselves they had lost somewhere along the way as they grew up.

If it wasn’t clear I adored this book and I highly recommend you read it if you’re looking for a ya romance with one of the best found families I’ve had the pleasure to read about!

I absolutely love Emma Lords books, she never disappoints. I’m so excited for her adult work as well. I love the friendship between the characters, the relatable content, and NYC backdrop. I felt if I was pulled in that world while reading. I was also curious to see how the relationship would unfold. Would they remain friends or were there some romantic undertones as well. Very entertaining and enjoyable 5/5

Emma Lord, you will always, always, always be famous for me!!

While I knew I had enjoyed every Emma Lord book I'd picked up in the past, in the back of my mind I was worried that either they may have lost their charm, or YA might just not resonate with me as much anymore (at my big and distinguished age), so I was taken aback by just how brilliant this was and how much of a punch it packed.

THE GETAWAY LIST delivers what the bright jolly cover may suggest - a summer in New York, fun shenanigans and young love (as a generally friends-to-lovers hater, I was extremely impressed by how well executed and palpable the tension between the two protagonists was, as well as by how undeniably well suited for one another they were), with the addition of a ragtag group of friends that become a found family of sorts. This was joyous and exhilarating and so, so fun, in the way a summer day that feels like another slice of life, but becomes a core memory by the end is.
THE GETAWAY LIST, however, also hides more under the surface - the book explores the desire to find an old you that you lost in order to be able to work away at creating the new you. It explores the way we lose parts of ourselves as we grow up, and we hide away the things that hurt us most to protect ourselves and those attached to our old selves from the realities they create. It is, at its core, a book about allowing yourself to choose you, put you first, and refuse to be guilted for it.
Part tender young romance, part empowering coming of age narrative, this was an absolute banger through and through.