Shit wtf this book was so emotional!! I actually found the POV duality a really neat story telling device, since the second POV is NOT the second love interest.

All the Way Home by Alex Ritany is a sweet, wholesome, thoughtful, young romance that explores mental health, family, changing identities, loss, the complexities of family and hard things unspoken, heteronormative and neurotypical relationship norms, healing, and the courage it takes to be honest and true in love.

Without ever feeling heavy-handed or weighed down by the significance of it all, All the Way Home is a feel-good little exploration of love in many forms.

The first chapter was a bit clunky for me, however Kieran and Zach became quickly endearing, especially once their adventure together properly began. And then, as the story unfolded I found myself laughing (Mara is delightful), blushing, and falling in love with their journey with wholesome delight.

I deeply appreciated the way Ritany handled the confusion and heartbreak of staying true to yourself as a young adult who is figuring themselves out, and the reality that hard conversations are, well, HARD... The only way through is THROUGH.

All the Way Home has some wonderful lessons for younger readers about the damage that avoidance can do, and the importance of reckoning, repairing, and reaching out for help so we don't have to navigate the painful stuff alone.

Kieran and Zach are lovable and irresistible. If you're a romance lover and like low angst journeys of self-discovery, you'll love this book.

I'm grateful to W. W. Norton & Company as well as NetGalley for the advanced reader copy so I could dive in early.

Gah, I really enjoyed this book! First, the cover is perfect, I kept going back to look at it. The title confused me until I realized it was part of a lyric from Let It Snow, and then it made total sense to the book. Typically I don't read YA, but this one looked too good to pass up and it more than exceeded my expectations. I want to be very clear upfront that this is not what I would call a sweet and fluffy book per se, it deals with mental health, identity, and the faulty perceptions we hold both for ourselves and the people around us. We are on a character journey here for sure.

As some have said before me, at first it threw me off to not have one of the main love interests be one our POVs, but it really did make sense for the themes of the book. To get the "not my favorite" part out of the way: Rena was frustrating as a narrator. Even though ultimately I was invested in her story and had a lot of empathy for her, I was frustrated with her the majority of the time. She was like a ketchup bottle, you just kinda wanted to shake her, even as you understood why she was being difficult.

Back to what made me love this book: Zach and Kieran. We start out with Zach, feeling very overwhelmed and anxious in the security line at the airport four days before Christmas, and a runaway water bottle introduces us to Kieran, or Teal Coat as we know him at first. These two were precious. The fact that the entire book takes place in 12 hours while their flight is continually delayed made the steady pacing all the more impressive. The romance actually felt realistic, despite it happening so fast. There is zero spice in this book, but I still got a little fluttery at times with their long looks and brave moments. Not being in Kieran's head ended up making this more intriguing I think, as we figured him out from Zach and Rena's perspective, and had to question our own perceptions about him as the book went on.

The only critique I have for the ending is I wanted a little more. An epilogue of maybe a year down the road at the following Christmas would have felt like the perfect way to end my time with these characters, but I still smiled all the way to the last word. If you want a holiday YA romance with a little extra heart to it, then I definitely recommend this book! 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own and freely given.

Ritany wrote a future bestseller in my modest and honest opinion. It is a brilliant novel I'll never stop recommending.

I’m so happy I got to read this!! All the Way Home is a perfect holiday romance to add to your reading list this year. Alex Ritany you ate this up!!

10/10 this was such an interesting read that had me hooked from start to finish! Loved seeing the characters grow and evolve in this story

To absolutely no one's surprise I loved the Christmas romance. I found things to connect with in each of the characters and love everyone's journey to self discovery. Zach’s family is the sweetest, cutest family ever. I sat down and read this in one evening because I just had to see when they would finally get on that dang plane and even though you have an idea of the big reveals each story is going to have, I needed to see it unfold. Adorable, takes place over about 12 hours, all the Christmas at the airport vibes you could need.
This was so good. I can’t wait to look into Alex Ritany’s backlog.
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I loved this so much and look forward to buying a physical copy when the time comes. This book has made me feel a full range of emotions. it has brought me to tears and made me genuinely laugh.

I love that the characters feel so real. They're messy, they make mistakes, they have complex relationships. The narrative is unflinching and honest, but it still manages to be compassionate and hopeful. Absolutely beautiful.

To the author, if you're reading this, thank you.

One thing I especially appreciated was the way Ritany portrays the confusion and heartbreak that can come with trying to understand yourself as a young adult. The book doesn't shy away from the reality that some conversations are incredibly difficult, but it also emphasizes that avoiding them only causes more pain. The themes of accountability, reaching out for help, and repairing relationships are handled with a lot of care.

It reminded me of the bridge of Under Pressure; cause love is such and old-fashioned word and love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night.

Thank you for the opportunity of reading this masterpiece of writing.

This book was adorable. It is such a perfect read for Christmas time. It is wild to think this whole book takes place over the span of twelve hours, there was so much character development in such a short time.

Also the cover was really cute.

Would I Recommend? Yes
Favorite Character(s): Zach
Emojis Based on Vibes: ✈️❄️🌈

This was exactly what I needed for my mood reading. So fluffy with a snow storm, an airport, holiday vibes and forced proximity romance.

Zach and Kieran are stranded at an airport during a snow storm. After an out of control water bottle roll, they meet and are instantly thrown into each others orbits. There’s drama and secrets. Discussion of mental illness (depression and anxiety) but lots of cute dialogue and mutual attraction. And a really heated kiss in a construction zone.

Trigger warning for discussion of self harm.

All the Way Home by Alex Ritany has one of the best meet cutes I have ever read, along with some of the most endearing characters and it is definitely one of my favourite holiday reads of all time. There are certain books that I like to revisit when I need something to make me feel good, almost like a "break glass in case of emergency" type thing, and this book has immediately made it on to that list.
Zach. a.k.a. a bundle of anxiety dressed in a hoody, is about to board his first ever flight, taking him home from his first semester in college just in time to celebrate Winter Solstice with his loving if a little unconventional family, and it feels like everything is going wrong. His flight is delayed, his bag gets stolen, he's forgotten his ear buds, oh and his toxic ex keeps trying to call him, the only little bit of good is Kieran.
Kieran is also travelling home for the holidays along with his sister Rena and her boyfriend Lucas, and Zach immediately catches his eye in the airport to the despair of his travelling companions who think he is on the prowl and looking to amuse himself while they wait. For Kieran who is dreading the return home for reasons that will be made clear as the story unfolds, Zach may be a distraction at first, but before long it is clear that there is real chemistry, and a real connection between them.
I just fell in love with this book and these characters, not just Kieran and Zach but also Rena who is dealing with some issues and questions of her own. The chemistry between Zach and Kieran was so immediate that it could have felt over the top but it never did, they just read like two people who found each other at the perfect time, and who were stronger together than either of them were alone. The banter between them was a delight, immediately relatable to anyone who has ever had an awkward conversation with a crush, but there were also times where the conversations were more emotional and more serious and I loved those just as much.
While this is a dual POV story I found it really interesting that the author chose not to give us Kieran's POV, but instead that of his sister Rena, at first I was not sure how well that would work, but by the end it was actually one of my favourite things about the book overall. Her realisations about herself and her relationship with Lucas made for some thought provoking reading, and seeing her come to terms with what she wanted really felt quite emotional and empowering. There is some excellent depiction of anxiety and mental health representation which also made me happy but not as happy as the beautiful ending of the book which put such a huge smile on my face.
This was my first book from Alex Ritany but it will not be the last, and this is a book that I will be recommending to many many readers, and revisiting myself in time for Christmas. I would give it six stars if I could!
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.