No Place Like Here was an absolutely amazing book from the very beginning. I wasn’t sure how fast I’d be able to get attached to the characters and the storyline. But, I was easily able to read the book and follow the storyline. The main character absolutely had my heart and then when we met the love interest who got the short end of the stick, I felt terrible for him until the last few chapters of the book. This book was beautifully written and I was ready to see what was going to happen with the end of each page. I definitely recommend for people to read this book no matter your age.

I really ADORE this book. It was just perfection! It was well written, the dialog flowed smoothly. The characters were deep, and well developed. I loved watching Ashlyn bloom, and challenge herself, and challenge the voice of her father in her head. It was such an incredible personal journey. I love the message of how everyone has the chance to be brave, and that bravery takes on so many forms. It was incredible!

Thank you NetGalley and Blink publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.

So I went into this book thinking that it was a modern Hansel and Gretel retelling. And I guess it is as long as your definition of retellings is incredibly loose. I guess I was expecting some sort of magic, which is definitely NOT what this story is about.

I would classify this as a YA contemporary that focuses on coming of age. Ashlyn just found out that her father must do prison time because of tax evasion. To say that her father is overbearing would be polite. The guy is an outright tyrant. Her mother is suffering from severe depression, which her father labels as "exhaustion". Ashlyn is shipped off to become a counselor at a team building camp for adults in the corporate world.

I liked the experiences that Ashlyn had at the wilderness camp. I think that she's still incredibly naive when it comes to those of the opposite sex, which is evident from her previous mistakes. However, the story is more focused on building a relationship with her cousin Hannah versus romantic ties.

Overall, I think the story is alright, but it wasn't really for me. I didn't really feel a connection with Ashlyn. And while I admire that the plot focuses on rebuilding family ties, it's not what I was hoping for from this story.

No Place Like Here is a wonderful and uplifting story that shows even the quiet girls can stand up for themselves... I really related to the MC and that's saying a lot because I am a 33 year old woman! The complicated family dynamics within the story are frustrating, but very realistic. The setting was amazing as well. I haven't read a book like this in a long time! I very much recommend it.

I recently was able to read No Place Like Here by Christina June. It claims to be a modern take on Hansel and Gretel, but aside from the references to quotes as breadcrumbs or the main character feeling like she was about to be pushed into an oven, I really didn't see too many similarities. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable contemporary story worth reading.

Ashlyn's world is about to fall apart. After a year in boarding school (after making a mistake by choosing the wrong boyfriend) she's ready to come home. Instead, her father ends up in prison, her mother is in a facility to help with her depression, and she's being shipped off to work at a summer camp with a cousin that she barely knows. Instead of a summer at home with her best friend like she had hoped, she's forced to live out someone else's idea of what her summer should be like.

Our heroine at first feels like she has no voice. Like she's being pushed into a life she doesn't want and has no say over the matter. Over the course of the book, Ashlyn learns to speak up for herself and... maybe... things won't turn out so badly after we close the pages of the book.

I liked the book. It had a nice story and a good message. Ashlyn was an interesting character that developed over time and seemed well-rounded. Her family and the eventual need to bring them together is something that a lot of people experience. She had a good backstory, but I never felt like there was infodumping or anything.

That being said, there are elements that could have been better. I probably would have liked to see more in-depth supporting characters, and maybe a little bit more worldbuilding of the camp setting. To do that though, it probably would have needed to be a little longer than its 288 pages. There's a tradeoff between having a quick read and spending more time in a book developing more characters.

The book is very light on romance, which may or may not be what you're looking for. The summer relationships in this book were quite realistic though.

Overall, the book was an easy, enjoyable read. If you're looking for a quick contemporary about family relationships and people finding their voice, you might find this book enjoyable.

I find that coming of age stories can be a bit hit or miss and I think that this book will be a hit with younger readers. A modern twist on a classic fairy tale this book was easy to read and enjoyable. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an eARC.

No Place Like Here
Christina June


The story follows A young girl , Ashlyn Zanotti. Who has recently been away at boarding school because of an arrest. She is looking forward to coming home after being away. Events began to take a different turn, and she discovers that her father is going to prison and her mother is checked in to rehab. She is then sent to stay with her relatives in Pennsylvania. She has to work at a summer camp with her cousin, She is uncertain of her job at the the camp. But, she realizes how capable she is, and develop coping skills. Which help her stand up to her father. She becomes a stronger individual, with self esteem. What a great coming of age story of developing Friendship and family ties.

In reality this is about standing up for what is right, and finding your voice .

Thanks NetGalley for this complimentary copy for an honest review

All my opinions are my own

I’m a faithful Christina June follower! I have read two of her books now as NetGalley preview copies and the other one as a Kindle purchase, and they have all been delightful. I’ll definitely be purchasing this book for my school library. It’s got a sweet little romance and an inner look at a coming-of-age journey that isn’t the typical one but is relevant to many teenage readers. Ashlyn is the best friend of Tatum, the main character of It Started with Goodbye, and the story picks up in the same summer as Everywhere You Want to Be, while Tatum is still at home, her stepsister Tilly is in NYC, and Ashlyn has been away at boarding school all year, looking forward to coming home. Instead, she ends up spending her summer working at a retreat center in the middle of nowhere.
What I liked:
I appreciate the way Christina June’s three books so far are connected, but they aren’t a series truly dependent on each other. This is perfect for someone like me who reads so much YA that I can’t always keep them sorted out in my head…
I like the fact that it shows the inner problems of a girl whom most would call privileged and even wonder what she could possibly have to complain about when her parents have plenty of money. It’s not an in-depth character analysis, but it’s good for a YA-level glimpse.
The characters fit your expectations, for the most part, but that’s a good thing for YA readers who need to see that they’re not the only ones dealing with certain types of people and situations in their lives. June leaves room to develop some of the characters more in another story — another loosely connected novel in this set, maybe this time about Ashlyn’s cousin?
What I didn’t love:
Maybe it’s just because of the last YA book I read (Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson…whew! I need to write a review of that one!), but I was almost disappointed at how nicely the plot wrapped up. I had in mind a wicked twist that I was sure was going to show up! Ultimately, the plot was fine, and I need to just be less…leery? apprehensive? That other book messed with me and I can’t even trust books anymore…
I didn’t realize that it was a modern twist on Hansel & Gretel until I saw that as part of the book description on Christina June’s website. Now I’m trying to go back and think about it through that lens, but it’s a struggle!

The third in the series, this book follows Ashlyn, whose life is turned upside down when her father is sent to jail for tax evasion and her mother goes to rehab. She has just come home from boarding school and is looking forward to spending the summer relaxing with her BFF Tatum, but the unforeseen circumstances lead her to work with a cousin she's never met at a retreat center for kids instead. Can she make it work or will it be the worst summer of her life?

I loved the first two books in this modern fairy tale series by Christina June and was excited to read No Place Like Here. As soon as I finished, I reached out to Christina to ask her for a fourth book (perhaps about Ashlyn's cousin Hannah). I am NOT ready for this series to be done!

This is another wonderful story from Christina. I enjoyed getting to know Ashlyn better and learning about what her life is like. I liked the setting of Sweetwater and how it helped Ashlyn get to know herself better. The story flowed easily from start to finish and it was so difficult to put down. I liked the relationships Ashlyn had with all the different characters throughout, some being comforting and some being complex.

I don't think anyone is ever too old for a good young adult novel, and the ones by Christina June are all amazing. Pick up It Started with Goodbye and read them in order of publication dates. I highly recommend all three!

Movie casting ideas:
Ashlyn: Lizzy Greene (I recast the role from my review of It Started With Goodbye after watching her in A Million Little Things.)
Hannah: Isabelle Fuhrman
Marcus: Dylan Sprayberry
Baxter: Luke Benward
Deb: Melissa McCarthy
Arthur: Eric Bana

Ashlyn doesn't think her life can get worse after a year at boarding school-- but now her dad's in prison, and her mother is in rehab for depression. She certainly isn't feeling confident in her new job at a camp with her cousin and living at her extended family's house. While it's not what she hoped for, it's a summer of growth, love, and realization for Ashlyn. I loved watching her learn to trust herself and take charge of her life. No Place Like Here is a wonderful summertime read.

Christina June's third book - No Place Like Here - continues the timeline set in the first two novels. This time around Ashlyn narrates the summer after the original shoplifting incident. She thought her life couldn't get any worse - then she hears that her dad is being sent to prison for tax evasion. What was supposed to be a summer spent reuniting with her friends has turned into a job at a corporate retreat with a cousin she has never known.

Although I enjoyed this book, I did not like Ashlyn as well as the previous two heroines. Ashlyn is smart, loyal, organized and trying to reconcile being angry with her parents. She is also very stupid about boys. I had difficultly reconciling these two sides and it made it difficult to forgive her mistakes with "boyfriends." I felt a bit like yelling at her the way you would when the heroine in a horror movie runs upstairs instead of out the door. I guess Ashlyn is just growing - I hope we get to see a more collected version of her in the next book. Perhaps narrated by her cousin?

Christina June has a way with emotions and making her readers feel them strongly, whether it be anger, grief, joy, pride, and fear. In short, she makes her characters--and her readers--feel alive.

After a year at boarding school following being arrested thanks to her no-good rotten shoplifting boyfriend (For more details, see "It Started With Goodbye" by Christina June), Ashlyn is finally coming home and, more importantly, hopes to stay home. And then she finds out--through Facebook--that her father is going to prison, her mother's going to rehab for depression, and she's being shipped out to the middle of nowhere to live with family she hasn't seen in years and work at a summer retreat camp. Ashlyn has spent her whole life with her father dictating what she does, even when he is only in her head. Can she find her way home?

Ashlyn is a strong character who realizes that she is strong throughout the book as she takes charge of her own life for the first time. She makes friends, makes tough decisions, and is going through so many difficult things that she takes in stride. She has her cousin, Hannah, and Hannah's cute friend Baxter to help her get through the summer, as well as a lot of love from her BFF Tatum. I will say that there wasn't as much impact on the romance in this book compared to "It Started With Goodbye" and "Everywhere You Want to Be", but I liked the slow friendship to not-quite lovers that Ashlyn had with her love interest. (It most definitely begs for another companion book where we get a cameo with these characters!)

This is a wonderful book, and leave you rooting for Ashlyn from beginning to end.

This was an okay book. I just didn't feel like there was any pivotal moment in the story. I can look back and see a few places where there was character-building life moments for the MC, but nothing that really spoke to me much.
That said, it was a nice story with like-able enough characters. Certainly a light, easy read, but beyond that - it's not much.