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.

***3.5 stars

Thanks to netgalley for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Honestly to preface I think I may have read too many YA romances in a row… i'm pretty sure my past 4 books have been YA rom coms?

“I mean it. Not that it matters what I think, because it’s just a fact either way. You don’t need stars, Riley. You are one. You have your own gravity and I cannot fucking wait to see what you do with it.”

Honestly i don't think that this book was bad in anyways, honestly if i could describe this book in one word i would say “cute”. It has some great witty banter, a lovable friend group and interesting side plots, with said friend groups, a New york backdrop and a fair few Taylor swift references. It also heavily ventures into your relationship with yourself , and your purpose.


I would say that I didn't love this book because, I just dont think friends to lovers is for me? Like I really liked their friendship, but honestly i didn’t buy the relationship, like i don’t know, it might just have been me, but the chemistry didn't really leap of the page to me, i feel like because at the start of their friendship they had an inherent attraction to each other, which means that their friendship never fully platonic, so their progression to lovers didn't wow me. IDK buddy.

Anyways this book, while cute, It didn't change my life necessarily, but if you're looking for a:
⤿ childhood friends to lovers
⤿Witty banter
⤿Loveable characters + friend group
⤿ vivid setting
⤿ cute

Then give this book a shot when it comes out!

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.