The Getaway List by Emma Lord
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Getaway List by Emma Lord released in January of 2024. I’ve been putting it off because after completing this, I have no more Emma Lord’s to read until 2025.
A sad day, indeed…
But that day has come. I started the audiobook this morning, because I just couldn’t resist anymore and sure enough, I binged it all in one day.
This story is unsurprisingly sweet and cute, full of heart-warming character moments and a #goals Found Family that I wanted to be a part of. I really enjoyed it!
In this story, we meet our MC, Riley, on the day she graduates from high school. She realizes that she’s been working so hard the past 4-years, trying to do everything her Mom wants, that she hasn’t had any time for herself.
She’s at a point when her classmates are moving on to their next steps, and she doesn’t even know what she wants her next steps to be. It hits her like a truck.
Riley also realizes she misses her best friend, Tom, who moved away years ago to New York City with his Mom, and she needs a chance to reconnect with him.
Being with Tom, before he moved, those are the last times she really remembers being able to be herself. She misses him and their easy connection.
Needing the freedom to explore options for what the future may have in store for her, Riley plans an impromptu trip to NYC. Sadly, her Mom doesn’t support her decision and the two get in a row. Her Mom tells her she can’t go.
But Riley’s 18-years old, it’s time she start making decisions for herself. Even though she’s not leaving under the best of circumstances, her mind is made up and off she goes.
The reunion between the two friends is a little uncertain at first. They haven’t seen one another in corporeal form in years. Nevertheless, before long, like true friends, it feels like they’ve never been apart.
After a few days, Riley is feeling more like herself than she has in a long, long time. She decides it would be best if she stay for the Summer. She and Tom have begun to check off items from their Getaway List, and it just feels fated.
There’s also something else brewing in Riley’s mind. What are these butterflies she’s getting in her stomach whenever she’s with Tom? This is a whole new feeling, one she just may now be ready to explore.
One of the things I love most about Emma Lord’s books is the journeys that the characters go on. Her books are very much Contemporary, with Romance being more of a subplot, which works for me.
I’m not a heavy Romance Reader and the books I enjoy the most with Romance in them, tend to focus a lot on other things going on in the protagonist’s lives other than Romance; such as family or career issues.
This book is truly about self-discovery for Riley. She’s lost herself in trying to make her Mom happy, and doing what she needs to do to be the good girl. She’s been doing what her Mom wants, but finally comes to a point where she recognizes she needs to start making decisions for herself.
She’s at that fantastic crossroads in life, just after high school, where all obligations of childhood are completed, and it’s time to start take the first steps into adulthood. The world is literally her oyster.
I liked her desire to reconnect with Tom, and I definitely understood her motivations for tracking him down. It was fun watching them reconnect and being along for the ride as their feelings for one another evolved.
My favorite part, however, was the Found Family that Lord created around Riley and Tom. They were both having difficulties with their Moms, and the added support they received from their friends was so needed.
There was a line in the book, I didn’t flag it, so don’t quote me, but it was something along the lines of, family isn’t who you share blood with, it’s who you’ll spill blood for. That hit in a special way with this book.
If those are the kind of vibes you enjoy in your Contemporary stories, you need to check this one out. It delivered all of that and more. The mix of funny, heart-warming moments, with more serious, quieter moments, was beautifully-executed, IMO.
Overall, I thought this was such a gratifying story. Lord wrapped everything up in a lovely little bow, and I walk away with a big smile on my face.
I’m so happy that I finally made time for this; that I finally caved and read the last Emma Lord book that I have left to read. Emma, I will see you in 2025!!!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. Clearly, Emma Lord is one of my go-to authors and I cannot wait to pick up more from her.
Her brand of sweet will never get old to me. I eat it up like ice cream with every available topping on it!!
