Author: Emma Lord
Reviewed by Chloe Fuksa
If you ever dreamt of going to New York City after graduation and crossing things off your bucket list, this book is for you. Emma Lord is the author of five young adult novels, the latest one being The Getaway List, released in January 2024. It’s a coming-of-age story, and while some parts seemed a little unrealistic to me, it is a cute, breezy summer read.
After feeling too controlled and confined in high school, Riley decides to visit NYC after she graduates – one, so that she can finally dictate her own adventures, and two, so that she can reunite there with her best friend, Tom. The two of them made a bucket list years earlier but could never do the things on it since Tom had to move away. Now, they can ride their bikes around the city, go on a camping trip, take a writing class, and more. They make new friends along the way too and have chances to figure out what their future looks like after the summer.
Now, just as a helpful tip, Emma Lord’s writing style took me awhile to get used to. Sometimes it seemed like one sentence was trying to cover three or four separate things. I had to slow down my reading speed at first, but I did get into a better rhythm as I went along. As well, some of the references that the characters made went right over my head, but I just chalked that up to me not being a teenager. I did really enjoy the friendship between the characters and how well it was written, and the little bit of romance in the book was clean and sweet. Lord is actually releasing her adult debut novel next month, and while The Getaway List is certainly not a perfect book, I did enjoy it enough that I’ll pick up Lord’s next one too (maybe I won’t feel my age quite as much).
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