graduating, getting away, and growing up

Riley is so ready to graduate high school and do something else. She doesn’t know what, but something. It’s not going to her first choice college, because they turned her down, as did her second choice and all her choices that came after. So she has no real plans for the future. And then she looks in her cap.

Her best friend Tom had moved to New York City from their small Virginia town a couple years back, when his mother had become a successful and popular screenwriter. They had kept in touch, but more importantly, they had kept added to their shared Getaway List through the years. The list was a compilation of things they had wanted to do together, like take a writing class based on their favorite fantasy series or go on the camping trip they’d had to miss sophomore year. Riley had put the list inside her graduation cap, to remind her of all the things she’d wanted to do. She’d kept the list close.

On a whim, Riley decides to take a trip to New York City to see Tom after all the years. She can take a bus and be there in hours, and they could do something from the list that weekend. Her mother isn’t very happy about the idea, and lets it slip that she’d purposefully been keeping Riley busy with extracurricular activities for the last couple of years to keep her distracted from Tom. Riley is hurt and angry, and takes a bus straight to New York.

When Riley and Tom see each other after all that time, their connection is still electric. They pick up where they left off, and though things are left unsaid between them, they start to plan adventures immediately. They are up early the next morning for the writing class, and they go from there, tackling things on the list and getting to know each other again. The weekend turns into longer, and before long, Riley is planning on spending the summer in the city. Its energy is infectious for Riley, awakening her creativity in new and exciting ways.

Almost immediately they find more friends, Riley’s friend Jesse who has just moved to the city with his band, Tom’s friend from Columbia Mariella, and their new friend from the writing class Lucas. As they make their way around the city together, crossing off things from the Getaway List and finding inspiration and enjoyment in everything, Riley and Tom also find the spark they’d both been missing.

The more Riley finds herself falling in love with the city and finding her voice again, the more she worries about telling her mother she wants to stay. But will her mother trust her enough to let her stay in the city that’s lighting her up? And how will she tell Tom what she wants for her future when he’s been so clearly unhappy living in New York? Once they finish up the list, will that be the end of their friendship, or the beginning of their futures?

Masterful storyteller Emma Lord is back with The Getaway List. She has a way of crafting these complex, fascinating characters with full lives and agendas, and these characters draw you into her stories like you’re hearing about your best friends. There is not a minute of boredom or confusion in her words, just a lovely composed novel filled with laughs and frustrations, friends and adventures, and sweet concoctions that make your stomach rumble and your teeth hurt just to read the descriptions.

I adored every page of this The Getaway List. I am a big fan of Lord’s, and this book is just as sumptuous as her other novels. I love her big characters and how they drive her stories, like the vibrant colors of a sunrise. Just try to read a few pages of one of her books, and see if you can walk away from the rest of the story. I know I can’t, and I can’t wait to see where she will be taking me next.

Egalleys for The Getaway List were provided by Wednesday Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.