On the day of her high school graduation, Riley realises two things: one, she has no idea what she is going to do now and two, she misses her best friend Tom more than she can bear. Rejected from every college she applied to and her days being dictated by her mother for the past four years, Riley has no clue who she even is anymore beyond the good kid she needed to be for her mom and decides that enough is enough and that she needs to take her life back into her own hands. Impulsively, she moves to New York City for the summer to reunite with her childhood best friend to complete The Getaway List, a list full of all the adventures they’ve always wanted to do together ever since he moved away. Maybe by reconnecting with her best friend, Riley can figure out who she is and more importantly, who she wants to be. As their dynamic comes back to them effortlessly and their days are spent together, Riley learns that there’s one item she never expected to land on the Getaway List but can tick off without even trying: falling in love with her best friend.
From now on, this book will be the evidence I cite whenever I need to convince someone that friends-to-lovers (if done well) is the superior trope. Excuse me, who needs enemies to lovers when you can have best friends who haven’t seen each other in ages finding their way back to each other? No one, that’s who. I can always trust Emma Lord with my favourite tropes because she delivers every single time. Tom and Riley’s chemistry was impeccable from the very first moment they graced the pages. Tom’s cinnamon roll vibes and Riley’s vivacious attitude meshed so well together and as they fell right back into rhythm with each other, there’s no way you can read this without grinning like a Cheshire cat.
In every interaction, you could tell just how much they mean to each other and how formative their friendship – as well as the time in between reuniting—really is. Slow burn is one of my least favourite tropes but hot damn, did it work in this novel. I was giggling, groaning, sobbing watching Tom and Riley figure out how much they are into each other and that they are a perfect match. Also, their relationship is literally the song Timeless by Taylor Swift, I will take no criticism on this point, thank you. No one deserves a happily ever after more than they do and they certainly have to work for it as they tick off items on their Getaway List, which by the way, is such a cool concept and gave this love story the perfect frame.
The found family in The Getaway List may just be one of my favourites. Their shenanigans while trying to help Riley and Tom to finish the Getaway List makes for fun storytelling but there’s the added bonus that all of them are intricately linked to each other and have their own struggles which only add to the enjoyment of the overall story instead of taking away the focus from Riley and Tom. The way Riley finds her place with Mariella and Luca but then also somehow strengthening her relationship with Jesse that seemed almost too good to be true was so wholesome. It’s a tough balance to make sure side characters are well-rounded without making them more important than the main plot and Lord balances this perfectly.
As with all stories by Lord, there are also more emotional topics covered and this time around, we really hone in on relationships with parents and just how much they can shape the way you not only approach other people but your own sense of self and future. Both Riley and Tom struggle with their mothers for very different reasons (one is hovering while the other is basically absent) and their attempts to come to terms with that
There is so much vulnerability shown in Riley and Tom confronting their respective mothers and the heart-to-hearts feel cathartic to a degree where you will most likely shed a tear or two. All I can say is, this might just be my favourite Lord book yet.
Hopeful, inspiring and escapist in the most wonderful way, The Getaway List is the joyous coming-of-age story that is a must-read for fans of the friends-to-lovers trope and Taylor Swift’s Welcome to New York.
The Getaway List is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of January 23rd 2024.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Inescapably romantic and brimming with New York Times bestselling author Emma Lord’s signature cheer, The Getaway List is an uplifting and romantic read that will settle into your heart and never leave.
The day of her high school graduation, Riley realizes two things: One, that she has spent the last four years trying so hard to be a Good Kid for her mom that she has no idea who she really is anymore, and two, she has no idea what she wants because of it. The solution? Pack her bags and move to New York for the summer, where her childhood best friend Tom and co-creator of The Getaway List — a list of all the adventures they’ve wanted to do together since he moved away — will hopefully help her get in touch with her old adventurous self, and pave the road to a new future.
Riley isn’t sure what to expect from Tom, who has been distant since his famous mom’s scriptwriting career pulled him away. But when Riley arrives in the city, their reconnection is as effortless as it was when they were young―except with one, unexpected complication that will pull Riley’s feelings in a direction she didn’t know they could take. As she, Tom, and their newfound friends work their way through the delightfully chaotic items on The Getaway List, Riley learns that sometimes the biggest adventure is not one you take, but one you feel in your heart.
