As this story begins, Riley Larson is just graduating high school. Her BFF Tom no longer lives in the area, but he can watch the ceremony being live-streamed, so she does their secret handshake on the stage. We understand right away that Tom is still the most important person in Riley’s life, even though their relationship is supposedly platonic. (We don’t buy that for even a minute.)
Riley is at loose ends after graduation – everyone else, it seems, knows what they want to do and will be off to college, but Riley only garnered a hat-full of rejections. She decides to take off for New York City for the weekend to see Tom in real life. They haven’t been together since Tom’s mom Vanessa moved them to Manhattan the summer after freshman year of high school. It was, according to Riley, “a bold attempt to ruin both of our lives.” Riley felt like she always was “the bravest version of herself” when she was with Tom. And anyway, they have items they need to cross of the “Getaway List” they made together but never were able to accomplish.
Once in New York, Riley has a wonderful time, makes some new friends – Mariella and Luca; renews some old ones – with Jesse, Eddie, and Dai; and experiences a freedom she hasn’t felt since Tom left. Much to the detriment of her relationship with her mother, she decides to stay the whole summer. Riley, Tom, and their new friends make their way through the Getaway List, and have a blast doing it.
In the background, there is drama with the fraught relationships between Riley and her mother, and Tom and his mother. The supporting characters have their own issues to work out, although they are not as seminal as those besetting the two main protagonists.
There is also, of course, the looming elephant in the room: the feelings between Riley and Tom that go beyond friendship.
The story arc may be quite predictable, but the journey is a pleasant one to take in this ultimately joyous YA romance novel.
Rating: 4/5
Published by Wednesday Books, 2024
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Sometimes predictable is exactly what I need in a book!