Places We've Never Been by Kasie West Review

Hello Everyone :)

I pray today finds you all doing well, and I want to thank you all for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, then chances are you've heard me mention my love for Kasie West's books.

I've loved her stories ever since reading her debut novel, and my opinion hasn't changed over the years.

Her recent release was on my list of My Most Anticipated 2022 Releases, and I recently finally got the chance to read it.

Keep reading below to find out if it lived up to the expectations I had for it.

Places We've Never Been by Kasie West:

Source: Library

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: May 31st, 2022

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Young Adult Contemporary

Synopsis:

A sweet and swoony contemporary Young Adult novel about a cross-country family road trip that puts one girl and her childhood best friend on an unexpected road to romance!

Norah hasn’t seen her childhood best friend, Skyler, in years. When he first moved away, they'd talk all the time, but lately their relationship has been reduced to liking each other’s Instagram posts. That’s why Norah can’t wait for the joint RV road trip their families have planned for the summer.

But when Skyler finally arrives, he seems...like he’d rather be anywhere else. Hurt and confused, Norah reacts in kind. Suddenly, her oldest friendship is on the rocks.

An unexpected summer spent driving across the country leads both Norah and Skyler down new roads and to new discoveries. Before long, they are, once again, seeing each other in a different light. Can their friendship-turned-rivalry turn into something more?

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

Kasie West has been one of my favorite authors for years, and I couldn't wait to discover how she was going to tackle the cross country road trip trope. Unfortunately, this ended up being my least favorite of her books, and left me feeling disappointed and let down.

I thought the idea behind the story was a good one. After all what's not to love about two former best friends turned love interests that haven't seen each other in years, a cross country RV road trip, and a pretty awesome family dynamic.

However, I quicky became aware that this wasn't the story I was expecting, and I honestly cannot believe this is even a Kasie West book. Norah and Skyler were both obnoxious, and hard to tolerate. The romance wasn't cute or swoon worthy, and instead was extremely insta lovey, kind of angsty, and almost lusty.

I didn't like the way that Norah treats another character throughout the story (Ty), and I thought he definitely deserved better.

Perhaps though my least favorite part of all was the fact that the big secret hinted at throughout the majority of the story wasn't properly dealt with in my opinion, and was an extreme let down in the end.

Final Rating: 2.5/5

I'm glad I ended up checking this one out of the library instead of purchasing it for myself.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.

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