Places We’ve Never Been by Kasie West Book Review

Another read from my summer tbr, I picked up this title at the library because I loved the book Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson (which I actually have at The Reading Chamber!) I always love a good road trip book and have read some pretty bad ones in the past so I was hoping that this would be the summer road trip romance of my dreams. This author is hit or miss for me so I was cautiously optimistic.

This week’s title is Places We’ve Never Been by Kasie West

Norah hasn’t seen her childhood best friend, Skyler, in years, and their once-close bond has faded to the occasional social media like—until a joint family RV trip offers a chance to reconnect. But when Skyler shows up distant and cold, Norah’s hurt response puts their friendship on shaky ground. As they travel across the country, tension slowly gives way to understanding, and both begin to wonder if there’s something more than friendship between them.

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was very happy that this book was a four star read for me! I worried that the miscommunication trope or the awkwardness between Skyler and Norah would be too much, but this was a book that felt like coming home to your childhood best friends. I loved all of the dynamics between Norah and her brother, and Skyler and his brother and sister.

Spoiler-free Review

I thought this book had a great balance of road trip locations like the characters’ adventures in the national parks and time at the campsites just hanging out. Norah and Skyler’s relationship had time to develop further with the downtime between stops, but it was a great addition to have all the kids ride in one R.V. with the moms in another. The pace was not too quick and not too slow so it was a great few-day read.

I really liked the bonding between Norah and Skyler’s sister (I am completely blanking on her name, but maybe it’s Paisley?) because that could’ve easily been a thread that was annoying. She was a great foil to some of Norah and Skylar’s more intimate moments without it being very obvious.

The book did a good job at hinting there was an ulterior motive for the RV trip, but I wish that it was explained more in the end. It felt like the book ended without everything being fully resolved. I think an extra chapter or two would’ve helped round out the road trip story more than it did.

If you love second chance romances and summer road trips, you’re really going to enjoy this fun, easy-read novel!

For a spoiler review, keep on reading!

Spoilers! Be warned!

.

.

.

.

Okay, I warned you!

I completely saw the relationship between Norah’s best friend Willow and Norah’s brother coming. The amount of times Norah said she liked that Willow never went after her brother was a clear giveaway that something was happening between them. I also found it odd that Willow would be at Norah’s house by herself without Norah there so I knew she had to have more stake in the game than just being a best friend.

I loved that Skyler is the one who had a crush on Norah when they were younger and she had no idea. In so many books it is the girl (ahem, The Summer I Turned Pretty) who moons over the boy in childhood and this book was the opposite. It was wholesome and sweet that Skyler truly loved her when they were preteens.

Speaking of love, I felt like guy they kept running into at the different campsites was a completely unnecessary character (clearly since I’m forgetting his name as well). He was only there to create some romantic tension between Skyler and Norah, but came across as creepy more than anything. It was obvious Norah didn’t want to be around him, yet everyone kept inviting him anyway.

I mentioned in the above review that I felt like the ending was rushed. I really feel like we needed at least one extra chapter of the road trip when Skyler’s family finds out about his mom’s cancer diagnosis. We go from his mom suddenly in the hospital and her saying she’ll tell her family when they get back to Ohio to a year later when they’re all meeting up again to finish the road trip. We needed some more heartfelt scenes between the families once everyone knew about the diagnosis.

So much of this book was Norah prepping for her interview at the Seattle college. Obviously things don’t always go as planned so I think it’s fine that Norah didn’t end up going to that college, but again, that ending felt abrupt. I would’ve liked to see her consider other school options before mentioning where she ended up.

This book teetered on three stars for me, but I think Skyler and Norah’s relationship was just too cute and it’s a great palate-cleanser read!