Get Real, Chloe Torres
Crystal Maldonado
When Chloe Torres plans the perfect summer to reunite her estranged BFFs—a cross-country road trip to see their favorite boy band!—there’s only one difficulty… getting them to actually go along for the ride. Chloe Torres’ birthday has always marked the end of summer—but as she turns eighteen and prepares to leave for her freshman year of art school, it feels like the end of more than that. It’s the end of her adolescence, which means it’s time to leave the past behind… but can she really let go of the two estranged best friends she left there? NOPE. Chloe decides to take one more shot at healing the friend breakup she’s always regretted: planning the bucket-list trip neither girl can say no to. She’s taken care of everything: the car, the hotels, and concert tickets to see their favorite boy band’s reunion show in Las Vegas—stage seats, so close they can fangirl right in front of the boys’ faces. But first, her ex-BFFs have to say yes. And to say yes, they’d all have to be talking… which they haven’t done since Ramona kissed Chloe, and everything imploded. But with some clever finagling (and some undignified begging) Chloe gets them all on board. Of course, being in a car together for two weeks brings back old feelings… a lot of old feelings… and soon enough, Chloe wants Sienna, Ramona wants Chloe, and everything is on fireeeee. This sizzling summer adventure from YA star Crystal Maldonado is a hilarious and heartfelt romcom with a little something for everyone: fat positivity, sapphic romance, a blazing love triangle, ADHD representation, a diversity of Latine identities, a once-in-a-lifetime roadtrip—and the perfect it’s-finally-happening kiss.
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This was a very solid 4 stars.
You already know I love a good road-trip romance and this hit all the marks for me. Chloe and her former friends Sienna and Ramona haven't spoken in over 4 years. The 3 girls grew up together and formed the "crappy parents support group" for each other and in middle school they bonded over the mutual love for a major boy band. For Chloe's 18th birthday, her dad and step-mom get her tickets to the boy band's show in Las Vegas, but Chloe doesn't have anyone to go with her due to work and family obligations. After running into both Sienna and Ramona within 24 hours of each other, Chloe decides the universe is giving her a sign to try and mend the rift in their friendship before the 3 girls go off to college in a couple of months. She (miraculously) convinces both girls to go with her and the 3 of them embark on a road trip from New England to Las Vegas and they attempt to fulfill their pre-college bucket list (written in middle school) along the way.
I loved all of the road trip shenanigans (although my type-A brain probably couldn't handle all the detours and stops irl) from visiting the zoo on a whim to skinning dipping in the pool the trip truly seemed like a blast and an excellent last hurrah for young adults about to start college. The book was very coming of age/nostalgia vibes throughout and it just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I thought the characters were developed and written extremely well and I absolutely loved the diverse representations. Chloe's ADHD was well written as well.
-Latina female main characters
-bisexual, pansexual, gay, and lesbian representation
-positive plus-sized representation
-ADHD representation
I think the only thing keeping it from a full 5 stars is that throughout the book some plot points could have been wrapped up just a bit more or elaborated on. Example: after visiting Sienna's bio dad, she cries about him being crappy and having a whole other family and then it's just really not mentioned ever again. That is to say, I feel like the main focus of the book was the developing romance between Chloe and Ramona and everything else was just kind of filler that wasn't always 100% fleshed out. I still very much enjoyed it and thought it was a good read!
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the advanced e-book, all thoughts are my own.
0Thank you NetGalley and Holiday House for access to this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book is ADORABLE. Oh gosh, it was such a throwback to my days as a Directioner (forever love Niall 💕). This book was very nostalgic in that way. I like how the plot progressed and watching the three work through their problems. The side characters like Diego were just perfect at moving the plot along while also being hilarious. I just love how the author emphasized how much music can bring people together. I wish I could go see a reunion tour of One Direction (RIP Liam 😢) with friends from high school that I don't talk to anymore. But being able to live it through this book was honestly such an amazing experience. Gotta go put together a 1D playlist now. I highly recommend reading this book if you're a fan of boy bands, road trips, and yearning!
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