Run Away With Me – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Road trip, triller, adventure, romance, LGBTQ+.
YA book title: Run Away With Me.
YA author: J.L Simmonds.
Genre: Road Trip.
Published by: Penguin Books.
ISBN: 9780241708149.
Recommended for young adults aged: 13+.
First published: Paperback June 2025.
This children’s book is ideal for: KS4 & KS5 romance and crime fans.
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Our review:
“Do you want to come with me?”
My heart started to beat a little faster. “Where are you going?” I asked.
“I don’t know yet. Does it matter?”
Jessie ‘Mouse’ Smith needs to escape Seattle. After years of abuse from her Mum’s boyfriend – otherwise known as The Creep – Jessie admitted to wishing he was dead. No one took her seriously at the time. But when she comes home from school and finds The Creep dead on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood, Mouse knows she’ll be in the frame for murder.
When Brooke Summer – popular, wealthy and the object of Mouse’s long-term crush – offers her a ride, Mouse jumps at the chance to escape. It doesn’t matter where to, she just has to get away.
“Here’s the deal. You don’t ask me why I’m leaving town, and I won’t ask you. How does that sound?”
In a vintage Mustang with an excellent music collection, the girls hit the open road. With no clear destination in mind, they decide to head right across the country – a 10-day trip to Orlando and Disney World.
In different circumstances, it would be Mouse’s dream come true. She’s finally escaping her past and seeing the country, complete with scenic detours and way too much coffee. But it’s not long before the police and other sinister figures are on their tail, and it soon becomes clear that Mouse isn’t the only one with something to hide. As their tentative friendship turns into something much deeper, Mouse and Brooke become – literally – each other’s ride or die.
Run Away with Me is a fast-paced, romantic thriller. Readers will be gripped from the first page and will root for both the romance and freedom that Mouse and Brooke are searching for. The twisting plot will keep readers guessing, and the scenic descriptions of cross-country America will make them long for a road trip of their own – albeit one with less danger involved. The nods to Thelma and Louise will appeal to film fans, and the LGBTQ+ romance is touching and authentic.
Themes of domestic abuse and violence make the book more suitable for an older readership.
Run Away With Me will appeal to fans of Morgan Matson’s Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour and Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.
Many thanks to Penguin Books for the review copy.
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