Flynn and Amos are step-siblings that used to live apart until Flynn’s mom died in an accident and she permanently moved to New York with her dad’s new family. Amos helped her adapt to her new life by sharing everything with each other and they grew closer over time. Eventually, one night they both realized their feelings for one another which caused Amos to panic and ask to be sent to a boarding school leaving Flynn and their younger sister Poppy wondering why.

Their parents decide to plan a lavish trip and take their kids but they decide to fly out first then have their kids meet them there. When the trio land at a layover in Los Angeles Flynn decides she doesn’t want to meet her parents and instead wants an adventure in LA. So they ditch their phones and their luggage and call up a casual friend of Flynn’s to help them out and from there they make their own trip.

Sometimes I can read a book where step-siblings who share a common sibling and be fine with the romance that blooms between them but in this case I didn’t like it. Not because of the common sibling thing but simply because I found the two of them reckless and dumb. Just putting that out there.

I will never tolerate nor like a character who says or implies she is not like other girls. WTF does that even mean? Every girl is different in her own way and when she makes herself sound like a special snowflake I clench my fists in anger. In the end, Flynn is exactly like other teenage girls: prone to bouts of rebellious behavior. There were three POVs but that didn't matter, the story was still boring to me.

I’m not really sure how this landed in my reading pile but I did finish it to the end. I still didn’t like it. ( )

Three step siblings, on a layover in LAX, decide to skip their impending family vacation and awaiting bombshell to become “runaways” enjoying all that LA has to offer. The experiences that follow this decision build a deeper sibling bond than any “typical” vacation as we are reminded that family comes in all different shapes and sizes.

This young adult fiction will breeze by, not unlike that of 806 by Cynthia Weil, as unlikely siblings each with their own complex issues run into all sorts of drama as runaways (pun intended). A fresh take on siblings of a broken family, Layover will leave you satisfied.

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*Disclaimer: A review copy was provided via a Goodreads Giveaway, in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Literary Merit: Poor
Characterization: Weak
Recommended: No
Level: High School
I liked the sibling bonding, different reactions to divorce, showing what anxiety is like, and fun travel and sight-seeing adventures. However, there were TOO MANY FLASHBACKS which completely messed with the pacing of the plot. The writing showed the characters as old enough to handle adult situations but also young enough to make naive mistakes which felt very conflicted and skewed their supposed ages in my mind. I got easily annoyed by the “not like other girls” clique. There were way too many plot holes that were there for Plot Reasons and then never mentioned again (especially the camera). If the kids were older, like 18/19 instead of 15/17 then I would have liked it more. But it felt choppy and superficial, missing the mark of addressing complicated issues. ( )