Wait, did somebody say that Take Me Home Tonight by Morgan Matson is set in NYC?
*cue Welcome to New York by Taylor Swift*
In all seriousness, many readers consider Morgan Matson to be the reigning Queen of YA Contemporary. They argue that her books Since You’ve Been Gone and Second Chance Summer are some of the best the genre has to offer.
So now you’re probably asking yourself:
How does her latest YA 2021 release compare?
Does it delight or disappoint?
Keep scrolling through my Take Me Home Tonight book review, and I’ll break it all down for you.
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Take Me Home Tonight Summary
Written by Morgan Matson
Published May 4th, 2021 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
FOR FANS OF: Morgan Matson books, Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour, YA Rom-Coms, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Kat and Stevie are best friends, theater kids, and polar opposites.
When Stevie’s dad bails on her eighteenth birthday dinner, the two girls decide to salvage the night and sneak away for an epic adventure in New York City.
But it doesn’t take long for disaster to strike. Soon Kat and Stevie are dealing with broken phones, family drama, and unexpected Pomeranians. (Don’t ask.)
Can the two friends survive the night and make it home before their parents realize they’re gone?
Content + Trigger Warnings
Underage drinking, gun violence, kidnapping of minors, manipulative mentor, attempted mugging.
Take Me Home Tonight Book Review
What I Liked About Take Me Home Tonight
1. Strong female friendship that’ll make you miss your BFF
Let’s kick off my Take Me Home Tonight book review with one of the best parts of the novel:
Kat and Stevie’s friendship!
Kat is a passionate go-getter who has no trouble sharing her opinions with the world.
Stevie is quieter, struggles to express herself, and I definitely related to her more.
Together, the two characters complement each other in such a realistic way that I was scrambling to reconnect with my own childhood best friend.
“Love was about paying attention. It’s the one thing you can’t buy or fake or make up for at the last minute. So the things that meant the most to me were the little details that told you someone had been paying attention, memorizing your random preferences, letting you know they cared.”
Needless to say, female friendship is the glue that holds Morgan Matson’s newest 2021 YA release together.
And it’ll make you hug your best friend a little tighter after reading.
2. Watch New York City come to life
Have you ever visited The Big Apple?
I haven’t, but thanks to Morgan Matson’s lively descriptions of the bustling city that never sleeps, it feels like I have.
Best-selling novelist Donald Maas once explained, “In great fiction, the setting lives from the very first pages.”
And in Take Me Home Tonight, that’s exactly what happens.
Right from the get-go, Matson describes the setting in such breathing detail that it comes alive for the reader.
And as Kat and Stevie’s crazy adventure unfolds, the city takes center stage. It plays the lead role in this chaotically bizarre drama.
Now excuse me while I go move New York City to the top of my bucket list.
3. Silly, over-the-top, wholesome fun!
I’m not going to lie to you in this Take Me Home Tonight book review.
Is this story painfully predictable? Yes.
Is it cheesy? You betcha.
Is it ridiculously over-the-top? Oh heck yeah.
But you know what?
That’s the point!
Best described as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off meets Adventures in Babysitting, Morgan Matson’s latest YA contemporary is full of far-fetched shenanigans and hilarious mishaps.
“I’d been almost-mugged tonight and made friends with college students and taken care of a dog and been to a fancy photo shoot and could have shut down Manhattan’s hottest restaurant. I needed to say what I felt. I needed to take up some space.”
Sure, some readers will struggle to suspend their disbelief, especially with Teri’s storyline.
But personally, I love how the author drew inspiration from 80s teen comedies—that she didn’t hesitate to embrace the quirky weirdness of it all.
Simply put:
Take Me Home Tonight is a lighthearted, side-splitting romantic comedy that will have you snort-laughing in public.
(It’s not gonna be pretty.)
4. A love letter to theater kids everywhere
Were you a theater kid in high school?
Did you haunt the theater department during break time, practice your blocking during lunch, and memorize monologues during study hall?
(No, I’m not talking to myself like a lunatic. I’m running lines, thank you.)
If that sounds familiar, then get ready for some major nostalgia that’ll have you reaching for your old cast sweatshirt.
Because Take Me Home Tonight is a love letter to theater kids everywhere.
“Joining the theater department turned what had been the lowest moment of my life into something better than I ever could have imagined.”
In her 2021 YA book, Morgan Matson beautifully captures the unique magic of high school theater and casts a spotlight (haha, I made a theater pun!) on the joys of being an actor.
Like I said in my The Other Side of Perfect review…
If you’re a lover of the performing arts, you need to add this book to your TBR, stat!
5. A fast-paced book you’ll devour in one sitting
I don’t know about you…
But at the end of a long day, I don’t have the brainpower for an intellectual book club pick.
(I’ve got two kids under five. Nuff said.)
Instead, I find myself reaching for books that are:
- quick
- easy-to-read
- fast-moving
And Take Me Home Tonight checks all of those boxes!
It’s a binge-worthy YA book with an engaging plot that zips by like a toddler avoiding naptime.
(As I said—I’m living the mommy life.)
Bottom line:
This is some fast-paced storytelling you’ll stay up late to finish.
(And then later regret when your one-year-old wakes up at 5AM.)
What I Disliked about Take Me Home Tonight
6. The changes in perspective were jarring and awkward
Sadly, we’ve reached the part of my Take Me Home Tonight book review where I talk about what didn’t work for me.
My chief complaint is this:
The perspectives.
The first third of the book is told entirely from Kat’s point of view. And just when you’ve familiarized yourself with her style and fallen into the rhythm of the story…
Bam!
Morgan Matson introduces two more perspectives—Stevie and Teri.
And you know what?
The sudden transition is jarring and breaks the flow of the narrative.
I’m going to be honest with you—I would’ve preferred that the author include both Kat and Stevie’s perspectives right from the beginning, instead of awkwardly inserting additional viewpoints partway through.
And that leads me to my last point…
7. All the characters sound the same
Don’t you hate it when you’re reading a book with multiple narrators, and you can’t easily differentiate between them?
I hate to say it, but Take Me Home Tonight is guilty of this cardinal writing sin.
Kat’s and Stevie’s chapters are both told from the first-person point of view, and although the characters have two distinct personalities…
They don’t have two distinct voices.
More than once, I had to go back and check the header to see whose chapter it was.
I would start reading a chapter that I thought was Stevie’s, only to discover later on it was actually Kat!
It pains me to say this, but Morgan Matson missed the mark of writing well-crafted and unique character voices.
Take Me Home Tonight Book Review:
The Final Verdict
So my Take Me Home Tonight book review all comes down to this:
If you love YA books with…
- passionate theater kids
- heartwarming friendship dynamics
- harebrained shenanigans
- quick-moving plotlines
… then this lighthearted coming-of-age story by Morgan Matson should be on your immediate TBR.
Rating: 4 Stars
To learn more about how I rank YA books, check out my Book Rating System.
Now over to you:
What did you think of my Take Me Home Tonight book review?
Jump into the comments and let me know one thing from my post that has you excited to pick up this book!
