TLC Book Tour – Runaway Train by Lee Matthew Goldberg

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and Wise Wolf Books for the free early copy in exchange for my honest review

RUNAWAY TRAIN – Lee Matthew Goldberg (Released April 26th, 2021)

Book Description:

They told me I was an out-of-control train about to crash…

Everything changed when the police officer knocked on the door to tell me – a 16-year-old – that my older sister Kristen had died of a brain aneurysm. Cue the start of my parents neglecting me and my whole life spiraling out of control.

I decided now was the perfect time to skip town. It’s the early 90’s, Kurt Cobain runs the grunge music scene and I just experienced some serious trauma. What’s a girl supposed to do? I didn’t want to end up like Kristen, so I grabbed my bucket list, turned up my mixtape of the greatest 90’s hits and fled L.A.. The goal was to end up at Kurt Cobain’s house in Seattle, but I never could have guessed what would happen along the way.

At turns heartbreaking, inspiring, and laugh out loud funny, Runaway Train is a wild journey of a bygone era and a portrait of a one-of-a-kind teenage girl trying to find herself again the only way she knows how.

My Thoughts: 4/5 stars

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when picking up RUNAWAY TRAIN but I absolutely loved this new YA release from Lee Matthew Goldberg. We meet Nico, a 16 year old whose life has been turned upside down after the sudden death of her sister. Kristen was out for a run and had a brain aneurysm, which has left Nico in a state of shock and feels like she needs to find her place in the world and complete her bucket list before anything happens to her. At the height of Kurt Cobain’s career, Nico is on a mission to make it to his home in Seattle from LA. So begins her 90’s music fueled road trip where she meets a bunch of characters along the way and experiences things that help her grow and find herself after this tragedy.

I’ve been picking up more YA lately and I’m happy I have been. Never too late to continue broadening your genres and books you choose to read next. I highly recommend giving this a read as you’ll get to go on a rollercoaster of a ride with Nico. Plenty of laughs, great 90’s references and music, some heartbreak as she comes to terms with her loss, and a memorable road trip with an end goal of Kurt Cobain’s house.

About the Author:

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of THE ANCESTOR, THE DESIRE CARD, SLOW DOWN and THE MENTOR from St. Martin’s Press. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the 2018 Prix du Polar. ORANGE CITY, his first sci-fi novel, is forthcoming in 2021 along with his YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in the anthology DIRTY BOULEVARD, The Millions, Vol 1. Brooklyn, LitReactor, Necessary Fiction, Fiction Writer’s Review, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, Essays & Fictions, The New Plains Review, and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series (guerrillalit.wordpress.com). He lives in New York City. Follow him at leematthewgoldberg.com and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.