Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Throwback List

Author: Lily Anderson

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Black biracial bisexual MC, Filipino side character, Puerto Rican bisexual Anxiety MC, Lesbian side character, F/f romance

Recommended For...: contemporary fiction, romance, LGBT+

Publication Date: October 5, 2021

Genre: Fiction

Recommended Age: 16+ (Language, Sexism, Micro aggressions, Alcohol consumption, Grief, Anxiety, Drug use, Romance, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Abelism, Misogyny)

Explanation of CWs: There is cursing throughout the book. There is mentions and some slight show of sexism, micro aggressions, fatphobia, abelism, and misogyny. There is alcohol consumption, but all characters are adults. There is grief and anxiety shown. Drug use is mentioned and briefly shown with edibles. Romance and sexual content are shown, but the sex is fade to black.

Publisher: Hyperion Avenue

Pages: 391

Synopsis: Welcome to Sandy Point, Oregon: a sleepy beach town that's home to a giant anchor statue, a sometimes-karaoke-bar, and Frosty's questionably legendary Sunday Sundae Surprise. A town Jo, Autumn, and Bianca thought they'd left far behind when they graduated high school, finally moving on to greener pastures than the midway point for tourists heading to the Goonies house. But life seldom goes according to plan.

Bianca Boria-Birdy, former prom queen and valedictorian, has always been an overachiever. As she juggles managing the family tattoo parlor, caring for her grandmother, and adjusting to a new marriage, Bianca's schedule becomes stricter than ever, with no room for disruption. What she really needs is a vacation, but not even Bianca Boria-Birdy can achieve the impossible.

Autumn Kelly used to be an actress. Now she teaches drama at Sandy Point High. She may have had to kiss her movie-star dreams goodbye, but molding the next generation of performers has given her life meaning in a whole new way. Until the sudden reappearance of her ex-best friend throws everything off-balance.
Jo Freeman has it all together. With a cool job in Silicon Valley, connections at the trendiest fitness studios, and a down payment on her dream condo, she's well on her way to reaching every one of her goals before thirty. Or she was, before she got fired and landed right back home with her parents and teenage sister.

When Jo finds an old bucket list in her childhood bedroom, it sets the three women on a path that brings them closer to one another with each task. And it just might lead to a life none of them could have planned.

Review: I really enjoyed this book! I didn’t expect it to love it as much as I did but it was such a fun book! I loved the character development and the multiple POV worked for this book. I really liked all of the commentary on beauty standards, natural hair, and “success”, as well as the slight commentary on capitalism. The world building was also well done and the book is well plotted.

The only issue I had with the book is that the ending isn’t a very true “happy” ending. The characters got what they mostly wanted, but some of the issues remained. I wanted to see more of them resolved and I didn’t like to see how a character went back into the workforce even though most of the book focused on her exploring other options outside of traditional work, but it’s fairly good as is.

Verdict: It’s good!