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Run Away
Being broken doesn’t make you useless. Sometimes, your shards are the perfect fit for someone else’s fractured edges.
One runaway is looking for love in all the wrong places (specifically, Colorado).
One has the weight of the world on his shoulders (but makes room for his raven).
One is running from the sole thing she can never escape (herself).
When Kyro chances on one of these outcasts, his plans are thrown out. He knows he deserves a death sentence, but he can’t ignore his new friend’s desperation.
See, while Kyro played a part in a gut-wrenching crime, he’s still a goofball with a bleeding heart. There’s a good chance that joining his new friend—and two other eccentric runaways—on a cross-country road trip is the only way he’ll save her life. All he has to do is lie low until he can carry out his suicide. It’s not that complicated, right?
One runaway is looking for love in all the wrong places (specifically, Colorado).
One has the weight of the world on his shoulders (but makes room for his raven).
One is running from the sole thing she can never escape (herself).
When Kyro chances on one of these outcasts, his plans are thrown out. He knows he deserves a death sentence, but he can’t ignore his new friend’s desperation.
See, while Kyro played a part in a gut-wrenching crime, he’s still a goofball with a bleeding heart. There’s a good chance that joining his new friend—and two other eccentric runaways—on a cross-country road trip is the only way he’ll save her life. All he has to do is lie low until he can carry out his suicide. It’s not that complicated, right?
318 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 9, 2024
About the author
Anne Social
3 books6 followersAnne Social is the pen name of three sisters who write novels together. They have a deep love for character-based storytelling and all manner of absurdity. Their stories center on themes like mental health and loneliness but include heavy doses of optimism.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 23, 2024
NOTE: I received a free ARC from the author. Rest assured, this had no impact on my thoughts. Also, some details I mention in this review may be different in the final version.
So I read the first chapter of this novel on the author's website. This was my reaction after reading it: "More! More!"
(Being broken doesn’t make you useless. Sometimes, your shards are the perfect fit for someone else’s fractured edges.
One runaway is looking for love in all the wrong places (specifically, Colorado).
One has the weight of the world on his shoulders (but makes room for his raven).
One is running from the sole thing she can never escape (herself).
When Kyro chances on one of these outcasts, his plans are thrown out. He knows he deserves a death sentence, but he can’t ignore his new friend’s desperation.
See, while Kyro played a part in a gut-wrenching crime, he’s still a goofball with a bleeding heart. There’s a good chance that joining his new friend—and two other eccentric runaways—on a cross-country road trip is the only way he’ll save her life. All he has to do is lie low until he can carry out his suicide. It’s not that complicated, right?) ~ Blurb from Goodreads
The Walmart, Suicide, Ice Cream (But Not in That Order) chapter was one of my favorites. This is the first chapter and it excels at not only humor, but creating intrigue as well. Like, "Yeah, why is Kyro locked inside of a Walmart at two in the morning eating ice cream out of the container? Yeah, did Kyro actually kill his dad?" As a result, I was hooked and wanted to keep reading.
I liked how, even though Kyro, Yuki, Harper, and Lucy have all decided to run away, each character had their own unique reasons for doing so. For example, But even when they're on the run, they still have struggles (such as ).
There's an exchange in the Forced Fun chapter that I loved. So Lucy and Harper go to a mall to get makeovers and stuff and they stop at a bookstore where Lucy buys Harper a box set of a fantasy series Harper loves. Later in the chapter, Harper says this, "What if someone steals it?" To which Lucy says, "I'll hunt them down and steal it back." Not only was it pretty funny in and of itself, but it does show that Lucy does have Harper's back despite their differences.
I have to say, this novel is very good at build up. Whether that's building up to the moment where to gradually revealing it knows how much to reveal at certain times and keep the reader wanting more.
The chapter was legitimately intense. Here,
I'm a little confused as to what time period this is supposed to take place in. So iPods, CDs, and flip phones are used (implying that this is supposed to take place in the early to mid 2000's), but there's a section in the ABBA in The Forest that shows a series of text messages between Lucy and Chaz that are clearly not formatted in a pre-smartphone era UI. Now, the In Case We're Made Into Coats series did something kind of similar. However, it was done as a clear, deliberate choice. See, it's clearly supposed to be set in the present day, but because the main characters have been isolated, they didn't have access to the most up to date technology. In fact, the only real technology they were exposed to was a flip phone and even then, it wasn't something that they owned. So when they finally did get access to more up to date tech, they struggled to use it. Had this novel just used pre-smartphone era UI or done something like the In Case We're Made Into Coats series, I think it would've helped establish the time period more clearly.
Also, some of the plot twists were very predictable. I think the most egregious was with Chaz. Like, the moment he's introduced, it's extremely obvious that he's not gonna be the awesome guy Lucy thinks he is. Chaz dying by the time Lucy and the gang got to him, Chaz turning out to be a girl posing as a boy, or Chaz actually being a great guy who couldn't be with Lucy anymore for some reason aren't fantastic alternatives, but they would've been interesting and creative takes.
Overall, Run Away was a novel that could've benefited from more creative twists and a clearer setting, but it was still an enjoyable novel that had no issue with creating compelling characters and providing great set up with great payoffs.
Overall Grade: A-
So I read the first chapter of this novel on the author's website. This was my reaction after reading it: "More! More!"
(Being broken doesn’t make you useless. Sometimes, your shards are the perfect fit for someone else’s fractured edges.
One runaway is looking for love in all the wrong places (specifically, Colorado).
One has the weight of the world on his shoulders (but makes room for his raven).
One is running from the sole thing she can never escape (herself).
When Kyro chances on one of these outcasts, his plans are thrown out. He knows he deserves a death sentence, but he can’t ignore his new friend’s desperation.
See, while Kyro played a part in a gut-wrenching crime, he’s still a goofball with a bleeding heart. There’s a good chance that joining his new friend—and two other eccentric runaways—on a cross-country road trip is the only way he’ll save her life. All he has to do is lie low until he can carry out his suicide. It’s not that complicated, right?) ~ Blurb from Goodreads
The Walmart, Suicide, Ice Cream (But Not in That Order) chapter was one of my favorites. This is the first chapter and it excels at not only humor, but creating intrigue as well. Like, "Yeah, why is Kyro locked inside of a Walmart at two in the morning eating ice cream out of the container? Yeah, did Kyro actually kill his dad?" As a result, I was hooked and wanted to keep reading.
I liked how, even though Kyro, Yuki, Harper, and Lucy have all decided to run away, each character had their own unique reasons for doing so. For example, But even when they're on the run, they still have struggles (such as ).
There's an exchange in the Forced Fun chapter that I loved. So Lucy and Harper go to a mall to get makeovers and stuff and they stop at a bookstore where Lucy buys Harper a box set of a fantasy series Harper loves. Later in the chapter, Harper says this, "What if someone steals it?" To which Lucy says, "I'll hunt them down and steal it back." Not only was it pretty funny in and of itself, but it does show that Lucy does have Harper's back despite their differences.
I have to say, this novel is very good at build up. Whether that's building up to the moment where to gradually revealing it knows how much to reveal at certain times and keep the reader wanting more.
The chapter was legitimately intense. Here,
I'm a little confused as to what time period this is supposed to take place in. So iPods, CDs, and flip phones are used (implying that this is supposed to take place in the early to mid 2000's), but there's a section in the ABBA in The Forest that shows a series of text messages between Lucy and Chaz that are clearly not formatted in a pre-smartphone era UI. Now, the In Case We're Made Into Coats series did something kind of similar. However, it was done as a clear, deliberate choice. See, it's clearly supposed to be set in the present day, but because the main characters have been isolated, they didn't have access to the most up to date technology. In fact, the only real technology they were exposed to was a flip phone and even then, it wasn't something that they owned. So when they finally did get access to more up to date tech, they struggled to use it. Had this novel just used pre-smartphone era UI or done something like the In Case We're Made Into Coats series, I think it would've helped establish the time period more clearly.
Also, some of the plot twists were very predictable. I think the most egregious was with Chaz. Like, the moment he's introduced, it's extremely obvious that he's not gonna be the awesome guy Lucy thinks he is. Chaz dying by the time Lucy and the gang got to him, Chaz turning out to be a girl posing as a boy, or Chaz actually being a great guy who couldn't be with Lucy anymore for some reason aren't fantastic alternatives, but they would've been interesting and creative takes.
Overall, Run Away was a novel that could've benefited from more creative twists and a clearer setting, but it was still an enjoyable novel that had no issue with creating compelling characters and providing great set up with great payoffs.
Overall Grade: A-
February 13, 2025
I LOVE THIS BOOK (probably because I wrote it...)
You'll love it too if you enjoy:
- Outcasts
- Found family
- Misfit squads
- Secrets
- Humor
- Summer vibes
- Road trips
- Platonic friendships
- Stories about hope
Content warnings:
- Suicide/death
- Mild violence
- Self-harm
- Depictions of mental illness
- Animal death/animal harm
- Trauma
- Substance use
What's NOT in this book:
- Profanity
- Sexual content
ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ
You'll love it too if you enjoy:
- Outcasts
- Found family
- Misfit squads
- Secrets
- Humor
- Summer vibes
- Road trips
- Platonic friendships
- Stories about hope
Content warnings:
- Suicide/death
- Mild violence
- Self-harm
- Depictions of mental illness
- Animal death/animal harm
- Trauma
- Substance use
What's NOT in this book:
- Profanity
- Sexual content
ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ
May 30, 2025
Thank you to Voracious Readers Only for the opportunity to read this book!
Trigger warnings for suicidal ideation, suicide, mental illness, etc. Although there were a lot of heavy topics brought up in this book, I think it was done so in a really effective way to try and create hope from it, rather than despair. In saying that, it was very upsetting in parts!
I came to really connect with several of the characters and although it took me a while to adjust to the 4 POV’s, I really enjoyed the story. I just feel like there was so much going on in the last 80 pages or so & some of the things that came up could have been delved into more (rather than some things coming out right towards the end with no further elaborations).
Overall, a pretty solid read and it just really shows how you never truly know what somebody is going through.
Trigger warnings for suicidal ideation, suicide, mental illness, etc. Although there were a lot of heavy topics brought up in this book, I think it was done so in a really effective way to try and create hope from it, rather than despair. In saying that, it was very upsetting in parts!
I came to really connect with several of the characters and although it took me a while to adjust to the 4 POV’s, I really enjoyed the story. I just feel like there was so much going on in the last 80 pages or so & some of the things that came up could have been delved into more (rather than some things coming out right towards the end with no further elaborations).
Overall, a pretty solid read and it just really shows how you never truly know what somebody is going through.
September 30, 2025
Run Away is a rare, very beautiful kind of story. It is deep, yet accessible. It has one of the best character-driven plots I have read, with characters that are lovable and unique. One of the four main characters, Kyro, Yuki, Harper, and Lucy, narrates each chapter (with one exception), giving you deeper insight into each character and his or her struggles as the story progresses. And these characters do struggle, but in the end, they also triumph.
The four main characters, Lucy (looking for love in all the wrong places), Yuki (has the weight of the world on his shoulders), Harper (running from the sole thing she can never escape-herself), and Kyro suffer in very real, very relatable ways. Lucy has given up on trying to earn her apathetic parents’ love, and, believing she has the love of a guy she talks to online, is trying to meet him in real life. Yuki is going through the irreparable loss of two friends, and, with his raven Inky flying after him, is leaving behind his life with his cold grandfather—and planning to end his own. Harper, whose parents are apathetic at best (and in her mother’s case, emotionally abusive), feels she must be useful in order to be worthy of love and is planning her own suicide. Kyro is also going through incalculable, irreplaceable loss, and blames himself for it. Like Yuki and Harper, he is planning his suicide, but when he meets Harper, he puts his own plans on hold to try to save her life, leading to their meeting the other two runaways, and the group’s taking a road trip that will force the pain they want to keep secret from each other out into the open. And in spite of what they’ve lost and the pain they carry, in the end, they are all there for each other. I love these characters, and if you read this book, I believe you will too.
This book handles mental health problems, emotional abuse, grief, and loss in a very realistic, very much-needed way. It portrays the danger of mental health problems and highlights how important support is in a person’s life. It openly depicts how emotional abuse chips away at a person’s psyche and self-worth, which causes that person to feel false guilt anytime something goes wrong and makes that person feel valueless and unworthy of anyone’s love. It is honest about grief and loss, acknowledging that people are irreplaceable. I really appreciate how this book deals with these subjects. If you don’t know that much about them, you might understand more after reading this book. And if you have experienced any of them in your life, you might find empathy and hope in this book.
I also love the humor in Run Away (there are many laughs!) and I love the underlying hope in it too. This story made me cry, but there were happy tears (a rare thing!) as well as sad ones. I have many favorite parts, but I can’t share most of them without giving too much of the story away, so suffice it to say that, by the end, the characters feel so real it’s like being around close friends, the way they show up for each other is beautiful, the ending is a great one, and the story will stick with you long after you’ve finished it.
My review does not do this book justice. If you read it, I think you’ll see what I mean.
The four main characters, Lucy (looking for love in all the wrong places), Yuki (has the weight of the world on his shoulders), Harper (running from the sole thing she can never escape-herself), and Kyro suffer in very real, very relatable ways. Lucy has given up on trying to earn her apathetic parents’ love, and, believing she has the love of a guy she talks to online, is trying to meet him in real life. Yuki is going through the irreparable loss of two friends, and, with his raven Inky flying after him, is leaving behind his life with his cold grandfather—and planning to end his own. Harper, whose parents are apathetic at best (and in her mother’s case, emotionally abusive), feels she must be useful in order to be worthy of love and is planning her own suicide. Kyro is also going through incalculable, irreplaceable loss, and blames himself for it. Like Yuki and Harper, he is planning his suicide, but when he meets Harper, he puts his own plans on hold to try to save her life, leading to their meeting the other two runaways, and the group’s taking a road trip that will force the pain they want to keep secret from each other out into the open. And in spite of what they’ve lost and the pain they carry, in the end, they are all there for each other. I love these characters, and if you read this book, I believe you will too.
This book handles mental health problems, emotional abuse, grief, and loss in a very realistic, very much-needed way. It portrays the danger of mental health problems and highlights how important support is in a person’s life. It openly depicts how emotional abuse chips away at a person’s psyche and self-worth, which causes that person to feel false guilt anytime something goes wrong and makes that person feel valueless and unworthy of anyone’s love. It is honest about grief and loss, acknowledging that people are irreplaceable. I really appreciate how this book deals with these subjects. If you don’t know that much about them, you might understand more after reading this book. And if you have experienced any of them in your life, you might find empathy and hope in this book.
I also love the humor in Run Away (there are many laughs!) and I love the underlying hope in it too. This story made me cry, but there were happy tears (a rare thing!) as well as sad ones. I have many favorite parts, but I can’t share most of them without giving too much of the story away, so suffice it to say that, by the end, the characters feel so real it’s like being around close friends, the way they show up for each other is beautiful, the ending is a great one, and the story will stick with you long after you’ve finished it.
My review does not do this book justice. If you read it, I think you’ll see what I mean.
December 26, 2024
From the very first chapter, I was completely hooked. The characters immediately drew me in and it didn’t take long before I became attached to them. One character, in particular, stood out to me for his unique voice and zany personality.
I absolutely loved the writing style with each character bringing a fresh perspective to the narrative. There was also a blend of humour, heartfelt moments, and deep, relatable truths with some chapters staying in my mind long after I finished reading - a testament to how deeply this story resonated with me.
What I loved most was how real the characters felt. Their experiences and emotions were so relatable, it was easy to imagine them stepping off the page. By the time I reached the end, I was genuinely sad to say goodbye to this story.
If there’s ever a sequel - or anything else by these talented authors - I’ll be first in line to read it!
Highly recommend this book to anyone who loves character-driven, heartfelt stories.
I absolutely loved the writing style with each character bringing a fresh perspective to the narrative. There was also a blend of humour, heartfelt moments, and deep, relatable truths with some chapters staying in my mind long after I finished reading - a testament to how deeply this story resonated with me.
What I loved most was how real the characters felt. Their experiences and emotions were so relatable, it was easy to imagine them stepping off the page. By the time I reached the end, I was genuinely sad to say goodbye to this story.
If there’s ever a sequel - or anything else by these talented authors - I’ll be first in line to read it!
Highly recommend this book to anyone who loves character-driven, heartfelt stories.
April 25, 2025
Four teens end up on a journey together while their lives are breaking apart. But together maybe they can learn to heal. Maybe?
This story is a beautiful ya novel that looks at the hard parts of life but also isn't weighed down by them. It's the perfect mix of heart break and then taping it back up for you.
The characters are all real and complex. I quickly fell in love with them, even while they were annoying me. All four of them are amazing, each time I read a new chapter with a different narrator I decided that was my favourite character, only to read the next chapter and change my mind again.
Definitely coming back for a reread and any new stories that Anne Social writes.
(Also, once you read this you have to join her newsletter so you can read the prequel short story Soiled Shoes. If the book doesn't make you cry Soiled Shoes definitely will).
This story is a beautiful ya novel that looks at the hard parts of life but also isn't weighed down by them. It's the perfect mix of heart break and then taping it back up for you.
The characters are all real and complex. I quickly fell in love with them, even while they were annoying me. All four of them are amazing, each time I read a new chapter with a different narrator I decided that was my favourite character, only to read the next chapter and change my mind again.
Definitely coming back for a reread and any new stories that Anne Social writes.
(Also, once you read this you have to join her newsletter so you can read the prequel short story Soiled Shoes. If the book doesn't make you cry Soiled Shoes definitely will).
August 9, 2025
This is the kind of thing I would nomally love - found family and friendship building. Yet somehow it was a little too chaotic and a little too difficult to figure out what was actually going on. Maybe 4 POV characters was too many, and it became hard to tell them all apart, and in several cases we never figured out what was going on with the characters backstories, or else we found out in their last chapter but before that it felt like chaos soup. I don't know. Anyway, this wasn't nearly as good as it should have been because it didn't read like a cohesive story.
February 26, 2026
Reading Run Away was like an immersive experience. I was taken on a road trip to places I've never seen before, and at times it honestly felt as if I was really there with them.
The writing style is incredibly captivating and the characters draw you in.
One in particular felt extremely relatable to me, and another always made me feel like crying.
Whether it was joy, sorrow, or frustration, each chapter brought forth strong emotions and made me want to keep on reading.
The writing style is incredibly captivating and the characters draw you in.
One in particular felt extremely relatable to me, and another always made me feel like crying.
Whether it was joy, sorrow, or frustration, each chapter brought forth strong emotions and made me want to keep on reading.
April 11, 2025
Four runaways will meet and each will bring something to the other as they struggle with their lives. They will try to help the others when they need help to recover . A very powerful read
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and I really enjoyed their story
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and I really enjoyed their story
December 11, 2025
I didn't finish the book I honestly lost interest. It just wasn't my cup of tea. This is good book for a teenager to read.
July 19, 2025
Run Away by Anne Social grabs you right away with its mix of chaos and heart, written by a talented trio. It follows four runaway teens who piece together their tough lives with humor, toughness, and a bit of kindness. The story switches between funny moments and deep looks into their struggles, with one character’s raven adding a quirky touch. Each voice stands out, blending into a solid story of resilience. By the end, it feels like you’ve traveled with friends, their real struggles sticking with you. Great for anyone who enjoys a unique, heartfelt read.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews