Unfortunately, this was not the book for me. I did not necessarily have a pleasant reading experience. There were several instances where I raised my eyebrow at the material. But first let’s discuss the premise, which did have some potential.

The story centers around two high school teens, Natalie Rhodes and Colton Daynes. Natalie has had a crush on Colton since she was 6 years old. Due to an accident, both teens miss the bus for their senior class trip. Determined to not miss the fun, Natalie and Colton carpool from Michigan to Virginia Beach to try to catch up with the rest of their peers.

Like mentioned previously, the premise of the book did have potential. And if executed well it could have been an exciting, cute, and funny road trip story. Unfortunately, 18 Hours to Us was not. Everything felt overly unnecessary and dramatic. I understand that it centers around two teenagers, but some situations in the book were a bit too much. For example, the major climax.

The entire event could have been avoided if Colton would have been honest. Instead, he chooses to cowardly avoid the situation and makes things worst by not listening to Natalie. It was quite annoying.

The book felt very judgmental at times and featured a lot of unnecessary girl hate. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Final Analysis

18 Hours to Us does not live up to potential, instead it completely misses the mark and lacks the execution.