I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Zoe’s life has gone off the rails.

When she left Seattle to go to college in New York, she was determined to start fresh, to figure out what being a lesbian meant to her, to experiment with clothes and presentation away from home for the first time.

Instead, she lost touch with her freshman orientation friend group, skipped classes, and failed completely at being the studious premed student her parents wanted her to be.

But the biggest derailment of all? Her newly minted ex-boyfriend—and the fact that she had a boyfriend to begin with. When she met Alden, he made her feel wanted, he made her feel free. He made her feel . . . like she could be like him, which was exciting and confusing all at once.

So, Zoe decides a second fresh start is in order: She’s going to take a cross-country train from New York to Seattle for fall break. There, no one will know who she is, and she can outrun her mistakes.

Or so she thinks until she meets Oakley, who’s the opposite of Zoe in so many ways: effortlessly cool and hot, smart, self-assured. But as Zoe and Oakley make their way across the country, Zoe realizes that Oakley’s life has also gone off the rails—and that they might just be able to help each other along before that train finally leaves the station.

Short and Sweet Review

Zoe just finished her first semester in college and she’s pretty sure it’ll be her last. She went into college feeling like she knew who she was but soon realized she didn’t and that turned her world upside down, and now she’s on a train from New York back home to Seattle. On the train Zoe reflects on her time in college and also meets different passengers but there’s only one (Oakley) who catches her attention. Zoe realizes that Oakley’s life may have gone off the rails as well and they can help each other hopefully before they make it to the station.

Leaving the Station was a cute a short book that can be read in one setting. Our main character is Zoe and we meet her at a point in life where she isn’t sure of much which is understandable because college is all about finding yourself. We get two time periods the present and some flashbacks of Zoe’s time in college and why she’s going home. When Zoe went to college she was pretty sure she was a lesbian but then she ended up with a boyfriend and that caused a lot of internal confusion and she also ended up spending more time with her boyfriend than her friends so it all became a big mess. Now Zoe is on the train making her way back home and doing some reflecting. Zoe meets Oakley who’s different from her and Oakley isn’t afraid to speak her mind and let you know how it is. I think Zoe was fascinated by Oakley because they’re so different but we could see these two had a connection. They were both on the train for the long haul so we see them spend time with each other and learn more about what’s going on in their respective lives. This book was under 300 pages so I will say I think we get a surface level understanding of who these characters are and they both had different personalities but I think what we get from them is enough for the length of the book. I will say my favorite thing about this book was the cross county trip on the train and seeing the train life and different stops, it made me want to book a trip on a train. There’s also a passenger we meet who’s a bit younger but she was a nice surprise and an unexpected friend for Zoe and I like all of the facts that she would put out there.

Overall, this was a good book. It’s a quick read and it’ll keep you turning pages trying to figure out what happened at college and what Zoe’s going to do next. I like the assortment of characters we meet on the train and I think it really makes the book special to stay in one place but also traveling at the same time.