Thursday, July 29, 2010

Review: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour
Morgan Matson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing
Release Date: May 4, 2010
Pages: 344

Ratings: 5 Stars

Summary (from Goodreads):

Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn't seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she's coming to terms with her father's death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road--diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself.

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour is a perfect book for summer. It has all the elements for a great summer read: a cross country road trip, romance, and it takes place in the summer. While most summer books are quick, fun reads, Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour offer much more.

What drew me into the story were the characters. Amy felt like she could be any girl dealing with the loss of her father and guilt over his death. Her emotions were so raw and true at points in the story that I was crying along with her. While reading, I often wanted to just reach out an give Amy a huge hug to help her with all the emotional baggage she was carrying. Luckily Roger was there to help me do that. Which brings me to Roger. While the story is told from Amy’s point of view, the reader still gets to learn and understand Roger. Like Amy, Roger is dealing with issues of his own, stemming from his recent break up. While Amy and Roger do not know one another well before the trip, they find out they are a lot more similar than they think and they form a friendship that helps both of them heal.

While the story takes places over a course of a couple of days, the relationship formed between Amy and Roger feels genuine. Morgan Matson did a good job creating Amy and Roger’s relationship and taking it from friends to something a little bit more. The romance did not suddenly pop up out of no where going “Hey look we love each other all of a sudden!” but instead played out very naturally, building a relationship that blooms to romance in the end.

This book is a must read for summer. It is a beautifully written book, truly capturing the emotions of grieve, guilt, love, and loss. Everything feels truly real and relatable, therefore pulling you into the story, taking you on this cross country road trip, filled with detours, along with the characters. 

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