Amy and Roger's Epic Detour Review

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Release date: May 4, 2010

Source: Big Honcho Media

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.

Review:

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour is one of my favorite reads of 2010, if not of all time. It was so well written, with awesome characters, interesting settings, and witty dialogue. While at first glance this may seem to be a light hearted/summery read- it's so much more than that. Amy and Roger are both having personal problems and, in a way, these conflicts bring them even closer together.

Amy is a well rounded and extremely likable main character. You can feel her emotions and the pain and guilt she feels regarding her father's tragic death. Not only is Amy going on a physical journey, she is also going on an emotional one and readers get to experience both with her. Amy has a great personality and you really get to see her blossom and change as the novel progresses. She is a character that really felt alive to me, and is a person I would definitely like to know in real life.

Roger= love. I adored Roger, he was sweet and caring and the perfect guy for Amy. I loved watching their relationship grow throughout the trip. Roger wasn't just the light hearted guy he appeared, as Roger was also dealing with some trouble with his ex-girlfriend, but with Amy's help, they both learned to open up to the other and became even closer through the process.

The whole idea of a road trip just made this book that more awesome. The scraps of paper, postcards, receipts, etc from their trip added to the novel and the fun facts about the states they visited were awesome, as well. I also loved their play lists, I definitely found some of my new favorite songs through those lists :)

Throughout their travels, Amy and Roger met some other awesome characters that definitely stood out to me even though they were only present for a few pages. The landmarks and places they visited made me eager to take a road trip soon!

This was an overall fantastic debut that contained every element of an amazing novel. Well developed characters, a strong plot, and more. If there's one thing you can take away from this review it's go buy this now! It's well worth the price of a hardcover!

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars

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