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Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: 2005
Source: Paperback Swap
Author Website
Seventeen-year-old Ginny had always admired her aunt Peg, a free-spirited artist who often disappeared for months, most recently to Europe. Now Aunt Peg has died of brain cancer, and in a characteristically cryptic gesture made before her death, she arranged for her niece to receive a plane ticket to London, where Ginny will begin a series of adventures. Guided by Peg's friends and the instructions in each of 13 letters her aunt wrote, Ginny sets off across Europe. Staying with Peg's contacts or in hostels, Ginny begins to peel away some of the mythic layers surrounding her aunt, even as she falls into thrilling escapades and a blossoming romance. Johnson's plot stretches plausibility. Would Ginny's practical mother really have agreed to such a solo, undefined journey? But readers will probably overlook any improbabilities and willingly accompany Ginny through her sensitive, authentically portrayed experiences--uncomfortable, lonely, giddy, and life changing--as she pieces together family mysteries and discovers herself.
(Amazon)
I have to say that I love the premise of this book. I love the air of mystery and the tasks that Ginny has to do in order to open the next envelope. Ginny meets interesting people and has wonderful, sometimes whimsical adventures as each envelope leads her towards a new location.
That said, I had some issues with this book. The first being the total lack of character development. We really know nothing about Ginny except that her aunt is dead, she's a teenager, and she's from New Jersey. There's only a sentence or two about her parents, and no mention about what they think about her adventure. My parents let me do a lot when I was a teenager, but I still don't think they would have let me jaunt off to Europe without staying in close contact-even if that meant sending a postcard home every few days.
Ginny seemed so bland she was almost like a protagonist in a Choose Your Own Adventure book (which I loved, by the way), in that they're not really a character at all, and you're supposed to imagine yourself in their place. The people she meets along the way are a lot more interesting than she is, and you can't help but wish that you'd tag along with them instead of Ginny.
Another issue was the amount of money Ginny had to take with her. It was pretty unbelievable-especially coming to Europe as an American, everything is insanely expensive-even if you are lucky enough to have people to stay with occasionally.
I did enjoy the book overall, especially for the European travel descriptions. I would recommend it, but I had to point out the issues I had with it.
Interesting. When I read this book, I remembered back to my own adventures in Europe (in college though, not as a high school girl) and I liked how well Johnson portrayed the traveling aspects. I read it when I had barely begun reading YA (like it was my third or fourth YA book) so I didn't notice the character development as much I don't think.
ReplyDeleteI have read and written a book review of it for English at school, and I have to completely agree with you on development of Ginny! I thought she was such a bland character, whereas characters like Kenny, and even Aunt Peg, who is DEAD, was more interesting when Maureen described her. I also thought that it was strange how she didn't talk to her parents before leaving. I'd have a police search for me, if I left on a whim!
ReplyDeleteAlthough, saying that, I did enjoy the book like you did, the quaintness of the letters and such, and I liked when she was in Edinburgh as I go there a lot, so it was interesting with it in a book!
Great review :D
@ Amanda: The character development matter seems to bug some people (like me) a lot, and others not at all. I always love to hear differing opinions on the books I'm reading.
ReplyDelete@ Jean: I agree with you, about her parents in particular. My parents gave me a lot of freedom when I was 17, but they would have been searching the earth for me if I galavanted off! I'd assume that they knew what she was doing, but with the little info we glean about Ginny's parents, they don't seem the type to let their daughter go on such an adventure.
It was still a fun read and for me the London bits brought back memories. :)
Thank you for sharing on this book, I am beginning to find that YA books are great reading but at the same time want to find the right books. This is a great review. Thank you, as a blogger I know it is a bit more uncomfortable to not like a book at least for me.
ReplyDeleteIf you get a chance please check me out at
http://www.wrighton-time.blogspot.com.
I am now a follower.
Thanks,