Due to my Barnes and Nobles's lack of Maureen Johnson appreciation and my own lack of a library—stupid remodeling ruining my reading plans—I can honestly say this is the first MJ book I've ever read. Rest assured, I'm smitten.
Once again my reading ventures bring me to Paris—and some other places.
Once again my reading ventures bring me to Paris—and some other places.
As stolen from Amazon:
"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."I read this book in two days. I normally savor books as opposed to guzzle them down, but this one was so captivating that I had to read more. It's an extremely light and easy read, so I'd recommend picking it up sometime between when your English class reads The Dwarf and The Iliad, if only to lighten your load a little bit.
As for the actual plot of the book, you'll have to suspend belief at some points, but if you can get over the fact that it's somewhat unbelievable—which didn't bother me really at all—then you're in for great story.
I really appreciated that we jumped right into the book, not a long introduction or lots of backstory. The whole book was like that—fast-paced. I always wanted to know what was in the next envelope, where Aunt Peg would take Ginny next.
The characters are very believable, realistic, the works. I'm of the notion that you could write a book about characters sitting in a room for a day, à la Breakfast Club, and it would be great as long as the characters are exceptional. Characters account for about sixty precent of my enjoyment of any book.
There are plenty of little twists and surprises sprinkled throughout the story to keep anyone satisfied, ones that aren't overused and are nearly impossible to see coming. I felt good about the end of the book, and I know there's a sequel—which I'll definitely pick up eventually—but I'm not sure it was necessary. I would have been happy with just the first book, but I look forward to reading more from Maureen in the future.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ / 5
You know, writing blog posts takes about twice as long as you originally allotted time for. Time to return to Trig. Sigh.
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