Maureen Johnson round two: The Last Little Blue Envelope. Tiny spoiler: the ongoing problem of her not writing that university application essay that she needed to complete stressed me out so much. I'm only a sophomore; I still have time before I need to be worried about essays for college.
I stole this from inside the book cover:
I stole this from inside the book cover:
"Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny's backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.
Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he's found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This time, there are no instructions."13 Little Blue Envelopes didn't need a sequel. I was really happy with where they ended the last book, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not that big of a sequel-type person. But just because the sequel was unnecessary doesn't mean I didn't love it just as much as the first book. If there was a third book, I would be sold.
Ginny, Aunt Peg, Richard, Keith? We meet again—with the addition of some other people, namely Oliver and Ellis. Now I won't spoil too much if you haven't read it, but someone named Oliver possesses the contents of thirteenth envelope. There is some money involved, and he wants a cut.
Oliver is a peculiar bucket of contradictions. He doesn't seem like a bad person, yet he wants Ginny's money. He doesn't lie, but he withholds information too. He seems to be the antagonist in this situation, but is he really?
The characters are so much more developed this time around. They're back and better than ever. As for Ellis, I liked her a lot. I think she was a good addition to the ensemble.
I also liked that they were traveling all together this time around. A hunky-dory road trip of awesome, sometimes illegal, proportions. I think the pacing was perfect. Sometimes I need a super-duper quick plot to tide me over; starting with modernism, realism, romanticism, and the enlightenment and working backwards in English class (I seriously just tried to spell backwArds with an "O" . . . headdesk) can get very boring. So overall, very good stuff, a very nice mid-October read.
Rating: ★★★★☆ / 5
You know what else is a good mid-October read? Macbeth. My teacher said I wasn't "creepy enough" to read as Lady Macbeth though. Shall I take this as a compliment or an insult?
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