Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Pally

For those of you that dont know, in the novel, Ginnys aunt sends her
13 envelopes that she has to open one by one, following the directions
in each before she can move on to the next one. The first one tells her
to fly to London.

I thought the author, Maureen Johnson,
captured the rather arbitrary nature of travel well how mood,
weather, and people you encounter end up shaping your itinerary and
experiences. At first I was kind of frustrated with Ginny, how she
followed her aunts instructions to a T, even if it meant leaving a
place before she even saw much of anything. But then I just kind of
went with the flow. Ginnys aunt wouldnt let her bring guidebooks with
her so I guess she didnt know what tourist haunts she was missing out
on anyway (other than the obvious ones, of course, like the Eiffel
Tower). She also wasnt allowed to have a camera an instruction that
helped Ginny really live in the moment instead of worrying about
capturing every little thing for posterity. Ultimately, Ginnys journey
felt quite authentic, despite a few things that seemed a bit
implausible. Overall, it was a catchy concept, but the lack of character failed to see it through.