• Home
  • Tinkering Pages
  • Bookish Lists
  • Bookish Tags
  • Flashback Friday Books
  • Bookish News
  • About The Bookish Fairy
  • Review by Title

The Bookish Fairy

Young adult, magical realism, and every book in between infused with fairy dust...

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour

October 18, 2017

Amy and Roger’s Epic DetourAmy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
Published by Simon & Schuster on May 4, 2010
Genres: YA Contemporary
Pages: 344
Buy on Amazon, Buy on Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
five-stars

Amy Curry is not looking forward to her summer. Her mother decided to move across the country and now it's Amy's responsibility to get their car from California to Connecticut. The only problem is, since her father died in a car accident, she isn't ready to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger. An old family friend, he also has to make the cross-country trip - and has plenty of baggage of his own. The road home may be unfamiliar - especially with their friendship venturing into uncharted territory - but together, Amy and Roger will figure out how to map their way.

Catfairy’s Bookmix

“I’d like to dream my troubles all away on a bed of California stars…” ***

-Wilco

Just like Morgan Matson’s book Since You’ve Been Gone this book has an epic summer road trip playlist! The last time I read Since You’ve Been Gone I cataloged almost EVERY SINGLE SONG FROM THAT BOOK and put it into a Spotify playlist! No joke…but it took me almost three hours to do this! I learned my lesson from Since You’ve Been Gone because if I were to actually set up a playlist from every single song from Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour I would probably spend five hours setting it up and AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT! So I set up 50 songs for this playlist instead versus 160 for the SYBG book! This playlist has a mix of songs that I love such as the Talking Heads song Road to Nowhere (You can’t have a cross-country road trip without the Talking Heads song “Road to Nowhere!”) , songs that I just now fell in love with and can’t get out of my head (HELLO WILCO!), and songs where the title just captured me and I had to add it! Enjoy this playlist because when you listen to it you will truly feel like you’re in the backseat of Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour!

Catfairy’s “Epic” First Thoughts

If anyone knows me, you will know that I am absolute trash for a Morgan Matson book! Ever since I picked up Since You’ve Been Gone I have been 100% devoted to this woman and she is my go-to author when I am feeling blah about life and I need to be in a sunshine “life is good” kind of mood! (I haven’t read Second Chance Summer yet and I heard that book will not bring much sunshine instead it would just leave me in a pool of tears like a sad melted ice cream cone. Better off saving that book for next summer!) Although Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour left me only with tears of happiness and contentment and luckily it didn’t bring on the tears!

Amy’s and Roger’s Epic Detour was like the road trip that I wish would never end! I took quite a while to finish this book so I definitely stretched that road trip out a bit too far but I loved every single second of Amy and Roger’s journey. The struggles that the characters went through was emotional and it had the whole coming of age kind of feel which is something that I just LIVE to read about. I love books where the characters realize that even though life has struggles it’s important to use those hard lessons to push themselves to continue to move forward in life! Sometimes the “detours” can be life altering and well worth the ride!

Catnopsis

“California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see. But believe it or not, you won’t find it so hot if you ain’t got the do-re-mi…”

-Woody Guthrie

Everything begins with Amy and Roger when they go on a cross-country trip from California to Stanwich, Connecticut.

Amy’s mother put their family home for sale where she lived with her father and brother. Sadly, her father has passed away and her brother is in rehab. Everything in Amy’s world is lonely and empty and all she wants to do is hide from the world including the girl she used to be…

Her mother has already settled herself down in Stanwich, Connecticut and Amy’s taking care of their house while it was going through the process of being sold.

Finally, it is time for Amy to begin to her new life in Stanwich, Connecticut and her mother has arranged for her to take the road trip of her life…

The only problem is that since her father’s death Amy doesn’t drive. Amy’s mother decides to arrange someone to drive which turns out to be the son of an old family friend named Roger. He will be driving cross country with Amy. And so it begins and Amy and Roger are about to embark on the most life-changing detour of their lives literally and figuratively…

Meet Amy (Played by Shailene Woodley)

“He who transplanted sustains…”

-Kansas Motto

Amy is a lost soul and figuring out how to deal with the loss of her father and the person she used to be. She used to be an outgoing person with boyfriends, friends,  and was an aspiring actress who frequently got the lead of her school plays.

Since her father’s death, Amy feels like her whole universe is meaningless. Her spark for life has dimmed and all she wants to do is hide in her Anyone Can Whistle shirt and her old jeans.

At first, all Amy wants is to get the road trip over with until she falls for Roger and she never wants the road trip to end…

Meet Roger (Played by Logan Shroyer)

“The best discoveries always happened to the people who weren’t looking for them. Pinzón, who stumbled on Brazil while looking for the West Indies. Stanley happening on Victoria Falls. And you. Amy Curry, when I was least expecting her.”

-Roger

Roger is that guy who has that natural air of confidence about him. That is until you go on a road trip with him and you realize that he isn’t perfect but he is as close to perfection that you can ever get.

Currently, Roger is trying to deal with his own heartbreak. He just got dumped and he is currently trying to find closure.

Roger is the complete package of the perfect book boyfriend who has a thing for explorers, is allergic to goodbyes, has a huge appetite, and an amazing talent in making EPIC playlists! This guy is my mixtape soul mate and the girl that dumped him is insane because his taste in music is just enough for me to marry him!

Catfairy’s Pop Culture References

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour reminds me of one my favorite road trip movies of all time “Mad Love!” The playlist was also insanely good and they had a romantic and intense adventure that the two of them would never forget!

Matson’s Writing

Honestly, I can’t gush enough about Morgan Matson’s gift for plot and character development! The relationship between Amy and Roger isn’t insta-lovey at all and she really fleshes out the characters. Matson doesn’t rush into the action and focuses more on the inner conflict of both of these characters. She enveloped me into the emotional journey of Amy and Roger from the beginning to the very last page and left me grinning from ear to ear at the end of it all.

Catfairy’s Final Thoughts

“To the stars through adversity.”
-Kansas State Motto

I thought this book had so much to offer! The books that I adore the most are books that contain mixed media! The mixed media in this book was so interactive and I felt like I was right there with Amy and Roger in the Sunshine Mart gas station, lost on the loneliest road in Nevada, and eating a burger with them at In-N-Out! The description of the diners made my mouth water especially since where I live in Miami there are virtually no diners. The people they meet along the way were interesting characters and I love how they help Amy and Roger grow throughout the story. Of course, the one thing that topped the whole book was the playlists! I highly recommend reading this book with the playlists in the background!

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour will forever be the book that made me feel so many emotions! I felt the pain of Amy’s loss and the exhilaration she felt when she was able to push through the pain and find herself in the process. I felt Roger’s heartbreak and inadequacy and I loved how he found the strength to realize his own worth.

This story is also about a family that fell apart and are now slowly finding their way back to one another. Throughout the road trip, Amy realizes that her life is waiting for her and that she doesn’t have to hide anymore. Matson’s book is about breaking down those barriers and realizing that true love can resurface even through tragedy. The story of Amy and Roger is about literally ditching that itinerary and taking those detours where frankly…life really begins.

FIVE CHARLIE CHUCHI STARS!

FOLLOW ME @charliechuchi

View my Pinterest board of Amy and Roger’s Epic Playlist to view my bookcasting, quotes, book art, and Amy and Roger’s epic adventures!

 

If you list this post…

 

 

 

 

 

five-stars

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Reviews by Genre, Reviews by Title Tagged: coming of age, epic playlists, roadtrip, summer love, summer road trip

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

July 3, 2017

To All the Boys I’ve Loved BeforeTo All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #1) by Jenny Han
Series: To All the Boys I've Loved Before #1
Published by Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH & Co. KG on July 25th 2016
Genres: YA Contemporary, YA Romance
Pages: 352
Buy on Amazon, Buy on Barnes & Noble, Buy on Books & Books
Goodreads
five-stars

five-stars

A

  • Acevedo, Elizabeth
  • Adeyemi, Tomi
  • Albertalli, Becky

B

  • Block, Francesca Lia
  • Bracken, Alexandra

C

D

E

F

  • Faulkner, Grant

G

  • Grant, Arel B.
  • Green, John

H

  • Han, Jenny
  • Handler, Daniel

I

J

K

L

  • Lauren, Christina

M

  • Mathieu, Jennifer
  • Matson, Morgan
  • Milanes, Janelle
  • Mlynowski, Sarah

N

  • Nelson, Jandy

O

P

  • Perkins, Stephanie
  • Poston, Ashley

Q

R

  • Reid, Taylor Jenkins
  • Rowell, Rainbow

S

T

U

V

W

  • West, Kasie

X

Y

  • Yoon, Nicole

Z

Here is my motown Spotify list inspired by Lara Jean…

Catfairy’s First Thoughts

Presently at this moment, I am writing this review and swaying to my Lara Jean Motown playlist on Spotify and eating an oatmeal raisin cookie. (I know…I know…Lara Jean…could make much more creative cookies…such as those cowgirl cookies and don’t forget those snickerdoodles!)

If I could sum up my feelings for this book in one word, I would simply use a word that isn’t listed in the Cambridge English Dictionary and that word would be…adorbs!

To all the boys I’ve loved before made me want to be the fourth Song sister and I just loved all the things about the main character of Lara Jean! I want to live in the world of Lara Jean and raid her adorable vintage outfits and use her heart hole puncher! After all, how can you not love a girl who has a heart hole puncher?

description

“Because after I write my letter, I’m no longer consumed by my all-consuming love. I can eat my cereal and not wonder if he likes bananas over his Cherrios too: I can sing along to love songs and not be singing them to him. If love is like a possession, maybe my letters are like my exorcisms. My letters set me free. Or at least they’re supposed to.”-Lara Jean 

Catnopsis

description

To all the boys I’ve loved before is the first contemporary romance book of a trilogy who introduces the dainty character of Lara Jean. Lara Jean lives with her father and two other sisters named Margot and Kitty. The sisters call themselves the Song girls because their mother’s maiden name is Song and the sisters have a strong connection to their mother. Their mother died at an early age and they also share more of their mother’s physical features which is Korean and their father is Caucasion.

“We are the three Song girls. There use to be four. My mom, Eve Song. Evie to my dad, Mommy to us, Eve to everyone else. Song is, was, my mom’s last name. Our last name is Covey-Covey like lovey, not like cove. But the reason we are the Song girls and not the Covey girls is my mom used to say that she was a Song girl for life, and Margot said then we should be too. We all have Song for our middle name, and we look more Song than Covey anyway, more Korean than white.”

The Song girls are an absolute trip! Margot is the responsible and smart sister who plays mom to the whole family. Kitty is the baby sister in the family who is always causing trouble and is way too smart and spunky for her own good! They have so much fun together and have so many cute traditions that they share like the CHRISTMAS COOKIE BONANZA!

When Lara Jean falls in love with a boy she writes them a love letter professing her adoration and that’s how she gets these boys out of her system. After she finishes writing the love letter she methodically hides them in a charming teal vintage hatbox that her mother bought her. Until one day the letters are gone and all the five boys “she has loved before” receive her love letters and this is the one moment where all the boys of her past come out of the woodwork and Lara has to make a choice to either hide in her world of love letters or face the truth of her emotions, and finally live her life.

Meet Lara Jean played by Tiffany Hwang

Lara Jean is your proverbial dreamy eyed teenager who is in love with love but is terrified of it at the same time. Although she has a dramatic and individualistic style down to her vintage clothes and her innate attention to detail.

The character of Lara Jean is someone who fantasizes about love and sees it through rose colored glasses more than the real reality of it. She would rather love the boys from afar and obsess over them but never fully commit to them.

Lara Jean truly walks to the beat of her own drum and that’s what makes her full of awesomeness!

“I think I see the difference now, between loving someone from afar and loving someone up close. When you see them up close, you see the real them, but they also get to see the real you. And Peter does. He seems me, and I see him.” -Lara Jean

Meet Peter Kavinsky played by Harry Styles

“That’s when I see him. Peter Kavinsky, walking down the hallway. Like magic. Beautiful, dark-haired Peter. He deserves background music, he looks so good.” -Lara Jean

Peter Kavinsky’s is one of the five boys that Lara Jean professed her undying love to.

Peter is that quintessential guy in school that one loves to hate and hates to love at the same time. He is a popular jock who everyone is friends with and who everyone wants to be friends with. Peter has such a self-assurance about himself that it can make anyone feel that all is good and right with the world.

“I think you’re cute. In a quirky way.” –Peter Kavinsky

If I was in high school Peter would be one of my fictional high school boyfriends! He is just the most appealing, irresistible, and infuriating character that I have ever read about! Peter is someone you want to kiss and slap across the face at the same time! The back and forth banter between Lara Jean and Peter is just priceless and he brings out the feisty side of Lara Jean. Peter brings Lara Jean out of her shell and makes her realize that love is not a sugar-coated fantasy and in order to love someone you need to first be honest with yourself.

Meet Josh played by Skyler Astin

Josh is part of the love letter debacle as well and also part of a love triangle between Lara Jean, Peter, and Josh.

Josh dated Lara Jean’s sister Margot and when they suddenly broke up Josh receives Lara Jean’s love letter. Lara Jean is horrified by the fact that he received this love letter because she would never admit her feelings to Josh since he dated her sister. In order to avoid conflict, she pretends to date Peter Kavinsky. This also benefits Peter because he is currently breaking up with Lara Jean’s ex-friend mean girl Genevieve for the millionth time and wants to get her jealous. And so the plot thickens…

Josh is your typical do-gooder guy that is always there for you when you need it. Josh is like the Dawson Leery in your life that is always there to lend a shoulder to cry on and yada, yada, yada…Honestly, the character of Josh didn’t really get my attention. He seemed to be a very dry and humdrum character to me. I felt like I didn’t know enough about Josh for me to genuinely like him as a character. There just wasn’t enough depth to the character of Josh which leads me to definitely be Team Peter.

Now Lara Jean has a choice. Does she want the bad boy Peter (aka Pacey Witter) or the do-gooder Josh (aka Dawson Leery)?

description
description

Jenny Han’s Writing

description
Catfairy and Jenny Han Book Signing

Overall, it’s great to see that YA novels are representing more diversity than ever before. The author Jenny Han who is herself Korean perfectly exemplifies the Korean culture. She also beautifully describes the struggle that Lara Jean goes through with being half Korean and Half-Caucasian.

This book is written in the first person and it’s a very character-driven novel and it’s what makes this book come alive! To all the boys I’ve loved before would not have been the same book if it wasn’t for the unique characters that she had in this novel! It is easy to get lost in the world of the Song sisters! When I read this book, I felt like I was personally invited to the home of the Song sisters and I got to know them so well, that I grew attached to each of them.

Catfairy Final Thoughts

“When someone’s been gone a long time, at first you save up all the things you want to tell them. You try to keep track of everything in your head. But it’s like trying to hold on to a fistful of sand: all the little bits slip out of your hands, and then you’re just like clutching air and grit. That’s why you can’t save it all up like that.” -Lara Jean 

Each of the Song sisters will have a peace of my heart and I am so happy that there are two other books in this series so I don’t have to say goodbye just yet!

Even though, I love all the Song sisters it is “obvi” that Lara Jean is my favorite of them all! I love how she is an individual and doesn’t change for anyone or anything! Most teenagers have the pressure to conform to what is cool and what is not cool. Lara Jean is her own person and she doesn’t care about that which is an inspiration for all teenage girls. Being yourself is the coolest thing you can be!

This book is the kind of book that makes you reminisce on what it is like to truly fall in love for the first time, how you romanticize it in your head, how scary it is, and how amazing it is all at once!

Charlie Chuchi says five meow stars!

FOLLOW ME @charliechuchi

five-stars

1 Comment
Filed Under: Reviews by Title, YA Review, YA Reviews A-Z Tagged: lara-jean, motown, vintage

Follow Me On Twitter

If you like my blog…

Currently Reading

Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)Black Witch MagicA Dash of Trouble (Love Sugar Magic, #1)You Had Me at HolaThe Wind Blows Backward
Visit my shelf on Goodreads

Reviews by Rating

five-stars
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Save the Date by Morgan Matson
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
The Thorn Necklace

four-half-stars
Analee, in Real Life by Janelle Milanes
Everything, Everything

four-stars
Roomies by Christina Lauren
The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding

three-half-stars

three-stars
I See London, I See France (GIVEAWAY INCLUDED)
Lucky in Love

two-half-stars

two-stars
Fangirl
An Abundance of Katherines
The Razvak Hunter

one-half-stars

one-star

half-star

Browse By Tag

analee becky albertalli book event books and books Christina Lauren contemporary ya coral gables Daisy Jones & The Six dawsons creek elizabeth acevedo erin morgenstern fantasy flb francesca lia block Girl Goddess #9 in real life Janelle Milanes jenny han kasie west lara-jean Latinx Rep leigh bardugo lgbt love magical-three-monday-reads magical realism morgan matson motown nanowrimo Nina Moreno red romance Save the Date simon Taylor Jenkins Reid the starless sea The Victoria in my Head tomi adeyemi vintage weetzie bat white With the Fire on High ya ya contemporary young adult

Made With Love by Boutique Web Design Studio · Copyright © 2021

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok