Monday, October 25, 2010

Jen Reviews 'Amy and Roger's Epic Detour'

Title:  Amy and Roger's Epic Detour
Author:  Morgan Matson
Published: Simon & Schuster, 2010
How I Got It:  Purchased from Amazon
Why I Read It:  The premise sounded interesting
Rating: 5+ stars

Summary: Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn't seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she's coming to terms with her father's death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road--diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself (from Goodreads).

Review:

Have you ever loved a book so much that anything you write just doesn't do it justice?  I've been trying to write a review for this book for the past three weeks.  This review has been rewritten at least four times.

I absolutely loved this book.  It was epic.  It was amazing.  I was so sad when I was finished with it because it meant that I was done traveling with Amy and Roger.  Since I am unable to write coherent sentences and paragraphs in regards to this book, the review will be done in bullet points (I hope you don't mind).

Reasons Why This Book Is Amazing:
  • It's about a road-trip.  I love road-trips!  It's been way to long since the last time I went on one.  
  • At the beginning of each chapter there is a song lyric or quote.
  • Roger makes at least seven different music mixes for the cross-country journey.  Each play-list is in the book.  New music?  Yes please! 
  • Road-trip essentials according to Roger:  snacks and music (and gas)
  • All of the little "extras" in the book:  pictures, menus, receipts, notes, emails, and drawings.  They add so much to the story!
  • The detours Amy and Roger make:  Yosemite, The Loneliest Road in America, Colorado Springs, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, North Carolina
  • The adventures that happen because of the detours they made
  • Even the secondary characters in this book are amazing.  (Bronwyn was definitely my favorite).
  • It's a fun book that deals with some heavy issues - death, grief, guilt, overcoming a fear
There is so much more I want to say about this book BUT if you decide to read it I want you to be able to discover all of the awesomeness for yourself and to develop your own first impressions of the characters. 


Now I have an urge to read more books about road trips!  What's your favorite road trip book? Fondest road trip memory?

19 comments:

  1. Ahh. I've been dying to get my hands on this one since I heard about it! WAH. Too bad I'm on a book buying ban! lol

    I absolutely love On the Road as my favorite road trip book! I love going on road trips! There is nothing like a good roadtrip!

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  2. This sounds great! I love road trips, but only if I'm not with my family haha. I used to love driving to and from school, which is six hours away.

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  3. This seems like a book I wouldn't normally have picked up, but I must admit, you've got me intrigued! The playlist idea is clever, and I do love roadtrips packed with detours :)

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  4. I really loved this book too. It definitely made me want to hit the road with a hot boy & some good music :-) The attention to detail in this story was amazing. I could definitely read it over & over again.

    Great review!

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  5. Ginger- I'm with you! Hot boy + good music = EPIC!

    I have so much fun when the boyfriend and I take random road trips. I always make some pretty awesome mixes, we pig out and we just laugh a lot!

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  6. Loved your review! This book just SLAYED me. They really got it right in the title...there's no better word than "epic." Roger has made it to the top of my faves list. I loved the music too, so I made some of the playlists on Grooveshark, where you can stream for free. And let me tell you, listening to his playlists adds SO much to the book. That boy is much more emo than you realize. Hahaha.

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  7. I loved this book too! And road trips can be so much fun :) I used to do a ton with my brother. We'd drive from KS to San Francisco in 25 hrs straight and then take a slower pace on the way back. Lots of camping...

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  8. This sounds amazing! Thanks for the review. I just added it to my wish list.

    Here from CEP

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  9. Wow, what a review! I'm sold. I hate it when I have to review a book I adored but can't figure out how to describe!

    I'm trying to think of roadtrip books I've read, and I can't think of a single one!

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  10. I would never usually pick this kind of book up, but you've made me want to read it!

    And I can't actually think of a single road trip book I have loved. Maybe this will be the first?

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  11. This one sounds like fun! I’ve had it on my TBR pile for a while. Your review makes me want to jump right in.

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  12. I'm dying to read this one - I hear it's incredible, and your review is no exception! Brilliant :)

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  13. I've been really curious about this book since I heard about it. Your review definitely propelled it to the front of my wishlist!

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  14. This sounds fantastic I must read it! I love to travel! I have a feeling it well make me want to go somewhere.

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  15. I hope everyone gets a chance to read it soon! It's such a good book!

    My favorite road trip memory? About five years ago my friend Hollie and I went to another state for a concert. On the way home we got SO LOST. We drove around for a little bit trying to figure it out on our own but that wasn't working. We pulled into a gas station to get gas and ask for directions. The guys were who working at the gas station seemed really nice and helpful. They wrote down directions and even drew us a map! We leave and start our journey home again. After awhile we're lost again. My friend and I just thought we missed a turn or something and we're trying to figure out where to go based on the map the guys drew us. Finally we're just aggravated so we found a cop and asked him for directions. We give the cop the directions and map the gas station guys made for us and the cop starts cracking up. Apparently the gas station guys were completely messing with us and gave us directions that didn't even exist (with made up street names) and drew the map to fit the completely wrong directions. The cop gave us correct directions and then we were on our way home...finally. It's hilarious now but when it happened we were so mad.

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  16. oooh! this book sounds AMAZING! definitely adding it to my TBR list!

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  17. I read this one a while back, and I loved it too! It's the perfect summer read, and even now that summer's well over I still find myself cracking my copy open and rereading some parts. It's so light and fun and amazing! I love the list you made of why you love the book- it's so appropriate for this novel :)

    Here on the CEP, and now following!

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  18. I saw this one browsing Borders.com and bookmarked it since it sounded interesting. Nice to know it's a good one! I will definitely keep it in mind now.

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