Title: Amy & Roger's Epic DetourAuthor: Morgan Matson
Published: May 2010 by Simon & Schuster
My Rating: 5 stars
Tags: YA | Realistic | Romance | Road Trip
Includes: Profanity, Sexuality
First Lines: I sat on the front steps on my house and watched the beige Subaru station wagon swing too quickly around the cul-de-sac. This was a rookie mistake, only made by countless FedEx guys.
Amy Curry's father died in a tragic car accident just three months ago. It's now the summer before her senior year, and her mom decided to move their family from California to Connecticut. Amy reluctantly stays home for a month, before driving up to Connecticut with her mother's friend's son, Roger. They were friends when they were little but haven't seen each other since. As they start the road trip across the U.S., Amy gets to know the incredibly cute and caring Roger and must finally face her father's death.
This is the best book that I've read this year....probably even one of my favorite books ever. Since this was a debut book, I had no idea what to expect from the author - and I must say that I was blown away! Put together romance, summer, a stellar road trip, some fantastic music, and a cute boy and you have an incredible story. The book was funny, cute, touching, heartwrenching, realistic, creative, etc. One of my favorite things about it was how the majority of the book was written just like a normal novel, but in between chapters there were postcards, music playlists, gas station receipts, and photographs. This made it really feel like I was there along for the ride with Amy and Roger. Their road trip felt so real and made me crave to experience my own.
From page 212
We could do anything-go anywhere-that we wanted. We were crossing America. We had a car and gas money and a destination. The road was open ahead of us. I looked at the rolling green hills passing by outside my window and saw my smile reflected in the side mirror.
Music played a pretty big role throughout the book and can I just say that Morgan Matson, the author, is probably my music soul-mate. Practically every band that was on Roger's playlist is on my iPod, and I loved her music taste. This made me enjoy the book even more. Roger is most likely my new favorite fictional guy. He's sensitive, funny, sweet, understanding, and oh yeah, cute! It was interesting watching he and Amy start to like each other; even though it was predictable that they would fall in love, it was completely adorable and so worth the read.
Just the summary in general got me interested in reading this. Who doesn't love a good road trip? I learned a lot of new things about the states they drove through, and the author's writing got me so interested in checking those places out. Speaking of which, Matson's writing was brilliant. She got me completely absorbed in the book and as soon as I finished reading the last line on the page, I wanted to flip to the beginning and start all over again. Her character development was flawless and I desperately didn't want the story to end. However, when it did, it left a smile on my face and a huge desire to have someone go on a road trip with me.
Cover Thoughts: I. freaking. love. this. cover. Everything about it makes me want to pick it up and see what's written inside. The cute couple holding hands and the girly font screams chick-lit.
Book Supplied by: Publisher for review.
Sounds really good! Added to my wish list--I love a vicarious road trip.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read a bad word about this one! I have it waiting on my TBR pile, and am hoping to get to it next week.
ReplyDeleteI love music, so it's great to hear that it plays a big part in the book. And Roger sounds fantastic!
romance, road trips, music, and boys - really, aside from books, does a girl need anything else in life?
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you loved it so much. I'm dying to read this one. It sounds exactly like my type of read.
ReplyDeleteSounds AMAZING!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds so good~ I love the unique story premise of an old-fashioned road trip in summer. So cute and summery! I heard great things about the music before and now I can't wait to get my hands on this book. Wonderful review, I can't wait to read it. :D
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard much about this book, but I'm definately going to hunt it down! Thanks for your review!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite parts was the song lists and receipts too! I love that quote also, it sums up the books well. This book and the covery are both on my favorites list! Great review!
ReplyDeleteI've seen this book couple of times when I was browsing the net in the past couple of weeks. You're indeed right about the cover cause it TOTALLY grab my interest. So sweet and makes me have this urge to find out what else is there in the book for us to savour. Very good review. I'll definitely have to find this book!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED this book. I loved how she included playlists and how there were little drawings. It reminded me a lot of Sarah Dessen's Truth About Forever and Just Listen, but was still really unique. Loooved it.
ReplyDeleteHow cool is that? Momentos of the trip sprinkled throughout the book? Sounds like an interesting read! Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteI've read like five reviews on this book and everyone loved it. This the first of your reviews I've read and i like that you put warnings in it about language and other stuff! I just got this book out from the library and am going to read it for the 2010 Debut Authors Challenge. I am super stoked to read it now!
ReplyDeletewow....
ReplyDeleteWow, sounds like you loved it. I have actually never heard of this book. But it does sound interesting. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I learned a lot about all the states they visited.
ReplyDeleteI also loved Roger's playlists. I loved the little drawings.
The thing that I didn't like about Amy & Roger's Epic Detour was that Roger just left things open ended. I mean, sure you're coming off a bad relationship. But, I don't know.. Something about the ending just bothered me.