Book Review: Amy & Roger's Epic Detour

Title: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

Author: Morgan Matson

Published: 2010

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.

My Thoughts:

I loved this book! It was so sweet and fun. My three favorite ingredients; love, summer and road-trips, where all in there. Seriousness, pain and sorrow where mixed together with love, friendships, easygoingness and laughter into a perfect blend.

Amy and Roger were very likeable and realistic characters, they both had problems and flaws. I loved how they grew close to each other during their road-trip. From barely talking the first time, to sharing their emotions, opinions and thoughts on any matter.

Amy was, as the summary says, devastated about her father's decease, and she was blaming herself for his death. Even if her sorrow always was present in the book, it was far from dominating the story.

The icing on the cake for me was all photos, playlists, receipts and drawings inside the book (see photo above). This definitely added something extra to the book and made Amy and Roger's tour seem even more realistic. What is more, it also made me dying to go on a road trip myself! There are so many places to discover!

Rating: 4.75 of 5