Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Add it: Goodreads

Source: Won (paperback)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: Hardcover, 344 pages
Release Date: May 4, 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.

This book is one that sneaked up on me. I went into it with the praises of so many bloggers ringing in my ears but I just wasn't feeling it at the start. Amy's life situation is tough (it does kind of suck!) but I had some trouble connecting to her character immediately. Soon enough though, I felt myself falling deeper in love for this gem of a road trip novel.

This is going to sound really dorky but I feel like I went on a big adventure with this book. When Amy and Roger first started taking the detours from their set itinerary, I got kind of panicked and the rule-follower in me was all, Amy, no! You can't! Then it just got so fun and so interesting and so personal that I couldn't really find it in myself to care much. I wanted them to take more detours if it meant extending their trip just a day longer because I was so invested in Amy and Roger.

Although it's Amy that is dealing with the brunt of the emotional pain after the loss of her father, Roger is not exactly living in a happy-go-lucky paradise. Both of these characters come so far in the course of the novel and that, to me, was the best part of the novel. That they are able to find comfort and strength in each other only makes their relationship all the more sweet.

Despite the darker side to Amy and Roger lives in the time of the novel, the journey they take is one filled with laughter and good times. An awesome soundtrack, a substantial amount of sugar and the bright personalities of the two main characters and all of the people they meet just make this such an enjoyable read. When the impressionable places they visit are added... let's just say it tips the scales in favour of Amy & Roger's Epic Detour.

A heartwarming story with plenty to make you laugh and think.

Cover Comments: Aww, it's cute! Anything with Amy and Roger together is enough to make me smile :)

4.5 stars