#thegirlfromeverywhere by #heidiheilig
thanks @lawts.of.books for the recommendation! and a handy fill for the ✗ #bookbingo2024 square: recommended by a friend
This is a YA novel, and definitely reads like one – but even in spite of the YA tropes (teen girl caught in a love triangle, anyone?) I genuinely enjoyed this! If I were thirteen I would have made this my whole personality, probably. I loved the start and the navigating through time, talk about maps and history and place; I loved the diversity of the characters and the out-of-timeness of them all (clever excuse for modern dialogue in historical settings); and although I was disappointed at how landlocked we got as the plot centred around 1880s Hawaii, I DID love that Heidi Heilig knew her shit, and it felt real and grounded, connected to place and time.
Bits and pieces of it gave me strong Black Sails vibes (esp Captain Flint... I mean, Captain Slate). Flash back to The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley, which also treated the timey-wimey question of changing the past to change the future, with boats ?? (If I had a nickel for every time this happened etc, it’s weird it happened twice) and I feel like there’s a wild pattern here.
But I liked most of the plot arc here, and only felt let down by the ending. The change of heart didn’t feel entirely earned or satisfying, probably because I am more cynical re: fathers and much less forgiving than Nix. What about Carthage, girlie?
But a final shoutout to Kashmir, impossibly charismatic on the page, out there immediately stealing everyone’s heart, he was worth the read alone <3
#youngadult #adventure #booksta #bookstagrammer #bookreview #timetravel #ships #aprilreads