Review: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour By: Morgan Matson

Title: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

Author: Morgan Matson

Published: May 4th, 2010

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

Goodreads 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.

My Thoughts:

This one was such a great summer read! Who doesn't love a great road trip and both of the characters Amy and Roger are so endearing and watching them grow and change along the journey across the country was by far my favorite part.

Amy and her family are moving across the country from California to Connecticut, recently Amy and her dad were in a car accident and he passed away. Their whole family is still grieving and learning to deal with the loss, each member in their own way. Amy feels like the whole thing is all her fault because she was the one who was driving and she feels like her mom and her brother resent her for it. Her brother has been sent to a rehab in North Carolina and with her mother already in Connecticut, Amy is all alone waiting for school to end to join her mom on the east coast. The catch is her mom needs her car driven across the country to their new home but, Amy is terrified to drive after the accident and her mother can't afford to have it shipped. This is where Roger comes in, an old family friend's son who also needs to head to the east coast has been offered up by his mom to drive Amy to their new home. Roger is also trying to get over something, the breakup of him and his girlfriend Hadley.

I thought this book was so much fun and I felt that the plot was super creative. I could not imagine having to ride in a car all the way across the country with some guy that I haven't known since I was in elementary school. Both Amy and Roger have their issues to deal with and as their trip progresses and the more places they go, people they meet,  and the closer they get to each other the more they each grew, matured, and changed. I never thought that you could say after 4 days of driving on a road trip that you are different person from when you began but, Amy and Roger could both definitely say that they came out of this trip two totally different people. I also loved that there was pictures from some of the places they visited in the  book and also playlists that Roger made, I did go and make the playlists after reading the book and I did find some new music that I really like, it definitely made the book that much more creative and fun for me to read. The romance in this book was not overdone or super heavy, it seemed to be almost nonexistent for most of the book and I surprisingly enough really enjoyed that. Each character didn't seemed weighed down worrying about being in love with the other and it really gave them both a chance to work on themselves individually.

Overall this book is a fun summer read  and it made me want to go on a road trip asap lol. They made it seem so light and fun and that I could just jump in the car and drive to where ever I felt I could go and see the different sights of the U.S., I definitely had a smile on my face after closing this book and it leaves you feeling good. If you enjoy light, fun contemporary novels then this one is definitely for you!

Happy Reading!

Kristin