Review: Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Simon & Schuster

May 4, 2010

Amazon - Goodreads

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.

The thing that drew me into Amy & Roger's Epic Detour was definitely the amazing cover and how some pages are set up like a scrapbook would be. There's receipts, playlists and postcards... how fun! I'm so glad these aspects of design were there because I hadn't see any reviews on the book, which usually means I'll bypass it in the bookstore. I'm so glad I didn't pass this one up!

Amy is such an awesome and realistic main character! I loved that she is recovering from the most difficult time and how I felt for her while reading. Out of all the female characters from books I've read recently Amy is definitely my favorite. She wasn't a cheerleader, wasn't a jock or a total brain. Amy was really involved in the drama department which I thought was a cool twist to a character's interest.

Roger! *swoon* I adored how laid back he was and just how he was the perfect guy next door. He wasn't this hot god (you know what I mean! Some leading males are just was too good to be true.) I feel like I could have just sat down and had a really fun and intelligent conversation. Not to mention he was an amazing friend to Amy.

I loved the idea of a cross country road trip with someone you don't even know! All of the fun places they went were so awesome! The scenery in this book was incredible, Morgan Matson has got me planning a road trip now. Along with the great places, the characters they met along the way were so diverse and added a wonderful part to this story.

Amazing Quote:

"And sometimes,” she added, in slightly hushed tones, like she was letting me in on a secret, “if you don’t feel great on the inside, just look great on the outside, and after a while you won’t be able to tell the difference.”

Characters: 5/5

Creativity: 5+/5

Voice: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Impact: 4/5

Overall: 5/5

When I first read the ending I was really disappointed. Then I picked the book up a couple days later and tried to decide what it was that made me upset. After I thought about it for a while, I ended up really enjoying the ending. It was realistic and unpredictable.

If you have yet to pick up Amy & Roger's Epic Detour I highly suggest you rush out to the nearest bookstore and do so. It's an incredibly unique tale of finding yourself and discovering America. This definitely made it on my favorites list.