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

Title: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour
Author: Morgan Matson
Series: Standalone
Format: Paperback, owned
My rating: 4.5 / 5

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Amy Curry is not looking forward to her summer. Her mother decided to move across the country and now it's Amy's responsibility to get their car from California to Connecticut. The only problem is, since her father died in a car accident, she isn't ready to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger. An old family friend, he also has to make the cross-country trip - and has plenty of baggage of his own. The road home may be unfamiliar - especially with their friendship venturing into uncharted territory - but together, Amy and Roger will figure out how to map their way.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour is all sugary – but not necessarily sickly – sweetness. It was lovely. It’s classed as a “summer read” so the initial expectation is a quick, light story. It touches on some serious topics without weighting down the storyline, yet it approaches those topics realistically and with the merit they deserve.

The book gives the impression of being three-quarters novel to one-quarter scrapbook. At the beginning, this was hard to get used to. After a few chapters, it evened out and I really liked seeing the pictures, receipts, menus and all the other stuff. I do think the placement of these “scrapbook pages” could have been a little better, as the story was broken up a few times.

I’m not sure why, but I didn’t fully connect with Amy’s character. I could understand where she was coming from, and what she went through, but I just felt that something was preventing me from “getting” her. Roger on the other hand… I really love his character. It’s not often the “good guy” is appealingly portrayed. Sometime I find they are depicted in a boring and safe way, making them seem as dull as dishwater – hence, in my opinion, why the bad guy characters are making such a killing in fiction lately. It is SO wonderful to find a lovable good guy for a change.

The downfall: I wanted to see more of Roger and Amy’s relationship. It’s very late on in the book when things start happening *cough*, and there is a receipt on the last page dated a month after the last scrapbook entry… but I wanted more! As far as I know, this is a stand-alone novel, so I feel that this aspect of the story was left hanging a bit too much. Overall though, I enjoyed it.