(Review) Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Release date: January 1st 2010

Publisher: Simon & Schuster's Children Publishing

Page count: 344

Genre(s): Young Adult/Romance/Contemporary

Buy it: Amazon/Book Depository

Add it on: Goodreads

Rating: 4/5

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.


Synopsis from Goodreads

(Full review with spoilers here)

This book deals with a road trip, romance and learning to cope with loss. I was sure I'd love it, yet I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I really liked it, but I just can't give it the 5 stars I wish I could. First of all, the characters. I liked them, I think they were developed well. I liked Amy more than Roger which might sound a bit weird but seeing as she narrated the story, I felt like I got to know her a lot more. I wanted to reach through the pages and give her a hug, the poor thing. But I think she dealt well with her loss and I loved seeing her slowly gain strength throughout the book. Now Roger. Hmm. On paper, he ticked all the right boxes - Cute, sweet, funny and quirky. But I never fell in love with him like I expected. It didn't feel like Amy did either somehow. Their interactions were cute, but I always got this friend vibe from them somehow. They would make awesome best friends, but even in certain parts of the book I wasn't overly screaming KISS DAMN YOU in my head. In fact, and maybe it's just down to me being a serial shipper, whenever Amy met another male character, I ended up shipping her with them, even if they only spoke for a few pages. I don't know, she seemed to have more chemistry with Leonard (who I adored and I can only dream about a companion novel starring him and the girl he likes), Walcott (he was in it like, 2 pages but Amy's conversation with him was one of my favourite parts of the book) and Lucien. Along those lines, I think all the side characters were all done so well. I wished I could see more of them to be honest. They were all memorable and I loved seeing how they made Amy happy.

Despite not being totally convinced by the romance, I was completely absorbed by the story. I've always fantasised about going on a road trip across America, and my mum and I say if we stumble across a ton of money we will. Reading this book made me feel like I was on the road trip and it was so much fun. I'm not familiar with most American states so it was interesting learning a bit about some. And everything was described so well that I felt like I was there. They visited a lot of different places which kept the book fresh and I never felt the story dragged. There were also some gritty moments. Amy had a lot of family drama and yes, I CRIED.  Roger also had some ex-girlfriend trouble but I found this less compelling. Overall though, I flew through the book. I loved the little mementos scattered throughout, and I thought the writing was pretty good. If I'd been rooting more for Amy and Roger, I'd have given the book at least a 4.5, but as it stands, I give it a 4/5.