Today I'm going to be talking about The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heiling.
Synopsis
Nix has spent her entire life aboard her father’s ship, sailing across the centuries, across the world, across myth and imagination.
As long as her father has a map for it, he can sail to any time, any place, real or imagined: nineteenth-century China, the land from One Thousand and One Nights, a mythic version of Africa. Along the way they have found crewmates and friends, and even a disarming thief who could come to mean much more to Nix.
But the end to it all looms closer every day.
Her father is obsessed with obtaining the one map, 1868 Honolulu, that could take him back to his lost love, Nix’s mother. Even though getting it—and going there—could erase Nix’s very existence.
For the first time, Nix is entering unknown waters.
She could find herself, find her family, find her own fantastical ability, her own epic love.
Or she could disappear.
She is a Myth. She is History. She is Gone.
Actual Rating: 3.5/5
The Girl From Everywhere's story itself is unique, and the uniqueness of the story is what actually drove me to reading it.
We follow our main character Nix, as she and her father sail aboard their ship to battle myths and legends. As long has her father has a map for their chosen destination, he can sail to anywhere and any place in the world, even into works of fiction. Along the way, they find crewmates and friends, as well as a wonderful and snarky thief, that would later mean a great deal to Nix.
Even though Nix's life sounds wonderful, she still has constant battles with her father's crazy obsession. The only thing that her father wants is one map, a particular map will take them to 1868 Honolulu, the year that Nix was born, and the year her mother died. The only problem is that it could ruin Nix's life and erase who she became.
"She could find herself, find her family, find her own fantastical ability, her own epic love. Or she could disappear."
Honestly this book was really hard for me to work through. I had problems with the writing style, plot, and especially the main character. It actually reminded me a lot of Passenger by Alexandra Bracken.
Writing Style: The writing for me was overly wordy, and seemed be intent on description, but perhaps because I just wasn't accustomed to it. Throughout the first and middle of the novel I just felt like it kept dragging on. Heidi Heiling does a fantastic job with immersing you into the story, especially with her use of emotive words, but when it's combined with the historical aspects in The Girl From Everywhere, it felt bogged down and stagnant.
Needless to say, I really thought the historical aspects and well-thought-out descriptions were beautiful. Heidi Heiling obviously did her research, which made TGFE historically accurate. But I still can't get over how slow almost the entire book was.
Nix's character kind of followed those same guidelines. Her character just didn't do it for me, I could't handle her indecisiveness, and the all-too-familiar the love triangle she puts herself in. It almost felt like the story's theme was less about time-traveling and more about feeling rebellious, and somehow finding out about yourself because of that.
Kashmir, the thief, is obviously head over heels for Nix, and for some irritating reason, her judgment is too clouded and she can't see it. He'd seemingly do anything for her, and here Nix goes and basically falls for a bland, artistic man whom she knows nothing about. Have we not read this before?
I just couldn't handle that extra edition in the story. It really interfered with the general enjoyment of read a work of historical fiction, albeit it is YA historical fiction. But what really made the novel worth finishing was Kashmir's character, as well as the places that Heidi Heiling took you to when reading the novel.
Kashmir's entire character is just utterly amazing. I loved how well developed he was in the story. The snarky comments he made were excellently written, and he had a wonderful sense of humor that just kept you reading, even in times of inaction. I also really loved how wise he was throughout the entire novel, and how he was always caring and respectful to not only Nix, but every character in the novel. Even though he's basically a "professional thief", he seems to exhibit more compassion than any other character.
I really enjoyed how Heidi included places in TGFE that aren't often talked about in books, especially YA books! She takes you to India, China, and Hawaii! Those parts she included, defiantly made it more interesting and mind blowing.
I'm honestly shocked with the ending. It was quite subtle, but yet perfect. It ended happily, and all of the problems were solved, (well, most of them) but in the end, we never find out what we wanted to know. It feels that since the ending wasn't particularly dramatic or emotional, we may never find out what happens with Nix.
I hope there is a second book, and that we learn more things about Nix's story. I just hope that if there is a sequel, it might be a bit easier to read, and less wordy.
I hope you liked my review! Comment below if you've read TGFE! What were your thoughts?
Also my bookclub @YADIVERSITY chose The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heiling for our March book of 2016.
So if you'd like to hear more of our thoughts about it please follow us on our IG page! (Please click here)
Also we'll be announcing our book of the month for April shortly!
If you want to learn more about Heidi Heiling, please click here!
Nix has spent her entire life aboard her father’s ship, sailing across the centuries, across the world, across myth and imagination.
As long as her father has a map for it, he can sail to any time, any place, real or imagined: nineteenth-century China, the land from One Thousand and One Nights, a mythic version of Africa. Along the way they have found crewmates and friends, and even a disarming thief who could come to mean much more to Nix.
But the end to it all looms closer every day.
Her father is obsessed with obtaining the one map, 1868 Honolulu, that could take him back to his lost love, Nix’s mother. Even though getting it—and going there—could erase Nix’s very existence.
For the first time, Nix is entering unknown waters.
She could find herself, find her family, find her own fantastical ability, her own epic love.
Or she could disappear.
Review of The Girl From Everywhere
She is a Myth. She is History. She is Gone.
Actual Rating: 3.5/5
The Girl From Everywhere's story itself is unique, and the uniqueness of the story is what actually drove me to reading it.
We follow our main character Nix, as she and her father sail aboard their ship to battle myths and legends. As long has her father has a map for their chosen destination, he can sail to anywhere and any place in the world, even into works of fiction. Along the way, they find crewmates and friends, as well as a wonderful and snarky thief, that would later mean a great deal to Nix.
Even though Nix's life sounds wonderful, she still has constant battles with her father's crazy obsession. The only thing that her father wants is one map, a particular map will take them to 1868 Honolulu, the year that Nix was born, and the year her mother died. The only problem is that it could ruin Nix's life and erase who she became.
"She could find herself, find her family, find her own fantastical ability, her own epic love. Or she could disappear."
Honestly this book was really hard for me to work through. I had problems with the writing style, plot, and especially the main character. It actually reminded me a lot of Passenger by Alexandra Bracken.
Writing Style: The writing for me was overly wordy, and seemed be intent on description, but perhaps because I just wasn't accustomed to it. Throughout the first and middle of the novel I just felt like it kept dragging on. Heidi Heiling does a fantastic job with immersing you into the story, especially with her use of emotive words, but when it's combined with the historical aspects in The Girl From Everywhere, it felt bogged down and stagnant.
Needless to say, I really thought the historical aspects and well-thought-out descriptions were beautiful. Heidi Heiling obviously did her research, which made TGFE historically accurate. But I still can't get over how slow almost the entire book was.
Nix's character kind of followed those same guidelines. Her character just didn't do it for me, I could't handle her indecisiveness, and the all-too-familiar the love triangle she puts herself in. It almost felt like the story's theme was less about time-traveling and more about feeling rebellious, and somehow finding out about yourself because of that.
Kashmir, the thief, is obviously head over heels for Nix, and for some irritating reason, her judgment is too clouded and she can't see it. He'd seemingly do anything for her, and here Nix goes and basically falls for a bland, artistic man whom she knows nothing about. Have we not read this before?
I just couldn't handle that extra edition in the story. It really interfered with the general enjoyment of read a work of historical fiction, albeit it is YA historical fiction. But what really made the novel worth finishing was Kashmir's character, as well as the places that Heidi Heiling took you to when reading the novel.
Kashmir's entire character is just utterly amazing. I loved how well developed he was in the story. The snarky comments he made were excellently written, and he had a wonderful sense of humor that just kept you reading, even in times of inaction. I also really loved how wise he was throughout the entire novel, and how he was always caring and respectful to not only Nix, but every character in the novel. Even though he's basically a "professional thief", he seems to exhibit more compassion than any other character.
I really enjoyed how Heidi included places in TGFE that aren't often talked about in books, especially YA books! She takes you to India, China, and Hawaii! Those parts she included, defiantly made it more interesting and mind blowing.
I'm honestly shocked with the ending. It was quite subtle, but yet perfect. It ended happily, and all of the problems were solved, (well, most of them) but in the end, we never find out what we wanted to know. It feels that since the ending wasn't particularly dramatic or emotional, we may never find out what happens with Nix.
I hope there is a second book, and that we learn more things about Nix's story. I just hope that if there is a sequel, it might be a bit easier to read, and less wordy.
I hope you liked my review! Comment below if you've read TGFE! What were your thoughts?
Also my bookclub @YADIVERSITY chose The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heiling for our March book of 2016.
So if you'd like to hear more of our thoughts about it please follow us on our IG page! (Please click here)
Also we'll be announcing our book of the month for April shortly!
If you want to learn more about Heidi Heiling, please click here!
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