Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson


Release Date: 2011
Publishers: Simon & Schuster UK Ltd.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 344
Rating: 5/5

When Your On A Road Trip, Life Is All About Detours...



Amy Curry's year sucks. And it's not getting any better. Her mother has decided to move, so somehow Amy has to get their car from California to the East Coast. There's just one problem: since her father's death Amy hasn't been able to get behind the wheel of a car. Enter Roger, the son of a family friend. Who turns out to be funny, nice...and incredibly cute.

But Roger's plans involve a more "scenic" route than just driving from A to B. So suddenly Amy finds herself on the road trip of a lifetime. And, as she grows closer to Roger, Amy starts to realise that sometimes you have to get lost to find you way home...
**************
A lot of people (Booktubers) have raved about this book and being a book nerd I picked it up and fell in love and became obsessed with it. 'Amy & Roger's Epic Detour' is amazing and once you've finished you will want to go on a road trip...I know I do!

So the story focuses on Amy, whose mother is already on the East Coast leaving Amy alone in their previous house in California. Before you question the whereabouts of the rest of Amy's family I'm not going to tell you as that's a crucial part of the story and one of the reasons why Amy takes the detour.
Amy's family friend Roger drives Amy's father's car for her across America to their new home on the East Coast. Amy's mother had set out a specific route for them to take across America but Amy has fallen out with her mum and Roger seems not interested in taking the specific route so they take their own detour and travel a much more interesting, scenic, route than what was planned.

Amy and Roger both have secrets of their own which they find hard to tell each other at the beginning of the road trip. You definitely get a sense of uneasiness at the beginning of the book between Amy and Roger in the car. Roger is not over his ex and the detour just happens to go through their University state and her home state, whilst Amy is happy to go against her mothers orders in general and view America for what it truly is. You see Amy and Roger confide in each other and get closer than ever as truths are revealed and the road trip comes to a close.

What I especially loved about this book was the idea of Amy's scrapbook. Amy's mother leaves Amy a present, which is a travel scrapbook, and throughout the novel you see pages and extracts from the scrapbook which Amy has filled with notes of what states they have been through and photos of places and landscapes that they have been. I really loved this aspect as it made the novel feel more real thus making the character more alive too. Morgan Matson went on the detour herself and those pictures are hers which I thought was doubly awesome and really brought the story to life.

One thing that I'm a bit disappointed about is the fact that the book sort of finishes on a cliffhanger. I want to find out what happens between Amy and Roger for example, what happens after the detour, do they stay in touch, does Amy make up with her mum? We are given a sense of ends meeting and our imagination is left to create the ending we think they deserve.

This book is fantastic and if you love adventure, travel and the idea of spontaneously going places you have never been before then this book is for you. Not only do I now want to go on a road trip in my own country, I'd like to road trip America and various other countries as it just seems like so much fun from the places you see and people you meet. Any one else agree? Leave a comment.

Enjoy x

Author's Website: Morgan Matson
GoodReads: Amy & Roger 

Available in most book stores and online now.

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