Here’s the deal: Aunt Peg, the New York artist and the person Ginny Blackstone depended on to make her life interesting, took off to Europe without a word three years ago. Aside from a few postcards, Ginny hasn’t heard much. Then she gets a horrible phone call that changes everything.
But the story is only beginning. Soon after, Ginny receives one little blue envelope from Aunt Peg containing a thousand dollars and some very strange instructions…
I have heard so many good things about this book that I really, really was looking forward to reading it. I mean, a cross-Europe trip with a crazy set of instructions? Sounds great, right? Well, there were parts that were great. I loved the descriptions of the cities, especially because it let me remember what I loved about them so much. But, quite frankly, the characterization just fell flat for me. Ginny was just a medium for what was going on around her, and though she makes an effort to kind of tune into the coolness of her trip, for the most part she just kind of struck me as kind of blah. Like, really, I just didn't care. I wanted her to DO something and stop worrying about being alone and meek all the time. Sure, I'm shy, I get that, but that's the best thing about traveling--you get to be someone else in the places you go. It's not like you're going to meet those people ever again. Obviously, this is my take on the matter, but I was annoyed.
(Okay, so I made a VALIANT effort to not be biased by the Great Query Debacle from earlier this year wherein Ms. Johnson ripped my query a new one in a less than kind way, so I really tried to just get past it, read this book, and not think about that. I think I succeeded. Except that I didn't like Ginny. Oh well. Can't exactly help it.... Does bring up the whole 'can I like a book and not like the author all that much?' topic, which I'm still working on :)
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