Title:The Girl From Everywhere
Author: Heidi Heilig
Published: February 16th 2016 by Greenwillow Books
Buy: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
It was the kind of August day that hinted at monsoons, and the year was 1774, though not for very much longer.
Sixteen-year-old Nix Song is a time-traveller. She, her father and their crew of time refugees travel the world aboard The Temptation, a glorious pirate ship stuffed with treasures both typical and mythical. Old maps allow Nix and her father to navigate not just to distant lands, but distant times - although a map will only take you somewhere once. And Nix's father is only interested in one time, and one place: Honolulu 1868. A time before Nix was born, and her mother was alive. Something that puts Nix's existence rather dangerously in question...
Nix has grown used to her father's obsession, but only because she's convinced it can't work. But then a map falls into her father's lap that changes everything. And when Nix refuses to help, her father threatens to maroon Kashmir, her only friend (and perhaps, only love) in a time where Nix will never be able to find him. And if Nix has learned one thing, it's that losing the person you love is a torment that no one can withstand. Nix must work out what she wants, who she is, and where she really belongs before time runs out on her forever.
Heidi Heilig whispered sweet nothings in my ear when she choose the unique combo of history, maps and time travel for her novel The Girl from Everywhere. I was completely entranced with the concept and even more so with the story itself.
I loved the characters. They were all unique and interesting, which made me want to know more about them. The crew has been collected from various locations and points of time in history. Some not even on places that exist outside a believers map. We get tidbits of their side stories but I would have been happy to have their whole histories laid out. I found that I loved them all.
I don’t feel like the romance was the focus but I adored Kashmir so much that I was completely bothered by Blake. As in when Nix was hanging out with him I didn’t want to read those parts. I think the way Nix explains some things later in the book makes things make sense to me but still. Team Kash all the way.
Nix relationship with her father Slate and the ghost of her mother was what the main focus of the book is really about. It’s that idea of why chase what’s gone when you have something wonderful in front of you. Their ups and downs is what really kept me intrigued in the story. There were moments when I hated Slate and moments when I wanted to yell at Nix. I truly loved watching their relationship evolve as they seemed to be heading towards separation.
Like I said yay for history. I was actually recently reading (or watching I don’t know) about them unearthing the Terracotta Army. So I thought it was such a cool addition to the story. Plus all the Hawaiian history that you don’t get to hear about that often. I loved the Night Marchers.
I did love this plot. It felt like we were following a string through time that finally leads to the ball of yarn. Ya weird analogy I know. It kept me interested and wondering where they would go next.
I really enjoyed the book and I look forward to more from Heidi Heilig.