The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Title: The Girl from Everywhere
Author: Heidi Heilig
Pages: 464
Published: February 16th 2016 by Greenwillow Books
ISBN: 0062380753

Summary:

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: 

So this may be a little bit of a confusing review to read because I really enjoyed the book, but I felt like it had a lot of problems too. I am a huge fan of time travel, adventure, heists, and love stories, so I knew from the beginning I was going to really enjoy this book, but there were still a few things that kept me from truly loving it and giving it five stars. 

Nix is a young girl who lives with her father and a strange mix of folks aboard a time traveling ship. Her father is obsessed with finding a map that will assist him in his return to 1868 so he can save his wife before she dies, but this could quite possible erase Nix from the future. They travel to all different times and exciting places searching for the perfect map, but there are several side stories that pop up here and there. The search for the map soon turns into a search for gold and a mix up between a Hawaiian politician. Let's just say I got a little confused. 

So, for the things I didn't like: love triangles... yuck. Nix had a semi-frustrating relationship with one character, and then decided to try her luck with another and I just wasn't a fan of that. Next, incomplete/unnecessary story lines. There were so many side stories and I ended up being a little confused from time to time. I'm telling myself that some of the side stories will come into play again and be explained in the sequel... hopefully. There were also a lot of things I liked: constant action, the personalities of the characters, and the beautiful descriptions of the different times the Nix visited. 

All in all, I really enjoyed the story, but there are a lot of things that I hope get cleared up in the sequel. I look forward to reading the next book this spring and would definitely recommend reading The Girl from Everywhere to lovers of time travel and YA adventure stories!

Rating 3.5/5