Okay so! If you don't know anything about this book, I would not recommend reading this review. I went into this book not knowing anything about it really, and I think it really made the whole experience better. Now for those of you who don't care, let's get onto the review!
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| Goodreads |
Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth—sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way."
Overall, I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. I know that doesn't seem great, but let me explain myself. Overall, I LOVED this book. The writing was very fun, most of the characters were great, and the plot was so cool and unique. However, with the way it was set up, there were some parts that I liked more than others and some I didn't like at all. The ones I didn't like at all brought the rating down. The story is told in five different sections: Hudson, Bree, Elliot, Sonia, and Leila. Each section contains a different story about Leila's interaction with one of the four other characters. None of them are connected in anyway except an one-lined reference and Leila. Since each story was so different, I'm going to review them separately. Be warned! I'm not exactly going to say these are like spoilers plot-wise, but it's not exactly like I'm not going to spoil something small.
Hudson- Let me just say that I'm so glad I pushed myself to keep reading past this story. I hated this whole plot. Hudson is Leila's "love interest" and their relationship is the definition of insta-love. Love at first sight got a new and very literal meaning because of Hudson and Leila. Besides the insta-love aspect, there wasn't much substance to their little "adventures". At least, not compared to the other three characters.
Bree- As a goody-two shoes, Bree stressed me out. I'm gonna say though that I was stressed in a good way. Bree's story was so so so good. She's running away from home and is just trying to live her life to the fullest. Bree and Leila combined just spells trouble, but it also somehow spells deep revelations(a common theme is all the story's except stupid Hudson's). I don't really know what else to say, but I definitely knew the book was taking a positive turn when I finished this story.
Elliot- Oh poor Elliot. This story was ridiculous in a good way. At first, I thought Bree's story was the funniest, but no it's definitely this one. First of all, there are so many Ferris Bueller's Day Off like references it's absurd. Second of all, Elliot just makes some snappy responses that were so funny. Thirdly, there's a scene where they get locked in a room by a twelve year old that was HYSTERICAL. In addition to being funny, this story is also super super cute. Basically the entire premise is that Elliot is in love with his best friend and Leila has to help him get the girl. There is a teeny bit of back story about Elliot liking Maribel when they were like really little and it's just so PRECIOUS!!! Definitely my favorite of all of the stories!
Sonia- Sonia's story might have been the most heartbreaking. Scratch that, it definitely was. Basically, her boyfriend died several months back but she's fallen in love with someone new while she still loves Sam, her boyfriend. There's talk about soulmates and just allowing yourself to be happy that totally pulled on my heartstrings. I was consistently shocked by how much people just trust Leila and get into her car, and nothing about that changed in Sonia's story. She basically just like hops in a stranger's car and asks her to take her out of town, it's crazy. Whatever. It makes it entertaining I guess. Oh, before I forget I just have to give a shout out to Stoner Tim, that's all.
Leila- The beginning of this story gave me mixed feelings. Leila is at her final destination by this time and we get to learn more about her and why she wants to go to the Northern Lights, but we also have to sit through more stuff about helping people. There's a family at the campsite Leila is at and their daughter forms an attachment to Leila and blah blah blah. That stuff is kinda boring. The real substance in this story is Leila's backstory because until this last section, it's all been about the other characters in their story. This was about Leila and her past and her feelings. It was really cool and I liked the way Adi Alsaid pulled it all off. The ending was disappointing to me, but I'm not sure if everyone feels that way or if it's just me.
If I had to rank the stories, it would go: Elliot, Sonia, Bree, Leila, and Hudson. The great thing about this book is that one bad story won't ruin the whole book. You can hate Hudson's story but love the rest, or hate Sonia's character but still love the book. That's kind of unique in a lot of contemporary books where the characters drive the whole plot.
The front cover says that this book was reminiscent of Paper Towns, but as someone who doesn't love John Green, I think this book is so much better. It's just seems more authentic to me than any of Green's books, but that's a whole other story. I definitely recommend this book to y'all, pick it up! You can let us know you read it too on Instagram or Twitter! Don't forget to check out our giveaway on Instagram! You won't want to miss it!
-Tyler|@perfectabeth__
