Amy and Roger´s Epic Detour, Morgan Matson

Amy and Roger´s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

When I first moved to my small city called Mission in Texas (3 to 4 hours away from San Antonio), I had a very hard time finding books to enjoy. I don't know if it was because I was still feeling uneasy living in a new place, the Barnes and Nobles I was going to wasn´t my type or if I was just simply being grumpy and not wanting new stories to read. But I still tried reading books (very slowly) and I actually tried really hard to find something I could make me want to absorb the story. Clearly, trying to like a book wasn´t enough since I read like three books straight without liking them at all! But when I came across this book, I was really happy and I really enjoyed it, which seemed like a miracle in my life at the moment. 
The story is about Amy, whom we can see as a teenager that is crazy for musicals, and that little detail about her makes her adorable and cute because she holds onto something tightly, just like Katy from Obsidian does with her beautiful books; but after some tragic events with her family, her mother decided to move to Connecticut and her only way to do so is by going on a road trip with Roger, a childhood "friend". Amy is against this idea, but her mother insists and Amy doesn´t want to bother her since Amy is aware that her mother may be more stressed than her, so she goes along with the plan, but the only problem seems to be that Roger is extremely cute with light brown hair and dark eyes. Amy´s mother has made them a route that they should take, but after talking in the car, they realize that taking a small detour might make the trip more enjoyable and fun for both of them. So, they take a turn and change their summers and their lives forever. 
The very first thing that I would like to comment on is the trip that the characters go through, which the author actually lived following the same route and going to all those different places. Every place that Amy and Roger went was full of surprises and fun, and believe it or not, the excitement that I was able to feel chapter after chapter was primarily based on the places that they visited because they never tried the basic touristic places that we can expect about every trip. Their trip was more based on driving until finding a discovery and laughing about it. I believe that the key to this story was the uncertainty and that was one of the things that this book actually taught me. Uncertainty can lead to the greatest discoveries, especially when you are surrounding yourself in a world full of unknown things because you will probably laugh it off the next days. 
The characters were just so fun to be around because they were not only the typical teenagers that we find in every summer beach read, they were one of the funniest characters to read, yet they felt extremely real at some points during the novel, not only because of the problems they were facing, but because of the way they acted around each other. Amy was always feeling embarrassed and doing silly things around Roger that could happen to any of us and those moments made me laugh so much! 
I liked Roger´s character more than Amy´s because he felt like a more normal guy, especially since authors always try to put the male leads as the perfect guy any girl could wish for, but Roger just seemed normal like a person that valued small acts of kindness from Amy, like the times she would give him his glasses or try to talk to him when he was driving. 
Also, I loved the way the story was crafted along the pages because things happened like in normal life, first you start noticing small things, like how Roger only drinks root beer, then you just start getting along with it and realizing that it is part of him and after some time, that small piece of information probably links to him. I found this small details and things that the author decided to put extremely cute because it showed not only how close they were starting to become, but also how much time it had passed in the story. 
On the other hand, I would like to mention how much I loved the pictures that were included in the book. From time to time you would find receipts, drawings, menus, pamphlets, photographs and even emails. Seeing all of these things brought me so much happiness by simply seeing them! Also, it made me feel better realizing how much effort the author put into this story because seeing all these items made me feel part of the story. 
Despite all of the excitement this book brought me, there were still parts of the story that did make me feel out place, like the way Callie was mentioned, or the fact that Amy never did anything for Julia, or the way that the ending was set. There were many holes in the story that I noticed at the end of the book, but it was still a very enjoyable read that I appreciated.
Overall, I would like to mention how this book made me read other novels from the author and love her writing! 
This was a great story to see the different states we have in our country and have a fun summer read that many would enjoy!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua.