The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig ARC Review

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Format: Paperback ARC, 454 pages

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pre-Order Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository 

Heidi Heilig’s debut teen fantasy sweeps from modern-day New York City to nineteenth-century Hawaii to places of myth and legend. Sixteen-year-old Nix has sailed across the globe and through centuries aboard her time-traveling father’s ship. But when he gambles with her very existence, it all may be about to end. The Girl from Everywhere, the first of two books, will dazzle readers of Sabaa Tahir, Rae Carson, and Rachel Hartman.

Nix’s life began in Honolulu in 1868. Since then she has traveled to mythic Scandinavia, a land from the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, modern-day New York City, and many more places both real and imagined. As long as he has a map, Nix’s father can sail his ship, The Temptation, to any place, any time. But now he’s uncovered the one map he’s always sought—1868 Honolulu, before Nix’s mother died in childbirth. Nix’s life—her entire existence—is at stake. No one knows what will happen if her father changes the past. It could erase Nix’s future, her dreams, her adventures . . . her connection with the charming Persian thief, Kash, who’s been part of their crew for two years. If Nix helps her father reunite with the love of his life, it will cost her her own.

In The Girl from Everywhere, Heidi Heilig blends fantasy, history, and a modern sensibility with witty, fast-paced dialogue, breathless adventure, and enchanting romance.

Heidi Heilig brings you an epic adventure from your wildest dreams with her debut novel The Girl From Everywhere. Seriously, this is like some Studio Ghibli magic, I swear (and this would make a great movie, so you movie makers better hurry and buy the rights to it because it would be BIG). Take a vacation in Heidi's imagination by reading her sea shanty adventure of a book—you won't regret it, this I promise you. There are so many great things happening in this book but I think that the most compelling thing about it is Nix's tangled relationship with her father, the captain of The Temptation. The emotions in that relationship are really raw and I think my heart shattered a bit while I was in Nix's shoes. There are also two swoony guys for any of you who are looking to add to your list of book boyfriends. Even though there is some romance, it's put on the back-burner because the plot is more focused on the adventure our pirates take on in order to find the one map that will bring about either the beginning or the end for everything they know. 

1) The world building is just top-notch and trust me, what Heidi accomplished in this department is no easy feat. All the different places, people, creatures—honestly it's amazing how one person can imagine on all of this and put it on paper for all of us. I'm just floored. 

2) I really love Nix, and I really connect with her. She has so much sass and spunk, but she also has really raw emotions that seeped into my bones and wrenched my heart. I especially love that despite everything working against her, Nix's mind is always working out what to do next; she's a great leader. 

3) Heidi gives you two, count 'em, TWO swoony lads to fangirl over. Honestly, I couldn't decide who I liked better since this book didn't really focus on the romance. That's okay though, I have no problem having both men at the same time XD

4) There was so much to learn in this book. Heidi includes real historical facts, mythological stories, and bits and pieces of different languages. It's always awesome when you're reading something and you feel like it elevates your intelligence at the same time. 

5) I think what really made me love this book was Nix's complicated relationship with her father. There is real love and pain throughout their time together and you can feel every bit of it. I can't say it's a healthy relationship but it's a realistic one that brought tears to my eyes. 

6) The plot is just so intricate, you think something doesn't matter but then late—it does! It's just BAM! Where did that come from? OH my god, how did I not see that coming?!

1) The beginning is a little confusing because of all the info you're given, but it all ends up coming together!

A table laid on the deck, and on the table, all of the culinary delights New York had to offer, pungent halal chicken and rice doused in hot sauce, pork dumplings in Styrofoam clamshells, a cardboard box marked Di Fara's Pizza, pastrami sandwiches thick as dictionaries, creamy cheesecake covered with glistening scarlet strawberries.
       —I had to include this quote because there is so much NYC cuisine!!

He must have seen it in my face—the admiration—and he put his hands behind his head, feigning a stretch, giving me a smug look. I rolled my eyes. "You're blocking the view."

"I am the view, amira," he said, fanning himself with his hands.

"A person can't do just anything for love."

He shrugged one shoulder. "I would."

"Yeah, well, you're a thief. Your relative morality is already suspect."

"Ah," he said then, standing. "Well. I'll leave the morality for those that like the taste of it. I always preferred bread."

"So," I asked. "How did it go? On a scale of one to treason?"

"I bit my lip to keep it from trembling; he'd let me go a long time ago. After all, you can only hold one person tight if you're holding on with both hands."

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