Main Character: Ginny Blackstone
Love Interest: Oliver (highlight if you really want to know)
Series: Sequel to Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes
Author: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads
Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny’s backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.
Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he’s found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This time, there are no instructions.
This review will be a bit spoiler-y so this is your warning. If you’re not a fan of spoilers then please don’t read this review, come back when you’ve finished the book and feel free to discuss with me. It’ll be fun.
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This book follows Ginny from Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes that came out in 2005. In that book, Ginny’s backpack gets stolen along with the last little blue envelope that her Aunt left behind for her. Her journey was over and done with …until she received an email from some guy who bought her backpack and found the letters that Ginny’s Aunt left behind.
I liked this book more than I liked the first book. I thought the first book was good but there were things that ticked me off and put a damper on my enjoyment of the book but that wasn’t the case with this book. Ginny at times was a bit indecisive but it didn’t bother me much in this book. I enjoyed her character and I enjoyed getting to know her again. Reading this book was like catching up with old friends and it was just a total treat!
Ginny is on her way back to England after returning home without finishing the journey her Aunt sent her on. Her back pack was stolen and Oliver bought her backpack, emailed her after finding out about the last envelope and then wants in on fulfilling the last task in the last letter which will make Ginny a pretty penny. Oliver wants in on that pretty penny.
Right from the very beginning, it was hard not to like Oliver. Even when I was still firmly in the Keith camp, I liked Oliver. I knew that something wasn’t quite right with Keith and throughout the entire book, Keith kept slipping lower and lower on my like meter. The way that he treated Oliver, even though Oliver deserved it at first, got really old, really fast. I wanted to slap him upside his head more than a few times and even though he got on my hot dang nerves, I enjoyed the book.
Johnson does a fantastic job of sucking the reader into Ginny’s world and she does a fabulous job of making the reader feel as though they’re apart of Ginny’s adventures in Europe. Like Oliver, it was hard to not like Ellis because she was just great all around and totally understandable (more than I would ever be) and I really enjoyed getting to know the new characters and see what the old characters were up to.
I really enjoyed Ginny’s character and saw the changes (and not changes) that she went through since her last trip across the pond and overall the story was enjoyable and the characters were charming (well most of them were) and the small bit of romance made the book just that more enjoyable. I would totally recommend this book.
It’s a mature book with some language and adult goings on...and that’s your scoop!
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com
*hugs*
I completely agree with you.
I liked this book a lot more than I did the first one – I think 13LBE got slow in some points while LLBE had a more steady pace.
Also, I liked Oliver too, a lot. And Keith, as you said, just started to slide down the scale pretty fast. I did like his girlfriend though.
and Richard, he’s my favorite character and I wish there was more on him.
I downloaded the first book off amazon, but haven’t read it yet. I may have to get it done so I can move onto this one – you’ve made me anxious to read it 🙂
@Alex: I thought this book was too cute. I enjoyed Ginny more this time around even though there were times when I wanted to smack her upside her head. It was Keith that I wanted to kick in the groin!
@Dev: It was a good read, I much prefer this book to the first book but they’re both good reads. I love adventures in Europe!