I have wanted to read Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson for a few years. It was actually on my Summer 2014 Reading List, but I only got around to reading it last week while we were on vacation.
Amy and Roger, the titular characters, embark on a cross-country trip together as they have to take Amy's mom's car from California to Connecticut. Amy and Roger don't really know one another, but quickly develop an easy chemistry as they choose not to take the route planned out by Amy's mom and instead visit the places around the country that mean something to them.
Prior to where the story starts, Amy suffers the loss of her father. In a much less severe fashion, Roger has suffered the loss of his girlfriend. The pair are both suffering in different ways and are able to be there for one another. Despite the tragedy, Amy & Roger's Epic Detour is a fast read filled with likable characters, a few laugh-out-loud moments, and a little bit of summer romance.
Those of you who are big music fans may also enjoy the road trip playlists that are interspersed throughout the book. Snippets of the scrapbook Amy is making appear at the end of each chapter, and most scrapbook pages include a new playlist. I recognized very few of the songs but it was a neat way to break up the story!
Amy & Roger's Epic Detour is a young adult novel about a summer road trip adventure, which means it is pretty much the perfect summer book. I certainly got a kick out of reading it while we were on our own road trip! Because this is a young adult novel, there weren't any graphic sex scenes or too much foul language or crazy behavior. The storyline is predictable, but I thought the way the book was written kept it from being boring.
Overall, I would give Amy & Roger's Epic Detour 3.5 out of 5 stars, though I recommend reading it if you are looking for something fun for the summer. It's a fun read that I couldn't put down, but it's not particularly ground-breaking.
If you're a Morgan Matson fan, I also read Since You've Been Gone : Since You've Been Gone review.
