Review : Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Title : Amy & Roger's Epic Detour
Author : Morgan Matson
Publisher : Simon & Schuster
Genre : Young Adult
ISBN : 978-1416990659
Series : Stand Alone
Release Date : May 4, 2010
Rating : 4.5/5 Stars - Really Liked It

Synopsis from Amazon :

Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn't seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she's coming to terms with her father's death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road--diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself.  

Review : 

Amy Curry has been going through some rough times.  Her father recently died in a car accident, and her family is pretty much falling apart now.  Both her twin brother, and her mother are already out and on their way to starting their new lives.  Now it's just up to Amy to pull in the rear, and leave her old life behind.

Amy is about to do her first cross country trip, but it's clearly not welcome.  She would much rather continue to live in the house she has always known in California, than to move to Connecticut.  She's not sure how she can even cope with getting into the car, let alone make it across the country.  Along for the ride is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend.  Amy doesn't recognize him at first, because the last time she seen him he was a young boy.

She is really nervous about traveling across the country with someone she doesn't even know.  She has a hard time talk to people she's known her whole life since the accident, so she doesn't think this ride is going to be the most thrilling part of her summer.  She soon realizes that Roger isn't the gawky looking child he used to be, and now he is in fact quite handsome.  Her nervousness only increases because of this new development, and now all she can think of is how she doesn't want him to dislike her...and how she's really starting to like him.

When I first started reading this novel I couldn't decide if I was going to really like Amy or not.  She was far too timid, but given her circumstances, it was understandable.  All I wanted her to do was climb out of her shell and give the world another chance. I felt bad every time she mentioned how she would much rather blend into the background than be front and center.  I think she needed a jolt to wake her up again, and remember that life really is worth living for, even if you make some mistakes in your life.


I liked Roger throughout the whole book, even though his obsessiveness towards a certain ex girlfriend made me want to strangle him.  The more he talked about her, and the way she acted, the less I liked her.  She sounded far too stuck up, and not like the kind of girl that Roger would be seen walking hand in hand with.  I wanted to take his head in my hands and just make him look closer at Amy, and realize that she needed him far more, and that he might just need her just as much.  He was an all around caring guy, and I can honestly say that if I were Amy, I wouldn't have had a hard time falling for him.

I loved Amy and Roger's detour in this book.  While they didn't visit that many great places, their adventure was something to remember.  I've never been given the opportunity to do a cross country trip, and after reading this book, it's something I've really been thinking about.  Morgan Matson did a great job describing all of the places that they traveled, and made them feel more alive.  Little rinky-dink towns in who knows where sounded more beautiful than some of the places that I've gotten to visit.


The more Amy traveled with Roger by her side, the more she opened up to both him and the people she met along the way.  I think that their traveling was the perfect medicine, and it helped her develop more as a character.  The strangers she met along the way were a big help as well, because not knowing her story, made it easier for them to just accept her for who she was and not what she has done.  

In all honesty, I loved this book.  If I am given the chance to have my own cross country trip, I'll more than likely be visiting some of the spots Amy and Roger landed in.  I can't wait to read more books by Morgan Matson in the future, and can only hope that they are as good as this one.

Where did I get this book? :

I received my ARC for participating in a traveling blog tour with Around the World Tours. (I no longer participate on this traveling blog tour).

Amazon Affiliates : 

Clicking on title links in this post will redirect you to Amazon.com. If you happen to make a purchase after clicking these links I will receive a small percentage of the profits.