The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
Series: The Girl From Everywhere #1
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: 16th February 2016
Publisher: Greenwillow
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating:

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.

I don’t even know where to start with this review because I have so many things to talk about, and yet my brain and fingers are not co-operating and my thoughts have turned into a mush of incoherent gibberish. That’s what great books do to you, and that’s what The Girl From Everywhere has done to me. It’s the morning after and I still haven’t properly recovered.

I’m going to be conventional and start by talking about the main character, because Nix is awesome and everyone should meet her. I connected with Nix on a deep, deep level, as she is going through a lot of shit with her father. Their relationship is rocky at best, and the struggle that Nix felt in regards to her feelings towards him really got to me. There were, of course, other reasons why I adored her. I love how much she loves her friends (Kashmir, specifically… but more on that later), how passionate she is about mythology, and how she was basically already the captain of the ship, she just didn’t know it.

I’m going to have to drop everything now and talk about the ship, okay? And no, not the Temptation. I mean Nix and Kashmir, who are SO FUCKING OTP AND BEAUTIFUL THAT I AM HAVING TROUBLE DEALING. They are best friends, and there is clearly something going on there, but instead of going down the traditional “sweet blond best friend guy” route (it’s a legit trope), Heilig made Kashmir the most snarkiest and sexiest best friend in existence. Guys. I am in love. AND SO IS NIX. The pair of them had so much banter and chemistry that I was rolling around in my bed while reading their scenes.

There’s also another love interest called Bert or Bob or Billy, but he’s not important in the grand scheme of things and I refuse to believe that he and Nix are going to be a legit ship instead of a cute first love thing in the future. BECAUSE KASHMIR.

I’m very sorry if you’re new here, but if you’re going to stick around then you’re going to have to learn about how I ship:

Anyway. Now that that’s over and done with (but not really) I should continue. Onwards, shipmates!

The Girl From Everywhere has the perfect amount of time travel. It’s smooth and beautiful, and I love the whole Navigation system. The book starts off in Calcutta, India, and then goes to New York, before settling (for the most part) in 1800’s Hawaii. I need to learn to be a Navigator so I too can experience such awesomeness.

I adored how Heilig described Hawaii. The setting was just perfect, and it felt like I was there with the characters as they walked through the packed Chinatown, or hiked through the beautiful forest. My brother has an absolute obsession with Hawaii, and I was talking to him about the descriptions and the setting in general, and the historical aspect (I don’t want to go into that because of reasons but it was brilliant) and he was practically drooling.

Also. Also. PIRATES. That is all.

So I almost want to rate The Girl From Everywhere as a five star read, but I’m holding myself back. I have a genuine reason, I promise. I think the book is flawless, aside from Barney, who I didn’t care for at all, and the time travel and actual travel and the setting and everything was right up my street. But I kind of want to allow room for the series to grow, you know? I feel like if I rate this book as a five star read then book two is going to be even harder to rate, and after reading this one I’m expecting AMAZING THINGS. Like, Queen of Shadows amazing. (No pressure, Ms. Heilig.) So I’m going with four stars in an attempt to not be hasty with my rating.

But you should treat this review as a five star review because The Girl From Everywhere is wonderful, and I’d strongly recommend it to everyone, everywhere.