13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
Release Date – Oct 1, 2006
Publisher – HarperTeen
Pages - 336
My Rating- 7.5/10

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

When Ginny receives thirteen little blue envelopes and instructions to buy a plane ticket to London, she knows something exciting is going to happen. What Ginny doesn't know is that she will have the adventure of her life and it will change her in more ways than one. Life and love are waiting for her across the Atlantic, and the thirteen little blue envelopes are the key to finding them in this funny, romantic, heartbreaking novel.

I love Europe. Europe and I have stories, and fond memories. I would visit constantly if I could. When I heard about this book I was thrilled. I thought it would be a fun read. I am glad I decided to pick it up.

Ginny’s trip through Europe is the kind I wish I would have taken when I was 20. The over planner in me would never be able to do it but I would have loved to try. It would be really freeing to see where the trip might take you. This brings me to my main (and really only) issue with this book - the lack of parents. Ginny is very young and while I am not a parent I can’t imagine very many letting their daughter go off like Ginny does. I would have insisted she took a phone, extra money and have more of a solid plan. This seems to be a common trend in the YA genre - the disappearing parent syndrome as I call it.

I found the storyline with the letters from her Aunt really sweet and looked forward to actually reading the letters. It was that storyline more than her trek across Europe that kept me turning the pages. It helped me get invested in the characters and want to keep reading.

I have to mention Keith. He’s one of the characters I really liked. I could totally see why Ginny was interested in him. I think a lot of women who visit Europe have a fantasy of meeting a hot guy with an accent. Ginny and his romance is sweet and I hope there is more in the second book.

After reading this I now want to hop on a plane and take off for Europe (Greece sounds lovely and I haven’t been yet). It’s the kind of book that gives you the travel bug. I am looking forward to getting my hand on The Last Little Blue Envelope to see what happens to these characters next. I want to know what was in that last envelope!