***Review*** 13 Little Blue Envelopes (Little Blue Envelope #1) by Maureen Johnson

On the Back of the Book

If your free-spirited aunt left you 13 little blue envelopes:

Would you follow the directions?

Would you travel around the world?

Would you open the envelopes one by one?

Inside envelope 1

is money and instructions to buy a plane ticket

Inside envelope 2

are directions to a specific London flat

Inside envelope 3

tells Ginny: Find a starving artist

Because of envelope 4

Ginny and a playwright/thief/man-about-town called Keith go to Scotland together, with disastrous - though really romantic - results. But will she ever see him again?

Everything about Ginny will change this summer, and it's all because of the 13 little blue envelopes...

Pre Read Thoughts

I've had my eye on this book for a long time so when I saw it as part of a 3 for £5 deal I just had to pick it up. I'd like to point out that it was the first time I'd seen this book in my town and I'm not meant to be buying books online. Technically I'm not meant to be buying books full stop but that's another story. I'm not a huge fan of the cover, it's quite boring and doesn't really stand out from the crowd. This is a title book for me, it always was. The synopsis intrigues me just as much as the title and I can't wait to read this.

Post Read Thoughts

I read this book with a stupid grin on my face, it's just that adorable. I love the premise of the story and the way it was executed. I was really sucked into the story and had a really hard time putting it down. I thought the writing was good but I had a couple of issues (I know, issues again! I'm sorry, I will read a book that doesn't have any one day). I don't know what it's like in America but in the UK a bank pin is only 4 digits not 5 so the answer wouldn't actually work and we don't say "you look tan" we say "you look tanned". I realise that these are minor things but they really stood out for me. I am so fussy when it comes to stuff like that and what's more I actually remember.

I liked Ginny, I thought she was pretty cool and some of the scrapes she got herself into were hilarious. I don't think the story would've worked if she'd been one of those really popular girls but she wasn't and now I'm going round in circles. So moving on I thought Keith was a good love interest but he wasn't a character that blew me away. He was nice. I like that he wasn't constantly all over Ginny and practically stalking her, that's an alarming custom in YA right now. Where did it come from? It felt far more realistic and that's never a bad thing. The final person I want to talk about is Peg. I love her personality and how the book is just as much about her as it is Ginny. It was a lovely touch to be able to discover them both at the same time.

Overall this book is a great escape from life for a few hours, and when I say a few hours I mean that. This is a really quick read. I loved so much about this and I wish that I had the 2nd book in my house so that I could read it now. The characters were wonderful, the pace was just perfect, the plot idea was amazing and I liked the writing. I'd definitely recommend this to people who like their YA to be a little different from the norm. I actually think this would be a great beach read so if you're going on holiday somewhere sunny you should pack this.

My Rating

4 stars - It's really high on the scale of 4 but I couldn't give it a 5. It's just not quite as good as the books I've given that rating to. I really enjoyed the story and would say that it's suitable for the younger end of the YA audience as there's no sex, violence, swearing and all the rest of it. What are you waiting for? Go buy it!