The Girl From Everywhere
By: Heidi Heilig
Rating: 2.5 stars
Nix is a 16 year old girl who has had a very unusual upbringing. Due to her father’s gift of traveling by ship to any time on Earth, in reality or myth, Nix has seen firsthand what many people only read about. Unfortunately for Nix, her father only uses this skill in an effort to return to a time before Nix was born in order to save her mother from dying in childbirth. While Nix wishes to see her father happy, she can’t help but fear for her own life and what will happen if events are altered too much so close to her birth. While life aboard a ship and spending time with her closest friend Kash has helped lift her spirits in the past, Nix spends more time focusing on her mortality as her father’s success seems more imminent. On top of these issues, Nix is starting to notice a change in her friendship with Kash just as she meets and begins to develop feelings for another boy.
Review: When I first heard about this book, I was really excited for an adventure, almost pirate-esque book that had the unique twist of being able to take place at any point in history. And that is what I got, in the very beginning and the very end. Much of the rest of the book was pretty stationary on land and seemed to focus a great deal on the new love triangle in Nix’s life.
The things I loved: It is very obvious that Heilig put a lot of research into making sure that the time periods and the places she was portraying were accurate, which was greatly appreciated. I also loved the idea that the ship had the ability to travel into mythic realms as well as reality. I thought this was really creative and would have loved to see more of that.
Things I didn’t get on board with: The love triangle. For me this was a really intriguing story all on its own, and the issues Nix is already facing would have created a great story. I also felt like one of the love interests didn’t really feel like a character to me so much as a plot device to reveal key information to Nix.
Final Thoughts: I love the premise of this book, but would have loved to see more traveling and adventures. At times TGFE almost felt like a prequel for all the traveling Nix could do in future books. TGFE was an alright read for me, I might pick up future installments, but I’m not in a huge rush to see what happens next.