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Aug 30, 2011

Shannon rated it:

Unimpressive. The way Johnson writes is annoying; more than halfway into the book, I really didn't know ANYTHING about the main character, other than that she was on a (ridiculous) journey. It was all action and no thought. It was not insightful. The main character was not likeable. She wasn't unlikeable either. She was just like...doing things. She didn't have very many thoughts. And never very insightful ones (ie "I like this boy! I am sad. I am happy. I am angry"). COME ON. There wa More...

3 comments like (34 people liked it)

Mar 05, 2011

Lucy rated it:

13 Little Blue Envelopes suffers from DPS. Disappearing Parent Syndrome is a tragic epidemic in YA novels. In this case the DPS was particularly severe. Seventeen year old Ginny Blackstone goes on a trip to Europe sponsored by her deceased aunt. Aunt Peg was not reliable when she was around. In fact, during the last several years of Ginny's life Peg was in Europe. She died without contacting the family to let them know she was suffering from a prolonged illness. The family was just expected to p More...

5 comments like (57 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2012

Aly (Fantasy4eva) rated it:

I liked the premise. It was sort of interesting and cute. Dead Aunt sends niece on this unpredictable and slightly loony journey. (maybe not so cute). One very similar to the one that her aunt took when she felt a little lost and was dealing with a bit of a reality check.

17 year old Ginny doesn't think twice about it. She jets to her first destination, London. From there on it's one big ride. She goes through many experiences, and although it's a decent read, I just was not in love More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

Reviewed by Dena Landon for TeensReadToo.com

When Virginia Blackstone (Ginny) receives the first blue envelope from her Aunt Peg in the mail, it sends her on an exciting, funny, and sometimes poignant adventure that readers will be delighted to join. The envelope contains $1,000 in cash, and the instructions to pick up a package of envelopes that start Ginny on a trip around Europe, tracing the steps of her eccentric Aunt. The instructions are specific; no cell phones, no maps, and Gi More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 11, 2007

Kathryn rated it:

I read this book as an assignment from a mother-daughter book club that I am in with some friends from B.F. Day.
It wasn't very good, and while the plot is a nice idea, the author didn't really write it very well.
I mean, who would let thier daughter go overseas with no contact to the US and only carrying what she could fit in her backpack. And only haveing 1000 US dollars to spend. In addition to several other appalling facts, some of which are:
letting your daughter do the follo More...

14 comments like (15 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2008

Sarah rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

4 comments like (12 people liked it)

Aug 30, 2011

Reynje rated it:

2.5 stars

I enjoyed this enough as I read it - I was sick, jetlagged and in need of something pleasantly escapist – and this book did the trick. It’s a light, fun read and I quite like Maureen Johnson’s writing (admittedly more so in her other books than this one, though).

But ultimately I just found the story rather forgettable (and a little implausible). I found Ginny to be a fairly delible (thank you, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks for the neg More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 02, 2008

Lisa rated it:

I am not going to review this book except to say the thing that made me crazy. There were several instances in this book where something was mentioned and you think it is important and then it was dropped.

For instance, when the MC goes in the Louvre, it is mentioned that she checks her backpack in at the front--kind of like a coat check. Okay. No problem.

But then, as she is trying to get out of the Louvre she kind of starts going down random hall after hall in search of a More...

7 comments like (20 people liked it)

Dec 13, 2008

Ying rated it:

I felt that this was only an okay book from Maureen Johnson and that it paled in comparison to my favorite from her, Girl at Sea. There was a good plotline that promised adventure and romance in a foreign country that I was dissappointed to find did not exist. While it was an excellent idea, I felt the story did not develop well enough and it didn't go too in-depth. This book could have been better written but otherwise, still a good read.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 17, 2011

Katya rated it:

Oh, book. I had such hopes for you.

Here's the thing - I love travel stories. I love coming of age stories. So what's not to love about a coming of age story that involves lots and lots of traveling?

It's a hard question to answer, and the fastest way to answer it is: Aunt Peg is one seriously bitter person.

She lives without having constants. Fair enough. She does all sorts of menial, petty jobs while waiting for her career as an artist to hit off. Alright with More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2008

Betsy rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 05, 2007

Kate rated it:

I don't often read "chick lit". I have a friend who reads it and she shares the jist of with me and I do the same for her with sci-fi and supernatural books. But she keeps talking up some of the books so I have broken down and picked a few up and they have all been pretty good, with a grain of salt.

I had moments in this book where I just wished that it would be okay to write about a teenage girl that was maybe not totally self assured cause no one is, but that at least do More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 20, 2010

oliviasbooks rated it:

A really enjoyable backpacker's story - written by someone with obvious travel experience behind her - with very few drawbacks.

What i.e. ticked me was the money issue: No way can you take planes and trains to and fro Europe's capital cities and pay stays in youth hostels for less than 1300 Pounds altogether, if you have not booked your seat months earlier. But there was much more to like than to criticize.

I especially liked the subtle humor tickling throughout the book. More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 30, 2008

Shannon rated it:

This book - although it has a seomewhat serious topic - is a nice light read. 18 year-old Ginny discovers her recently passed-away Aunt has left her 13 envelopes / letters. Ginny is supposed to follow the directions in each letter before she can open and read the next. She opens the first and is immediately sent on a trip to London. Each letter contains information about her aunt of which Ginny (and her family) was unaware. Ginny discovers things about both herself and her aunt in her travel More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 15, 2011

Merythapy rated it:

Yeah, it's unrealistic: no parents would send their daughter off for a month with no contact, especially if she's never travelled before. But... who really cares? It's a fairy tale.

A lot of the travel stuff *was* very authentic and struck a very strong chord with me. The only thing I really missed were the Canadians, although she definitely got the Taking Up With Random Australians thing.

I think it would be a great book to read before traveling, or while traveling. Excellen More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 02, 2007

Jan rated it:

This was such a rewarding read! Johnson adapts the chick lit formula to create a unique and amusing novel featuring a rather shy teen named Ginny whose favorite aunt has just died, leaving her with 13 little blue envelopes. Inside the envelopes are clues directing Ginny to different locations in Europe, which duplicate her aunt's own whirlwind tour years earlier. Ginny must also follow the directions on the envelopes, some of which are quite puzzling. As you might expect, this is also a jour More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 28, 2009

GirlwiththeBraids rated it:

Ginny is convinced that the only thing that makes her interesting is her aunt, a starving artist and constant traveler. When her aunt dies of brain cancer, Ginny can’t understand what’s ahead of her. Days filled with boring scenes and an unoriginal life? Then she receives a letter … from her aunt. She discovers that her aunt wrote 13 letters before she died, all addressed to Ginny. She sends Ginny off on a journey, to different countries to complete different tasks. Who said Ginny couldn’t be in More...

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Mar 25, 2009

Alice rated it:

Ginny’s conventional New Jersey life suddenly changes when she receives a letter from her eccentric artist aunt, who has recently died. It contains $1000.00 and instructions to go to a New York, where she must pick up a package at a Chinese restaurant and then board a plane to London. Inside the package are 13 little blue envelopes, each one containing a task that Ginny must complete before she may open the next envelope. There are also rules to follow: no maps, guidebooks, credit cards, cell p More...

0 comments like

Feb 09, 2012

Anna rated it:

Publisher: Dial
Release Date: August 23, 2005
Age Group: YA (sexual innuendo/references/discussion)
Sequel: The Last Little Blue Envelope
Pages: 336
Rating: Idea 3.5★; Execution 3.5★
Genre: realistic fiction; travel/adventure

Ginny has never been much of one for adventure, but all of that changes when the receives a letter from her dead aunt Peg, and finds herself whisked off halfway across the world. Leave it to aunt Peg to cook up some crazy scheme—that was he More...

0 comments like

Feb 02, 2012

Chris rated it:

Seventeen-year-old Ginny Blackstone is still mourning the death of her beloved Aunt Peg when a package arrives containing thirteen little blue envelopes sent by her aunt before her death. Also included is $1,000 and a set of rules to guide Ginny from New York to Europe on a journey that will tell Aunt Peg’s story. Ginny must open one envelope upon arrival at each location and perform the task requested. She cannot use electronic devices, maps or credit cards, and she must travel with only wh More...

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Jan 15, 2012

Angel rated it:

When you combine Maureen Johnson's simplistic, breath-taking style of writing with a trip around Europe and thirteen letters from a dead aunt, the result is chemistry in the making.

Seriously. I could feel the atoms bouncing around in my eyes as I flipped each page.

Ginny's journey throughout Europe is different from anything I've ever read or seen. Sure, there was Cars 2, and there were those Rick Steve shows when I was bored. But do we ever get to see Norway? No. Do we More...

0 comments like

Jan 11, 2012

Annaliesa rated it:

This book missed millions of opportunities to become an insightful coming-of-age/traveling novel. Nothing was ever explained enough, the characters weren't fleshed out, and things got rushed and random at the end. Plus, a lot of little things irked me to no end.
<spoiler> FOR EXAMPLE:
-the most obvious issue; the lack of parents. I usually can ignore it when the story overlooks the parents in most YA novels, but in this particular novel Ginny mentions more than once about her m More...

0 comments like

Jan 06, 2012

Misty rated it:

I’m usually not a fan of “Beach Reads;” for some reason I feel they lack a level of substance that (apparently) I require to feel fulfilled, but “13 Little Blue Envelopes” (which by the way you can still nab for free!!) was different. While normally, the non-sensical ramblings of a 17 year traipsing around Europe with nothing but her aunts bank card and an ugly purple backpack, would leave me feeling annoyed, (and if I’m being honest a little bitter,) Maureen Johnson managed to make the journey More...

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Dec 16, 2011

Kat rated it:

Ginny Blackstone, a 17 year-old-girl has always admired her eccentric Aunt Peg, who has traveled all over the world, experiencing life on a whim and just going with the flow of things. When she learns that Aunt Peg has died of a brain tumor without being able to say goodbye, Ginny learns of an unexpected plan that her Aunt Peg hatched in her moments of clarity. She receives a letter from Aunt Peg with $1000 cash and instructions to get a passport, purchase a ticket to London and take only what s More...

0 comments like

Nov 23, 2011

Meredith rated it:

I was very excited about reading this book. I had read numerous books set in Europe previously (Anna and the French Kiss, Almost French, etc.) because I've been wanting to travel there for years.
Johnson's novel, however, left me feeling like I'd travelled through the travel section of a bookstore. There was no atmosphere - the landscapes, the characters - all dull! The premise was fantastic, and full of so many possibilites, however it was poorly executed.
Also, in my edition Johnson More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 15, 2011

Kamela rated it:

I thought this was a cute plot and yeah, maybe not the most in-depth character study of the century but I think some of these reviewers may be missing the point of the story. I mean, did anybody really want to endure an entire chapter in which Ginny begs her parents for permission to go to Europe? (Or even more ridiculous: every time she checked her bag or had to pee?)

Not a whole lot of back story about Ginny's life was given and I think Maureen Johnson did that for a reason. Because More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 31, 2011

Rida (Raindrop Reflections) rated it:

The Last Little Blue Envelope recently came out, and I decided to get the first book so I could see what this series was about. I honestly didn’t know that this book was about travel- I just ordered it from the library blind, because I just like that feeling of not knowing what a book is about until you open it.

I felt like Ginny’s voice came out a little... restrained? Sure, there were funny moments, some that made me laugh out loud, but the rest of the time, Ginny felt too, uh, sobe More...

0 comments like

Oct 28, 2011

Olivia rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Oct 25, 2011

Patricia rated it:

I've been submerged in Shakespeaere, and the long slow and--frankly--very boring book One Hundred Years of Solitude for nearly a month. I've just received the Mock Printz list and noticed it contains 10 books all of which look to be rather tense and/or grim. There is going to be a lot of buckling down reading in the next few months. What to do? Realize that I haven't yet read anything by Maureen Johnson, wander over to the YA stacks and grab the first book I see by her. Then: devour it in a 24 h More...

0 comments like

Oct 22, 2011

Jill rated it:

This was the second book I read on my kindle. I loved the premise of this one. Ginny's aunt has sent her a package with 13 numbered letters that she is supposed to complete in order, only opening the next one when she has completed the previous one. Her first instruction is to go to a Chinese restaurant below where her aunt used to live to pickup a package then go to the airport with only a backpack as luggage and no kind of technology to fly to London. Ginny has to navigate foreign countrie More...

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