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The Girl from Everywhere

(The Girl from Everywhere #1)

Heidi Heilig (Goodreads Author)

3.69 · Rating details · 14,970 ratings · 2,686 reviews

Nix has spent her entire life aboard her father’s ship, sailing across the centuries, across the world, across myth and imagination.

As long as her father has a map for it, he can sail to any time, any place, real or imagined: nineteenth-century China, the land from One Thousand and One Nights, a mythic version of Africa. Along the way they have found crewmates and friends, ...more

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Hardcover, 454 pages

Published February 16th 2016 by Greenwillow Books

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· 14,970 ratings · 2,686 reviews

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Jul 10, 2015 Emily May rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2016, young-adult, arc, sci-fi

If you enjoyed Bracken's Passenger and would like to read that book again, then I recommend The Girl from Everywhere. Otherwise, it's best to just add this to the ever-growing mental pile of "boring time travel books w/ romance". And also pirates (strange trending niche?)

The best thing about this book is Kashmir, and that is probably why I tagged on an extra star. He's a funny, charming, intelligent character that brings a much-needed bright spark to this otherwise slow, plodding, overlong story ...more

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Oct 03, 2015 Hailey (Hailey in Bookland) rated it liked it

Shelves: owned, science-fiction

I so wanted to love this book, I mean the premise sounds unreal, but I am just so conflicted in my feelings about it. There were things I really liked, but also things I really didn't like. Most of my reading experience was spent trying to figure out what the hell was going on because while the story is descriptive, it doesn't describe what is actually happening, the descriptions just set the scene. I guess my feelings can be summed up fairly easily by saying that I just wanted more. More explan ...more

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Mar 11, 2015 Rachel (APCB Reviews) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: exceeded-expectations, 2016-debuts, 2016-releases

Quick Review: Wow. Just wow! I'm absolutely floored by the brilliantly crafted story of The Girl From Everywhere. My favorite part of the novel is a three-way tie between the aesthetic setting, so perfectly captured in both feel and culture, the relationship between Nix and her father, and the premise of time travel in association with the maps.

Overall this book is truly something special and should definitely be a book you check out.

Full Review:

Let me start by saying what a brilliant author He Quick Review: Wow. Just wow! I'm absolutely floored by the brilliantly crafted story of The Girl From Everywhere. My favorite part of the novel is a three-way tie between the aesthetic setting, so perfectly captured in both feel and culture, the relationship between Nix and her father, and the premise of time travel in association with the maps.

Overall this book is truly something special and should definitely be a book you check out.

Full Review:

Let me start by saying what a brilliant author Heidi is. Not only is her story engaging, but her meticulous planning and artful weaving of the plot leaves my mind blown with all expectations hit out of the proverbial park.

"Paradise is a promise no god bothers to keep. There's only now, and tomorrow nothing will be the same, whether we like it or not."

The majority of this book takes place in late 1800's Hawaii, and I love how well Heidi captures the vibes and feel of the paradisiacal island of Oahu. Her descriptions and tenderness towards the setting has me anxious to visit and feel and experience everything just as these characters did. I also really appreciated how Heidi captured the turning point where Hawaii lost more of its Hawaiian charm, culture, and authenticity and became overrun by foreign influence. It's a sad and tragic past, but someone has to tell it. So often it's written off as inconsequential, but Hawaii was annexed and diminished from its natural peacefulness in such a horrid way.

The main character, Nix is really intuitive and easy to relate to. She struggles with her warring desires and her idea of home and family. Slate, her father, is quite an enigmatic and complex person. I loved his development in the book. Kashmir is dashing and the wittiest comic relief. The secondary characters were fleshed out and each had their own respective backstories. Mostly everyone was likable too. One of my favorite parts of the book was the evolving relationship between Nix and Slate. Slate's monomaniacal obsession with saving Nix's mother in the past really fractured any genuine father-daughter relationship. I loved seeing their relationship grow, and my favorite scene in the whole novel happens between these two.

The romance in this book is kept to a minimum and although it looks like there might be a love triangle forming, it's hardly there at all and won't overshadow the plot or your love for the book. Also this is a duology, so everything will develop and sort itself out in the next book.

I was hooked on this book immediately from the beginning. The idea of this story is so well developed and explained. It was fascinating learning about the time travel and the importance of maps. I love how Heidi mixed various fantasy/myth and historical elements into her story. We get to read of places and elements we're familiar with and other creatures and destinations that are innovative creations. Some parts were a bit confusing at times with the time travel, but everything happens for a reason, and all is revealed by the end. There are so many unexpected events in this novel; the unpredictability of this adventure novel was a definite hit for me. I also love the incorporation of diverse cultures placed in the novel.

This book could read as a standalone, but there's one more book to give us another amazing adventure with this great cast of characters and a phenomenal author. I can't recommend this book enough! ...more

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Dec 27, 2015 Alyssa rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2016-releases

YOU ARE FOREWARNED: There may be spoilers in this review!

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
Book One of The Girl From Everywhere series
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: February 16, 2016
Rating: 2 stars
Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Summary (from Goodreads):

Heidi Heilig’s debut teen fantasy sweeps from modern-day New York City to nineteenth-century Hawaii to places of myth and legend. Sixteen-year-old Nix has sailed across the globe and ...more

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Feb 10, 2016 Andie rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy-and-sci-fi, advance-reader-copies

Time travel. History. Pirates. Three magic words in my book, what could go wrong? I really appreciated the unique premise and there were certainly some enjoyable aspects, but it unfortunately fell a little short for me.

THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE starts with 16 year old Nix aboard the ship, The Temptation. Nix has spent her entire life aboard the ship traveling through time, using maps to navigate through history and mythological places. Her father, the captain, is really only interested in one ti Time travel. History. Pirates. Three magic words in my book, what could go wrong? I really appreciated the unique premise and there were certainly some enjoyable aspects, but it unfortunately fell a little short for me.

THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE starts with 16 year old Nix aboard the ship, The Temptation. Nix has spent her entire life aboard the ship traveling through time, using maps to navigate through history and mythological places. Her father, the captain, is really only interested in one time and place though. Slate longs to find his way back to Honolulu, 1868, where the love of his life, Nix's mother, died giving birth to her. To get there he only needs to obtain the right map. After years of searching, the map Slate needs seems to fall into his lap but they must go through a series of obstacles in order to get their hands on it. But what will happen if Slate is able to save her mother? Will Nix cease to exist? Slate isn't too worried about this possibility and is willing to do whatever it takes, but Nix is terrified and hopes to learn to Navigate on her own to escape her fathers obsession.

This book had so much potential but sadly, I'm left a bit disappointed. I was really excited starting this book but it didn't hold my interest for long. The pacing was a slow go and some parts were really drawn out. I honestly didn't connect with any of the characters. Kashmir was the best of the lot and I kept wishing for more scenes with him. He was the only one with any type of substance. There's also the dreaded love triangle, I hate love triangles! But this one just seemed so unnecessary and really forced. There is really only one choice in my opinion and I'm not sure why it's being dragged out. My biggest issue though was the time traveling itself. I'm not sure if it was my disconnect from the characters and story but I was a little confused about the entire process.

Despite my issues, this was certainly not a bad book by any means! There were plenty of good things mixed with the not so good. The concept was unique and interesting. I loved the history of the island, the myths, the magic, and the fantasy elements. If the plot holes were filled in I think I would have enjoyed this so much more. This book might not have been my favorite but I definitely think it would appeal to a wide variety of readers.

*Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.* ...more

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Aug 02, 2015 Christina rated it liked it

3.5 stars!

"Sometimes a person has to let go of something to take hold of something else. You always have to choose what's more important."

Sooo.....this book was different. Not bad necessarily, just different. I actually had pretty high expectations for this one, based on the premise and the amount of raving I was seeing from those who had read it already. This also happens to be the 3rd book I've read so far this year about time travel (not sure if maybe that's why it didn't quite hit my expecta ...more

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Feb 12, 2016 sreeja rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy-reads, read-in-2016

I went into this book with high hopes and sadly i feel a bit let down right now. I thought that this book would have adventurous moments and action but the plot was so bland in comparison. The characters were very interesting though! Especially Kash <3

Kash is a charming Persian thief whose mouth is nearly as sharp as his brain. And literally the first thing i thought of when thinking of Kash was Prince of Persia where Dastan was a thief as well. He is such a nice guy and the sweetest part i ...more

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Oct 01, 2015 Nina rated it it was ok

Shelves: urban-fantasy

The blurb of The Girl from Everywhere whispered sweet promises of adventure, navigation-based magic, and the flair of Victorian Hawaii. Unfortunately, only the latter was delivered properly.

The adventure was as absent as my excitement with the plot boring me to tears. The magic system of time travelling was barely explained, which is a technique I used in math tests, too: To avoid making mistakes, I didn't solve the equation at all, see?

Thank God there was Kashmir to "save the day" (if 2 stars ...more

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May 20, 2015 Sana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: maps-maps-everywhere, read-in-2015, world-building-goals, these-family-dynamics, arcs, teary-feelsplosion, absolute-favorites

Intricately beautiful. I never knew I wanted to read a story about a time-traveling pirate ship so bad. I can't get over the elements that make up this book what it is.

The Girl from Everywhere is brilliantly executed from character dynamics to all the freaking heartbreaking plot twists. Fucking loved it! ...more

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Aug 03, 2015 Brittany (Brittany's Book Rambles) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, pirates, 2016-releases, historical-fiction, adventure, best-of-2016, badass-female-mc

Heidi Heilig brings you an epic adventure from your wildest dreams with her debut novel The Girl From Everywhere. Seriously, this is like some Studio Ghibli magic, I swear (and this would make a great movie, so you movie makers better hurry and buy the rights to it because it would be BIG). Take a vacation in Heidi's imagination by reading her sea shanty adventure of a book—you won't regret it, this I promise you. There are so many great things happening in this book but I think that the most co ...more

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Aug 29, 2015 Sarah Elizabeth rated it liked it

Shelves: netgalley-edelweiss, fantasy, r2r-complete, read-2016, as, sci-fi, young-adult

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)

“No matter how detailed a map, once we’d visited, we couldn’t go back.”

This book wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t for me.

The characters in this were okay, but I didn’t really feel anything for any of them. I did understand Nix’s worries over what would happen to her if her father went back to the time where she was born, but that was it really.

The storyline in this just ...more

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Jan 02, 2017 Nikita rated it liked it

I thought this was a very unique book. It has great foundations and I definitely want to know more what happens to the characters. I give it a strong 3.5 stars!

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Oct 02, 2015 Sarah DiMento rated it it was ok

Shelves: books-i-own, ya, pretty-covers, fantasy, read-in-2016

I really, really wanted to love this book for its interesting and unique premise. First of all, time travel books- I'm a sucker for them! And aside from that, there's pirate ships, maps, adventurous journeys, mythology... I think this book had soooo much potential, but it ended up being a disappointing. This book is just an odd mix of good things and some not so good things.

This story is about Nix and her father, Captain Slate, and their crew as they hunt for a map that will bring them to Honolu I really, really wanted to love this book for its interesting and unique premise. First of all, time travel books- I'm a sucker for them! And aside from that, there's pirate ships, maps, adventurous journeys, mythology... I think this book had soooo much potential, but it ended up being a disappointing. This book is just an odd mix of good things and some not so good things.

This story is about Nix and her father, Captain Slate, and their crew as they hunt for a map that will bring them to Honolulu 1868. This is the year and the place Nix's mother died, and Slate is heartbroken and addicted to opium and will do anything to return to her. This is also the year and the place Nix was born, and she questions what will happen when they return. Will history stay the same? Will she be erased? And does her father even care either way?

The first thing I noticed about this book was how wonderfully and eloquently written it was. But the plot really dragged in parts. I found myself skimming some of the more descriptive paragraphs, and I seriously never do that! Like if I think I skipped even one word I usually make myself go back and read it again, but this time? Nope, I just wanted to move along with the story, and didn't feel like I was missing anything by skimming how the Hawaiian shore glimmered like the Milky Way yet again. When I did get to the exciting parts, I found myself confused and not following. Nothing is explained (or maybe I missed the explanation during my skimming, guilty as charged), but the pieces kind of fall together in the end. Kind of. I still have questions, though!

I liked the time travel aspect. Undoubtedly, writing a book that includes time travel and also makes sense is a complex and difficult thing to do. We don't really get an explanation of how the time travel works, just that you need an original and accurate map penned during the time and place you want to go. You can never use the same map twice. Then you basically just set sail and go, envisioning your destination in your mind. Admittedly, this theory leaves room for holes. Can anyone with a unique map time travel or what makes these guys special? Never explained.

The mythology aspect served no purpose at all except to create more dense reading. If you don't recognize or know the mythology (also occasionally classic literature) being referenced then you might miss the point. This happened a few times for me (I'm no mythology expert, but I'm also not totally ignorant of it). I couldn't be bothered to look them up to understand their reference to the story. But that was okay because, like I said, it had no purpose. It added nothing to the story and it was almost like the author occasionally throws in a name just to say "Hey! Look at how much I know about mythology!"

There's a mix of interesting and really flat/pointless characters in this book, and this was where my biggest problem was. I wanted more well-developed characters and relationships. The main character, Nix, just totally fell flat for me. She's certainly clever and talented, but she is also sort of annoyingly indecisive. Nix's father was an asshole, and Nix is so hung up on him (maybe rightfully so) and they were both just kind of weak and pathetic to me. Maybe Nix is supposed to be a more relatable character as she struggles with her relationship with her father, but she has no growth or character development at all throughout the book. She starts off weak and indecisive and she remains that way to the last page.

Her main love interest/best friend, Kashmir, was my favorite character. Charming, funny, charismatic... Why couldn't he have been the main character? To be honest, I couldn't understand what he saw in Nix. Lack of other females around, probably? And then Blake (another love interest) is introduced into the story for absolutely no reason whatsoever. He's unlikeable, has no personality, he has no purpose except to just create a love triangle? Ugh. On a positive note, the romance aspect of this novel is very, very secondary (to the point of almost being meaningless and thrown in just to complete the YA novel formula).

Despite my complaints, this really wasn't a bad book. It was well-written, unique and entertaining. I just had higher expectations for it. I probably won't read the sequel because I'm not even sure what the point of the sequel is. Either Nix and her dad are good now or they're right back where they started. Either way, I don't care. ...more

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Jan 11, 2017 Nastassja rated it liked it

Recommends it for: fans of time-travel adventures

Shelves: 1st-pov, excellent-writing, this-girl-is-daft, young-adult, fantasy, love-triangle, 2017, alternate-universe, cover-ecstasy, eye-rolling

I don't want to bit around the bush, so I'll start from the exciting part at once.

KASHMIR. A thief. A tutor. A dancing instructor. The guy has many talents.

And Mister . . . ?”
“Firas,” Kashmir said, folding his handkerchief neatly and making a crisp bow.
Blake’s brow furrowed as he took in the fine clothes. “A sailor?”
“Her tutor,” Kashmir said smoothly.
Blake cocked his head. “You’re much younger than any of my tutors.”
“Baleh, I am wise beyond my years,” Kashmir said. “And of course I have a natur

...more

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Jan 25, 2017 April (Aprilius Maximus) added it · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf

DNF - I couldn't get into this and have decided that if I'm not feeling a book to just let it go, so that's what I'ma do. ...more

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Feb 01, 2018 jv poore rated it liked it

Shelves: adolescence, library-book, family, science-fiction, friendship, action_adventure, student_appropriate, young-adult, fantasy, legends-myths-fables

Beautiful blend of fantastic science-fiction and Hawaii's history and folklores. ...more

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Oct 28, 2017 ♛ may rated it liked it

i was confused 65.4% of the time but it was weirdly entertaining. also the narrator's voice on the audiobook was 10/10

i'll think of something semi-funny to write here in the morning, im tired rn ;-;

RTC

3.5 stars!! ...more

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Mar 05, 2017 Nouf *LostinFantasy* rated it liked it

Shelves: 2016-release, feb-2016-release, historical-fiction, time-travel, books-with-maps, fantasy-sci-fi, i-ship-it, pirates-n-ships

Rating: 3.5/5 stars.
(Torn about that extra half star, though, but I'm leaving it for now.)

Everything must come to an end. In every myth, paradise is meant to be lost.

I always love a good time travel story. But add in myths, legends, ships and pirating, and it becomes even more irresistible to me. I held off reading this book last year because the mixed responses got to me (I know, I should see for myself but reviews can be helpful when you're unsure). But this month - right afte ...more

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Aug 12, 2021 Heidi rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, 2021-goal

3.5

Great world building and some unique characters and locations. I was pulled right into this modern (kinda, sorta) pirate tale complete with an interesting father-daughter dynamic.

As a YA entry, I was pretty impressed. However, a little too much moping around from our motherless young heroine. And her explorer Dad? There were times I would have given him the proverbial heave ho myself!!

Despite some flaws, this magical tale pulled me in. I am certainly reading the next installment… But, man, I ...more

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Apr 23, 2014 Heidi Heilig added it · (Review from the author)

Shelves: i-did-the-thing

11/29/15

So I'm reading it again, for one last look, in the purported final form, and i have the maps now and omg.

11/17/15

LESS THAN THREE MONTHS TILL LAUNCH OMGGGGGGGGGG ...more

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Jul 21, 2015 The Candid Cover (Olivia & Lori) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-releases, kindle, arc, young-adult

Full Review on The Candid Cover

Looking for a different take on the time travel theme? The Girl From Everywhere is not your typical time travel book. This novel incorporates maps into the time travel theme and is set in the lush, historical Hawaii. Despite the fact that I loved most of the elements in this book, the pacing was too slow for me to fully enjoy the novel.

The Girl From Everywhere is a time travel book that is unlike the others in its genre. In this book, the characters travel through Full Review on The Candid Cover

Looking for a different take on the time travel theme? The Girl From Everywhere is not your typical time travel book. This novel incorporates maps into the time travel theme and is set in the lush, historical Hawaii. Despite the fact that I loved most of the elements in this book, the pacing was too slow for me to fully enjoy the novel.

The Girl From Everywhere is a time travel book that is unlike the others in its genre. In this book, the characters travel through time using maps. The way that this concept is described is very believable and creative. The characters basically sail to their destination, picturing where they want to go and they are transported there. However, in the eARC version, the maps aren’t available, which was pretty disappointing. I look forward to seeing the maps in the published version so that I can get a better feel for this book.

I adored the setting in The Girl From Everywhere! This book takes place in beautiful Hawaii, in the year 1868. The lush depictions that Heidi Heilig provides in the book will make all of its readers wishing to be whisked off to Hawaii. Heilig is a master of description and her ability to provide such amazing detail to her story is an asset to the book.

Although I enjoyed so much about The Girl From Everywhere, I found that the plot was really lacking in places. It took me a while to read this book because many events just seemed to drag on. This was really disappointing because I had such high hopes for this book. I really enjoy following Heidi on social media and she is a kind, quirky person that can make you laugh out loud. However, this book needed to be a little more action-packed and faster paced for my taste.

The Girl From Everywhere is a unique time travel book set in Hawaii, which brings a different and interesting point of view to the genre. I enjoyed so much about this book, but found the plot to be a bit too slow-paced for me. However, if you are a fan of the time travel genre, do not hesitate to give this book a try! ...more

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Jul 31, 2015 Stacee rated it really liked it

Shelves: edelweiss, contains-the-evil-sentence, theyre-tattoos-not-ink-or-tats, read-in-2015

4.5 stars

I went into this with low expectations because everyone I knew had the shouty caps sort of love for it.

I loved Nix. She's smart and strong and wants to learn everything she can. However, when it comes to her dad, she's like a little girl, trying to figure things out. Her vulnerability makes her real and extremely relatable. There are some excellent secondary characters. I loved the crew and the little glimpses we got of their personalities. Of course I adored Kashmir and the quiet way h ...more

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Oct 13, 2015 Lucia marked it as dnf

DNF at 22%

This is perfect example of „it’s me not you“ kind of book. I tried. I started this novel three times but I always ended up putting it away until I faced the reality and moved it to my DNF shelf. It just simply wasn’t holding my attention and I wasn’t feeling it. There was zero connection between me and narrator during those 22% I forced myself to read. (I wasn’t big fan of writing either.)

I’m not sure whether call this combination weird or fantastic but I had very hard time connecting ...more

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Oct 05, 2015 Michelle Andreani rated it it was amazing

OHHH. YOU GUYS. This book. My review cannot express how magical it is. The words are beautiful, the settings so lush and real, I felt deeply rooted no matter their time and place. And as someone who loves myths and legends, I am so thrilled by how they're weaved into this story. The Girl from Everywhere is unlike any book I've read, and I'm very ready to spend more time with these characters! GET EXCITED ABOUT IT.

Also, you should know that Kashmir is my new book crush. Maybe more. I don't know. ...more

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Apr 28, 2014 Shannon (It Starts At Midnight) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-for-review, favorites, 2016

This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight
Oh, where to begin? This book was everything I loved all mushed into one glorious debut. Time travel is usually fun for me, because I like the idea, as a rule. But sometimes it can confuse me. And then I don't like it. But in this case? It was perfect! It was explained well, without being info-dumpy (totally a word, yes?) and worked quite well- save for one tiny instance toward the end that I was a bit lost on, but that's okay. One thing ...more

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Aug 08, 2015 Emily rated it it was amazing

Wow, this was some mind-bendy, myth-nut candy!

Okay, so let me start this by saying, I've weirdly been in a fantasy slump so while this book sounded amazing from the get-go, I was worried now would not be the time to fall in love with it. My slump kept trying to pull me away, but in the end, this book conquered it. YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHERE THIS ENDS UP.

I won't give any spoilers but I'll say this: the back third of the book, for me, pulled everything from the front 2/3s in and then made it explo ...more

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Jun 21, 2017 Ashley Marie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: she-loves-you-ya-ya-ya, audiobook-would-recommend, bipoc-authors, fantasy-misc

I'm not big on science fiction per se, especially of the time travel variety. I am, however, a sucker for maps, part of the major basis for how the time travel in this book works, and it didn't disappoint. The characters who inhabit the Temptation have been to all different times and places, some of them even mythological (and (spoiler) there's a tiny dragon to prove it).

This was really excellent. One of the things that stood out to me as far as characterizations was how Nix switched between ca ...more

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Feb 14, 2016 ❀Aimee❀ Just one more page... rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: time-travel, pirates, not-my-cuppa, villains, netgalley, treasure, special-abilities-powers, ancient-objects-treasure-hunting, disappointed-wanted-to-love-it, great-idea-not-so-great-execution

Another book where the story has promise, but the execution didn't do it for me.

There were moments where I was starting to connect and waiting for it to all snap together for me...but it never happened. I kept with it for the entire book, almost DNFing so many times. There were parts of the story that held so much promise, but I never connected. The author has talent, but the big picture was a little too all over the place.

1. I think the story had too many elements for it's own good. A lot of t ...more

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Aug 26, 2015 Jaime Arkin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, read-in-2015, fantasy, greenwillow, ya, series, time-travel-parallel-universe, 2016, harpercollins, preordered

4.5 stars rounding to 5!

You guys this book. I loved loved it.

If you’re looking for a new fantasy series to fall in love with you definitely are going to want to give this one a read.

Nix is sixteen and was born in Honolulu in 1868… But when her father brings her aboard his ship The Temptation her entire life changed. She’s been to places we can only imagine… both the past and the future, real and imaginary. As long as they have a map, her father can sail them where they need to go. He’s been o 4.5 stars rounding to 5!

You guys this book. I loved loved it.

If you’re looking for a new fantasy series to fall in love with you definitely are going to want to give this one a read.

Nix is sixteen and was born in Honolulu in 1868… But when her father brings her aboard his ship The Temptation her entire life changed. She’s been to places we can only imagine… both the past and the future, real and imaginary. As long as they have a map, her father can sail them where they need to go. He’s been on a mission to acquire a map that will take him to the one place he can’t forget… 1868 Honolulu… before Nix’s mother gave birth to her and died. The very idea of this raises so many questions for Nix and they have no idea what will happen if they can make it happen. How can Nix help her father with this task when it could possibly erase her existence… her hopes and her dreams?

I like that this story wasn’t so much about the time travel… sure they go to some incredible places, but ultimately this book is about the relationships between the characters and the consequences of the traveling and the sort of life that it leaves these characters with. The relationships between father and daughter… friend and lover… they are all explored in depth here and I loved it.

The relationship Nix has with her father is complicated to say the least. The only good thing he’s done for her was bring her aboard the ship. She’s built a family with the crew and has decided how she’d like to see her future. She just needs her father to teach her how to travel, but the only time he’s capable is when they have a map in their hands a plan in place to get him back to 1868 Honolulu. I totally understood Nix’s frustration with her father… and sadness. The idea that he was so stuck in the past that he was willing to give her up just to have her mother back is heartbreaking.

Nix has bonded with her friend Kash… he’s her best friend, even though it’s obvious he would love to have more from her. From his very first appearance on the page I fell for him. He’s just enough scoundrel and just enough swoon and sweet to make you fall in love and I couldn’t figure out why Nix was ignoring what was going on between them. But then I realized that it’s hard to make that leap from friend to lover when the person is basically the only person you can count on in life. I thought the evolution of their relationship was lovely and I’m excited to see what happens next.

There is a bit of a triangle here. I’m just going to get it out of the way. In my opinion, it doesn’t last quite long enough to make a huge impact and even though the end maybe hints at something different, in my heart and head I don’t think it’s going where it seems like it might. At least I hope. I’ll be honest. I thought the relationship that started between Blake and Nix felt forced and I just never really felt like it was genuine. I guess maybe that’s why I’m not all that worried about the next book and where this one left off. I don’t know… I guess if triangles aren’t your thing, maybe wait, but like I said, I’m not worried and I don’t feel like the romance is the main story here… there’s so much more going on.

While there are some definite slow parts, I thought the pacing was well done and there was definitely a lot of action to make this a page turner. I loved that Heilig quite obviously researched and spent a lot of time making me as a reader feel like I could imagine each and every place Nix and her crew were. From the lush unexplored forests of Hawaii to the imaginary and mythic lands that are explored each was described in a way that I couldn’t help but picture as I read.

I think what many will love is that this can be read as a standalone. There is definitely room to expand and I for one am excited to see what the future might hold for Nix and her motley crew, but if you aren’t in the mood for a series, you can read this and get a full and complete story and not have to commit to anything more… though why wouldn’t you in my opinion. For me, if Heidi Heilig is writing it, I’m going to be reading it.

Fans of historical fiction, fantasy and time travel will definitely want to pick this one up upon release.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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Aug 23, 2015 Jillian rated it it was ok

So here are the things I really liked:

- time traveling pirates who use maps to travel to real and mythological places.
- diversity (Nix is half chinese, Kashmir is Persian, lots of reference and description to Hawaiian myths and folklore)

Here are things I didn't like:

- characters are really bland...personally i just didn't connect emotionally to any of them. most of them were really one dimensional. the only one i really thought was interesting was kashmir
- so the characters can travel anywhere o ...more

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About Heidi Heilig

Heidi Heilig

1,305 followers

Heidi grew up in Hawaii where she rode horses and raised peacocks, and then she moved to New York City and grew up even more, as one tends to do. Her favorite thing, outside of writing, is travel, and she has haggled for rugs in Morocco, hiked the trails of the Ko'olau Valley, and huddled in a tent in Africa while lions roared in the dark.

She holds an MFA from New York University in Musical Theat ...more