Nicole Trilivas

Last year, Kika Shores was traveling across the globe without a care in the world. Now she's stuck at home with her mom, pining for a sexy charmer who lives across the big pond. But then Kika lands a job in London playing Mary Poppins to two girls. She's excited to rekindle her long distance love affair, but her very snobby new neighbor, Aston Hyde Bettencourt, keeps showing up everywhere she turns. Trouble is, the more time she spends with Aston's stuffed shirt, the less Kika seems to mind.

Girls Who Travel

Colleen

2.5 Stars

I entered a giveaway for Girls Who Travel a while ago. I did not win, but I still had it on my To Read list, so I got it from the library. 

Do not let the title fool you. This book has almost nothing to do with traveling. Most of the travel in the book is in the form of flashbacks, and it lacked detail or cultural exploration. The thin excuse relayed was that the book was about the mindset of "girls who travel" not actual travel. This was extremely disappointing because I picked up this book hoping for some armchair travel. 

Overall, the story lacked depth. Kika, the main character, was shallow and obnoxious most of the time. The other characters were predictable. The romance was bland. And as I mentioned, the travel aspect (or lack thereof) was disappointing. 

Somewhere along the way, I started to have the sneaking suspicion that Girls Who Travel was a retelling of Pride and Prejudice. A very loose retelling, but still noticeable. When the second love interest was introduced, I knew for certain. There did not seem to be a point to making this book a retelling. The characters had none of Austen's depth, and the writing was bland. Mostly I just rolled my eyes whenever the face-smackingly noticeable rips off Pride and Prejudice occurred. They really did not fit with the rest of the story. It was more like they were forced into the story just for the sake of having them there. When the author went so far as to directly compare two characters to Elizabeth and Darcy, it was obnoxious and too obvious. Kika was probably the second worst rewrite of Elizabeth Bennet that I've read. (Eligible is hands-down still the worst.) I would not have bothered with this book if I had known it was an Austen retelling. I tried to swear off them because they almost always disappoint. 

The only redeeming quality about this book was Kika's relationship with the girls she nannied for. It was sweet and endearing and certainly more complex and believable than her romances. That was the only time her character showed any depth. In fact, it was almost enough for me to bump it up to three stars. But not quite.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 2 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 2 Stars

Corey White

Erin 

This is a great beach-type read. I fled through it quickly, and was extremely curious to find out the fate of Kika and the various branches of life she found herself in. However I found it slightly difficult to connect to her on a personal level, with the exception of her desire to see the world on an intimate level, and I found the easiness to which she landed her opportunities a little unrealistic. But if you don't tear apart every bit of the text like I did, it was charming, if not slightly predictable.

Girls Who Travel

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