Heidi Heilig

The Girl from Everywhere

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 through centuries aboard her time-traveling father's ship. But when he gambles with her very existence, it all may be about to end. The Girl from Everywhere, the first of two books, blends fantasy, history, and a modern sensibility. Its witty, fast-paced dialogue, breathless adventure, multicultural cast, and enchanting romance will dazzle readers of Sabaa Tahir, Rae Carson, and Rachel Hartman. Nix's life began in Honolulu in 1868. Since then she has traveled to mythic Scandinavia, a land from the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, modern-day New York City, and many more places both real and imagined. As long as he has a map, Nix's father can sail his ship, The Temptation, to any place, any time. But now he's uncovered the one map he's always sought—1868 Honolulu, before Nix's mother died in childbirth. Nix's life—her entire existence—is at stake. No one knows what will happen if her father changes the past. It could erase Nix's future, her dreams, her adventures . . . her connection with the charming Persian thief, Kash, who's been part of their crew for two years. If Nix helps her father reunite with the love of his life, it will cost her her own.

Sarah Sammis

I'm rather conflicted about this book. On the one hand, I love the idea of traveling by map and time traveling pirate ships (I imagine that Captain Hook was such a traveler but couldn't get a good map to get out of Neverland). I like a good caper. I like Hawaii Five-O (both versions). But the pacing in this book is off. It's too long in parts and too short in others. 

Maybe it's a 3.5.

http://pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2017...

Connor 

4.5! My only issue with this is a stylistic one--I hate it when chapters consistently end on cliffhangers mid-scene--but as I say, a minor stylistic one. Can't wait to read the sequel.

Seriously, though--Heidi Heilig manages something very tricky here, navigating the muddy waters of fantasy, time travel, and history. I had high expectations of this book, and it definitely delivered. I was concerned about one potential character who is really just not as interesting as Kashmir (sorry buddy, you didn't stand a chance) but every dynamic--Nix and Kashmir's friendship, the crew, the delicate balance between Nix and her dad, even the antagonists and more minor characters--is handled carefully and respectfully, leaving room for the characters to grow and change and move. 

Am I surprised I love this book? No. Am I delighted to love this book more than I thought I would? Yes. (It's two of my favorite genres wrapped in a thread of a third: fantasy and historical fiction with a dash of mystery, gr9 found family and actual family dynamics, and a fantastic sense of humor. Of course I loved it.)

Honestly it was delightful 10/10 will spend the rest of forever forcing this one into the hands of unsuspecting friends.

As the daughter of a time traveler, Nix has spent sixteen years sweeping across the globe and through the centuries aboard her father’s ship. Modern-day New York City, nineteenth-century Hawaii, other lands seen only in myth and legend—Nix has been to them all. But when her father gambles with her very existence, it all may be about to end. Rae Carson meets Outlander in this epic debut fantasy. If there is a map, Nix’s father can sail his ship, The Temptation, to any place and any time. But now that he’s uncovered the one map he’s always sought—1868 Honolulu, the year before Nix’s mother died in childbirth—Nix’s life, her entire existence, is at stake. No one knows what will happen if her father changes the past. It could erase Nix’s future, her dreams, her adventures . . . her connection with the charming Persian thief, Kash, who’s been part of their crew for two years. Heidi Heilig blends fantasy, history, and a witty modern sensibility into a magical journey that will captivate fans of Sabaa Tahir and Leigh Bardugo.

Mackenzie Young

Absolutely amazing. I loved every word of this book! It’s such a fun adventure story filled with time travel, treasure hunts, and a sea-loving MC and her crew who are so likeable. And of course we love a good found family trope. As of now, I’m saying this works great as a stand-alone, but I’m starting the sequel just because I loved Heilig’s writing so much. Read this book.

Elisa Bieg

This book wasn't bad at all, but it wasn't quite what I expected. 

The characters are very well thought out and there is a lot of action, but somehow it didn't quite "jump out of the page" — something about it fell flat. 

Still, it made for pretty good reading, and the story is interesting enough that I would recommend it; but I am not in a hurry to read the next installment (even though it's already sitting on my shelf!)

jess

This was obviously a very well researched book, which gave it a star, but the writing and characters didn't really appeal to me. First of all - the love triangle. I hate love triangles and once again, this was your run-of-the-mill typical love triangle. Nothing special, still annoying. 

I did like the fact that the protagonist was half-Chinese and that it was important in the story. But other than that, there really was nothing special about the characters. 

The book could have been quite a bit shorter and it would be more exciting - less time spent on the love triangle, I guess.

cláudia

This story was super slow and vague. I'm a sucker for all things pirate and all things time-travel. This combined them- but in a way that was very confusing. Also a lot of the characters were uninteresting. Blake Hart one the main love interests was a one dimensional imbecile who gaffed every chance he had with Nix and she still somehow thought he was charming.
The love story was forced and took much of a back seat until suddenly it was a triangle and suddenly Nix had a romance.
The best part of this book were the mythologies that were covered and the astounding history presented through out the book. If the story had centered a whole lot more around that the reading would have been amazing.

Tamara Al-Qaisi-Coleman

More of a 3.6 it was good and I want to continue the duopoly but there wasn't anything amazing about it.

Sheila

Okay so I loved the concept of this book, but the execution was shaky. Travelling through time on a ship using maps?! SUPER COOL. I liked that it kept up the "you can't be in the same time period twice". I also liked that the plot of this book (eventually) focused on the US annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii, a topic I hardly see & as a kid only learned about when I did a research project on Queen Liliuokalani. 

The problem was mainly that this book took wayyyyyyyyyy too long to get to that juicy plot. The first 75% was focused on the MC's dad & his problems & MC's problems with her dad's problems, and I just wasn't here for that. I also didn't like the weirdly cobbled-together love triangle??? I found that all pretty unnecessary & largely detracted from the story. Finally, the characterizations of Kashmir, Bee, & Rotgut...bothered me. 

All that put together, this book gets three stars because I love maps & the time travelling was ridiculous!

Archer

My Thoughts:

okay

Pros:

cool idea
worldbuilding
author is really nice
Cons:

I couldn’t connect with the characters
hard to get into – I forced my self to finish
 

I think Heidi mentioned on twitter that she made a lot of changes, so I want to read the finished version.

Originally on https://bookishlythinking.wordpress.c...

Lila Harrison

Becky

I was worried I was getting bored, but once the stort developed some more and the action began happening I was hooked. the last two thurds of the book I read in an evening just to find out what happens.

I am now off to read up on Hawaiian history.

Alexis 

3/5 stars

This was unfortunately a bit of a let down for me. I liked the majority of our characters, however i was not impressed by the time traveling system. I don't know if it was just the was it was explained or the actual system itself. I just didn't like it at all. I will also state that i wasn't a major fan of the writing style in this book either.

Olivia Koonce 

Leelynn Brady

Drug Addiction, Death, Betrayal,
Piracy, Violence, Annexation,
Imperialism, Racism



Chinese, Arab (Persian), Hawaiian,
African, Lesbian

Wow, this book took so long for me to actually pick up but by the time I did, I couldn’t put it down. Part of it was because I got to see my island home when it was still the Kingdom of Hawaii, under the rule of King Kalakaua. It was totally different from what I grew up in, and wow. I grew up learning about the history of Hawaii, and I feel like this book helped me to appreciate my island home more than ever.

Read my full review on my blog Sometimes Leelynn Reads

Heather Killeen

This book has a really unique premise, a tale with a time-traveling ship, diverse myths and tales woven through-out, and very real characters with serious flaws that you still find yourself rooting for. Despite all that though, I found something lacking in this. I kept expecting something a little bit "more" to happen and was somewhat let down by the climax when it finally ramped up. There were a few too many "quick fixes" that made me not worry at all that the characters were in any real danger. So although I was invested in the main character's success, I didn't really fear their failure, making the ending fall a little flat. 

Still, I would recommend it to fans of ancient myth, pirates, and Hawaii (the descriptions of the island in the 1800's is beautiful!).

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

I have a feeling that this review will come off kind of rambley at times, so sorry in advance. I don't have much to say on the specifics of this story, but rather it as a whole and how I feel about it in a general sense. So let's get started!

This story is basically about Nix and her father, Captain Slate, who are time-traveling, trying to find the right map to save her mother's life. You see, as long as Captain Slate has a map to a location, he can go there. But this map that will save Nix's mother's life is quite elusive, and they're having a bit of difficulty locating it. The catch though... finding this map, which will lead to finding Nix's mother, could also erase Nix's existence all together. What's a girl to do?

“Sometimes a person has to let go of something to take hold of something else.”

Yay for a hidden diverse book!! I had no idea that I would be finding such diverse characters in this story, and that's what made it that much more special. There are at least four characters in this book that would be considered "diverse", and that just makes my insides all giggly and happy. I love when diversity is so well hidden in a book, and not the main focus of the story... if that makes any sense.

Though most of this story was set in the 1800s, there was a small modern New York part in the beginning. And the characters had more of a modern feel as well, which made this anti-historical girl pretty happy. ;) The time-travel aspects were done so well! I don't have much to compare it to since I've only read a handful myself, but I was pleased with how seamlessly this story flowed. I also loved that the story incorporated ships and maps because that's what I was hoping for, so yay! 
 


I read a book earlier this year hoping for the same, and ended up with a historical romance instead. I won't mention any names, but I'm sure most of you know which book I'm speaking of.

Overall, this was a hit! I honestly didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did. Listening to the audio was really fun too, as I loved the way the characters were each so unique. (More about that below.) Overall, I can definitely see what all the fuss is about when it comes to this book. Though I'm not entirely convinced that I'll continue on with this series, it was a lot of fun and it's securely on my "maybe continue" list. 

(Thanks to Harper Audio for the review copy!)

Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

Liz Griffin

Enjoyed this a lot, though I confess I liked For a Muse of Fire better. The descriptions of Hawaii were beautiful.

Ellen Ivey

Shelby Tippett

Megan McGuire

It was the kind of August day that hinted at monsoons, and the year was 1774, though not for very much longer. Sixteen-year-old Nix Song is a time-traveller. She, her father and their crew of time refugees travel the world aboard The Temptation, a glorious pirate ship stuffed with treasures both typical and mythical. Old maps allow Nix and her father to navigate not just to distant lands, but distant times - although a map will only take you somewhere once. And Nix's father is only interested in one time, and one place: Honolulu 1868. A time before Nix was born, and her mother was alive. Something that puts Nix's existence rather dangerously in question . . . Nix has grown used to her father's obsession, but only because she's convinced it can't work. But then a map falls into her father's lap that changes everything. And when Nix refuses to help, her father threatens to maroon Kashmir, her only friend (and perhaps, only love) in a time where Nix will never be able to find him. And if Nix has learned one thing, it's that losing the person you love is a torment that no one can withstand. Nix must work out what she wants, who she is, and where she really belongs before time runs out on her forever.

The Girl from Everywhere

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