Playing Favorites featuring Morgan Matson!

It has been said that playing favorites isn't nice, but sometimes it's impossible not to! Join me weekly at The Hiding Spot as I share a favorite author... and the author shares a few favorite things of their own.

MORGAN MATSON

Genre: Contemporary YA

Book(s):

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour Review

Debut author Morgan Matson has already earned a spot as one of my top YA romance writers. After only one novel, she's demonstrated her ability to write both compelling characters and perfectly paced romance.

MY FAVORITES

Novel: Amy & Roger's Epic Detour.This is Matson's first published novel, but I adored it! I'm a huge fan or road trips, music, and romance, making Matson's debut a must-read. I can't recommend Matson's novel enough, especially if you typically enjoy Sarah Dessen's novels.

Character: Amy and Roger.

I tried, I really did. Both characters had vibrant personalities, plus they're amazing together! Their chemistry kept my eyes glued to the page - I loved their back and forth banter!

Quote: "In addition to the OPEN RANGE CAUTION, there were animal signs I'd never seen before-an antelope, a cow, and cow with horns...But it worried me that, without warning, a cow with horns might be running across the interstate. And that this had happened frequently enough that they'd had to erect a sign to warn people about it."

There are so many wonderful lines from Matson's novel, so it was difficult to choose only one. Now, every time I see a sign like this, I laugh to myself! There are conversations between Amy and Roger that I might favor more than this quote, but I leave them to you to discover!

THE FAVORITE FAVORS

BOOK: Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith.

Adore that book. If you haven’t read it, I can’t recommend it highly enough. That and anything by P.G. Wodehouse, if you’re in the mood to laugh.

FOOD: Movie-theater popcorn.

Does this even technically count as a food? But I love it. I’ll go see movies I’m not even that interested in to get the popcorn. Lots of butter, tons of salt, inedible to most other people. YUM.

WORD: Ensorcelled.

I love this word, and the fact that I’ve got some of my friends using it is one of the things I’m proudest of. It means entranced by something or someone.

MOVIE: It Happened One Night.

It’s a classic from the 30s. I was so excited to see it get a mention in the new Sex and the City movie. It’s fantastic.

NUMBER: My favorite number is 19.

It’s my birthday, and it’s always been my favorite number. Whether it’s lucky, I’m not sure. But I’m hopeful!

For more information about Morgan and her novel

check out the links below:

Website

Twitter
GoodReads

Review: Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Title: Amy & Roger's Epic Detour
Author: Morgan Matson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pub. Date: 5.4.2010
Genre:YA
Keywords: Road trip, Grief, Loss, Family, Romance, Music
Pages: 352
Description (from GoodReads):
Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn't seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she's coming to terms with her father's death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road--diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself.

First off, I absolutely adored this novel. Romance and road trips are like the siren call of chocolate, I'm unable to resist. Throw in the complication of the recent loss of a father by way of car accident and you've got a story I need to read. I love a happy ending, but the struggle and pain of my main character is what makes it all worthwhile.


This novel is especially unique in that playlists and artifacts from the road trip are scattered throughout the book. The playlists were absolutely amazing! Roger and I (and the author!) have similar taste in music, so I was familiar with many of the bands and songs. I was intrigued by the ones I didn't know, which led to looking them up and finding many new bands and songs to love! One of my favorite road trip scraps is from early on in the novel, when Amy and Roger stop at Yellowstone. They choose to go on a guided activity hike in which they must periodically stop and write poems. Needless to say, they aren't taking their assignment very seriously and their poems are hilarious. Plus, the reader has their first peek at Amy and Roger's chemistry. Having these extras was not only fun, it added another dimension to the characters.


Morgan Matson did a wonderful job of creating her characters. So often, characters only really have one dimension or the author doesn't give the reader anything to allow them to connect and know the characters. Each and every one of Matson's characters had a story... they each had something that made them linger in my mind. It isn't often that I can finish a novel and remember each minor character as well as the main ones, especially weeks after I've read the novel. Matson's mastery makes me want to stand up and applaud! I felt such a connection to to each character, that I can honestly say that if Matson decided to write a novel about any one of the characters in Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, I'd read it in a heartbeat.


Amy and Roger's relationship is one of my all time favorites. Their back and forth banter and concern for one another completely won me over and left me smiling. I love when I'm reading a novel and I know that two characters are perfect for one another, but the characters haven't realized it yet, and then, suddenly, it clicks for one of them. You can pinpoint that moment when they know that they belong with that person and  regardless of whether they began their epic detour with a completely different intention, it has delivered them to the place, and person, they really needed.


I feel that I must add, that the loss of Amy's father and the current shattered state of her family are not solved by her unexpected romance with Roger. I'm extremely appreciative of this detail, as there are novels in which the main character's problems suddenly disappear because she's met a boy. Amy finds love on her epic detour, but, ultimately, it is the people she meets and stops to see along the way that help her move forward with her life.


Grade: A+


Cover Comments:
I love the cover! Some readers don't like the whole "headless models" cover trend, and to a certain extent neither do I, but I really enjoyed this cover. I actually had never even heard of this book before, but the cover and title caught my eye. Thank goodness!