Review: The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Title: The Girl from Everywhere
Author: Heidi Heilig
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Series: The Girl from Everywhere
Goodreads

'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.'

Rating:

 (3.5)

The Girl from Everywhere follows a girl called Nix who lives on a pirate ship with her dad Captain Slate, who can travel through space and time through the use of maps (I know, this sounds amazing, right??). The whole book is about them and their pirate-crew (is that even a word?) trying to find a certain map that can bring them back to Nix's mother, who died in Honolulu in the 1800s. 

I was kind of disappointed by this book, because it promised a lot of time-travel and pirate-y stuff, while the crew mostly stayed at the same place and the same time throughout the book. Nothing really happened, besides them stealing a giant treasure from a Hawaiian king with the help of the terracotan army. Nbd. 

Luckily, I still very enjoyed myself while reading this, because the writing style was amazing. Heidi Heilig described the scenery of Hawaii in such a delicious way, that it felt like I was actually there. Once I realized I wasnt, I immediatly wanted to grab the nearest boat and sail myself there. She made it sound like paradise! She also got really into the history of some places, which I absolutely loved. However, while talking about the time-travel itself, it got a bit too complicated. Some thing really went over my head, and that unfortunately made me enjoy the book a little less.

Let's talk characters: Nix is our main character, and she's very badass and has a great personality (she loves books!), which is a tiny bit dimmed down by the sheer awesomeness of the other characters. Compared to the rest of the pirate crew Nix is just, well, not as great. Then we have Kashmir, who is possibly my favorite character. He's so swoon-worthy and super sassy and I LOVED HIM. He and Nix have an amazing friendship and their banter is absolutely hilarious, and even though their relationship starts off as a friendship, you do end up really shipping them (Nixmir? Kashix? THIS DOESN'T WORK). Out of the love triangle that forms in this book, Kashmir seems like the only logical choice, because the other guy is just dull. Comparing those two would be like, ehm, comparing a rock to a diamond. Sure, it would be a very pretty rock, but still.

I also LOVED the diversity of this book. Not only does it portray a certain mental health issue that isn't talked about often enough, but almost every member of the pirate crew has a different ethnicity. There's even a crew member who is African and a lesbian, and has a ghost wife who keeps screwing with her (which is super funny). 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I'm sure I'm going to pick up the second book (which has a gorgeous cover btw), but I just wish they had advertised this book differently. I think that if I hadn't expected so much action and adventure, I would have enjoyed the book more for what it really is.