Crossing Oceans of Time, Chasing Love and Destiny ("What I'm Reading Wednesday")

"What I'm Reading Wednesday"...
You ever have one of those weeks (months, years, insert your own time span here) where it takes everything you’ve got, just to (sorta) keep up with all the things on your metaphorical plate? (Yeah, that was a completely rhetorical question. Unless you’re literally the luckiest person on planet Earth, you have.)

Anyway, that’s been me, recently… and my reading, unfortunately, always seems to be affected (negatively) by any turmoil in my life. So, at such times, it’s good to have a couple of things in the ole arsenal: first, a go-to group of the closest friends, who always have my back; and second, friends who recommend (or even gift!) books at just the right time. (Seriously, if you’re lacking either of the above, I can’t recommend highly enough your going in search of ‘em. PRICELESS!)

Heidi Heilig’s The Girl From Everywhere was just the ticket for me to get back into reading after a few-weeks’ absence; it’s an easy read that takes you away from your own reality, but doesn’t ask overmuch of you in return. 

Falling squarely under the Young Adult and Fantasy headers, The Girl From Everywhere is a simple pleasure (though certainly not a guilty one). It's a coming-of-age tale, chronicling the story of young Nix, a girl who has already done quite a lot of living in her meager 16 years… mainly due to the fact that her father Slate is a time traveler, who—with his daughter and the small crew-cum-family that he’s assembled along the way—has not only traveled to points around the globe, but all through time (both real and mythical).

It’s not as though Nix is living some sort of dreamy existence, though; the truth is her father is haunted—and has been since her birth—by one time, and one place, in particular. Moreover, it’s long been his single goal in life to return to that exact place in time, for the sole purpose of trying to reverse the tragic little bit of personal history during which his wife died giving childbirth to Nix in 1868 Hawaii, whilst he was away at sea seeking their fortune. (The always-pondered metaphysical conundrum of whether or not going back in time would change it in all sorts of other ways is something Slate refuses to even think about… but is never far from Nix’s mind, as she fears it brings into question her own existence.) Worse, it seems that Slate will stop at nothing—including agreeing to plans with shady strangers that put all of them in danger—to fulfill his lifelong quest. 

With an interesting cast of characters—notably, the dashing young Arab, Kashmir, who is part of the crew (and Nix's confidante/something more); and a sweet, sensitive artist who falls hard for Nix in Hawaii—and a healthy amount of both local color and history, The Girl From Everywhere sails along at an amiable pace. By the end, you feel satisfied… and intrigued enough, by the interesting premise and by the charm of the characters, to want to continue the journey (as a second book in the series follows). Hard not to find this one an easy pleasure. :) 

~GlamKitty

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