I have heard
quite a bit about this first book in this series from booktubers and
Goodreads. Mostly it has been that
people are excited to read it and see all the travel in the book (which totally
sucked me in). Aside from the
excitement, I haven’t heard too many reviews on this book or series after
reading it. However, I decided to
check it out (and found a bargain priced book for The Last Little Blue Envelope online)!
Title: 13 Little Blue Envelopes
Author: Maureen
Johnson
Series: Little
Blue Envelopes #1
Genre: Young
Adult, Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher:
HarperTeen
Publication
Date: August 23, 2005
Pages: 336
Out in
Paperback?: Yes; July 1, 2009
My Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads Summary:
Inside little blue envelope 1 are
$1,000 and instructions to buy a plane ticket.
In envelope 2 are directions to a
specific London flat.
The note in envelope 3 tells Ginny:
Find a starving artist.
Because of envelope 4, Ginny and a
playwright/thief/ bloke–about–town called Keith go to Scotland together, with
somewhat disastrous–though utterly romantic–results. But will she ever see him
again?
Everything about Ginny will change
this summer, and it's all because of the 13 little blue envelopes.
Characters:
Overall, I did
enjoy most of the characters, however, many of them seemed to be a little young
for me. I believe Ginny begins the
novel and her adventures as a 17 or 18 year old. Unfortunately, I really just thought that she could
sometimes be a tad annoying and some of her choices reflected that, which I
thought were a bit questionable (especially when she is in Rome). I did find it a bit odd that her
parents were not mentioned too much in the novel; Ginny travel all across
Europe, leaving her home in New Jersey, and it just seemed strange to me that
her parents weren’t mentioned much (like their concern for her or her
communication back to her parents via letter). Marian, her best friend, also wasn’t really introduced; she
seemed to just pop out of nowhere, as Ginny wrote her a letter (unless I missed
it?). Overall, I did enjoy Ginny’s
character but found some of her choices interesting while traveling aboard
alone. The Knapp’s, a family Ginny
meets along her travels, adds some interesting characters to the story, as well
as some other friends Ginny makes (maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think I
would have gone off with strangers as much as she did – kinda made the story a
little unrealistic in my opinion).
Plot:
Overall, I did
enjoy the plot! I feel like you
kinda just have to go with it and accept some things, like the letters from her
aunt and the people that she meets, or else you might get wrapped up in the
unrealistic aspects of the story.
I really just enjoyed her description of the different countries that
she visited (as I am a Travel and Tourism major in college), but the letters
weren’t the driving force for me to keep reading this novel. There just seemed to be too many
questions that popped up in the realism department that kept me from getting
sucked in to the plot.
Writing Style:
The writing
style reflects how I have felt about the other aspects of the novel. Nothing was horrible or bothered me too
much, however, there were little aspects that I didn’t care for with the
characters and the plot that made the overall read just ok. The writing was fine; I did love the description
of the locations and the different countries, especially Rome since I have
traveled through previously. It
really made me think of my time there and all the amazing things that I saw! Overall, I think this is a light read,
good for the beach, and it’s fun if you love to travel or read about different
locations.
Title: The Last Little Blue Envelope
Author: Maureen
Johnson
Series: Little
Blue Envelopes #2
Genre: Young
Adult, Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher:
HarperTeen
Publication
Date: April 26, 2011
Pages: 282
Out in
Paperback?: Yes; April 24, 2012
My Rating: 3/5
Review:
Goodreads Summary:
Ginny Blackstone thought that the
biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling
around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters
before she died. When someone stole Ginny's backpack—and the last little blue
envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to
end.
Months later, a mysterious boy contacts
Ginny from London, saying he's found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what
she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new
adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime
experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This
time, there are no instructions.
Characters:
As far as this
sequel goes, I really didn’t change my opinions about the characters since the
first book in the series. I still
felt that Ginny was a little young, making questionable choices. Keith also seems a bit young and
immature, and I really didn’t feel the connection between the two of them as
far as a love story goes. I had no
preference as to if they were together or not. Many of the other minor characters didn’t really impact me
or have very much growth throughout the story.
Plot:
As for the plot,
this really didn’t seem realistic at all.
The first novel was borderline for me, and this novel just didn’t really
grab my attention. I did complete
it as I got this book before reading the first one, it was a bargain book on
Amazon for like $3, and there are only 2 in the series (as of now). So, I did read them back-to-back,
however, I didn’t like this one as much as the first. Ginny heads back to Europe in search of the “last little
blue envelope” (which can’t be a spoiler if you read the title of this
book). However, some of the people
that she meets and must work with really make this unrealistic for me. If you have read the novel, then you
know the circumstances as to which she receives the last letter and the deal
that is made; this is where Ginny’s youth and poor decisions really lost me. It just didn’t seem real! Overall, I enjoyed the first one more
because of the travel; in this book they are going back to some of those places
and under unrealistic circumstances.
Writing Style:
The writing was
similar to the first novel (which is obviously to be expected from the same
author). But that means that once
again, it didn’t really impress me.
It didn’t really “make or break” the novel in any particular way. I had more of an issue with the
characters and the plot, especially in this second novel.
Have you read this series? What did you think? What was your favorite place that Ginny
traveled to? I think mine was Rome
because it really just reminded me of my time there! :)
FTC Disclaimer:
All items
mentioned were purchased by me. This is not a sponsored post. All
opinions are my own. No affiliate links were used.
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