Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
Published by Simon & Schuster on May 4, 2010
Genres: YA Contemporary
Pages: 344
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five-stars

Amy Curry is not looking forward to her summer. Her mother decided to move across the country and now it's Amy's responsibility to get their car from California to Connecticut. The only problem is, since her father died in a car accident, she isn't ready to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger. An old family friend, he also has to make the cross-country trip - and has plenty of baggage of his own. The road home may be unfamiliar - especially with their friendship venturing into uncharted territory - but together, Amy and Roger will figure out how to map their way.

Catfairy’s Bookmix

“I’d like to dream my troubles all away on a bed of California stars…” ***

-Wilco

Just like Morgan Matson’s book Since You’ve Been Gone this book has an epic summer road trip playlist! The last time I read Since You’ve Been Gone I cataloged almost EVERY SINGLE SONG FROM THAT BOOK and put it into a Spotify playlist! No joke…but it took me almost three hours to do this! I learned my lesson from Since You’ve Been Gone because if I were to actually set up a playlist from every single song from Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour I would probably spend five hours setting it up and AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT! So I set up 50 songs for this playlist instead versus 160 for the SYBG book! This playlist has a mix of songs that I love such as the Talking Heads song Road to Nowhere (You can’t have a cross-country road trip without the Talking Heads song “Road to Nowhere!”) , songs that I just now fell in love with and can’t get out of my head (HELLO WILCO!), and songs where the title just captured me and I had to add it! Enjoy this playlist because when you listen to it you will truly feel like you’re in the backseat of Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour!

Catfairy’s “Epic” First Thoughts

If anyone knows me, you will know that I am absolute trash for a Morgan Matson book! Ever since I picked up Since You’ve Been Gone I have been 100% devoted to this woman and she is my go-to author when I am feeling blah about life and I need to be in a sunshine “life is good” kind of mood! (I haven’t read Second Chance Summer yet and I heard that book will not bring much sunshine instead it would just leave me in a pool of tears like a sad melted ice cream cone. Better off saving that book for next summer!) Although Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour left me only with tears of happiness and contentment and luckily it didn’t bring on the tears!

Amy’s and Roger’s Epic Detour was like the road trip that I wish would never end! I took quite a while to finish this book so I definitely stretched that road trip out a bit too far but I loved every single second of Amy and Roger’s journey. The struggles that the characters went through was emotional and it had the whole coming of age kind of feel which is something that I just LIVE to read about. I love books where the characters realize that even though life has struggles it’s important to use those hard lessons to push themselves to continue to move forward in life! Sometimes the “detours” can be life altering and well worth the ride!

Catnopsis

“California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see. But believe it or not, you won’t find it so hot if you ain’t got the do-re-mi…”

-Woody Guthrie

Everything begins with Amy and Roger when they go on a cross-country trip from California to Stanwich, Connecticut.

Amy’s mother put their family home for sale where she lived with her father and brother. Sadly, her father has passed away and her brother is in rehab. Everything in Amy’s world is lonely and empty and all she wants to do is hide from the world including the girl she used to be…

Her mother has already settled herself down in Stanwich, Connecticut and Amy’s taking care of their house while it was going through the process of being sold.

Finally, it is time for Amy to begin to her new life in Stanwich, Connecticut and her mother has arranged for her to take the road trip of her life…

The only problem is that since her father’s death Amy doesn’t drive. Amy’s mother decides to arrange someone to drive which turns out to be the son of an old family friend named Roger. He will be driving cross country with Amy. And so it begins and Amy and Roger are about to embark on the most life-changing detour of their lives literally and figuratively…

Meet Amy (Played by Shailene Woodley)

“He who transplanted sustains…”

-Kansas Motto

Amy is a lost soul and figuring out how to deal with the loss of her father and the person she used to be. She used to be an outgoing person with boyfriends, friends, and was an aspiring actress who frequently got the lead of her school plays.

Since her father’s death, Amy feels like her whole universe is meaningless. Her spark for life has dimmed and all she wants to do is hide in her Anyone Can Whistle shirt and her old jeans.

At first, all Amy wants is to get the road trip over with until she falls for Roger and she never wants the road trip to end…

Meet Roger (Played by Logan Shroyer)

“The best discoveries always happened to the people who weren’t looking for them. Pinzón, who stumbled on Brazil while looking for the West Indies. Stanley happening on Victoria Falls. And you. Amy Curry, when I was least expecting her.”

-Roger

Roger is that guy who has that natural air of confidence about him. That is until you go on a road trip with him and you realize that he isn’t perfect but he is as close to perfection that you can ever get.

Currently, Roger is trying to deal with his own heartbreak. He just got dumped and he is currently trying to find closure.

Roger is the complete package of the perfect book boyfriend who has a thing for explorers, is allergic to goodbyes, has a huge appetite, and an amazing talent in making EPIC playlists! This guy is my mixtape soul mate and the girl that dumped him is insane because his taste in music is just enough for me to marry him!

Catfairy’s Pop Culture References

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour reminds me of one my favorite road trip movies of all time “Mad Love!” The playlist was also insanely good and they had a romantic and intense adventure that the two of them would never forget!

Matson’s Writing

Honestly, I can’t gush enough about Morgan Matson’s gift for plot and character development! The relationship between Amy and Roger isn’t insta-lovey at all and she really fleshes out the characters. Matson doesn’t rush into the action and focuses more on the inner conflict of both of these characters. She enveloped me into the emotional journey of Amy and Roger from the beginning to the very last page and left me grinning from ear to ear at the end of it all.

Catfairy’s Final Thoughts

“To the stars through adversity.”
-Kansas State Motto

I thought this book had so much to offer! The books that I adore the most are books that contain mixed media! The mixed media in this book was so interactive and I felt like I was right there with Amy and Roger in the Sunshine Mart gas station, lost on the loneliest road in Nevada, and eating a burger with them at In-N-Out! The description of the diners made my mouth water especially since where I live in Miami there are virtually no diners. The people they meet along the way were interesting characters and I love how they help Amy and Roger grow throughout the story. Of course, the one thing that topped the whole book was the playlists! I highly recommend reading this book with the playlists in the background!

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour will forever be the book that made me feel so many emotions! I felt the pain of Amy’s loss and the exhilaration she felt when she was able to push through the pain and find herself in the process. I felt Roger’s heartbreak and inadequacy and I loved how he found the strength to realize his own worth.

This story is also about a family that fell apart and are now slowly finding their way back to one another. Throughout the road trip, Amy realizes that her life is waiting for her and that she doesn’t have to hide anymore. Matson’s book is about breaking down those barriers and realizing that true love can resurface even through tragedy. The story of Amy and Roger is about literally ditching that itinerary and taking those detours where frankly…life really begins.

FIVE CHARLIE CHUCHI STARS!