13 Little Blue Envelopes (13 Little Blue Envelopes #1)

Release Date: October 1st, 2006
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 319
Age Group: 13+
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Other Books in this Series: The Last Little Blue Envelope
Recommended for: People who enjoyed The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau
Cover Love: 2/5
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

When Ginny receives thirteen little blue envelopes and instructions to buy a plane ticket to London, she knows something exciting is going to happen. What Ginny doesn't know is that she will have the adventure of her life and it will change her in more ways than one. Life and love are waiting for her across the Atlantic, and the thirteen little blue envelopes are the key to finding them in this funny, romantic, heartbreaking novel.-GOODREADS

When you combine Maureen Johnson's simplistic, breath-taking style of writing with a trip around Europe and thirteen letters from a dead aunt, the result is chemistry in the making. 

Seriously. I could feel the atoms bouncing around in my eyes as I flipped each page.

Ginny's journey throughout Europe is different from anything I've ever read or seen. Sure, there was Cars 2, and there were those Rick Steve shows when I was bored. But do we ever get to see Norway? No. Do we ever learn about hostels? Nope. Were there any cute guys I kept imagining as Rupert Grint appearing on next to every page? Definitely not.

The thing is, in 13 Little Blue Envelopes, you don't feel like a tourist at all. You're just... Ginny.

This book could be a tentative choice for some readers. Her style is simplistic and sometimes bouncy, but it creates a wholesome effect that makes you believe in all the little things that the world offers. The romance is basic and spontaneous, the writing funny and sharp, and the art pretty visible for a book made of words.

Sure, I was skeptical, especially since Alloy Entertainment published Pretty Little Liars as well. (No offense, but... eh.)

But 13 Little Blue Envelopes is so different, because it reminds me of what it's like for a book to spark, the words to fall off the page, and the world to become so much more magical-er because of it.

If you haven't read 13 Little Blue Envelopes, READ IT. I mean it. I mean it as much as I want to read the sequel(s)? which is a lot.
As big as the world.