Review: The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

The Last Little Blue Envelope (Little Blue Envelopes, #2) by Maureen Johnson
282 pages, Kindle Edition
Finished in Sept. 2012
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Adventure, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age
Synopsis via Goodreads:

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.

Motivation to Read It: My school started a new program this year called Reading Scholars, so that influenced me a little bit. Plus I've been wanting to read this one since I finished 13 Little Blue Envelopes.

Review: It took me two whole months to find time to finish this book, but school didn't keep it from being an awesome sequel to 13 Little Blue Envelopes. I'm glad that I got a chance to read this series! It's like travelling to Europe with Ginny instead of just reading about her and her friends going. I also learned some things from Ginny's experiences.

Ginny left us in teh last novel with her backpack being stolen and all the letters, including the unread 13th letter, being in the bag as well. Now Oliver, an Englander, contacts her saying that they should meet so he can give her the letter. She goes and discovers that the last letter requires her to travel across Europe once again. This time, however, she brings along Oliver, Keith (remember him?), and Keith's new girlfriend Ellis. Talk about some good reading!

The characters were even better this time around than they were in the first book. Ginny isn't paranoid anymore, and Keith's mixed feelings are enough to keep anyone interested. Oliver had his moments where he seemed as if he actually cared, but at other times he was just being a smart-alick. Even though, at first, I wanted Ginny and Keith to further their "kind-of-something," Ellis was such a sweetheart. She admired Ginny from the stories Keith had told about her and always tried to be as helpful as she could be the entire time they traveled.

The plot was, to me, more fast-paced than the first book. They went to the European countries so fast, and the trips were pretty much a paragraph long, then they explained what happened while they were there. Not that this was a bad thing of course. I'm not too fond of books that move super slow, so it was nice to travel at top speed. Maureen describes the settings, actions, and characters very well. The way they all interacted with each other and their surroundings was definitely entertaining.

Hopefully -- just maybe -- Johnson will decide to write a third book following Ginny. I'm not sure how she could continue the series with the same concept, but I'm sure she'd come up with something truly spectacular!

Satisfying eBook

(Rating System)

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Hey guys!!! I realize that it has been absolutely FOREVER since I posted a review on here, and I'm super-duper-sorry for that. Forgive me?
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13 Little Blue Envelopes (Little Blue Envelope, #1)
By Maureen Johnson
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books, 2005
319 pages, Kindle Edition
Date Finished: 13/5/2012
Genres: YA, Adventure, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age

When Ginny receives 13 little blue envelopes with instructions to buy a plane ticket to London, she's soon on an adventure that will change her in more ways than one.
~from goodreads.com~

Motivation to Read It: I've had this novel on my Kindle for quite a long time, and it was the Moderator Book of the Month in one of my groups on GoodReads.

Review: Virginia Blackstone, aka Ginny, is your regular, shy, American teenager girl. She had a runaway aunt that died after she left the U.S. and didn't communicate with anyone back home. One day, Ginny gets a letter from her aunt -- months after she's passed. There are thirteen letters in all, each one containing a task that Ginny has to complete before she can open the next letter. These letters take Ginny on a European journey she probably never would've taken on her own.

I loved Ginny's character. She kind of reminded me of myself (the shyness), but I think that was the only thing that I could relate to. I would have been scared poopless if I had to go around Europe following orders from a dead relative without knowing what to expect next. Ginny was pretty brave for that.

The plot was amazing. Once I started reading, I couldn't put my Kindle down. I really didn't expect half of that stuff to happen, especially when she got to Amsterdam. Everything that happens keeps you wondering what Johnson makes her characters do next.

Speaking of characters, I loved the ones in this novel. Especially Keith. At first, I didn't like him that much, but I grew to love him. And Richard. Richard was amazing. I can't really say much about the characters without giving away part of the book, so I'll leave off there :).

Now my goal is to get ahold of The Last Little Blue Envelope, the sequel. I'm sure it'll be absolutely ahmazing! You should definitely try to get this novel. I think you'll really enjoy it :D

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