You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Time travel, myths & legends intertwined with history, and a daring protagonist all make for a fantastic read. I was not sure I would like this but was hooked quickly and am anxious to see the series continue.
I feel like I spent the entirety of The Girl from Everywhere waiting for something to happen. Or maybe waiting for the plot to happen?
The cover copy of The Girl from Everywhere promises certain things: time-travel shenanigans, adventure in a variety of places, a sweeping romance, and high stakes (quite literally, Nix's existence). But The Girl from Everywhere doesn't really deliver.
In part, it's because Nix and the Temptation spend like 80% of the book in one time and place: Hawaii, 1884. There's very little time-travel - a couple short scenes in New York and some ancient market in the beginning, and then a chapter or so in a legendary Chinese tomb - and very little adventure. Instead, there's a lot of thinking/worrying about things - including what is supposedly the book's primary threat: Nix's dad getting a map that might erase Nix from existence.
Another piece of it is that the initial hook - Nix's father is looking for a map that could lead to Nix being erased from existence - never really materializes into a driving force in the book. Nix talks about it a whole f***ing lot - but she never really does anything to try and prevent her father from getting this map.
There were definitely other things I disliked about The Girl from Everywhere. The magic system was poorly explained, constantly adding new facets that forced me to reevaluate my understanding of it rather than deepened it. The characters were...colorful, but somewhat two-dimensional. The romance - the love triangle, rather - is extremely flat and one dimensional; it feels more like an obligatory check in the romance box than anything that actually fit the story. But it was the fizzling of all the things that hooked me about the book's premise that I couldn't ever get past, and it was that that made The Girl from Everywhere so unsatisfying for me.
(It's funny, because if you strip away the time-travel aspect, The Girl from Everywhere is/could be a pretty good piece of historical fiction. It's quiet and introspective, but it's a really interesting look at Hawaii and particularly the last days of the Kingdom of Hawaii.)
Overall
There were definitely parts - scenes, moments, short strings of chapters - of The Girl from Everywhere that I really enjoyed. Heilig's prose is decent - maybe a bit purple/flowery at times - and she's clearly done her research on Hawaii and on the various other legends The Girl from Everywhere touches on.
For me, though, The Girl from Everywhere couldn't string enough of the good bits together to make a good book. If you're looking for a quiet historical fantasy that's lightly brushed with magic, The Girl from Everywhere might be a good choice. But if you're looking for the exciting time-travel adventure the cover copy promises - The Girl from Everywhere probably isn't it.
3.25/5
The cover copy of The Girl from Everywhere promises certain things: time-travel shenanigans, adventure in a variety of places, a sweeping romance, and high stakes (quite literally, Nix's existence). But The Girl from Everywhere doesn't really deliver.
In part, it's because Nix and the Temptation spend like 80% of the book in one time and place: Hawaii, 1884. There's very little time-travel - a couple short scenes in New York and some ancient market in the beginning, and then a chapter or so in a legendary Chinese tomb - and very little adventure. Instead, there's a lot of thinking/worrying about things - including what is supposedly the book's primary threat: Nix's dad getting a map that might erase Nix from existence.
Another piece of it is that the initial hook - Nix's father is looking for a map that could lead to Nix being erased from existence - never really materializes into a driving force in the book. Nix talks about it a whole f***ing lot - but she never really does anything to try and prevent her father from getting this map.
There were definitely other things I disliked about The Girl from Everywhere. The magic system was poorly explained, constantly adding new facets that forced me to reevaluate my understanding of it rather than deepened it. The characters were...colorful, but somewhat two-dimensional. The romance - the love triangle, rather - is extremely flat and one dimensional; it feels more like an obligatory check in the romance box than anything that actually fit the story. But it was the fizzling of all the things that hooked me about the book's premise that I couldn't ever get past, and it was that that made The Girl from Everywhere so unsatisfying for me.
(It's funny, because if you strip away the time-travel aspect, The Girl from Everywhere is/could be a pretty good piece of historical fiction. It's quiet and introspective, but it's a really interesting look at Hawaii and particularly the last days of the Kingdom of Hawaii.)
Overall
There were definitely parts - scenes, moments, short strings of chapters - of The Girl from Everywhere that I really enjoyed. Heilig's prose is decent - maybe a bit purple/flowery at times - and she's clearly done her research on Hawaii and on the various other legends The Girl from Everywhere touches on.
For me, though, The Girl from Everywhere couldn't string enough of the good bits together to make a good book. If you're looking for a quiet historical fantasy that's lightly brushed with magic, The Girl from Everywhere might be a good choice. But if you're looking for the exciting time-travel adventure the cover copy promises - The Girl from Everywhere probably isn't it.
3.25/5
In The Girl From Everywhere, Heidi Heilig introduces readers to a time traveling pirate ship, The Temptation, and its charming crew; made up of four chromatic characters, including two chromatic women (one still lovingly visited by the shade of her dead wife), and one remote, driven captain. Nix, the protagonist of this story, is Captain Slate's daughter, and spends her life terrified of disappearing. Slate's ultimate goal is to be reunited with Nix's dead mother even if it means Nix herself will cease to exist. Cue an SFF twist on a heist job, based on a real historical event that took place in Honolulu in 1884, designed to get Slate his heart's desire, which leaves Nix conflicted about whether to help or hinder his efforts.
The book's time travel premise helps to build a dramatic, exciting plot. Time travel also adds a great depth of emotion to the book. Bonds of family and friendship are tested to the limit, and the emotional fallout between Nix and Slate is particularly effective. Making time travel the main SFF element in this story also allows the book to reveal a historical period and place that is largely absent from SFF, and mainstream fiction in general. In doing so, it reminds readers that there is so much exciting history out there that would make a fantastic setting for fiction if treated sensitively.
The Girl From Everywhere is part pirate-heist romp, part family story, and part a political examination of history. This book is great for readers who love time travel books, but are looking for stories which show of the full breadth and depth of history.
The book's time travel premise helps to build a dramatic, exciting plot. Time travel also adds a great depth of emotion to the book. Bonds of family and friendship are tested to the limit, and the emotional fallout between Nix and Slate is particularly effective. Making time travel the main SFF element in this story also allows the book to reveal a historical period and place that is largely absent from SFF, and mainstream fiction in general. In doing so, it reminds readers that there is so much exciting history out there that would make a fantastic setting for fiction if treated sensitively.
The Girl From Everywhere is part pirate-heist romp, part family story, and part a political examination of history. This book is great for readers who love time travel books, but are looking for stories which show of the full breadth and depth of history.
This was okay. I was confused for most of the story and would’ve wanted more information about the rules of time travelling. I wasn’t really invested in the characters or the plot (mostly due to my confusion) and I think I’m not going to continue with the series.
I feel like I overestimated this one before I read it. Everyone couldn't stop saying how good it was and the summary makes me think the book will be all time-traveling ships and cool new places. Instead, they're docked in Hawaii for a good 3/4s of the book. Don't get me wrong, it was really cool to see what Hawaii was like in that year and I adore all the characters, but I thought more would happen. And it's advertised as a 'time-traveling pirate' book but they aren't actually pirates. There's even a line that says something like "we aren't really pirates, we're just pretending to be."
I am very excited for the next book though. I hope more happens with the endless possibilities.
I am very excited for the next book though. I hope more happens with the endless possibilities.
I really liked this! It didn't blow my mind, but it was a beautiful story of finding home and realizing what is important to you. I really liked Kash, he had some fantastic lines.
I absolutely loved this story of young Nix who lives aboard a pirate ship that can travel not only through space and time, but also through myth and imagination. The prose was elegant and flowing, the dialogue was both natural and oh-so-sparkly, and the scenery was simply incredible. Wherever the boat is docked, Heilig has a complete command of what she’s describing. Her research and attention to detail, her use of myths and history from around the globe - all of this comes together to weave a compelling story that is impressively evocative of fascinating times and places, even as it embraces the fantastic with beauty and charm.
This is the best book I have read so far in 2016 and I am so happy it was this one in particular. This is my new obsession, my new love, and my new favorite time travel story. There were no flaws within this and I need more of this author's stunning writing.
*Reread March 2020*
Didn’t love it as much this time, but I guess that’s because I’m older. I’m leaving my initial rating because young me loved this so much, and I’ll still look fondly back on it.
*Reread March 2020*
Didn’t love it as much this time, but I guess that’s because I’m older. I’m leaving my initial rating because young me loved this so much, and I’ll still look fondly back on it.
Nix and her father live on a magical ship that can take them anywhere in time or place, as long as they have a map and they believe the map will take them there. Nix’s Dad is an opium addict on a quest that will take him back to Nix’s mother, before she died in childbirth. Nix doesn’t know how to feel about this, as she may cease to exist if her father gets his heart’s desire.
I picked this up knowing little about it. Sadly, I’m not the target audience, as I tend not to enjoy time travel stories. I find them confusing and often just a bit too convenient. Add in a tepid love triangle and I lose interest pretty quickly.
I picked this up knowing little about it. Sadly, I’m not the target audience, as I tend not to enjoy time travel stories. I find them confusing and often just a bit too convenient. Add in a tepid love triangle and I lose interest pretty quickly.
This was gentle and delightful. A time-travelling pirate ship gets enmeshed in Victorian-era Hawaiian politics, but as with all time-travel books, it's more about the characters, what they're chasing through time, who they are at the centre of the whirl of time and place. The titular girl is a wonderful knot of yearning and fear, and her relationships with her father, her friends, her crewmates were all delicately but deeply carved. My niggles were all pretty minor - there was some zany paragraphing errors in my copy that occasionally made it unclear who was speaking; and the romance was surprisingly sweet for such a born-of-fairytales bodice-ripping love interest. But perhaps that, too, is the point.