The Girl from Everywhere was a book I had wanted to read for a long time. The premise, with its promise of time-travelling pirates and maps, sounded ridiculously perfect… unfortunately, it just did not hit the spot for me. Like a lot of other reviewers, I had a massive problem with the execution of this premise. These characters are not really pirates to start with but the time travel lore, which was really what I was here for, was a blurry, glazed-over mess. I did like the idea of using maps to travel through time and space, and using a pirate ship to channel that was even better, but the lore was too underdeveloped for my tastes. I had too many questions! I know that Nix is unfamiliar with the actual process of Navigating - and I can forgive the fuzziness of that for that reason - but the lack of time-travel discussions or guidelines was what let this down for me. Nix was meant to be the ship’s historian and the crew’s need to change their dress and mannerisms (etc) when they travelled indicated that there was some need to blend into the timeline. What were the repercussions if they didn’t though? It never discussed how they could interact with the people and places in the past without affecting the future, despite Nix’s fear that she may be erased from history. The story had such potential but brushing over the particulars of the time travel lore (in this particular story) made me too frustrated. I wanted so much for more from the story.

The fact that the plotline was oddly paced also made it hard for me to get engaged in the story. I did enjoy the book in general, and while I was somewhat attached to the characters and interested in seeing where the story was going, I never found myself completely immersed. The heist aspect of the story should have been thrilling since it is so much up my alley, but I never found myself particularly invested. I found the story was too busy skating around the time travel contradictions and romantic tension to focus on the unfurling action. It was really disappointing.

I was definitely the characters that made the story so enjoyable. I was a massive fan of all of them, obviously excluding Blake’s father. I thought that he was a very mild antagonist. He did not have much of a personality, let alone any sort of menacing presence in the story. While he did force our characters down a path they did not necessarily want to be on, he was not nearly as villainous or manipulative as he needed to be. Kashmir was obviously my favourite character. I think he was everyone’s favourite! I loved that he was a little morally grey with his kleptomaniac nature but his sassy charm was irresistible. I definitely shipped him with Nix but I felt that the actual romance - particularly

their kiss

- was incredibly underwhelming. The rest of the crew were also fantastic. Bee was hilarious, and I liked how accepting everyone one was of her ghost-wife, Ayen. I did not connect to Slate on a personal level but I always enjoy complex parent-child relationships. Nix and Slate’s relationship was far from traditional but it was interesting and well-written so I appreciated it for what it was.

I do need to address the love triangle situation, though. It was as unnecessary and ridiculous as every other love triangle. It caused needless drama and made me roll my eyes on multiple occasions. However, unlike seemingly every other reviewer, I genuinely liked Blake. I did not think he lacked a personality like everyone else does. In fact, I found him sweet, caring and funny. If Kashmir had not been on the scene, I would have happily shipped him with Nix. I liked that he was an awkward flirt, sweet-natured, not racially prejudiced like so many of his historical counterparts, and made efforts to befriend Nix. Most importantly, he tried to help her out when he thought she was in danger. Kashmir made a big deal out of it but in the end, the situation looked dodgy and Blake stepped in to try and help Nix - that’s what being a good friend is all about. Yes, he obviously liked Nix. Was it his fault that Kashmir did too and Nix was still coming to terms with her feelings about Kashmir? No, not in the slightest. He did nothing wrong - unlike sooo many YA love interests I can name - so I did not find him irritating in the slightest. I actually rather liked him.

Overall?

I enjoyed The Girl from Everywhere but I was disappointed by the execution of the premise. The plotline dragged and skimmed over the most interesting parts: the heist, the time travel, pirates. I thought the ending was all kinds of meh and storywise I was expecting a lot more. The characters did largely make up for it, though. I loved our protagonist and both of her LIs as individuals. The love triangle did annoy me but Bee, Rotgut and Slate definitely distracted me from that irritation (for the most part). I definitely plan on picking up the sequel as soon as possible and I am definitely interested in seeing what Heilig will come up with next.

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.