Amy & Roger's Epic Detour

by Morgan Matson

After the death of her father, Amy, a high school student and Roger, a college freshman, set out on a carefully planned road trip from California to Connecticut, but wind up taking many detours, forcing Amy to face her worst fears and come to terms with her grief and guilt.

• ISBN10: 1416990666
• ISBN13: 9781416990666
• Publish Date: 3 May 2011 (first published 4 May 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Edition: Reprint ed.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 343
• Language: English

Reviews

[layawaydragon]

Read for free on Riveted Lit, May 2019. Appears to be a road trip theme, instead of something important like AAPI or Austism...

I DNFd this after they left Yellowstone. It's so fucking bland! And this ~mystery~ behind Amy's issue with driving & cars is played out and obvious. Just fucking tell us, the readers, instead of trying to be cute or sneaky. I might've had some sympathy & connection with her.

But then again, she was a young sheltered Jr and couldn't speak up for herself so maybe not.

And Roger is white boy hot apparently with an ex girlfriend problem. He's oblivious to Amy being uncomfortable. Great....just great.

[ross91]

Cute. I was glad the romance wasn't the focal point of this book. I have a soft spot for road trip books and movies.

[pagingserenity]

In five words: Cute novel about self discovery.

I thought Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour was a really cute read that filled me with wanderlust. Legit, I wanted to take a plane out to Cali and rent a car to drive back home.

I really liked the little scrapbook aspect of it. All the little extras, the report cards, the receipts, pictures, postcards, playlists, etc, really added another dimension to the book. It made the story more real in a way that the words couldn’t.

As for Amy and Roger themselves… well. Here is where we run into a little problem. While I could connect to both of them in many ways, I still found Amy, I don’t know, she annoyed me a little. I just constantly wanted to tell her “Amy, it’s time to put your big girl pants on”. Roger was okay, meh. He was nice. He sounded hot. But besides that? Meh. They both were a bit flat to me.

The romance was really fluffy and cute. But if I’m completely honest, it’s one the aspects of the book that I liked the least. It didn’t feel well constructed. It was very predictable and Roger’s pre-road trip love life situation and how he dealt with it later really made me want to facepalm repeatedly. Are all boys that dumb and clueless?

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour did have a really nice theme of self-discovery. It contained a lot of important messages. But overall, as a whole, it was pretty average. Nothing really stood out to me and it wasn’t a really memorable read.

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour is a fun read and had an epic road trip. Some of the romance was cute (and other parts of it frustrating) and while it had characters that were easy to connect, they were a bit undeveloped. Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour was a nice story about self-discovery, but in the end, it is just like every other contemporary novel.

To read more reviews like this one and other bookish things, visit my blog Paging Serenity.

[Leah]

I've been wanting to read Amy & Roger's Epic Detour for AGES. Probably since it was released in 2010 - yes, SIX YEARS. But for one reason or another, I've never gotten around to it (and, sadly, that can be attributed to many, many books I own/don't own/want to own etc). BUT, I got it from the library, with it's manic, insanely gorgeous pink cover (not the same as the one above) and I read it! Just like that. If only it was that easy for all the other books I own, eh?

I absolutely LOVE road trip books. I love the idea of heading to America, renting a car or camper van and just driving through every single state. It would be epic. So it's fair to say I was really looking forward to Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, especially since they discarded Amy's moms plans, and WENT ON A DETOUR. It took them on this amazing journey, especially poignant and powerful after what Amy went through, and the whole reason they're now moving to Connecticut, and it was nice to see her get away from all of that, and for Roger to drive without asking too many questions. Yes, everything Amy had gone through was always present, and at times made me tear up, but it also meant that she got to see some amazing sights and meet some amazing people on their trip, and forget about her worries if only for a little bit.

If I'm honest it took me a little bit to get into Amy & Roger's Epic Detour - Amy's so sad, and she and Roger barely know each other, but as the road trip continues and they make more detours, and end up in more crazy, amazing places, and they get to know each other better and all of a sudden I couldn't put it down. It just got under my skin, and soon I was just dying to get finished and also, at the same time, terrified to finish because HOW DO YOU END A ROAD TRIP BOOK WHEN THE TWO LIVE IN SEPARATE STATES? It's safe to say, I would like a sequel, please and thank you.

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour turned into a fantastic read. All the different states were fabulous to visit, and I loved all the weird and wonderful characters we met - Bron, Drew, Walcott, Lucien. I also loved the scrapbook aspect, with pictures, notes, playlists incorporated into the book, it was such a special addition to the book. Matson is such an emotional writer, and what Amy went through really broke my heart, and brought tears to my eyes. The connection between Amy and Roger was magical, and a lot of what made this novel work. This was such a good book, and I can't believe I waited so long to read it, but it was so worth the wait and I can't wait to devour the rest of Morgan's fabulous novels.

[Bianca]

When you’re never going to see someone again, it’s not the good-bye that matters. What matters is that you’re never going to be able to say anything else to them. And you’re left with an eternal unfinished conversation.

— Well... that wasn't really epic.

[maeyuka]

Awh no, did it seriously end like this? I need more, I want to know more. Why would you end a book like this ;;
This book took me a while to read, but mostly because I haven't been in reading mood lately, but this was such a fun light read. Makes me want to go on a road trip with someone and have an amazing time.

[Sam@WLABB]

I just did not want this book to end!

This is the story about Amy. Her world broke into a million pieces one morning in March. We catch up with her in June, when she must leave her home in California and venture to her new home in Connecticut. She will be making this trip with a friend of the family, Roger. She thought it would be a most painful experience, but when Roger and Amy decide to deviate from her mother's itinerary, Amy begins to put her life back together, piece by piece, with the help of Roger and a colorful cast of characters they meet along the way.

This is a beautiful story of being broken and healing; of being lost, but finding yourself; of having no hope, but becoming hopeful. Roger and Amy traveled through more than 10 states and along the way, they helped each other overcome some of the major stumbling blocks in their lives. My only complaint about this story, would be that I wanted more. I did not want my adventure with Amy and Roger to end, but it had to. I would love a novella to catch me up on what happened after. -- sigh --

[Mercy]

Primer libro de este tipo que leo y realmente me ha gustado, pero no tanto como esperaba. La historia no me llegó o conmovió especialmente. Pero fue divertido de leer. Y también, tuve un enorme problema con el final, demasiado abierto.
Pero en general, no es una mala lectura.

[girlinthepages]

I’ve heard so much about Matson over the past few weeks due to her upcoming release of Since You’ve Been Gone, so I was determined to get my hands on one of her books and try out her contemporary style myself! And I was pleasantly surprised, because not only was the book charming, but it’s the best road trip book I’ve ever read. Matson does an incredible job making you really feel like you’re on the road with Amy and Roger, and gives incredible purpose to each stop they make, whether it’s Yosemite or a tiny gas station on highway 50.

This book is classified as a romance by my library, but it’s really more about self-discovery. Matson does a great job weighing romance and grief and comedy in her narrative, and there’s a time and place for the romance but it doesn’t take over the story. I was so glad this book doesn’t suffer from a case of insta-love! Also, Amy the protagonist’s family is a real theme throughout the book, and though there’s no parents physically present on the road trip, Matson doesn’t fall into the parents-conveniently-not-involved-in-their-children’s-lives plot device. Basically, Matson is great at avoiding a lot of the YA clichés, and it’s one of the reasons why I’ll be returning to her novels!

I loved getting to experience Amy thoroughly as a character despite the narrative only taking place over the course of a handful of days. While Amy isn’t my favorite first-person narrator, it’s fun to watch her grow emotionally over the course of the trip and see her take away something new with every place they visit. Roger, too, was endearing and just like Amy, the reader develops a gradual relationship with him over the course of the trip. I guess you could say Matson writes character development with excellent timing, and you really feel a true growth like when you gradually get to know someone in real life. The one thing I did not like about Amy’s character is at times her internal dialogue seemed a little melodramatic, such as whenever she was alone with Roger she was over-the-top paranoid and nervous, despite the fact that she was by no means inexperienced when it came to boys. I also liked that Matson wrote characters with varying levels of experience with intimacy, and that Amy wasn’t your typical naive and impressionable YA heroine. So yay for Matson avoiding some character cliche’s as well!

The book has a rather abrupt ending, which I really liked. The ambiguity really lets the story of the trip speak for itself in the reader’s mind, rather than trying to wrap everything up with a cheesy or disappointing ending. Matson really wrote a road trip novel about the journey rather than the destination, and it’s the small stops along the middle of the novel that will live in reader’s memories, rather than a grand finale that overshadows the meat of the story.

What I Liked:

-All the fun extras! There’s receipt stubs, playlists, and funny little post cards written by Roger and Amy that preface each chapter that were great additions to making the reader feel engaged with the trip.
-Avoidance of a lot of YA clichés
-Romance doesn’t overshadow the story
-Amazing settings!

What I Didn’t:

-Amy’s internal monologue could seem more like a 14 year old’s than a 17 year old’s at times
-I wish Roger’s character could have been developed a bit more, rather than hearing about his constant preoccupation with another character
-It didn’t focus on grief as much as I thought it would
-I just didn't feel profoundly moved or attached by the end of the book

Overall: This book was a perfect summer read, fast paced without delving too deep into some of the heavier themes brought up. I’ll be picking up Matson’s other books, but it wasn’t the most profound or memorable novel about loss and love that I’ve read.

[Nessa Luna]

Read this review, and many more on my blog October Tune!

Every time I read a book about road trips, I feel like going on a road trip myself. After Saving June I wanted to go, and after Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes I just hoped someone would do that to me too, leave me little blue envelopes to tell me where to go and what to do. The fact that I don’t have a driver’s licence, or a car makes it a bit more complicated. Oh well, perhaps in the future!

This is why I was really enthusiastic about reading Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour, because it was about a road trip, and I just wanted to read more road trip books. This book also has a little extra something; it has receipts, pictures, postcards, and information about the states they went through in between the pages of the book. At the beginning of the story, Amy had gotten a sort of scrapbook from her mum, to use during the trip. Her mum had also given her directions on how to drive, and how to get from California to Connecticut in four days, but this book wouldn’t have been called ‘Amy & Roger’s Epic DETOUR’ if they hadn’t decided to completely ignore those instructions, and make up their own route instead.

Throughout the story, Amy and Roger meet new people (mostly Amy’s the one meeting new people, aka Roger’s friends), eating local food, spending a lot of money on snacks, burger, fries; and they just have a lot of fun. They spend a night at Yosemite park, drive all the way through Nevada on the Loneliest road in America, and eat in one of the most expensive restaurants in Louisville. The receipts, playlists and pictures just complete the story, in my opinion.

Out of all the characters, I could relate to Amy the most. She is probably just as ‘awkward’ around people as I am. Not knowing what to say, how to say it, not knowing what to do in certain situations, feeling awkward when strange people hug you out of nowhere, yeah I felt like I was reading a story about myself to be honest (except for the whole awesome road trip part, oh I would have loved that to be true).

Like I said earlier, I liked the playlists that Amy and Roger listened to during driving, I recognized some of the songs, and I saw that there were two songs by Jack’s Mannequin in two of the playlists, and I just really love Jack’s Mannequin! I am thinking about making a playlist with all the songs from this story, so I can listen to them when I reread the story, and actually pretend I am in the car with them!

This story also had some flashbacks, in which you found out more about Amy’s family, and about the accident her dad died in. Though I normally don’t like flashbacks (especially if they’re just randomly thrown into the story, with no proper announcement), I kinda liked it in this book. Normally, it would take you out of the story completely, but I was just so curious to find out what happened to Amy’s dad, that it didn’t bother me at all.

If there was one thing I didn’t like, it was the way Hadley treated Roger throughout the story (Hadley is Roger’s ex-girlfriend). And the way the book ended, I kinda wanted to find out what Amy’s mum thought of the whole detour, and I just wanted to read more about Charlie, Amy’s twin brother. Other than that, I really enjoyed the story, and I recommend it to everyone who wants to read a nice road trip story!