Wanderlove

by Kirsten Hubbard

Eighteen-year-old Bria wants to be a Global Vagabond. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. So when Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspoken sister, Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path. Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel through Mayan villages and remote Belizean islands, they discover they're both seeking to leave behind the old versions of themselves. The secret to escaping the past, Rowan's found, is to keep moving forward. But Bria realizes she can't run forever. At some point, you have to look back.

• ISBN10: 0385739389
• ISBN13: 9780385739382
• Publish Date: 12 March 2013 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Ember
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780385739382

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Bria was running from both her past and her future. She thought Central America would take her far enough away from her problems, that she could have fun, let loose, forget it all. But, in her effort to escape, she actually found herself and so much more.

This was a bit of a different take on the high school senior year struggle. Bria had a plan. She and her boyfriend were going to apply to and attend art school together, and she would be able to hone her craft and channel her passion. Then, Toby applied to a different art school, and he broke up with her. She was hurt, angry, and confused, and made some rash decisions while dealing with the pain. The separation from her life in California was great for Bria. It gave her the time and distance to really examine not only her relationship with Toby, but with everyone else in her life, and she started to see the truth of the situation.

Star and Rowan opened her eyes not only to a whole new world, but a whole new way of looking at things. Her journey was not without many bumps and setbacks, but each brought her closer to seeing her past and her future more clearly.

Though, I had an idea of came after for Rowan and Bria, I would have liked a bit more from the ending. Otherwise, I rather enjoyed my backpacking tour of Central America.

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[jeannamichel]

A lovely travel story that includes a Loch Ness Monster, an artist, and pounds of bananas. Review to come.

[Chelsea]

I don't think I would call this book awesome or amazing but I did enjoy myself while reading. I liked that it was set somewhere I was unfamiliar with and I loved the idea of travelling around. I didn't like the main character all that much (kind of annoying and couldn't do anything herself) but I did like the other characters we met. If you can look past an annoying main character then I'd recommend this book for travel lovers.

[nitzan_schwarz]

I won this book in a giveaways (SQUEE!) a while back~
Wanderlove is a story of a girl learning to become independent, of finding out just what she can do and how strong she can really be, and of healing.
WHAT I LIKED

There is definitely something charming about this whole story.

First, there is the TRAVELING. It was really lovely seeing all these different places I've never been to through the eyes of the characters. I always enjoy travel books because I feel like it's me going far and wide and seeing all these sights ;) And here, it was ten times more beautiful both because of the sights and how we got to see them (We saw things only 'expert backpackers do', but saw them with the excitement and freshness of a traveling newbie)

And to the sights were added THE DRAWINGS
The book is filled with illustrations, as Bria, the main character is an artist. I was told the author is the one who drew them, and they really are gorgeous and added to the story...

To read this review and more, go to my blog Drugs Called Books