The Girl from Everywhere (The Girl From Everywhere, #1)

by Heidi Heilig

[layawaydragon]

Trigger Warning: Calling Indigenous People “Savages”, White People Fucking Shit Up,

I read The Girl from Everywhere last October as Keep It Diverse’s first group read. I borrowed an electronic copy from my local library.

The Girl from Everywhere was picked as we’d all heard it was amazing and it’s #ownvoices. I think it’s clear from all the reviews, even the negative ones, how well the historical and Hawaiian aspect were crafted. I loved the descriptions of the island and finding out the history. Nix’s personal journey and part in Hawaii’s changes was heart-breaking and compelling.

The Gist:
➜Magic system is vague and unexplained. There is more learned as the story progressive but it’s like stretched instead of outlined.
➜A+ maps.
➜There are eyes in the water on the cover!
➜Love triangle and it will continue in the next book
➜Nix: Great MC, sympathetic, headstrong, has elaborate plans
➜Nix, as the daughter of an addict with survivor’s guilt over her mother, is written supremely well.
➜Kash: dashing, amusing, charming thief hero. Think Aaladin without the lying.
➜Nix & Kash = 3
➜Nix and her father’s relationship is complicated and changes throughout the novel. Both sides, the push and pull of love and addiction, is spot on from this daughter of an alcoholic and drug addict.
➜Loved learning all the mythology
➜Plot comes together wonderfully.
➜I’m not a huge fan of Blake, the newcomer and second love interest BUT his use on the ship is undeniable. So it’s not just about the romance.
➜It felt long but not overly slow. There are lots of moving pieces and threads to introduce, entwine, and revolve, which I thought worked and kept me entertained.
➜Loved the ending, very clever and unexpected but perfect.
➜I may not like love triangles but I don’t give two shits about Nix kissing both boys. There’s nothing but attraction and minor flirting between them all. Nix’s urge to experience and explore is understandable and kissing is a natural outcome. It’s too bad she didn’t meant any teenage girls though.
➜4 stars. Great adventure but you have to like history, mythology, and give it time.
➜The sequel, The Ship from Everywhere comes out FEb. 28th 2017, which is now just 4 weeks away! I will be continuing the series, though my priorities do lie in my review copies and the physical copies I already have.


Love triangles to illustrate a young woman’s torn decision between two options, usually one safe and one adventurous, is cliche. However, The Girl from Everywhere incorporates this with her mixed heritage and yearnings as well as a philosophical argument. Is paradise always lost or always destroyed? Is it fleeting and pointless to fight the changes of time or does it end because of people’s decisions?

I certainly know where I land, do you?