Girl At Sea

by Maureen Johnson

[Amanda]

3.5

Oh, man. When the main character nicknamed someone else "haircut," I knew I was in for a good time. There is a lot about this book that reminds me of following Maureen on Twitter. (Which I love, by the way. She's amazing and I want to be like her when I grow up.) It makes me wonder if that colors my perception of this book--would I feel the same way about the quirkiness of this book if I didn't follow Maureen?

Girl at Sea is a pretty standard contemporary. Nothing groundbreaking, but just good fun. It's more of a feel good book, I think. One you can curl up with and read and not feel dragged down by any overwhelming emotion. Sometimes you need that. (And I did.) I liked some of the underlying messages here and I even liked the love triangle. YES, I JUST SAID THAT. So what? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

Clio (along with the other characters) were fun. I liked the introduction of the past letters here. Though--now that I think about it--there could have been even more, and I wouldn't have minded. But it was tied in nicely, and I liked that. (But I like the inclusion of history in general, so there's that.) I don't think that Girl at Sea ever provides a really in-depth character study, but it doesn't matter: this book is just plain fun with a side of quirk. I needed something lighthearted, and Girl at Sea hit the spot.