Moments of Gleeful Grace–Book Reviews: The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig Moments of Gleeful Grace—Book Review

The Girl from Everywhere

by Heidi Heilig
It was the kind of August day that hinted at monsoons, and the year was 1774, though not for very much longer.
Sixteen-year-old Nix Song is a time-traveller. She, her father and their crew of time refugees travel the world aboard The Temptation, a glorious pirate ship stuffed with treasures both typical and mythical. Old maps allow Nix and her father to navigate not just to distant lands, but distant times - although a map will only take you somewhere once. And Nix's father is only interested in one time, and one place: Honolulu 1868. A time before Nix was born, and her mother was alive. Something that puts Nix's existence rather dangerously in question...
Nix has grown used to her father's obsession, but only because she's convinced it can't work. But then a map falls into her father's lap that changes everything. And when Nix refuses to help, her father threatens to maroon Kashmir, her only friend (and perhaps, only love) in a time where Nix will never be able to find him. And if Nix has learned one thing, it's that losing the person you love is a torment that no one can withstand. Nix must work out what she wants, who she is, and where she really belongs before time runs out on her forever.

This book is greatly anticipated on the interweb (Time travel! Maps! Pirate ship! Diversity!!!) and has received many positive reviews, and being the gullible fool I am, I set my expectation mode to ULTRA HIGH. I love time-travel! There are so many places I'd love to visit if I had a time machine! While I’m not saying The Girl from Everywhere is a disappointment, it fell just a little short of my salivating expectations.

Premise

A crew of time-travelers hopping from time periods through historically accurate maps. An obsessed man whose sole purpose is to get his dead wife back (like Orpheus in Greek myth!). A protagonist whose existence may be wiped out if this man succeeds....The Girl from Everywhere holds such glorious promises.

Character

Nix Song is the protagonist whose whole life is spent time-traveling with her father on their pirate ship, the Temptation. She’s torn between helping her father bring her deceased mother back to life AND risking her own life in the process, because mindbending time paradoxes and whatnot. Throughout the book, I felt very ambivalent about Nix; sometimes I don’t even like her or care what happens to her. At the beginning of the book, I thought to myself, “hey, this Nix girl isn't bad at all! This could be awesome!” While she has the potential of being a complex, sassy, and lovable character, she just somehow doesn’t develop into that ideal female protag state. Instead, she regresses into a bland, annoying character whose presence is all but gone in the book. What happened?! In the end, the protagonist became the dullest character outshone by everyone else save one (we will get to him eventually, yes we will).

Kashmir is Nix’s best friend and probably the only driving force that kept me going through this book. He is vivid, saucy, and has a ton of comebacks at the ready, but he's extremely nice & sweet to Nix. Whenever he is in the scene, I find myself awww-ing and sighhhh-ing. His charming presence provides the perfect comic (?) relief and romantic spark for this book. And yes, he’s a love interest for Nix, so I’m shipping Kashmir and Nix even though there isn't much Nix to ship.

Slate is Nix’s father and the captain of the Temptation. He’s the one who can Navigate through time, but he’s also extremely dependent on Nix to provide practical solutions to their problems like money, maps, and the like. Slate fell in love with Nix’s mother Lin in Honolulu, but after he left to prepare financially for their happily-ever-after, Lin died after giving birth to Nix. After that, Slate’s only wish is to get back to Honolulu, 1868 to save Lin from dying. I love the combination of his obsessive weakness and his fate of ultimately choosing between Lin and Nix, the two most important persons in his life.

Blake is the annoying character forced upon me who makes me question the purpose of his existence at every twist and turn. When he bumps into Nix and we’re slapped in the face with some physical description (pale, tall, handsome, artistic, etc, etc) I knew something’s gone horribly wrong. There’s nothing I could do except internally shriek, “Don’t do it, Heilig, don’t do it!” But yes, it’s a love triangle featuring Nix, Kashmir, and Blake. This weak little judgmental person named Blake jumps up everywhere and shoves his disapproving, overprotective, and patronizing (who gave you the right to be overprotective anyway, Blake?) face into the readers, and I can’t wait for him to disappear.

But back to the positives! The diversity in this book is exceptional. Nix is half-Chinese, Kashmir is Persian, and there's also an African lady and a Chinese sailor on board. And have I mentioned the book is set in Hawaii?

Setting

Yes! Hawaii! I’m so happy to read about a place I’m not familiar with, and it’s clear the author has done a ton of research for the place. She cleverly incorporates some local politics into the plot, which also makes the world-building more realistic, because what’s a world without some shady old men plotting conspiracies? The setting is also slightly paranormal, with a tiny dragon, an all-healing bird, and some terracotta warriors Nix and crew stole that came alive. This world is so rich and humid and beautiful and awesome...

Pacing

The pacing is weird—I'm not gonna lie—and makes the plot very confusing at times. The first 40% of the book is incredible, but after that point I started to not get the plot anymore. It could have been better if the author gave us more explanations on things that truly mattered (like how the time paradox actually works in this book, why do maps have to be made in the specific time period you want to visit, and why can’t Nix’s father find a map that’s dated slightly earlier than 1868 to get Lin to safety instead of "1868 sharp," like does it have to be 1868 instead of 1860?) instead of useless things like what Nix's ballgown looks like. The characters end up racing around doing stuff, and I can only sit there quietly contemplating why. I also didn’t like the climax of the book, which devolved into “let the guys handle all this dangerous stuff. You’re a girl, Nix, so just stay on the ship in safety and let us guys sacrifice ourselves and save the day.” WUT. EVEN. JUST. NO.

Final Thoughts

The Girl from Everywhere has a compelling premise, a diverse cast of characters, and a fascinating setting. While the plot leaves ~~a lot~~ something to be desired, once you’re invested in the characters’ adventures, you’ll want to know how they resolve the problem.