Andi's ABCs

So I’m well aware that this book has been out forever but I just got to it now and I have to say it was an adorable story. I’m not 100% sure what the point of the envelopes were and I wasn’t a fan of the abrupt ending, but all in all a cute story that was a fun, quick read.

The book is about Ginny, a shy girl from NJ that has received a blue envelope from her crazy, over the top, recently deceased aunt. Ginny has one task and it’s to go to New York and retrieve a package from a lady at a restaurant and then get on a plane to London. Doing as she is told she opens the package on the plane and inside there are 13 little blue envelopes, each with its own task. Ginny must complete her task in the envelope and then she can open the next one. Each envelope leads her to a new locale and to learning a little bit more about herself. With the help of Richard, her aunt’s friend in London, Keith, a boy she meets on one of her quests, and a whole host of strangers she encounters, Ginny finds out that she isn’t the shy, uncertain girl she thought she was. Her aunt isn’t the person that made her more interesting. She can be interesting all on her own. All she needed was a little push to see that.

I really liked the character of Ginny. She was fearless in a way that wasn’t in your face. I admired the fact that she took this enormous chance and went to Europe all on her own and followed all of these tasks, some completely random, and did it when she knew it was out of her comfort zone. She went every where and she did it on faith. Took a plane over the ocean and went on her gut after that relying on the help of strangers along the way. I mean it wasn’t really plausible that her parents would actually let her do any of this, but knowing this is a book I will put that aside and focus on that fact that I am actually jealous of Ginny. She did something I would never do in a million years and took chances with the unknown. Realistic or not I envied her and that made me like her.

Now Keith I wasn’t that crazy about. There was something about him that I can’t put my finger on but it just turned me off. I don’t know if he was just one dimensional or if they didn’t really spend enough time together to actually let me get to know him, but he just left me cold. He was kind of a punk and all over the place. He did his own thing and why Ginny was crazy about him I just couldn’t understand. She was so much more then Keith and yet she was almost obsessed with him in a strange way. I just didn’t get the connection and that makes me sad because let’s face it…I’m a sucker for a romance/love story

What I was crazy about was the European travels. I’ve never been the kind of person that craves going to Europe. I mean I would kill to go to Santorini but that’s really about it. But after reading about Ginny’s travels and the places she’s gone, it made me rethink my desire to travel across the ocean. Between Italy and London and Amsterdam, I was hooked. I could envision ever place Johnson brought us to in this story and I wanted to go to more. She brought a livelihood to Europe I had never really encountered and I loved it. Almost made the locations into a main character and I found that charming.

To close, 13 Little Blue Envelopes was about seeing just how far you are willing to push yourself and see what you can get out of it in return. It was a cute, quick read and I will certainly read the 2nd one at some point soon.