13 Little Blue Envelopes (Little Blue Envelope #1)
User reviews
Who doesn't like the idea of a dead relative leaving a will that includes money and a little bit of adventure? It was interesting in the beginning but the plot was lost in all the chaos, and misfortunes that the main character faces. Cool book for those of you that like traveling, makes you want to visit all those places but really has no point.
Summary: Shy, average Ginny has been sent 13 little blue envelopes by her deceased aunt, Peg, to go on an adventure/game through Aunt Peg's carefree life. Aunt Peg has given instructions for Ginny to follow: don't bring guidebooks, you can't call home, you can't bring maps, etc. Ginny has to retrace the steps of her artist aunt's life, one city at a time, traveling all over Europe. Along the way Ginny meets some interesting characters: Aunt Peg's idol Mari, Richard (who Aunt Peg was roommates with), she finds herself living with the robotic family of the Knapps and Australians going as they pleased around Europe as well. She meets a boy, Keith, as well, who is a Londoner whom she falls for. Throughout the trip Ginny has to comply with specific tasks described in the envelopes her aunt wrote. At the end, Ginny has grown as a person and will see herself in a whole different way.
My Thoughts (may contain spoilers): 13 Little Blue Envelopes is a charming book. Some parts are less great than others and some parts are very predictable and used a lot in books (Ginny being pushed to sing on karaoke even though she's shy, etc). We didn't see much of Keith, which I wanted more of. The Knapps were kinda weird and the Australians were whatever. The Richard part was baffling, kinda. I liked the 13th envelope, although the happy ending was kind of random. I wonder what happens to Ginny in the end (with Keith and all).
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For those of you that dont know, in the novel, Ginnys aunt sends her
13 envelopes that she has to open one by one, following the directions
in each before she can move on to the next one. The first one tells her
to fly to London.
I thought the author, Maureen Johnson,
captured the rather arbitrary nature of travel well how mood,
weather, and people you encounter end up shaping your itinerary and
experiences. At first I was kind of frustrated with Ginny, how she
followed her aunts instructions to a T, even if it meant leaving a
place before she even saw much of anything. But then I just kind of
went with the flow. Ginnys aunt wouldnt let her bring guidebooks with
her so I guess she didnt know what tourist haunts she was missing out
on anyway (other than the obvious ones, of course, like the Eiffel
Tower). She also wasnt allowed to have a camera an instruction that
helped Ginny really live in the moment instead of worrying about
capturing every little thing for posterity. Ultimately, Ginnys journey
felt quite authentic, despite a few things that seemed a bit
implausible. Overall, it was a catchy concept, but the lack of character failed to see it through.
I read this book awhile ago and i thought it was okay. It was not the best book I ever read but it was still enjoyable. I also like this author. I read alot of other books by this same author. I liked some of her other books better but this book was good to. I finshed that book in a day. I enjoyed the plot. It was a very good idea for a story. I didn't really like the ending that good. I was very dissapointed about the last envelope. But i would still recommend it to someone who loves books.
It all started with 13 little blue envelopes and Ginnys adventure begins. Each envelope holds a letter written by Ginnys Aunt, each letter tells Ginny of her Aunts past and what she wants Ginny to do.
Envelope #1: Buy a plane ticket and bring only what fits in your backpack. Also no guidebooks/ phrase books, no extra money or electronics.
Envelope #2: Directions to a London flat (a flat is like a home/ apartment)
Envelope #3: Find a starving artist
Where will the 13 little blue envelopes lead Ginny?
This book was pretty much a dissappointment to me. At the times where I got excited, I ended up getting let down. And the ending wasnt all that great either. It sortof felt like a cliff hanger to me /:
The whole plot is basically based on the title itself, as she tries to fufill the tasks in each envelop her deseased aunt left behind for her. She encounters a few characters here and there, gets confuse... and then it gets even more confusing from that point on. I wouldnt really reccomend it, but if you have nothing better to read, why not give it a shot?
A lot of action.
This book was'nt that interesting to me, because it gets confusing in the beginning when the main character decides to go on a trip to Europe based on her decieved aunt's wishes and letters, there she meets a english comedian who she has feelings to and she meets her aunt's boyfriend who reviels at the end what her aunt has been hiding and keeping to her, which is a room full of art collection that is worth thousands of dollars. I sisn't like this book, because it felt like it didn't have a general idea or point that i could remember.
This book is inspiring, it made me remember my long-postponed plan to backpack around Europe. But really,it's quite unrealistic (or is it just me being sceptical?) for a young girl to travel alone and arrive in one piece without much difficulties (I didn't count having a hard time finding that particular little cafe as difficulty, that's normal when you're in some unfamiliar place). The trip supposed to be an emotional one, due to the ant memory and all, but I didn't really feel it. Something's missing.
i thought that the book was pretty boring even thought the title and plot seemed pretty goood they did not take the whole thing as far as they should of and the could have mafde the book a lot better but the author can just learn for the next time they write a book, not tho make it go on as long as they should have dne in theis book
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