Last year The Girl from Everywhere, Heidi Heilig's debut novel, took the bookish world by storm. Since then, we have all been waiting the second and final chapter of this story and here it is! Read my thoughts about it to see if it is as good as the first book:

Title: The Ship Beyond Time

Author: Heidi Heilig

Published: March 23rd 2017 by Hot Key Books

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: The breathtaking sequel to the acclaimed The Girl from Everywhere. 

Nix has spent her whole life journeying to places both real and imagined aboard her time-traveling father's ship. And now it's finally time for her to take the helm. Her future lies bright before her - until she learns that she is destined to lose the one she loves.

Desperate to change her fate, Nix sails her crew to a mythical utopia to meet another Navigator who promises to teach her how to manipulate time. But everything in this utopia is constantly changing, and nothing is what it seems. Not even her relationship with Kash: best friend, thief, charmer extraordinaire.

Heidi Heilig weaves fantasy, history, and romance together to tackle questions of free will, fate, and what it means to love another person. At the centre of this adventure are extraordinary, complicated, and multicultural characters who leap off the page, and an intricate, recognizable world that has no bounds. This sequel - and conclusion - to The Girl from Everywhere includes five black-and-white maps of historical and mythical locations. Fans of Alwyn Hamilton, Sarah J. Maas, and Outlander will be swept away.

Review: Last year I read The Girl from Everywhere and really enjoyed it. In fact, as soon as I finished, I hoped there was going to be a sequel to that story as I felt like the characters still had a lot to tell. And here we are, with the sequel. This story picks up just where the other ended, with Slate and his crew leaving 19th century Hawaii with an extra crew member, the young Hawaiian that helped them escape the island. 

From there, we follow them to present day New York, where the one and only British explorer James Cook contacts them and asks them to meet in a mythological island. As you can imagine, things are not straight forward with Captain Cook and soon the crew gets in quite a bit of trouble. Once again, the story is packed with action and we get to learn a lot about the places they visit. I think that the mixture between real history and mythology is really well handled and you never feel lost or doubt anything. You are totally immersed in this fantasy world and you complete forget that no, time travel is not possible in the real world (sigh).

Actually, I really love how time travel takes place in this stories. We got all the technical explanations in the first book so in this one we just enjoy going to impossible places. In fact, the main focus of the story shifts a bit from the simple act of time traveling to the consequences that playing with time might have and how far the characters are ready to go to defy history and physics. 

The story also centers more in the main love story between the brave Nix and the charming Kashmir. This story line was more secondary in The Girl from Everywhere, in which there's a love triangle, but in The Ship Beyond Time, their love plays a huge role, making them do things you might not expect. But, as these two were my favourite characters in the first book, I loved all the attention they got in this one. 

All in all, I had a lot of fun reading this story. It's highly entertaining, it's really well thought and it surprised me several times. If you love history, fantasy, romance and multicultural and interesting characters, then you cannot miss these two books. They are fascinating. 

Rating: 4 stars

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

A couple of years ago, I shared the perfect books to travel the world from your own couch (check out my Top Holidays Reads of 2014 here) and because it's August again and we're not travelling anywhere exotic this year, I've decided to share with 10 more books that will take to some of the hottest spots of the planet. Let's have a look at our route: 

1) Summer at the Comfort Food Café: the Jurassic Coast, UK

We start our route in the UK. I've chosen this book because it's set in a part of the UK I didn't know about and after reading about those stunning landscapes I can't wait to discover it! The brand new book from best-selling author Debbie Johnson will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you raid the pantry in the middle of the night…

Read my 5 stars review of  Summer at the Comfort Food Café here.
Get it now.

2) Catch Me If You Cannes: Cannes, France

On our second stop, Lisa Dickenson takes us to beautiful Cannes with two lovely and a bit crazy friends. This story is a total summer hit: laughs, beach, cocktails, sunshine and Cannes (oh! and Nutella!). What a perfect combination for a lazy afternoon by the pool. Even better if combined with a cocktail or a glass of bubbly! Also, highly recommended, Lisa's You Had Me at Merlot, set in beautiful Tuscany! 

Read my 5 stars review of Catch Me If You Cannes here.
Get it now.

3) The Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop: Sorrento, Italy

This story takes us to Sorrento and I could so easily picture the stunning Italian scenery! Abby Clements has a way of transporting you far far away from home, and make you enjoy the most delicious treats too. Her descriptions of ice cream and other delicious sweet creations were so detailed and scrumptious that left me with no other choice than consume great quantities of ice cream while enjoying this summery read.

Read my 5 stars review of The Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop here.
Get it now.

4) My Map of You: Zante, Greece

Read my 5 stars review of My Map of You here. 
Get it now.

Check out my Interview with Isabelle Broom for more pics and secrets about this story and its setting

5) Destination Thailand: Thailand.

On our 5th stop, we join Georgia on her tour around Thailand. She follows a bucket list, with things like riding an elephant or make something wild, but as soon as Georgia lands in Thailand, we discover that backpacking alone around such a different country is not going to be that easy... A fantastic debut novel by Katy Colins, inspired by her own adventures. 

Read my 5 stars review of Destination Thailand here.
Get it now. 

6) Destination India: India.

After Thailand, Georgia's adventures are not over and on the second book on the The Lonely Hearts Travel Club, she takes us to India. I enjoyed this one as much as the first and I had such a great time following her around and discovering this new country through her eyes. As usual, Katy Colins makes a great job of describing the atmosphere of the place and I found myself wishing, more than once, that I could also be in India discovering this beautiful country.

Read my 5 stars review of Destination India here. 
Get it now.

7) How to Find Your (First) Husband: Tioman Island, Malaysia.

Next, we are flying to Malaysia to discover the stunning Tioman Island with Rosie Blake's latest story. For me, this is everything a summer read should be and more. With an amazing setting, lovable character, an hilarious plot and turtles thrown into the mix, this is the book you cannot miss this summer. Laughs and good vibes guaranteed!

Read my 5 stars review of How to Find Your (First) Husband here. 
Get it now.

8) The Blue: The Philippines. 

In this story, Kitty and Lana travel to the Philippines where they discover a beautiful yacht, the Blue. For a while they travel on the yacht and explore every bit of this paradise but after a while things start to feel wrong. The Blue by Lucy Clarke is a darker story than the ones I've talked about so far but equally compelling and stunning.
Get it now.

9) The Girl From Everywhere: Hawaii, USA.

I love books set in Hawaii because it's a place I'm dying to visit. Some of my favourites are Moloka'i by Alan Brennert and About a Girl by Lindsey Kelk. So I was very happy when I saw that The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig was set in Hawaii too. The story is a mixture of fantasy, history, time-travelling and romance (there's even a pirate ship and a dragon!). With a diverse and multicultural cast and plenty of adventures.

Read my 4 stars review of The Girl From Everywhere here. 

Get it now.

10) Sleepless in Manhattan: New York, USA. 

And we end our tour around the world in New York, where else? Sarah Morgan's latest trilogy is set in New York and you know what? I love New York, I've been there twice and I'm already looking forward to going back. With this story I could totally picture myself there, from cool and trendy Brooklyn to posh and lively Manhattan. The life and shine of the city really got through the story and it felt like it was one more character in the story.

Read my 4 stars review of Sleepless in Manhattan here. 
Get it now.

The first time I went up The Top of the Rock, I fell a bit in love with this city.

I hope you had fun on my route around the world with books! What books have you read lately that have taken you to other places? Tell me, I love travelling with books! 

*All image sources are linked. 

Title: The Girl From Everywhere 

Author: Heidi Heilig

Published: March 3rd 2016 by Hot Key Books

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: 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.

*First of all I would like to thank the publishers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: I found the concept for this story really interesting and well executed. Nix is a time-traveller and together with her father and their crew, they travel to any place, in any era, as long as they have an original map of that place, even mythological and magical places. Plus, they travel in a pirate ship, how cool is that? How they do that is explained during the story and I found it really complex and easy at the same time and with every new bit of information I got even more excited. 

Slate, Nix's father and captain of The Temptation, has only one goal: finding a map of Honolulu in 1868 so he can navigate there and safe Nix's mother. This might have fatal consequences for Nix herself but Slate doesn't seem really bothered by this and uses all his tricks to accomplish his goal. Maps of Hawaii for that time are scarce, and Nix is convinced he won't manage to find one. But luck turns in his favour when they travel to present day New York for an auction. It seems that they have finally found an original map. So we follow the crew to nineteenth century Hawaii for a lot of adventures, misunderstandings, thefts and some more travelling. 

My favourite characters in the story were Nix and Kashmir, one of the members of the multicultural crew and Nix's best friend. I really enjoyed reading about their friendship and could sense there could be a bit more between them. They made the perfect team and supported each other no matter what, even when a boy from Hawaii became interested in Nix and came between them. I think this little love triangle complemented very well the main story and made for a cute and fun sub-plot. 

The aspect that I enjoyed the best was how seamless the story flowed. Past, present and future would interlink and events from different times and places would have consequences later in the story. I am sure that this is the kind of story that when read a second time is even more fascinating. Plus, I found it very interesting and cool that magical creatures and places existed too in the "real" world. 

Heidi Heilg's writing was really atmospheric and descriptive and made you feel part of the story. As we learned more about Hawaii's history, I became more and more invested in the story. I really hope there's a sequel to this read as I feel Nix and the crew of The Temptation still have quite a few adventures to live. I enjoyed this story immensely and found it really unique and highly entertaining. 

Rating: 4 stars