Customer Rating:  
Summary: From S. Krishna's Books
Comment: I thought the premise of 13 Little Blue Envelopes sounded really interesting - a seventeen-year-old girl sent on a trip across Europe by her aunt, with only 13 letters from her aunt to guide her. It was great reading about all the destinations that Ginny was fortunate enough to visit; I was only sorry that in some, she didn't get to enjoy them for all they were worth!
Ginny herself was a great character. Insecure and unsure of herself, it is amazing what she accomplishes on her own over she summer, as well as the confidence it gives her. It is satisfying to watch her character develop as she follows her aunt's instructions and does some outlandish and brave things that she never would have accomplished on her own. This is a great book for teenage girls who are hesitant to come out of their shell - Ginny is a great role model. (But I can't guarantee that teenagers won't be begging for their own trip to Europe after they read 13 Little Blue Envelopes!)
13 Little Blue Envelopes is a novel that will appeal to all ages, though I think teens will get the most out of it. Its sense of mystery and adventure, coupled with Ginny's self-exploration, makes for a rewarding journey that all can appreciate and enjoy.
Customer Rating:
Summary: 13 little blue envelopes
Comment: What would you do if you aunt ran away and you never saw her again? Well this is what happened to Ginny. Ginny's aunt is completely strange shes creative, and an artist. She ran away from her house two years ago and didn't tell them her address she just let her family know she was alright. Well after two years had passed they got a phone call explaining that her aunt died of cancer. Ginny is extremely upset, because she truly loved her aunt. The book begins explaining this, and how two weeks later she gets a package from her aunt (remember.. her aunts dead) and inside are 13 little blue envelopes. The first letter tells her she must open them all one at a time when each event is done with. The first thing she has to do is fly to London alone with no one or anything. When she gets there she meets the man that her aunt Peg was living with. While in London Ginny learns so much more about her aunt then she knew from these tasks she is given. She also learns a lot about life itself, from everything she must do. She also meets a guy in the book who she completely goes head over heals in love with. Throughout the letters she is sent from different places constantly. But somehow she is still able to talk to the boy she meets and some times fate steps in and she gets to see him. At the end of the book there is a very big surprise, if you wanna know what happens with the envelopes, if she can keep her true love from London, and how Ginny changes as a person you should read this book.
A girl would probably be interested in this book more then a guy would be, but this is a great book to read. I could hardly put the book down while reading it, it was one of my favorites for sure. Once you start reading 13 Little Blue Envelopes your hooked.
- Emily Bowman
Customer Rating:
Summary: Potenial Good Book, But Not Enough of Everything
Comment: 13 Little Blue Envelopes stood out to me on the large book shelf of the bookstore mostly because it was about a girl traveling in Europe alone. As I formerly resided there and have a fascination with the continent, I thought this book right up my alley. Certainly the book doesn't fail entirely, but it is a very shabby waste of money.
Virginia "Ginny" Blackstone is a regular teen with no apparent ambitions. That it, until her Aunt Peg sends her a package of 13 blue envelopes. Ginny just found out her beloved artist aunt had died and was just recovering when she gets the letters. So what do these pieces of paper mean? Basically Aunt Peg, a free-spirit, went on a sorjun to Europe in her younger days and wants Ginny to take one too. So before she died she laid out this whole plan for Ginny. First Ginny heads to London, where she meets the kind and collected Richard and the starving artist/thief Keith. Then Ginny really starts to move around, going to different countries and cultures. Along with the new people, she finds something out about herself along the way.
This book had a lot of potential, but fell flat. For one, there was not nearly enough detail. It all went by too fast. The author gives the traveling excuse but even on the "slow, slow boat ride to Greece" the story doesn't even make sense. There was no hook at the beginning, and the characters all came and went to fast. There was no sparkling dialogue, and nothing very exciting. Plus the whole romance with Keith was also not plausible under the circumstance that they knew eachother for like 3 seconds. And why would Ginny's mother let her go alone to Europe if she was such a control freak? This book would have been much better if written from the 1st person perspective. Some people may like this type of book, but it was a waste of time. More like a placeholder between deserving books. The only reason I really hung on was because of the Europe setting. Other than that, there isn't much here.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Comment: It was a good story, but it had some problems. First of all, none of the characters were really likeable.
On top of all that, I found Maureen's writing to be pretty bland. I mean, Ginny is on this crazy adventure around Europe, but the whole thing lacked any excitement. She could have been describing her math homework, for all the enthusiasm the girl had.
It wasn't terrible though, and if nothing else it made me really want to go back to Europe and just bum around for a few months, just to remind myself that it is actually a pretty exciting thing to do.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Hm..I expected a lot more from it.
Comment: Great plot, but, the author didn't know how to make a good "adventure" ou of it. It could've been a "i can't put this down" kind of book, but instead it was more like a "let me just finish this to get it over with".
SPOILER : I hated how she loses the last letter or whatever. I was like ? what the hell? this is the whole reason why you're doing this! She should've been more careful with them. Even though everything works out in the end..
I don't like how her romance with the kid she met kinda fades away by the end of the novel..
Not terrible, but not great.
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