BLURB: Jamie has been dreaming of this summer forever: of road trips and intensive art camps, of meeting cute boys with her best friend Jazz. What she didn’t count on was the car accident. Exiled away from her family as her mother slowly learns to walk again, Jamie is sent to Provence and trapped in an isolated home with the French grandmother she has never met, the guilt of having almost killed her parents, and no Wi-Fi. Enough to drive a girl mad. That is, until, she finds an old letter from her father, the starting point in a treasure hunt that spans across cities and time itself. Somehow, she knows that the treasure is the key to putting her shattered family back together and that whatever lies at the end has the power to fix everything. Armed only with a high-school-level of French and a map of local train lines, she must enlist the aid of Valentin, her handsome neighbor who’s willing to translate. To save her family, she has castle ruins to find and sea cliffs to climb; falling for her translator wasn’t part of her plan…
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BOOK REVIEW
Genre: Contemporary YA
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Writing Style: 3.5/5
Personal Enjoyment: 3.5 /5
Overall Rating: 15/20
This was such a sweet little story. We first join Jamie on a Taxi ride to a house in Provence. For an American teen with barely any knowledge of French, travelling alone to France, to stay with an estranged grandmother that doesn't( or won't) speak any english, is jarring for Jamie to say the least. What follows is a series of strained, awkward interactions until Jamie and her grandmother fall into a routine of sorts.
From the get go, my heart went out to Jamie, she was clearly dealing with many issues and emotions, not least of all the main reason for her being shipped off to France in the first place: a car accident. As the story unfolds we see how much guilt and shame she harbours over this. Jamie finds an old letter in her fathers childhood bedroom that turns out to be the first clue of a treasure hunt. As an attempt to distract herself and a way of understanding what happened all those years ago to cause the rift between her dad and her grandmother Jamie (with the help of her neighbour) decides to complete the treasure hunt herself.
What follows is a journey of discovery, not only the beautiful region of France, but her own own thoughts and feelings. She learns to process her emotions around the accident and better understand her parents.
I thought the characters were well rounded and believable. The grandmother was a particularly complex and I enjoyed reading her character development the most.
The story is told in an epistolary- like format. Though not exactly in letters, Jamie does appear to be relaying the story to her mother. This was a bit confusing until it became clear that, that is what she was doing. Once it became clear however it was an interesting format. The writing style was not my favourite, however it wasn't clanky or awkward to follow so all in all I didn't mind it too much.
Overall, I enjoyed this, exploring Provence, with Jamie and Valentin was wonderful, made me want to go explore and immerse myself in the environment and culture too. It is very clear that the author is very well acquainted with the region and has a very obvious love for the country and culture as a whole.
This was a beautiful, little book and I would recommend.