Although the component parts of ‘The Girl from Everywhere’ are appealing and it features some pretty maps, the whole thing never really came together for me. I think because the narrative was most interested in teenage romance, while I was most interested in the existential implications of time travel. Several characters, including the narrator, have an extraordinary magical power, yet seem quite blasĂ© about it. The protagonist, Nix, is a teenage girl sailing the world and travelling through time with a small crew led captained by her estranged father. The relationship with her father is so bad that his sudden change in behaviour at the end of the book doesn’t make a lot of sense. After seeming not to really care about Nix at all except as a means to get back to his dead wife, suddenly his priorities shift. Given the narrow first person narration by Nix, the reasons for this are very much a mystery.

There are some interesting settings, including 1980s New York, 19th century Hawaii, and ancient China. However I didn’t feel much of a sense of tension, as it was never very clear what was at stake. The time travel and other forms of magic seemed diffuse and very convenient; they ran on belief, so there was no great cost or limitation involved. Again, it was very odd to me that no-one seemed particularly interested in exploring whether time travel could change the past, branch off alternate universes, or what. By comparison, I found the love triangle was of little interest. Nix is sixteen! Just let her kiss a cute boy without it being a massive angsty dilemma. It probably didn’t help that one of her potential love interests wasn’t at all interesting. Then again, I am probably too old and spinster-ish to be a suitable audience for that part and probably would have enjoyed the whole thing more when I was younger. It was still worth reading, though, for some spooky details and the atmospheric depiction of Hawaii on the cusp of colonialism. ( )

teen audio fiction (~10 hrs, or 8hrs 20min at 1.2x speed) book 1 of 2 in series; API/Hawaiian author - Nix travels with her father and crew on a time traveling ship through foggy seas--anywhere can be a destination, if they have the right map--in search of a time when her mother (who died in 19th century Hawaii when Nix was born) is alive.

fun time-traveling adventure filled with magical details--mythological creatures and all sorts of cool world-building details, plus a love triangle in which our heroine Nix is caught between her long-time friend and crewmate (and practiced thief) Kashmir and the son of a potential enemy in pre-colonial Hawaii. ( )

The plot sounded super interesting but the characters were 2D and never jumped off the page. ( )

I was very much loving the premise of this book, but it caught the doldrums, wavering in the middle with too much stuff and not enough action. ( )

I absolutely loved this story of young Nix who lives aboard a pirate ship that can travel not only through space and time, but also through myth and imagination. The prose was elegant and flowing, the dialogue was both natural and oh-so-sparkly, and the scenery was simply incredible. Wherever the boat is docked, Heilig has a complete command of what she’s describing. Her research and attention to detail, her use of myths and history from around the globe - all of this comes together to weave a compelling story that is impressively evocative of fascinating times and places, even as it embraces the fantastic with beauty and charm. ( )