Girl off the Grid by Kenzie Hart

I love any books involving travel, especially to places I haven't been yet, so this book really interested me for this reason. And honestly, the only reason I hung in there was the travel. Both main characters are extremely annoying, which makes the book hard to read. Camille is spoiled and throws tantrums at the first sign of anything she doesn't like or hasn't experienced before. Adam is super judgmental. He's also shallow, seeing as how the only reason he softened to Camille is because she was too pretty to resist. Because I hated them both so much, I didn't mind the copious amounts of info about Cost Rica. I actually enjoyed that part, but I know not everyone will because there was very little romance or character development because of this. And honestly, if I had liked the characters I would have been disappointed in how little romance there was.

Romances are never my first choice for reads, so I'm not sure what attracted me to this one anymore. Maybe it was a reminder of why I don't enjoy them. But I soldiered on and read this one and really, it's not awful. I am sure there are loads of YA's and others who are going to love this book! What's not to love? The girl, Camille, is a very popular fashion blogger sent on an exotic, all expense paid trip to Costa Rica! I'd grab that myself, in a heart beat, if offered! Sadly, she's saddled with Adam, a world class photographer, who is assigned to accompany her and film and photo the trip. They hate each other. But that will change over the course of the book! It was entertaining enough to hold my attention. Its a bit long, but I am sure it's fans will think it's not log enough! It is well-written and a fun light read for summer.

When fashion blogger Camille Caldwell is offered an all expense paid trip to Costa Rica, she's thrilled. She has no idea it will mean giving up all social media. (plus she won't be able to plug in her hair-dryer) When she meets Adam Lloyd, she finds him annoying and he finds her "high maintenance." They are opposites in so many ways, and yet something flickers between them. The course of true love never went smoothly, and we find ourselves rooting for these two engaging characters. A fast, delightful read.

3 stars

I had some trouble with this book. It was slow for me and didn't really hold my attention. While I understand the purpose of this book I just couldn't get into it.

There were some places that I really enjoyed and that is why I gave this book 3 stars. I don't really know why I had trouble with this book. So I recommend you read it and see if you like it!!

i wanted to enjoy this one but it just wasn't for me. it was just fine, just okay, nothing unique. the main character was immature and got on my nerves. i realise they are young characters, but still. overall i just wasn't satisfied with it, which is a bummer. i wanted to love it, it sounded great. kudos to the author for donating profits to charity. love that.

4 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy fiction that features travel, romance, and is light hearted. This isn't the sub genre for everyone, but I think it is super fun to read.

This book follows blogger/YouTuber Camille as she embarks on a paid trip to Costa Rica for a up-and-coming fashion magazine. She's given tour guides, and a photographer. The photographer, Adam, happens to be very obnoxious, and uptight, but also cute. He thinks she is spoiled, and much to self-centered to think about the world. As the trip goes on, they find out they have more in common than they thought.

Like I said above, this sub-genre isn't for everyone, but I think it is a blast to read. Especially when you want something fluffy. The writing is very fun and easy. I liked that this one specifically was about college aged people. So it didn't feel quite as young as YA. I really liked that the perspective varied by chapter Adam then Camille. I felt like that made it pretty cute to read. I also liked that while romance is decent chunk of this book, it was still pretty detailed in the travel aspect. They describe the activities, the things they are learning, etc. I don't know, I just loved this one. Very cute. hope that they write more!*

ARC Provided by Eclipse Publishing via Netgally, but doesn’t influence my review in any way.

I love Jillian Dodd books, so it was no surprise that I would give Girl off the Grid a try. I think Kenzie and Jillian have something here. It’s a sweet hate to lovers YA romance.
Camille is a fashion and make-up blogger and she is giving the opportunity to head to Costa Rica on an eco-trip by a magazine. She will travel with a photographer, but she won’t have access to social media, nor her phone. Her life is YouTube!
I really enjoyed the story, and I won’t hesitate to read more of Kenzie and Jillian’s collaborations.

This book was a cute, quick read. Nothing earth shattering but I enjoyed it.

I started Girl off the Grid without high expectations and soon found out I was very wrong. I loved the charming tale of Camille, a city girl fashion blogger, and Adam, macho wild life photographer, who are thrown together on an eco-camping trip to Costa Rica. Their "two sides to every story" is sure to snatch readers attention and keep them page flipping to the end. I will definitely recommend this book to my students and friends!

I really liked the premise of this book. I'm a travel blogger after all! But sadly this book didn't quite come up to the expectations. It started with the protagonist being a privilege rich teenager. I almost quit right there. The romantic arc wasn't believable, the 'vlogging' was annoying and the general premise fell apart quite quickly. What I did enjoy was learning about Costa Rica and eco-tourism. When I got to the end I saw the note from one of the co-author that she really wanted to talk about this kind of trip. I wish it had been done better because it could have been so interesting!

When NYC fashion blogger Camille Caldwell is offered an all-expenses paid eco-trip to Costa Rica, she is thrilled. Envisioning herself in glamourous locations wearing fabulous clothes, she is shocked when she finds herself roughing it in the wild. London based photographer Adam Lloyd is hoping photographing this “fluff piece” will help him expand his portfolio. When he meets Camille, he is outraged by her high maintenance behavior, but is determined to finish the assignment. With no social media allowed on the trip, Camille stockpiles her reactions to post later, and begins to realize that Adam is getting under her skin. 10% of the proceeds from this opposite attract story will be donated to the Sea Turtle Conservatory.

Did not like or appreciate any of the voices. The characters were forced, unsympathetic, and the premise of the entire book was shallow though it tried to do something deeper- ecotourism. Sure, but not with a book like this.

I love this Mother/Daughter writing combo!! This book was an excellent story about finding love, having a crazy adventure and most importantly - about one character truly finding herself.  Girl off the Grid is a thoughtful and entertaining read!

So I'll be honest - I liked the journey way more than the characters. Camille and Adam were a bit self-centered and immature for people who were given such incredible opportunities at such young ages.

As the blurb states, Camille totally thought she was being sent off on a luxury vacation in Costa Rica.  It's there that she meets Adam, a man who has no clue how Camille will survive the trip he knows they're going to take. The only thing they have in common is that neither of them has a clue how the experience they are embarking on will change their lives and bond them together forever.

Sparks fly and it's a fun journey start to finish - one I am definitely glad I experienced. Girl off the Grid was a little different than what I have come to expect from Jillian Dodd but I liked that she gave me something new to enjoy.  I would absolutely recommend checking this book out.

This is an absolutely perfect book for young adults/teen readers. The plot of a social media girl Camille, going completely off the grid to travel to Costa Rica is such a great idea. Plus, reading about the surprises encounters along the way allows her inner character to shine through. Then there’s the handsome photographer, Adam, who is her age but seems stiff and is oh so sure he has her read correctly. He’s as surprised and confused at times by her reactions to circumstances that he has to change his thoughts about her. Camille ends up being a trouper and a charmer. Her videologs are just so very entertaining!
This is a super enjoyable book from beginning to end.

Camille is offered the job of a lifetime by her favourite fashion magazine to go away for one week to Costa Rica and record daily video blogs about her travel experiences. She has this vision in her head of staying at a beautiful resort, sipping cocktails and having a fabulous time. Therefore she packs accordingly, carefully choosing her outfits for each day she is there, making sure she has the right accessories to go with them, all her beauty products and of course her hair straightener.

A similar thing happens to Adam, he is a wildlife photographer who is asked to take up the job of following Camille around and capturing all the moments of her experience. Adam is initially reluctant to even do this as it's not really in his plans to do travel photography but Costa Rica could also give him some great work for his portfolio so he decides to go.

Camille was chosen for this assignment as she has a huge social media following on her fashion blog, this means some great exposure for this project. I should mention that this is an eco-tourism trip so spa treatments and cocktails may be hard to find...

Before Adam even meets Camille he is convinced she will be a pain in his ass. She is a city girl who is all about fashion and materialistic. His mind was made up before he even got to Cost Rica. To be fair his assumptions are somewhat true but when you take someone out of their comfort zone and place them in a completely different environment, it is surprising to see how they can quickly adapt.

To say that Camille is out of her depth on this trip would be an understatement. However, although reluctant to try things at times, she really does make the most of her time in Costa Rica. Her positive and happy disposition is something that Adam finds himself liking more each day. She is a genuinely lovely person and Adam loves the experiences they are having together, especially seen through her eyes. I loved the brutal honesty in her daily videos, she didn't sugar coat anything she was feeling or experiencing.

When you spend so much time in close proximity and share such incredible experiences, it is natural to form a bond with them. There is a simmering attraction building between these two that seems to get stronger each day. Adam lives in London and Camille in New York so the attraction between them is never going to be able to be explored but it wouldn't hurt to have harmless a little kiss right?

I loved this slow building story about really appreciating nature and how much more there is to see when you take away technology and switch off from the online world. Most young people I know couldn't comprehend not having their mobile phone or the internet for an hour, let alone a whole week. I was also so impressed with the level of information in this story, it was so interesting to hear about the history of Costa Rica and the environmental issues they are currently facing. This was just as much an educational journey for me as it was a fun romance story. I also love that this was a collaboration between Jillian and her daughter Kenzie.

I enjoyed the descriptions of Costa Rica's scenery the most from this novel. That was the most fun to read.

Overall, I found the characters of Adam and Camille to be inconsistent and I didn't believe in them. For example, Adam is supposed to be this world traveler but gets his mind blown by pineapple salsa. Camille is an educated girl from NYC but doesn't know what a manatee is. I feel that just as either Adam or Camille were developing, they'd say or do something that was in line with how their characters began, and so there wasn't much that kept me interested in them towards the end, around the time they were at the luxury hotel. The dialog tended to feel forced and/or fake, while the narration was more enjoyable.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

"Life is made up of moments. Moments that define you, change you, and test you."

* *
2 / 5

I'm a blogger, so occasionally I like to read books about bloggers. With a character like Camille Caldwell, rich girl, fashion vlogger, and "anti-nature" person, I knew a book like Girl Off The Grid could either be well-researched, nuanced, and interesting, or it could be fluffy, cute with the world's most predictable romance, and Camille could be annoying as hell. I hoped for the former but got the latter; if that's your kind of book, then go you, but it wasn't mine.

Camille is a rich girl in New York, on summer break from university where she studies university and spends her time with people who have names like Lexington. In her spare time she runs a video blog centred around makeup and fashion; unfortunately, there's not a lot of time devoted to her blog, which I would have been interested in reading more about. For some reason, she's selected by a famous fashion blog to go on an all expenses paid trip to Costa Rica, and produce some sort of fashion/tourism/environment article at the end.

"I'm not afraid of her. I just hate everything she embodies, if that's even possible."

Adam Lloyd wants to be a wildlife photographer but hesitantly accepts the job to take photos for Camille's article after advice from his parents. He thinks taking photographs for a fashion magazine is degrading and doesn't think he'll be able to stand Camille because she's pretty and like clothes. I didn't like him from about two pages in. Their relationship is a very predictable dislike to kiss progression - he instantly dislikes her because she brings a massive suitcase on the trip, then starts waxing lyrical about how beautiful she is. She thinks he's gorgeous but stuck up and oogles him all the time, blah blah blah.

The book flicks between Adam and Camille's points of view and I found them both equally irritating; they're supposed to be around twenty, I presume being university aged, but act like fifteen year olds with a first crush. What time isn't devoted to their romance is on the trip; I don't know anything about Costa Rica but Dodd seems to have done her research. Perhaps too much. Whilst I liked hearing about mangrove trees and turtle nesting habits, I didn't want to hear a lecture on the subject. Some pages read like informative exhibits at a zoo or museum, lines of facts about animals and the environment.

"Oh my gosh. It's my first day here and I hate it! Don't get me started on the freaking photographer I was assigned. He's rude, his hair is a mess, and he has this ridiculous scruff I mean, okay, so even though he is not my type, he did have a nice tan chest"

The travel aspect of the book was fun and I liked the little bits about Adam's experiences as a photographer and how Camille ran her blog. But I couldn't stand either character; Camille was such a cliche: loves her hair, screams at bugs, hates camping and mud, and she was so variable. She'd have a great day of hiking and enjoy meeting people and then in her nightly video log would cry about how much she hates Costa Rica and the food is horrible and how much her life sucks, it was bizarre. Adam isn't much better.

I'd genuinely recommend Girl Off The Grid to the younger teen looking for a quick, light read. Camille's a nice girl, she's just not an interesting character, and Adam's the typical romance boy. But there's hardly any depth here, in terms of character or plot or considerations about ecotourism or nature or anything the book might have critically examined.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book.

"Always question things.
Learn about the planet.
Get out and travel.
Go on crazy adventures.
Don't be afraid to fall in love.
Never hold back.
Make your dreams come true."


The writing style of this book was actually pretty good if you ask me. It isn't boring.

But the plot was just not unique enough for me and not enough characters for me to exactly be head over heels for it.

Though, I did love the few characters I was given when I was reading this book. The female MC did annoy me in a way though hehe. The character development was really really good.

Adam and Camille here were just so adorable. MY HEART !!! *fangirls* *screams* *rolls on the floor*

*sigh*


Their relationship was just so cute and adorable even though I found it so dramatic and corny at times. I was turned into complete trash by these two. Peace.

I think the word "refreshing" is the best way to describe this book.

This will be a quick review. I loved this story. It was such a cute premise full of adventure, fun, and romance. I couldn't put it down. This was definitely a great first book pairing for Jillian and her daughter Kenzie. It is also for such a great cause. I definitely hope they continue to write more in the future.