I don't know what I was expecting while requesting this book, but I for sure wasn't expecting to be THIS blown away. One of my favourite reads in a long time! The self-discovery journey that Ellie goes through is almost therapeutic to read. It reminded me a bit of Lorelai's "Wild" journey in the Gilmore Girls reboot, but then better. The urge to recreate Ellie's journey is so strong! Honestly, Nick Levy has a way with words that's unique in the best sense of the word. Highly highly recommend!

The first thing I should warn anyone picking this book up is to pace themselves. I feel like I was at a disadvantage, mostly because I had the time and ended up reading this continuously, something that might have affected my reading experience.
Ellie has an epiphany about her life and ends up packing up her life to take a tour of South America. On her very first stop, she chances upon a book that includes personalized tips for places to visit, things to do and gave an email address to contact just to spread the story. This is the start of a friendship neither party expects.
The narrative includes the ups and downs of travel, the excitement of learning new things and charting previously uncharted territories (both physical and metaphorical). It contains a lot of detail and almost felt like a travel book in itself, something that the reader should know going in. I really enjoyed the characters' growth arcs as situations caused them to step out of their comfort zones.
What put me off was the romance angle. I usually like such twists in the tale, but in this case, I thought it took away from the central plotline. I did not want things to go the way they did, and I was not cheering the events on for the sole reason that I thought it distracted me from the 'actual' story. I will not go into further details, but I must admit that all the characters were fleshed out and seemed to be their own people. I had no complaints on that front. On a very personal level, I wanted something more or even different to happen to wrap everything up. If they had remained friends or something along those lines, I would have rated this much higher (this is something I want very rarely).
I would recommend this to anyone who wants a coming of age story with many colourful travel and adventure stories thrown in. I probably will never want to travel this way, but I know of people who feel like it would be the ultimate adventure; for those people, until they take off on it in person, this might be a worthy substitute.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

If you love travel books, this one is for you! The descriptions of Ellie's travels are truly breathtaking, and you can fully imagine yourself along with Ellie on her journey. Donna, her sister is the typical over-protective nay-sayer, and I would love to see her softened a little. I understand there needs to be conflict within the book but I felt Donna was just stereotypical and over the top. That being said, a few things didn't ring true for me like the Dec 31 meeting (why would they wait until the last day and not have Jerry arrive at least one day earlier?) and it's never really discussed how Ellie is paying for this adventure. That being said I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to others.

I really loved this book. It was a mix of travel journey with a story about the meaning of life thrown in. I loved the friendships Ellie built along her travels and as Ellie travelled around South America I really felt like I was experiencing the places with her. Ellie developed as a character as she questioned her purpose in life. I thought the connection between Ellie and Jerry via Bella was sweet and Jerry's story was a great addition to the storyline. I loved how the novel flicked between Ellie and Jerry. Many emotions in this one. Well worth the read.

Lovely book! Great characters, great transformation, great setting - exactly what you want with travel fiction! This book was a fun, and adventurous read. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review