Review: The Last Little Blue Envelope

       Book review number two goes to Little Blue Envelope #2! Maureen Johnson's, The Last Little Blue Envelope. Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:

Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny's backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.

Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he's found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This time, there are no instructions.

       It's no secret that YA urban fantasy is, by far, my favorite genre. I love feeling like there could so easily be a layer of magic underneath the world I currently live in. That, in so many of the cases, the story-lines could be real. Who is to say that there is no Hogwarts out there off the map? Well, scientists are to say, and I know that they're right when I really think about it. No matter how much I secretly like to think that Jo Rowling is actually a squib chronicling a major piece of wizarding history for us muggles, I know I'm just being silly. It doesn't hurt to dream though, right? If so, I wouldn't have any ambition to write.

       What I love about YA contemporary novels, is the sense of adventure, of love and loss. The same themes of fantasy novels, only it's all real. You could, scientifically speaking, have an adventure just like the ones you read in contemporary novels. That's the point of them. That's what I love about them. It is also what I hate about them.

       I enjoyed reading about Ginny's adventures in London and Paris and Amsterdam and Ireland just as much, if not more, than last time. It's exhilarating to think I could actually do just what she did. I can go buy a plane ticket and fly on over to London to start having my very own adventure overseas. I can't, however, go tap on a brick wall with an umbrella/wand out back of The Leaky Cauldron to get to Diagon Alley. I think this is why I always have a real sense of disappointment in myself when I'm finished with a contemporary novel. It's not my fault that I can't go kick some death eater butt, but it is my fault that I live contentedly in a little safe bubble. 

       The only time I travel outside of New England is when I visit Orlando, FL to go to Disney World or Universal Studios. This is my extent of adventure. When I was still enrolled in college I had planned 100% on studying abroad in England or a similar English-speaking country (I felt as though I'd be really out of place at a college I didn't speak the primary language.) Now that I'm withdrawn from school and have no idea when I will go back, I don't know when I'll actually get the chance to go anywhere out of my comfort-zone. 

       Best Friend and I planned on visiting her relatives in Greece this summer for a few weeks, and I was very excited by the prospect. I had it all planned out. We'd even take trips to the countries close-by. We dubbed it, the Best Summer Ever. Sadly, Best Summer Ever needs funding. Funding requires having a job. I do have a job, but my 95% of my paycheck goes to my car payments. The only reason why I really have a car, is to get me to my job. It's a truly miserable cycle. The job also has limited days off. So, technically speaking, I need the job for money that will take me ages to actually build up, and even when I save up enough, I still won't be allowed to take more than a week off. A week is definitely not enough time to spend overseas if it is your first time visiting! The very thought of being stuck where I am makes me itch. I'm nineteen. Isn't this the prime time for traveling and experiencing life?

       So, in short, this is why I have a love/hate relationship with contemporary novels. I really do love any genre, really, because they take me away from my life. They let me live as someone else, if even for just a little while. The problem is that fantasy/dystopia/paranormal/scifi/steampunk/etc. leaves me feeling fulfilled, and contemporary leaves me feeling disappointed with my life. It's a love/hate relationship. I love them when I'm reading them, but I hate myself after them. *sigh*

       I apologize for the contemporary genre rant. I will now actually review the book for y'all.. seeing as though that is the point of a book review. Right? Right.

       As I briefly mentioned before, I think I might have loved The Last Little Blue Envelope even more than 13 Little Blue Envelopes. Seeing as though I gave 13LBE 5/5 stars, it only makes sense to give LLB 5/5 as well! :D 

       I think this review in particular will be quite spoilery, so you might want to look away if you have not yet read it! Please though, go out and buy it. Read it.

       The book starts out with Ginny trying to finish her college application essay:

       Describe a life experience. Well, how about this? How about coming back to England to find the guy you love dating someone else and some other random guy holding your dearly-departed aunt's letters and her art hostage. How about that, admissions committee?

       They would never believe her. They would think she was a fantasist. They would put her picture on the corkboard with a note under it that just read: PSYCO. DO NOT ADMIT.

       That small except alone pretty much describes the premise for the entire story. 

       I enjoyed all of the characters Ginny briefly spent time with in the first book, but I liked that there were constant companions for her throughout the entire second. I really loved the two new characters specifically, Oliver and Ellis, and I loved that we got to spend more time with Richard. 

       From the moment I met Oliver, I knew I was going to end up liking him for some reason, even though his entrance to the storyline was very much the opposite of Keith's, the other potential love-interest. When we first met Keith, he was instantly likable. He was funny and goofy, passionate about his art, etc. Ginny liked him right off the bat, and we, as the readers, did too. From there though, it was all downhill for me with Keith. He definitely had some redeeming moments, but his personality and actions rubbed me the wrong way more than once. At the end of book one, when they were labeled as "sort of together" and I was happy because Ginny was happy, even though I would have liked it to end differently.        

       Oliver, on the other hand, we instantly dislike. He's pretty much blackmailing Ginny. He wants half the money from the art she is going to collect. Once this settled in though, I realized a few things. Oliver was kind enough to do a ridiculous amount of tracking down when he found her letters. He didn't have to contact her at all, but he knew they had sentimental value. That was kind of him. It really is only fair that he gets a bit of money for it, and he's not just being greedy. He desperately needs the money. That knowledge, paired with the moments throughout the book that show the redeeming qualities that made me (and Ginny) like him more and more, is what really put me solidly on Team Oliver. Oh, and when Ginny comes back to London to retrieve the thirteenth envelope from Oliver she pops on over to her sort-of-something's house, and discovers that he has a girlfriend now. It was kind of Keith to let her in on this little fact, right? Yeah, solidly Team Oliver.

       I liked Keith's girlfriend though, very much. Ellis is just so sweet and kind. I, like Ginny, had a hard time hating her for taking Keith away. The two end up being pretty good friends, I think. If there is a #3 (and I certainly hope that there will be) I'd like Ellis to stick around. I'd like to see Ellis and Ginny's friendship develop now that they can have a legitimate relationship. They were uncomfortable around each other at first, because of Keith, but at the very end they have a nice moment. Ellis is the reason why Ginny ends up sorting things out with Keith once and for all.

       This book, as you might have noticed, focuses a lot less on learning from Ginny's aunt and a lot more on the relationships she develops with others. Not surprisingly, the end of the last letter gives some very sound advice, comparing art to love. Due to her aunts last words, Ginny ends the book making all the right decisions. She ends up with Oliver. She ends up figuring out what to write in her essay. She ends up realizing where she wants to go to school. 

       It was overall a good read. I love Maureen Johnson's characters, and I've always been a big fan of character driven novels. It was hard for me to get through at times because Ginny spends the book trying to get over her aunt's losing battle with cancer, and I just lost my grandmother this past weekend. Some scenes touched on a soft spot, but it was almost good to have that in a way.

       In short, once again, I give 5/5 stars to The Last Little Blue Envelope!


Happy reading!