Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard Review

Wanderlove
By Kirsten Hubbard
Delacorte Books for Young, Readers, 352 pages
13th March, 2012

It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry to this ultimate backpacker novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America are deeply seeded in this inspiring story.

- Goodreads.com description

You have no idea how much I love travel books. And you can blame Morgan Matson’s Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour for that ;)

This is like, the second travel book I’ve read so far and Wanderlove does NOT disappoint. The places are amazing and the plots are well planned and written. It was just, magnificient.

I love the irony that Rowan and Bria possess. Both trying to outrun their past but one wants to be good and one wants to turn bad. Hubbard placed Bria’s flashbacks of her and her ex, Toby just at the right moments and places. Every time that happens, I was like, waiting for Bria to break down and cry but she didn’t, when really, Hubbard saved the best for the last and when that part came, it totally made a difference to the book.

Bria tries to outrun her past. She stops drawing when Toby broke up with her. The need to draw was boiling inside of her. But she just...couldn't. Her passion for drawing is understandable. Just like me with my writing. It isn’t something  that’s forced. It’s just a story, any random story and you just have to write it out just like she has to draw it out. When I wasn't writing, I felt weird. My hands felt naked, my soul trapped, just how she feels when she keeps her need to draw to herself.

Bria’s relationship with Rowan was built. Little by little. Both of them are kind of hard opening themselves up. They find themselves easier to talk to each other at night. And soon, trust between them was built.

But besides, Bria and Rowan, I can’t help but add just how much I love Rowan’s carefree sister, Starling. I love that name, by the way ;) Starling is just so free-sprited and talkative. I usually find the most talkative character in a book, a tad bit anoyying but Kirsten didn’t cross that line.

Seriously, fans of Amy & Roger's Epic Detour will eat this up! :D

Fara