Not Enough Bookshelves: Book Review – Guitar Highway Rose by Bridget Lowry

Popular and smart, fifteen-year-old Rosie Moon is the quintessential good girl. She also wishes she could be someone else for a while, someone more interesting. Asher Fielding is the mysterious new boy at school who has dreadlocks and a love of Jim Morrison. On the first day of tenth grade, Rosie develops a crush on Asher, and when the two pair up for a poetry assignment they quickly form a bond. When Asher is falsely accused of stealing a wallet at school, he and Rosie decide to escape it all–their families, their school, their ordinary town–and hitchhike up the Australian coast. They know they shouldn’t, and that is exactly why they do. Part road story, part love story, Guitar Highway Rose is a thrilling ride for anyone who has ever dreamed about escaping everyday life, even just for a little while. (from Goodreads)


I inhaled this book, it’s so gorgeously told, so vibrant, and sensory. I could see the waves on the beach, smell the salt air, taste the pasta and porridge, and feel Rosie’s intense longing for something to happen. It made me want to pack everything up in a blue VW van and head for Australia, to road trip up and down the coast.


Guitar Highway Rose is a coming of age story and it really captures how it feels to be a teen. To have that longing for change and control over your life.


  
I loved Rosie and Asher the two main character, but this book also brims with wonderful secondary characters. The multiple points of view, which dart between characters (there are no chapters and sometimes no punctuation), lets you see a little of everyones’ thoughts and I really enjoyed that. The format feels so fresh and original and a perfect fit for the story.


I highly recommend Guitar Highway Rose, it’s definitely got a spot on my beloved bookshelf.


Here’s a taste