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Editorial Content for Blue Voyage

Book

Blue Voyage

Reviewer (text)

Grace P., Teen Board member
Diana Renn is the author of the young adult mystery novels TOKYO HEIST, LATITUDE ZERO and BLUE VOYAGE all published by Viking/Penguin. She is also the Fiction Editor at YARN (Young Adult Review Network), an award-winning online magazine featuring short-form writing for teens. Diana grew up in Seattle and now lives outside of Boston with her husband and son.
 
BLUE VOYAGE starts when Zan --- the daughter of an American politician who has lots of family drama --- goes on a cruise to Turkey with her mom to meet up with her aunt, whose husband just died. We follow Zan, her aunt, a new friend, and many others over a short period of time with lots of developments along the way, including artifact smuggling and a little romance.
 
The entire premise is unique to the YA genre.
 
I think Renn did a fantastic job incorporating Turkish culture into the story, and it kept me reading. The entire premise is unique to the YA genre. I feel like the story may have dragged a little because overall, not that much happened. The story sped up at the end, but I wish that action had been spread out over the course of the book. The plot had lots of potential, but some of the plot twists were predictable.
 
I would pick up this book again, though, because the culture and descriptive writing were enough for me to enjoy it. I also loved the characters in the story --- they were real and imperfect. Renn’s intention of exploring Turkey and other cultures as well as family relationships definitely came through in BLUE VOYAGE.
 
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves an easy-to-follow mystery. If you are interested in Turkish or international travels, this would be the perfect read for you, as long as you are patient enough to wait for it to get interesting.

Teaser

 

Zan is a politician’s daughter and an adrenaline junkie. But she gets more of a rush than she bargained for on a forced mother–daughter bonding trip to Turkey, where she finds herself in the crosshairs of an antiquities smuggling ring. These criminals believe that Zan can lead them to an ancient treasure that’s both priceless and cursed. Until she does so, she and her family are in grave danger.

Promo

Zan is a politician’s daughter and an adrenaline junkie. But she gets more of a rush than she bargained for on a forced mother–daughter bonding trip to Turkey, where she finds herself in the crosshairs of an antiquities smuggling ring. These criminals believe that Zan can lead them to an ancient treasure that’s both priceless and cursed. Until she does so, she and her family are in grave danger.

About the Book

Zan is a politician’s daughter and an adrenaline junkie. Whether she’s rock climbing or shoplifting, she loves to live on the edge. But she gets more of a rush than she bargained for on a forced mother–daughter bonding trip to Turkey, where she finds herself in the crosshairs of an antiquities smuggling ring. These criminals believe that Zan can lead them to an ancient treasure that’s both priceless and cursed. Until she does so, she and her family are in grave danger. Zan’s quest to save the treasure --- and the lives of people she cares about --- leads her from the sparkling Mediterranean, to the bustle of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, to the eerie and crumbling caves of Cappadocia. But it seems that nowhere is safe, and there’s only so high she can climb before everything comes tumbling down.