A Girl’s Greek Odyssey

I was really looking forward to enjoying Greece through the eyes of Savannah, the author’s niece, in A Girl’s Greek Odyssey. The book gives the reader plenty of beautiful color pictures as we embark on a journey through Greece and Crete with author Nicki Collins Geigert, her husband, and her niece. When the trio land in Athens, they are pleasantly greeted by their driver and guide, Michael. This was a very smart idea on their part because Michael was able to find them some really great accommodations without breaking the bank. Having a local to show you around is always a plus when traveling.

The beautiful sites including the Temple of Poseidon which overlooks the Aegean Sea, the Parthenon, Athena’s olive tree, the archeological site at Corinth, and the Tomb of Agamemnon were all quite surreal. I’m sure that the pictures did not do them justice even though they were well taken.

Although I really enjoyed the photos, I was a bit disappointed with the writing of the book. The book is titled A Girl’s Greek Odyssey: Join Savannah on her Adventures which made me think that the book would be narrated by Savannah. Instead, the author does all of the narration and the book really isn’t about Savannah at all even though she is captured in several photos. These photos were very posed and not through her eyes at all. In fact, I felt sorry for the poor girl at times because several pictures were of her sitting at a random table waiting for her food. It would have been nice to see her with the food she ordered, enjoying it.

A Girl’s Greek Odyssey is written much like a personal travel diary and there are some parts that the reader really does not need to know. For example, the part about Savannah not having her Nikes was thrown in as a sentence or two. Another odd part is where the author gets angry at her husband after he falls asleep on the beach while she and Savannah go for a swim. The author is afraid she won’t be able to make it back and asks for a passerby to help follow her to shore. Little tidbits like this just didn’t fit the overall formal of the book which seemed like it was written to teach people about the different parts of Greece.

Overall, I enjoyed the photos and the information about Greece, but I feel the book needs to be edited for consistency of purpose.