The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour: Book review

Publisher/Year: April 18th 2013 Speak

Genre: YA Contemporary

Series: No

Pages: 307

Source/Format: Paperback | Bought

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

*This review may contain spoilers!*

Synopsis

Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev's band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she's abandoning their plans - and Colby - to start college in the fall. 

But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie- Colby struggles to deal with Bev's already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what's next?

My review

I read this book last summer, and I am only just coming round to reviewing it, but I did reread it recently so that I would have enough things to say. This sounded like the perfect contemporary book, with a roadtrip and a girl band, and it was pretty great.

The book is told from Colby's perspective, the guy, which I initially wasn't expecting, but I actually really enjoyed it. It was refreshing for me because I don't read that many books from a guy's POV. Of the two, Colby and Bev, I much preferred Colby, which I also didn't expect. I just didn't think Bev was that credible of a person, and she seemed to be playing Colby throughout the book, and he couldn't see it.

However, this story isn't just about Colby and Bev. Their other friends, sisters Meg and Alexa were such great secondary characters that I felt were a bit under-appreciated compared to the other two. I found them and their stories to be just as interesting. All the characters were written very well, and they were all so unique, even just the passing characters they met along the way.

This book is more than just a coming-of-age, discovering yourself story. Each of the 4 major characters in this book represent so many real people, and while I didn't give it 5 stars, I still think this is a great summer read.

Izzy