ARC Review: The Trouble with Destiny by Lauren Morrill
10:00
Series: None
Author: Lauren Morrill
Published December 8th 2015 by Delacorte
Goodreads Synopsis
It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey...
With her trusty baton and six insanely organized clipboards, drum major Liza Sanders is about to take Destiny by storm—the boat, that is. When Liza discovered that her beloved band was losing funding, she found Destiny, a luxury cruise ship complete with pools, midnight chocolate buffets, and a $25,000 spring break talent show prize.
Liza can’t imagine senior year without the band, and nothing will distract her from achieving victory. She’s therefore not interested when her old camp crush, Lenny, shows up on board, looking shockingly hipster-hot. And she’s especially not interested in Russ, the probably-as-dumb-as-he-is-cute prankster jock whose ex, Demi, happens be Liza’s ex–best friend and leader of the Athenas, a show choir that’s the band’s greatest competition.
But it’s not going to be smooth sailing. After the Destiny breaks down, all of Liza’s best-laid plans start to go awry. Liza likes to think of herself as an expert at almost everything, but when it comes to love, she’s about to find herself lost at sea.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, having never read anything by the author before, but I actually really enjoyed it. The story takes place on a luxury cruise, named Destiny, where a talent show competition is taking place - the prize is $25,000. Liza, a drum major in a school marching band that's about to lose all it's funding, knows this is their last chance to save the group. The silly thing is, she won't tell the others in the group, worrying they won't be at their best for competition. As such, she's basically a basket case, overreacting at any small mishap. Her friends start to lose faith in her, and to top everything off, she having to deal with an old crush turning up.
I enjoyed Liza's character, though she was a little too neurotic for me at times. However, I understood why she was, and completely agreed that it wasn't fair for the marching band to lose its funding when the sports teams, namely the football team, are having money thrown at them. I feel like she could have dealt with the band a little better; if she trusted them, the whole trip would've been a lot easier from the get go.
I'm glad the the person who appeared to be the love interest, wasn't actually the love interest, cause he was a complete and utter jerk! I hated him, and am glad he got his comeuppance. From the start of the trip, I clicked who was the actual love interest, and loved the way their relationship blossomed. One thing that Morill did really well was develop real relationships, both romantic and platonic. The hatred between Liza and Demi was really reminiscent of teenage fallings outs, and I'm glad with how they were at the end of the story.
Normally with a YA contemporary book, I feel like I've been let down with how 'abrupt' the ending is, and I wasn't after reading The Trouble with Destiny. I actually felt it ended in a natural place, and don't really need any more to help the story. I really liked Morill's writing, and I think I would read more from her in the future.
Dates Read:
December 6-7, 2015
Rating
4 Stars
3 comments
I really thought this was super cute and fun as well, so glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely a nice, cutesy contemporary, wasn't it?
DeleteSophie @ Sophie Reads YA
I'm almost slightly sad that I'm running a giveaway right now, which includes this book! I'm not a big contemporary person so I didn't bother, sadly. :/ I am so happy to see that you enjoyed it, Sophie! Lovely review. :)
ReplyDeleteAlyssa @ The Eater of Books!