Review: The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

Addictive and beautiful, The Disenchantments is one of my favorite contemporaries this year.

The Disenchantments kicks off with two best friends Colby and Bev graduating from high school. Colby is ecstatic because in one week, he will be touring Europe with his best friend Bev. They have planned the tour since the beginning of high school year, and he can hardly wait for them to spend a year together in amazing countries in Europe. Before the much-awaited journey in Europe, the two best friends will spend a one-week last tour with Bev’s girl band, The Disenchantments. But in the first day of their tour, Bev suddenly announces that she can’t go to Europe with Colby because she will go to college. Colby is angry and confused of the sudden announcement, but more than everything he is hurt because Bev has never told him about her plan to go to college. But the show must go on and Colby is their only roadie. With no back-up college plan or any desire to travel alone in foreign countries, Colby must find out during this one-week tour: what would he do next after The Disenchantments’ tour ends?

First of all, I just want to praise Nina LaCour for her wonderful writing! When I was reading it, it was very easy to imagine myself sitting in the backseat of the van along with the members of The Disenchantments. The story in this book is split into eight days, and it was like watching an imaginary movie unfolding before my eyes. The events flow really well and I like to get to know all of these characters. They all bear their own unique characteristics that make them stand out.

Colby is a wonderful protagonist that I really like. He’s an artist with observant eyes and laid-back attitude. He’s the type of guy best friend any girl would love to have. His undying love to Bev is really sweet as well. I love how they have been best friends since childhood. However, Bev is not a character I instantly warmed up with. She is tough, secretive, and confusing, and I didn’t really appreciate her for hurting Colby in purpose. But she has her own reasons for her decisions, and once I get to know her more, I begin to see things that Colby has always seen in Bev.

The rest of the members of the band have stunning qualities as well. Meg is loud, cheerful, and basically the type of girl you would like to hang out with. She’s the type of person whose presence would brighten the whole room. Meg’s sister, Alexa, is the responsible one in the band. She’s almost like their secretary, but it’s cute that she believes so much in fate. When Alexa leads them far away from their destination because she insists to follow what Magic Eight Ball said, it’s such a smile-inducing moment for me. Every character in the book has their spotlight moment, and they feel like my dear friends when I closed the book.

I think everyone can relate easily to issues presented in The Disenchantments. Like Colby, we all have experienced moments when we doubt about what we really wants to do in our lives. We have the vague image of what we want to do, but we don’t know yet what steps we should take to get there. And like Bev, we all have secrets that mold us into what we are now. Each character in this book has their own issue and I think they handle it pretty well in the end.

All in all, The Disenchantments would appeal most to fans of contemporary. I would recommend it to people who are looking for good road-trip books with characters they can identify themselves with. :)

It isn’t complicated, it isn’t surprising. It is simple and sad. She told me thousands of lies, so many that it could take forever to forgive her, and there are so many things I could say back to her right now. About being cowardly. About being deceitful. About being reckless with someone else. But I don’t want to say any of that. Instead, I step toward her and she drops her arms from over her chest. I hold her close and she holds me.

And it doesn’t take forever, all it takes is this.

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I rate this book:

Four cups of tea. Amazing! Love the book, it’s simply awesome. I love the tea flavor!  A strong recommendation.