The Disenchantments, Nina LaCour

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This lovely book is my first five-star read since Eleanor & Park! I've been reading a bit here and there, and finding books I really, really liked but didn't love beyond the four star mark. Then I took The Disenchantments on vacation with me, thinking I'd only have time to read one book in between dodging merchandising and people at Disney--and I read the whole dang thing on the plane to Florida.

Like, sucked the story in so quickly I'm pretty sure I'm going to read it again before I turn it back in to the library. And then I'm going to buy my own copy so I have it on hand every time I want to flip back to a certain section and re-live it. Okay, enough gushing about how much I'm obsessing over this story. Here's WHY:

Colby, our adorable male MC, is about the embark on a tour with his best friend's all-girl band, after which they're planning to travel Europe rather than start college . . . until a few pages in, when his bestie Bev confesses she can't go with him, and Colby's world crashes into a pile of twisted wreckage. This happens right out of the gate, and is delivered with NO MERCY. This is why I love this book. LaCour doesn't pull any punches--if anything, she socks you in the gut when you least expect it, over and over again.

Sometimes, I have moments when I'm reading where I get so frustrated that a character is holding back only because the author has them gagged--but not in this book, not once. LaCour's characters say all the things. They do all the things. They chase a fading dream and clutch at straws as the future turns murky and uncertain, until the road trip is over, and all the truths have come to light, and all of the things have been said. Doesn't that sound AWESOME? It is.

The Disenchantments is a fabulous piece of YA writing, and with a fabulous male MC for the point of view. Go on the road trip with him. You won't regret it.

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