The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour Published by Dutton Children's (2.16.2012)
Genres: Chick Lit, Contemporary, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover, 307 pages
Source: Library
Buy on Amazon
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?
Morris Award–finalist Nina LaCour draws together the beauty and influences of music and art to brilliantly capture a group of friends on the brink of the rest of their lives.
My thoughts
I think the issue here is that this book just wasn’t for me. I love music, yes, but all of the bands mentioned in this book were either ones I hadn’t heard, or just plain hadn’t heard of. The Supremes, The Runaways, The Chiffons, Riot Grrrls, Bikini Kill. I don’t listen to much punk rock because it grates on my nerves. Plus I’m not really into 60’s and 70’s music (yeah, I know, some of it was 90’s, but still). So I kinda tuned out whenever they started talking about these bands.
I was bored. Like, near narcolepsy bored. There wasn’t much happening for the majority of the story, and to be honest I had a hard time connecting with the story and the characters both. The characters seemed terribly two-dimensional with little to no personality. Through most of the book I could hardly tell the difference between Meg and Alexa, and Bev acted like such an aloof bitch that I couldn’t see Colby’s infatuation with her. Oh, did I mention this book is narrated by the only boy in the story? That was a shocker, considering the cover. Honestly, if he hadn’t stated in the beginning that he was indeed a male, I probably wouldn’t have figured it out until at least halfway through.
While Colby and Bev’s relationship was a disaster, I kinda understood it because I’ve been through something similar. Not knowing how the other person really feels because they send mixed signals, being stuck in some terrible limbo with them because you don’t know what lines you can cross and what lines you can’t cross. That was probably the only way I connected with this book at all.
I never did figure out what year it was. It didn’t seem like present day, though. It had more of a 80’s feel to it, but it couldn’t be because some of the bands mentioned wouldn’t have been formed yet. If you didn’t know by now, world building is really important to me. I NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS.
I found it strange that the kids would trust complete strangers so easily. Going into a random guy’s basement, meeting up with a couple they don’t know (after dark) that lets them stay in their house overnight….seriously, these days that would be the start of a horror movie. And who flies across the world with someone they just met? That’s absurd.
There were some things I did like, particularly the whole story surrounding the bird painting and tattoo. Plus the book was kind of about finding yourself and learning to let go and move on. Overall, it did have its moments. But it wasn’t anything spectacular, and for me it was forgettable.
“That’s a nice way to put it.”
“At first I thought they might just need a minute to warm up.”
“No,” I say. “This is what they sound like.”
“Last summer the house next to me was under construction,” he says. “It kinda sounded like this.”
You get close to people. You get farther from them. You learn how much you love them, and then you say goodbye, believing that you will be together again, someday, when your lives curve back into one another’s.
Plot: 2.5/5
Leave a Reply