Author: Lauren Morrill
Genre: Young adult, contemporary
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: December 8, 2015
272 pages, hardcover
Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.
NOTE: I was provided with an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Delacorte Press for letting me read this!
This is a hard one to review. It’s cute – for sure. But is it original? No. It’s pretty much got every stereotype in it – from the love triangle to the evil-cheerleader-ex-best-friend to the drama fueled fight with her current best friend. It was rather predictable since I guessed how everything was going to turn out from pretty much the first page. Liza, the MC, isn’t really likable because she’s pretty judge-y and high-strung. The book is kind of…generic? I hate to use that word, but it was.
However, don’t get me wrong – there are A LOT of teen girls I know who would be gaga over The Trouble with Destiny. It’s got the romantic setting and the cute boys and the drama. Maybe I’m just a bit too old for this one. It was still an okay read. My main issue with the romance isn’t even the love triangle – even though it’s not quite your typical love triangle. It was the fact that it took so long for the romance to play out. I won’t give too many details that might spoil it, but you kind of just wanted to slap Liza in the face and yell, “OMG. Come ON!” I wanted some more swoony moments between Liza and the boy.
I did really enjoy the musical aspect of the book though. I was in band for a couple of years and then I transitioned to color guard, so I could really relate to those scenes. I think the author did a great job of bringing those scenes to life while not getting overly technical – it’s hard to represent music well in books because it can be difficult to picture and hear, but the scenes when the band is playing had me bobbing along – especially since my band actually did a Pirates of the Caribbean theme one year.
The bottom line: A fast, fun contemporary that read a little young for me – maybe I’m getting old when it comes to cutesy books. But I enjoyed the musical side of the book and when the romance finally did play out, I was definitely grinning. I still liked this reading this one overall.
Rating: 6 – good, but not great
Eh, without the uniqueness factor I don’t think I will be reading it, no matter how cute. Thanks for the review!
Thanks for stopping by! I completely understand that.
I had a bit of a hard time with this one. It was good, and like you said, it was really cute…but at the same time it felt like it was a really young adult book. It just felt a little juvenile for
Exactly. I felt the same way.
This sounds cute, though–might be right up my niece’s alley. Thanks for posting!
It was definitely super cute! I hope your niece enjoys it! 🙂