I received this book for free from Publisher, NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Trouble with Destiny by Lauren Morrill on December 8th 2015
Pages: 272
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher, NetGalley
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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.
note: quotes are from eARC and may differ from the final copy.
this book was like THE SUITE LIFE ON DECK in book form
have you ever watched that disney channel show THE SUIT LIFE ON DECK? with dylan and cole sprouse? well, THE TROUBLE WITH DESTINY was basically that in book form. it was filled with ridiculous things happening that you know probably would never happen in real life, but you can’t help laughing anyway. honestly, i’m not sure how i feel about it. at first it seemed too childish, forced, and scripted, but i grew to like it.
after i learned to embrace the juvenile actions and reactions, this book was really fun! i’ll admit that some parts of the plot were a bit over the top and seemed artificial – the drama seemed unnecessary and dramatic – but it certainly made things more interesting. there were sections that were predictable, but the details were shocking. the beginning was a bit slow, but once i got invested into the story i couldn’t put it down. i’d roll my eyes at the clichés then continue to turn the page even though it was 2 am and i definitely should’ve been asleep. it was a strange relationship.
“…metaphor for my life: a slowly sinking ship.” (ARC)
my biggest complaint is probably the lack of connection i had with our narrator. the side characters were alright, but our MC, liza, was the worst. she’s stable throughout and well-written, but i just didn’t find her likable. yeah, i know not everyone is going to be “likable” but she was so oblivious to everyone and everything! also she was incredibly rude! it was such a shame i couldn’t connect with her because i feel like i would’ve like this book 10x more if i could relate to our MC. she goes through some development, but i felt like it was really rushed at the end and forced. (but that might’ve been because i already had a grudge against her so…) (ohmyGOD she was so annoying i couldn’t even breathe)
overall, it was a really fun story to read. a little predictable and a little childish, but it gotten to the point when it became laughable. in a way, i feel like it made the story more enjoyable! except for when i
i’d recommend if you like…
- fun reads!
- books that are super cliché
- plots that have a lot of drama going on
[rating-report]
I was really excited about this one because I love the idea of a story set on a cruise ship, so I’m sorry to hear it turned out to be a little mediocre. 🙁 Not being able to connect to the narrator or the characters can definitely do that. Nonetheless, thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! <3
I’m glad you liked this one. I feel so conflicted about it because it’s a cute book, but there’s just so much wrong with it that I can’t really consider it to be a good book. It’s nonsensical, and the lack of research about school field trips just really blew it for me.
It’s a shame this book was mediocre. I almost always feel the same way when reading middle grade contemporary. They are usually mediocre. I loathe it when I can’t connect with the main character, it makes the reading experience 100 times worse. I
THE SUITE LIFE ON DECK. not as great as the suite life of zack and cody but still so so so so good (literally i always talk about how sad i feel for today’s kids who have to sit through dog with a blog and never understand the fabness of THAT’S SO RAVEN, HANNAH MONTANA, WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE. like phineas and ferb and good luck charlie were probably the last two legitimately good disney channel shows which is sad but anyway i digress). I AM ALSO IN LOVE WITH BOTH DYLAN AND COLE AS PEOPLE NOW, they are so cool! but anyway i’m sad you didn’t love this! i really liked the author’s other two books but i also can understand how they can be considered very surface level books. but i love them! they’re like a comfort for me, just like disney channel movies!