The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

Title: The Disenchantments
Author: Nina LaCour
Publisher: Speak
Publication date: April 18, 2013
Pages: 307
Rating: 3/5 stars
Buy: 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

 A story about the journey of an all-girl band and a boy who's so in love yet so angry at one of the girls? Count me in. The back cover synopsis made me want to read this book, especially after realizing that it was going to be narrated in a boy's POV. A book narrated in a boy's perspective isn't usually what I go for, but I decided, "Why not?"

This book has a lot of potential. The characters aren't stereotypical; they're masterly created with their individual quirks and imperfections. The plot is pretty basic, but with tiny details that lead to the bigger picture, it slowly develops into a plot that stands out from the rest. With the author's writing skills, she could have turned this book into something more memorable. Instead, the book turned from having the potential to become something wonderful to just being "a book."

I felt like Colby's disappointment in Bev took away most of the life of this book. I get it, he's mad at her for not telling him. However, Colby's attitude dragged down the story and made it seem like the book was all about him. I wanted a book about a small band on tour. I wanted to read about their adventures and their moments together -- happy or sad. I was disappointed that most of this book was just about Colby.

The characters travel a lot as they hop from one gig to another. It was great to see how each of them slowly unfolded themselves throughout the journey. Their gigs showed their strength as a band, and even though Colby wasn't even in the band, his importance was present as much as the others'. They are the perfect characters to be in this book. Meg, Alexa, Bev and Colby all do something to "complete" each other.

In all, I feel that The Disenchantments is a book that could do better. In my opinion, the other band members should have contributed more to the story. In the end, this book just sits among the other books, almost standing out but not quite.