The Disenchantments - Nina LaCour

Title: The Disenchantments
Author: Nina LaCour
Pages: 307 pages
Publication Date: February 16, 2012 by DUTTON Juvenile 
ISBN-10: 0525422196 
ISBN-13: 9780525422198

"What do you want to do after graduating?" my friend once asked. My other friend told me that she wanted to find a job for a year so she could go to college with her own money. Another one said that he wanted to go straight to college in another continent, start anew. The others had no idea; they didn't even know which major to take after graduating.

Colby and Bev, bestfriends since forever, have made plans to travel to Europe after graduating high-school. They decided to take a sabbatical year together; college can wait, but exploring the world while they're still young and free? This is an opportunity once in a lifetime, they think.


So long before graduating day, they had laid several plans for their Europe trip. Places to go, things to do.. They planned on going after The Disenchanments, Bev's band in which Colby takes part as a roadie for their gigs in other cities, performs together for the last time. So Colby, Bev, Alexa and Meg (The Disenchantments' members) embark on a road-trip, with their own dreams packed on their backs.

But little did Colby know, Bev got accepted in a college and she is ready for it. And she just couldn't wait for telling Colby any other time: she tells him right in a gas station, on their way to a party in which they will be performing, leaving Colby heartbroken. Colby is upset, feeling betrayed because Bev didn't even tell him that she was going for college, betraying their pact while Colby throws away his dream for college only for this trip.

When I first saw this book, my own expectation screamed SUMMER READ! FUN! ROAD TRIPPPPP!!!! which in fact, this book is far more than that. It offers us the harsh reality of growing up: accepting the fact that not all of our plans will be laid succesfully. Colby and The Disenchantments' road trip is a metaphor of them growing up. Each one of them gets a glimpse of betrayal, walking around aimlessly without knowing
what to do; and after that, they wake up to a new day, new meaning, new hope.


This book felt personal for me because I'm getting closer and closer to my graduation. Reading this book reminded me of the conversation I had with my friends that I mentioned earlier..Questions after questions leading up to our future. It makes me wonder, what if the plans I have right now will not come true after all? Will I be willing to give everything I have in mind? But then Colby told me his point: "It is better to think that fate is the reason my plans have been ruined - that it might be because there's something for me out there, or something that I'm meant to do.."

The truth is, we can never find out what God has planned for us all along. We can plan, we can hope, we can dream big.. But what if one day they all were crushed bits by bits? We could be angry, but after that, all we can do is let go and forgive. Like how Colby did. Start anew. Like what Colby did.

In The Disenchantments' last gig, a guy comes up to Colby when the girls were tuning up their instruments. That guy asks Colby, "Are they good?" Colby then answers, "Not really. But whatever, you know? They want to make music, so who cares if they don't know how."

So, as I'm writing up this review my mind can't stop repeating that scene. But instead, the question in my mind goes like this: "We want to live life and have dreams. Who cares if we don't know how?"

4/5 stars.