Lauren Morrill

A high school drum major must save her school band and navigate romantic disasters when their cruise ship gets stranded at sea.

The Trouble with Destiny

alexandra

3.5/5

this book started off slow, but ended up being a really fun read! i was a little annoyed by how dramatic and childish some of the actions seemed, but i grew to like it. in some ways, it reminded me of a disney channel episode. the narrator was annoying at times, but others she was... bearable. 

// FULL REVIEW TO COME //

jess

This is very, very stereotypical high school, and nothing I haven't seen before. The love shitshow was really annoying, all the characters don't really have much depth. And it was VERY stereotypical - all of it.

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

Oh, Liza. Sweet and innocent little Liza. As the drum major for her high school band, she feels it's her obligation to make sure the band doesn't lose funding. In order to do this, Liza signs them up to take a cruise on the cruise ship, Destiny, where there will be a band competition, the winning team taking home $25,000. Little does she know winning the competition won't be as easy as she had hoped. Throw in a few mean girls from the rival high school, a blast-from-the-past super hot guy, a few clumsy incidents ending in destruction, and the occasional misunderstanding among teenagers and you've got yourself a fun-filled week of drama aboard the Destiny!



  My friend from when I was twelve is a supreme hottie. And we're on a boat. Together. For a week.


First thoughts upon completing The Trouble with Destiny: TOTES ADORBS! As with all of Lauren Morrill's books, it seems, "cute" is a prerequisite. Her stories are always on the lighter side, never have any sort of angst or darkness, yet also always include a coming-of-age growth for her characters, which is what I've come to love most about her writing. Her characters are teenagers. They make mistakes. Lots of mistakes, as a matter of fact. They're far from perfect. They're REAL teenagers. And they all (for the most part) grow and learn from the mistakes they make, realizing what they did wrong, and attempting to rectify their damage.

I was also a big fan of the friendship. Though I wouldn't call this a "friendships" book with the type of friendship that's off-the-charts amazeballs, I did think it was a very realistic teenage friendship. Mistakes were made, feelings were hurt, and amends were made. Just how I like to see... her books always wrap things up nicely, leaving no stone unturned.

I also very much enjoyed the musical aspects to this story. Since these characters were in a band, a lot of band lingo and behavior was mentioned. Though it didn't consume the entire story, I loved having that as the background of these characters.

The perfect read to curl up with on the couch in front of the fire on a chilly night. Though it takes place on a cruise ship and the characters are wearing swimsuits, I had zero issue with reading it in my jams, covered by my favorite fleece blanket with a mug of hot chocolate in my hand. A fun, quirky and sweet story to leave you with a smile on your face and a giggly feeling in your heart.
 

  


(Thanks to Delacorte Books for the review copy!)

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The Trouble with Destiny

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