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 to 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.

The Trouble with Destiny by Lauren Morrill
Published December 8, 2015 by Delacorte
Young Adult
Format: e-book from Netgalley for review; 272 pages
Also By This Author: Meant to Be, Being Sloane Jacobs
Goodreads | Amazon | Author’s Website
My Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

Thoughts:

If you’re a frequent visitor to my blog, and especially if you’ve read more than one of my Top Ten Tuesday posts, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of Lauren Morrill. Her freshman book Meant to Be is one of my favorite Young Adult novels and I haven’t hesitated to recommend it to several friends.

So I was especially giddy when earlier this year I received a review copy of her newest novel The Trouble with Destiny! I even held on to it until just last month so I could really rave about it before its release date :)

The Trouble with Destiny reminded me so much of myself in high school and in my first years of college. I was a lot like Liza: focused (but not always on the right things), a little boy crazy, and oblivious to a lot of the things going on around me. Reading this book made me laugh (and blush a little) in remembrance of some of the embarrassing things I did years ago.

I adore Lauren Morrill’s writing style. It’s funny but heartfelt at the same time. My two favorite things about The Trouble With Destiny were the communication mishaps and the friendships. The whole “not everything is as it seems” motif that Morrill uses often in her books is the reason she’s one of my favorite YA authors. I always want to reread her books right away to see how things really happened instead of how the main character perceived them. Also, if you’re looking for a book that values friendship over everything else, this one’s for you!

Read This Book If…

…you were a geek in high school (Liza’s a band geek, but I feel like all geeks could relate).
…you love stories where miscommunication plays a major (and funny) role.
…you want a book that will make you forget it’s currently winter (summer cruise ship? Yes, please!).
…you enjoy books that remind you of the fun (and lightly embarrassing) parts of high school.

“And after a week of false starts, miscommunications, and misdirected emotions, falling into a pool should be right up there in things that have gone wrong. But it’s perfect.”

Final Musings:

The Trouble With Destiny is a fun read that will bring out the band geek in all of us. It reminded me so much of my high school clubs and sports teams and the fun (and sometimes embarrassing) times I had with them. Also, there’s a sweet romance that’s cute but doesn’t overshadow the deeper themes about friendship and finding yourself. Definitely pick up this book for yourself or your best friend :)