A review by aly_bu
The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

5.0

Some books meet you where you're at, and this was one of them. In the book, Colby quotes Plato at one point, saying art is "true to life and yet more beautiful". I can't think of more appropriate words for this book. Any person who has been hurt by the simple and yet infinitely complicated process of growing up will find a home here, any person with a single creative bone in their body will resonate and identify and hurt with Colby and Bev and Meg and Alexa. If you scoff at art or those who struggle with living inside themselves, this book isn't for you. Colby is at once both an immature, hurtful teenage boy and a poignant representation of love and heartache and existentialism and it's impossible to not hurt with his hurts and smile with his joys. He is the perfect, accepting, artistic eyes you need to see this story through. I loved it, nearly every second. Only critique I could add would be the Seattle trip: it's so necessary, yet took longer than needed and I feel like removed us from the groups story (which I loved) in an overly long venture that Colby needed to find 'purpose'. I loved that he met Rene and I loved that he met Abbie and decided to tag the Disenchantments logo, but it felt a bit long-winded and I was glad when he and Bev reunited to become ok. That's literally the only critique I could come up with. When I seek to create, none of what I make is what these kids made, but I still identified so strongly with their art it blew my mind. A masterful piece of YA.