Point of Departure

by Emily O'Beirne

[Angie]

Points of Departure is the story of five girls trying to figure it out. What "it" is, is different for each of them. They've all just graduated from High School and are taking an overseas trip before they move on. However, Kit can't go because she royally screwed up. She was the connection between each of the other girls, so now things are awkward. But being on a different continent has a way of bringing relative strangers together.

I quite enjoyed Points of Departure. I love stories about new friendship, so I was excited to see the girls get to know each other. Liza is Kit's best friend and recently came out to her parents. Tam is Kit's cousin who is worried about her ill father. Olivia and Mai are girls from school, but not exactly close friends. Each girl is dealing with some issue and is using this trip as a way to escape. Yes, we get all five POVs, but it never gets confusing.

Tam and Mai are the two girls who I don't feel like I got to know as well in Points of Departure. Their chapters kind of faded into the background for me. I didn't connect with Tam's worries over her father or wondering what's going on with her friend who might be more than a friend. Mai drinks a lot and wants to be a chef, and that's about the extent of her impression on me. I think I would have liked this more if they had just been secondary characters rather than POVs.

Even though she's not on the trip, I really enjoyed Kit's story. She's taking responsibility for her actions, despite wanting to join her friends across the ocean. She earns the money for her debts, finds a new place to live, and eventually finds out what to do next. She's not going back to school like the other girls, and that's okay. She flounders at first, but soon discovers something that interests her. I think that's great.

My favorite parts though, were Liza and Olivia. I loved Liza's discussion of how she feels about running. She's awesome at it, and loves it, but she's not competitive. It takes time for her to realize that she doesn't have to compete just because she's good at it. That's something I think a lot of people need to hear. Winning isn't everything. As for Olivia, she bombed her exams and now doesn't know what to go to school for. On top of that, the two have some new feelings to explore while traveling together...

Points of Departure was an enjoyable story about different personalities finding common ground. There's also a sweet romance, which I would have loved to have gotten more of!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.