Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

Wanderlove 
Kirsten Hubbard
Release: March 13th, 2012
Pages: 335 (hardcover)Publisher: Delacorte BooksSource: Netgalley

It all begins with a stupid question: Are you a Global Vagabond? 
No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path. 
Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves...read more at Goodreads.  

Sometimes you have to lose yourself in order to discover who you are and exactly what you're capable of. For Bria Sandoval, she hopes to find the newer, better version of herself in Central America. Only, her original plans go astray when she decides to follow Starling and Rowan through the more interesting (and so not in a tour brochure) parts of Central America. Along the way, Bria finds that there's more to discover than she originally realized....

I liked Kirsten Hubbard's debut, Like Mandarin, and I expected something similar for her sophomore novel...and it blew me away. Like petals from a dandelion floating in the wind, I was simply along for the ride when reading this lively story. Wanderlove is the story Hubbard was meant to write, and it's easy to see that she put heart and soul into this story. The narrator, Bria, is likable from the start, and her growth throughout her journeys only adds to that. The locations are wonderfully depicted, and my imagination ran wild with them. Simply put, Wanderlove has easily become one of my favorite novels. 
Highlights: The artwork gives Bria and Wanderlove more depth and uniqueness¹. Every aspect rings true - every single character, each exotic location, and even the story itself. Rowan and Starling revealed themselves to be more layered than I originally gave them credit for. An inspiring story, lovely writing, endearing characters - everything is a highlight in Wanderlove.
Lowlights: Predictable moments? Nearly every contemporary novel has predictable moments, so I can't fault this story for that.   
Rating: 
1 I wish there had been more drawings, because I loved them so much. Why can't all novels have drawings?


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