driftwood. elizabeth dutton. (254)

i picked up driftwood because emma robert's posted it on our instagram.  and i kind of wish i scrolled through by the picture because i did not enjoy the book.

the premise sounded cool, the daughter of a rock star goes on a road trip planned out for her by her dad upon his death.  i figured it would be as moving as cameron crowe's elizabethtown.  it was not.  it was like a bad lifetime movie.

to start, clem, the daughter was seriously #heiressproblems.  it's hard to be sympathetic to a character when money ain't a problem to them.  i am not saying that money solves everything, but i don't understand this mentality that money makes one immune to real issues.  i mean her biggest issue was that she didn't get excited about life.  really? she was unemployed but lived a life of luxury.  and yes she was lost like all twentysomethings are but she had the means to pursue her dreams because her family could financially support what she wanted to pursue.  her dad wasn't going to help her start a cafe but the ambition fizzled out of her. i couldn't empathize with her, i was too annoyed by her #firstworldproblems.

just like clem, the book lacked depth.  the road trip was a bit of a farce.  i felt like clem didn't gain any insight on her father based from the actual locations but more from the letters, so she probably should have just read them at home.  a random love interest was thrown in to help put the "lessons" she was learning into effect, but it all felt so staged.

but the worse was the ending.  it turned out her father wasn't who he said he was.  he actually killed a man and took on his identity, well name!  it was the most bizarre twist.  granted it was painted as a result of the abuse he dealt with as a child.  the abuse was revealed during the trip in a letter.  it was also foreshadowed by her love interest's story of beating up a guy because he had an abusive dad.  but whatever i still felt it was inexcusable. i mean he killed a man and took on his name and lived a normal life.  can we say psycho killer?!?! i can't believe clem didn't freak out, but actually discovered herself via this ending.  seriously, such a horrible book.

the only plus i can say is that one, it mentioned wasco which is near where i live! and two i learned that when nor cal and so cal meet on the 99, there is a pine tree and palm tree planted to represent the two regions

other than that, my advice to you, do not read this book.