Review: Destination Anywhere, Sara Barnard

I fell for Sara Barnard’s books when I first read A Quiet Kind of Thunder a little while ago. I was SO excited to read Destination Anywhere, because it has traveling in Canada and unexpected adventures and friendships and yay. Read my review below to find out what I thought!

Destination Anywhere by Sara Barnard
Published by Macmillan Children's Books on April 15, 2021
Genres: contemporary, young adult
Format: Paperback
Buy on Amazon, Book Depository, Wordery, Bookshop, Blackwell's
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Sometimes you have to leave your life behind to find your place in the world.
After five years at secondary school spent without any friends, Peyton King starts sixth form college determined that things will be different. Whatever happens, she will make friends at any cost.
When she finds the friends she’s always dreamed of, including an actual boyfriend, she’s happier than she’s ever been.
But when they let her down in the worst way, Peyton is left no better off than when she started.
Now Peyton knows the only chance she has of finding happiness is to look for it somewhere else. Her life may feel small, but it doesn't have to be. With nothing but her sketchpad and a backpack, she buys a one-way ticket and gets on a plane. . .

☂️ TRIGGER WARNINGS:

bullying, drug use, overdose, anxiety, abandonment, verbal abuse, sexual abuse.

There are no spoilers in this review.

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I ENJOYED…

☂️

• Ever dreamed of taking the first plane out to escape your life ? I know I do. Peyton King does it, feeling that incredible need to escape her life and people she thought were her friends. She books a plane to Vancouver and just… goes.
• I love the premise of this story so much. You’ll have to suspend your disbelief for a little bit to allow Peyton to travel internationally at 17 years-old on her own, let’s be honest, but I didn’t even mind. This entire story made my wanderlust, dreamer heart soar and I loved it.
• Destination Anywhere highlights friendships a whole damn lot: messy friendships, toxic ones, what feels like friendship but in reality is not, abusive friendship and relationships and so on. I really loved that focus. Told between now and then, we get to see the slow-building and fallout of Peyton’s life as she gets on with the wrong people. While it was hard to read, at times, I couldn’t look away. It’s like watching a car heading down a cliff, you know it will happen and you’re powerful to stop it. You just watch, scared and mesmerized all at once.
• Thankfully, we also get to see the bright side of friendships, beautiful ones between unlikely travellers from all around the world. I loved the dynamics between these characters Peyton meets and how her relationship with each of them is different and wonderful, too.

• Peyton’s growth in this story was lovely. I appreciated seeing her grow, change, accept and believe in herself and in her own worth a little more, too.

• Seeing Canada was so incredible in this story. I felt transported to another side of the world, dreamed of hiking with them to beautiful lakes and road-tripping across the country, too. The descriptions of landscapes and travel made me want to hop on a plane right away.
• Destination Anywhere is about friendship, about bullying, about finding one’s self and getting away from your life, too. While taking me traveling, this book also managed to tackle some tough themes and the balance between the two was just right. Not too heavy, not too light either.

OVERALL

☂️

Destination Anywhere is a great young adult contemporary read about friendships. I loved the travel part of it all and I know that Sara Barnard is now on my must-read list. 200% recommending this one!

FINAL RATING : 4,5 stars!

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📚 Books similar to Destination Anywhere that I’d recommend:

• For more books to give you all the wanderlust feels, check out our recommendations of YA books with road trips.
• For more stories about friendships, check out our list of YA books with friendships.

Did you read Destination Anywhere or do you want to? Do you have any recommendations of books where the main character travels? Let me know in comments!

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