Points of Departure by Emily O'Beirne

Points of Departure
by Emily O'Beirne
Pages: 282
Date: June 29 2016
Publisher: Ylva Publishing
Series: None

Review
Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0
Read: July 12 to 14 2016


I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Ylva Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author.

Five young women all of whom, I believe, are 18, are nearing the ends of their high school years. One, who is a friend to them all, and the glue that holds the various parties together, has come up with a plan to travel together. That would be Kit. Kit has roped in Liza, super athlete/runner/lesbian/BFF of Kit; Olivia and Mai (they seem to get lumped together for whatever reason; they hang out in the same social group – Olivia and Mai – they also are deeply into ‘law’ and taking that when they go to ‘uni’); and Tam – Kit’s cousin. All but Tam are from Melbourne Australia, and all attended the same high school. Though Liza has mostly been off on her own training and running so, while she knows all of them, she only is friends with Kit. Tam, obviously, knows Kit, being cousins, and Liza – and is from Tasmania (an island state of Australia; until I looked that up just now, I was thinking Tasmania was a separate country).

Beyond ‘Australian’, the ancestral make-up of Olivia, Tam, and Kit is not given. Liza, beyond being ‘Australian’, is half-Dutch and half-Sri Lanka (known to me as the place Arthur C. Clarke lived before his death; an island off the coast of India). Being half-Dutch and half-Sri Lankan apparently corresponds to being ‘Burgher people’, which is picked up along the way. Mai, another person born in Australia, has a Vietnamese mother and Chinese father.

So that’s the main cast of characters. Four of which have their own point of views in this book (I’ve off and on wished Mai had her point of view as well, because she seems quite interesting; constantly excited; etc. I’m sure if we did have her point of view it’d be filled with self-doubt and angst, because, hey, that’s what everyone else is, but still. I live with the dream that her POV would not be that).

Shortly before the five are to take off on their trip, Kit has to inform them (separately) that she will not be able to go. Because she has, once again, messed up her life. The money she had saved up for the trip is gone. Gone to massive debt brought on by rent money being due, and damages to a statue that has to be covered. So the glue that was holding the group together will not be able to go. Don’t worry, though, her point of view remains. Three of the four going on the trip give the reader their versions of the on-going trip, while Kit gives readers some insight into being a young woman living in Australia.

Right, so – Melbourne and Tasmania are encountered first by the reader – since that’s where the characters are ‘coming from’. Then there’s a stopover in Hong Kong (just the airport). Then off to Portugal (Algarve, Lisbon), Italy (Florence, Trieste, and Venice), Slovenia (Bled, Ljubljana), England (London), and Thailand (Kata, Phuket).


Algarve Portugal


Lisbon Portugal


Florence Italy


Trieste Italy


Bled Slovenia


Ljubljana Slovenia


Kata Thailand


Phuket Thailand

Before starting the trip (weeks, months? I forget now), Liza has informed her parents of two issues 1) she’s a lesbian; 2) she is giving up running competitively (or is thinking of giving it up). Tam is super worried about her father (he’s recovering from cancer); and, somewhat on the spur of the moment, begins a relationship with a nearby young man named Matt – so she’s super distracted by that while on the trip. And Olivia’s super distracted by knowing that she messed up her VCE (whatever that is), the tests people going off to ‘uni’ apparently take to decide their courses of study (at least that’s what I got from context; otherwise I’d think of them as the Australian equivalent of the SAT; except that the SAT does not determine courses of study); and is worried about how her friends (social group; and specifically Mai) will react; plus she’s super duper interested in reestablishing some form of relationship with her ex-best friend and ex-boyfriend Will. Mai? No idea. We do not have her point of view (from things said here or there, she might have some worries about the VCE results as well, perhaps). To a certain extent, without being inside Mai’s head, all we know is that she’s very chatty, excitable, boy crazy, and has a need to constantly party (probably connected to how restrictive her parents are – being on the trip frees her from them).

So, fairly early one the reader learns that they are following along as three supposedly heterosexual women who mostly do not know each other vacation abroad – plus one lesbian with limited social skills. Oh, and not everyone on the trip knows that Liza is a lesbian.

On one level, the book was somewhat difficult to follow along because everyone who has a point of view has reasons to be super depressing and angst filled. And the only one who doesn’t seem to be that way, doesn’t have their point of view expressed directly (though may or may not be as angsty as everyone else). On the other hand, the angst/drama is both reasonable and not overwhelming.

In terms of the trip/vacation/etc – I did get a feeling, a certain sense, of the various locations. Not a very deep sense, but more than just a vague feeling of movement. It’s about on par as a bunch of 18 year olds traveling around (there’s one scene that I can use as an example – Tam and Liza are on a bench in London. The sky, as might be imagined, since it is London, is dreary and it has just finished misting. Both are tired and dealing with issues. They just sit there on the bench looking at stuff directly around them. At one point one mentions to the other that the changing of the guard is about to occur. Neither can get the strength to get up, so they both continue sitting there starring at squirrels and thinking thoughts within their heads).

There’s certain ‘things’ of an Australian nature that I never did learn. Things that may or may not have been explained or explainable from context. Some I just never figured out. Like I have assumptions about the VCE. But there’s an item of clothing that Liza is constantly putting on or taking off that I haven’t a foggiest idea what it could possibly be. And I Googled it. Got nowhere. So, what the bloody hell is a ‘slinget’? Bah, I misspelled the word when I put it in my status updates. It’s a singlet not a slinget. What the hell do I know? I’ve never seen the word before in my life. (I’ve seen people on tv put that on to wrestle, but I didn’t know what the garment’s name was).

So, if I understand correctly, Liza was running around wearing something that looks like this here:

Though probably looked more like this


Long and short – this was an enjoyable read. Though filled with teenagers with teenager like angst/deep feelings filling them. If I was to deduct any points specifically, it would probably correspond to how Mai lacked her own point of view. In the end I kind of liked her best of all. I’m sad now.

July 14 2016