I am both the best and worst person to review this. The best because I lived in Arizona for two years, love hiking, and am also a travel blogger. The worst because I lived in Arizona for two years, love hiking, and am also a travel blogger. 2.5 rounded down (specifically because of my pre-existing Arizona knowledge).

TLDR: If you've never been to Arizona and don't know a single thing about what to see or do there, this will be perfectly fine for you. If you know anything about Arizona, I would skip this one.

-There are NO pictures in this, only some clip art things at the start of each chapter. And one of them is a Joshua Tree. And it's on the Grand Canyon North Rim chapter, where there are absolutely not Joshua Trees.

-This is overall very surface level and really only covers the basic places you'll find on any list about best things to do in Arizona. There also aren't that many details about each place or activity.

-I know the format of this is kind of set up by interest, but there is some by area and a lot of it really repetitive and doesn't necessarily make sense. The Northern Arizona chapter is a good example of this and feels unnecessary unless it included more. Three of the four places are included in other chapters where they would make more sense. The Grand Canyon is in THREE chapters. In Northern Arizona it talks about the south rim, then the north rim gets it's own chapter, AND it's in the national park chapter. The north rim would make more sense with northern Arizona but why not just put it all in the national park chapter? Then Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend are also in the Lake Powell/Page chapter an that makes sense. And Monument Valley would fit in the Native American chapter.

-Jerome is suggested as a day trip from Phoenix which is two hours away instead of Sedona!? And it's only 35 minutes from Sedona!

-The Wave is NOT a hidden gem.

-Saguaro National Park is mentioned in the Tucson chapter but not the national park chapter? And there's only ONE state park mentioned? And NO national monuments? Even in relevant chapters? (Navajo, Sunset Crater, Wupatki, Walnut Canyon, Tuzigoot, and Montezuma Castle National Monuments all deserve spots in here, and are close to places talked about, and have no mention).

-The hidden gem chapter is OK, there were a few I haven't heard of.

-Crown Jewel is mentioned too much.

_It's consistently called THE Petrified Forest National Park (there is no the).

-100 bucket list destinations at the end only has 51 (that could just be the early copy?)

_This kind of feels like it was written by someone who has only been the the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and Phoenix.

I will say, I do get that knowing the best way to format/arrange information in a guide like this is difficult, and writing a guidebook isn't easy. But overall, like I said, if you know almost anything about traveling in Arizona already, this will probably be a bit of a letdown. If you're an Arizona beginner though, it could be helpful.

I was given a copy of Destination Arizona by John Christopher Lee by NetGalley and BooksGoSocial in exchange for an honest review.

Like others, I have found this a fact-based travel guide for Arizona, which is very much on my list of places to visit. It lacked photos and I thought would be more of a diary format as opposed to a guide. However, it does exactly what it needs to and is an ideal length as a travel guide to really tick off Arizona.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This was a quick read about the sight in Arizona. It has some cool places to check out and the quotes at the start of each chapter was nice. I do wish there are photos along with websites, addresses and phone numbers for the various places listed.

A great intro to visiting Arizona. It was already on my list, but this book makes me want to push it to the top. Want to visit Arizona.

This is an interesting and informative book/article wellwritten by John Lee. In this book he talks about sightseeing, Arizona, general demographics and gives you hints and tips on what places to visit and what to do when your on a trip to Arizona.

What I really loved about this book is that he has selected each chapters very carefully and gives a whole lot of information, insights and facts on Arizona.

I really enjoyed this book as it gave me a better understanding of what to expect from my Arizona visit.

Highly recommended.

Decent for a brief overview of the different areas of Arizona. I've lived here for 5 years and didn't really get any new information. This book would be great for someone who is planning a visit or someone who just moved. It's quite brief and to the point, so you can get ideas from here but then you'd have to do further research. Overall, not a comprehensive guide by any means, but a good overview.

Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.