Book Review: 'This Song Will Save Your Life' by Leila Sales

For months, This Song Will Save Your Life has been waiting on my shelf, lost amongst the other contemporary titles that are also unread. Desperate for a quick-read, during a break from A Song of Ice and Fire, I decided to pick this up. I loved it.

"You think it's so easy to change yourself.

You think it's so easy, but it's not."

All her life Elise Dembowski has been an outsider.

Starting a new school, she drams of fitting in at last - but when her best attempts at popularity fail, she almost gives up. Then she stumbles upon a secret warehouse party. There, at night, Elise can be a different person, making real friends, falling in love for the first time and finding her true passion - DJing.

But when her real and secret lives collide, she has to make a decision once and for all: just who is the real Elise?

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It's difficult to do a book like This Song Will Save Your Life justice. This novel is both powerful and poignant; the author tackling issues including self harm and suicide with ease throughout. Sales is able to create an honest and heart-wrenching novel, one that is a must-read for those struggling on the sidelines, written with an understanding of teenagers - and how we really feel - that I have never read before in YA. Whilst challenging us to accept ourselves, this also has hints of humour, creating light-hearted moments amidst the serious topics that are dealt with in Leila Sales' most recent release.

Elise, the protagonist, is desperate to be someone else. She wants to have a friend to eat lunch with; somebody to talk to; a seat in the middle of the bus. Simply, she doesn't want to be alone. And I could recognise these feelings as being similar to my own. This Song Will Save Your Life begins a few days before schools starts, with Elise studying how to become popular, having never been able to fit in. And, as she took notes on how smiling at a person will make them like you, I realised how relatable character; one whose problems are not sugar-coated. I loved her character; the conflicting personalities she had, from how she felt in school compared to Start(the warehouse nightclub she stumbles across). Her character's voice is smart and sharp, with added wit, her story capturing what it feels like to find somewhere you belong.

"Popularity rewards the uninteresting."

Start is introduced a few chapters into the novel; and this saw the addition of vibrant and fun characters to the plot. The rock star outfits, rhinestone pumps and packed dance-floor create Start, the crowd inside it made up of DJs, singers and band members. With this came Vicky, Pippa and Char, and Sales was able to show us that they were human. Just like Elise. Away from Start, I really liked how Elise's parents and siblings were written-into the novel; especially when I was reading about how they reacted to her giving up. It was great to see that how parents are affected in these situations wasn't avoided.

Leila Sales' writing is unflinching; the author handling current issues, such as bullying, that affect many young people, honestly. There was no glamourising, and as a reader, I really appreciated that. In some YA novels, it can feel like tough-topics are thrown in, but This Song Will Save Your Life could challenge multiple self-help guides instead. I cannot praise Leila Sales enough. Whether Elise is feeling angry or frustrated, upset or uneasy, Sales is able to execute it, and I loved how 'real' her characters felt. There are life lessons to be learnt in this novel, with quotes from the characters written down amongst those from other favourites.

Music plays a huge part in this novel, the author introducing me to Blur and Oases, the novel filled with songs from most decades on the set-list at Start. Elise's knowledge of DJing, and how it was written, was never over-complicated, so amateurs - like myself - could understand, and the novel still be believable.

Overall, I cannot praise this novel enough. It's honest, heart-wrenching and has the right amount of humour, making this a novel I loved.

5 Stars

So, have you read 'This Song Will Save Your Life'?
Have you heard a Blur song before(unlike myself)?

Tell me in the comments!

Book Review: 'Love Letters to the Dead' by Ava Dellaira

With exams, I haven't had much time to read. In the past month, I've only finished one book, which is why there haven't been that many reviews lately. That one book was Ava Dellaira's debut and, with there being a review from the author of 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' on the front, I had high expectations.

Sometimes the best letters go unanswered.

 

It begins as an assignment for English class; write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain - he died young, and so did Laurel's sister May - so maybe he'll understand what Laurel is going through.

 

Soon, Laurel is writing letters to lots of dead people - Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, River Phoenix, Amelia Earhart, Amy Winehouse...It's like she can't stop. She writes about her new high school, her new friends, her first love - and her shattered life.

 

But, the ghosts of Laurel's past can't be contained between the lines of a page forever. She must face up to them - before they consume her.

 

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'Love Letters to the Dead' is an unflinching novel about grief, guilt and growing up, all told in the format of letters to those we have already lost. Ava Dellaira's debut novel has an idea I continue to feel envious of, with her writing filled with the brutality we come to accept in this world. Laurel's voice was full of anger and, full of her frustration. However, I still found myself feeling disappointed. It fell into the traps that its predecessors have found themselves stuck in before: trying to be the next John Green or Stephen Chbosky. Dellaira's voice is one we need on the literary scene: untamed, unapologetic and unsuspecting. But, her debut just became mediocre.  I can't write this review praising the idea, or applauding her ability to handle a tough-topic - which are great - when I know that this could have been better.

The plot, for the most part, is good. Throughout the novel, there is endless suspense, and as a reader I clung onto this; wanting to know what happened the day Laurel's sister died. Dellaira builds up tension slowly and steadily, making it worthwhile to keep turning the pages until the end. At times, though, I was distracted, desperate to finish this novel so I could read others waiting on my shelf. There are numerous letters where hardly no events take place, and when it came to these, I couldn't immerse myself in this novel. Thankfully, the ending is raw and honest; and this caused tears to form in my eyes. Dellaira left no loose-ends when tying up her plot; those final few pages beautifully written.

Despite the writing being muddled with metaphors on every page, which does become tedious after a while, Dellaira deals with serious topics in her writing, including bereavement. Set during a time when our main character has just arrived at High School, there are also topics that many of us will be able to relate to, with relationships and sexuality included at points in the book. Admittedly, it does feel like young people have been stereotyped when reading; each of us seemingly spending most of our time sneaking out to attend parties, where we drink and take drugs. Serious topics are executed well, and it taught me some clear life-lessons.

In terms of the characters, I did find myself struggling to distinguish between them. Hannah and Natalie, Laurel's new friends, are extremely important in discussing LGBT issues, but I found myself flicking back to descriptions of them. They were really similar, and within a huge cast of characters, their personalities weren't as appreciated as they could have been. Laurel is also difficult to relate to at times, and I found myself questioning her actions, particularly during her first relationship. From what I've heard, the strong subject-matter is making a huge difference to other lives, so maybe this one just wasn't the read for me.

Thank you to Hot Key Books for providing me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.



For older readers - 3 stars.

Have you read 'Love Letters to the Dead'?
If so, what were your thoughts?
If not, will you be picking up this book?

Tell me in the comments!

Sophie
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'Looking for JJ' by Anne Cassidy

You may have seen my recent discussion about Serious Topics in Books and I definitely think this is one of the toughest topics to deal with in YA. Although, it's definitely worth the read, especially since the sequel has just been released!

Three children walked away from the edge of town one day – but only two of them came back…

Alice Tully knows exactly what happened that spring day six years ago, though it’s still hard for her to believe it’s real. She’s making a go of things, putting all that behind her at last- but Alice’s past is dangerous, and violent, and sad, and it’s about to rip her new life apart.

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‘Looking for JJ’ was a thought-provoking, powerful and at times controversial read that explored a topic we continuously hide from, and attempted to answer a question we never know the answer to, “Why would a child murder another child?” Writing about a tough-topic, Anne Cassidy executed Alice Tully’s story brilliantly, with a simplistic writing-style that was emotional and moving. This book was not only bold and brave, but was a tough and tragic read. I applaud Cassidy for the way she never focused on the crime, instead building her story about grief and guilt, and whether Tully deserved to live the life she had. This character-development at the beginning really helped the story as it moved into looking at what happened six years ago at Berwick Waters. If the story had been told differently, I’m not sure we would have cared about Alice as much as we end up doing so.

Never did I think I would be able to empathise with a murderer. Never did I think that, when I picked up this book, I would connect to a character like our main protagonist Alice Tully; and I was soon proved wrong. In the novel, Alice refuses to think about the past, and what events took place there. She doesn’t want to look back and re-live what she knows will make her feel overwhelmed with the guilt of what she’s done. Cassidy writes Alice in a way that makes her so real, with the fact that she wants the every-day life we all live – or may want to live in the future. With a boyfriend, a job, and a place in University, it’s what you would want for yourself. Even so, with flash-backs to the past that tell her story, this was nothing except honest and raw. You would expect to hate – understandably – Alice Tully, although you don’t. Instead, you understand that she was unlucky. That she was, and still is searching for exception, and no matter where she hunts for it in her past, she can’t find it. When our main-character does have it though, she becomes desperate; and she won’t let go. Like I mentioned before, you realise that she is not the same person, and wonder if people can change.

I’ve read so many books where the character has felt no remorse for their actions, and have been oblivious to having done anything wrong. It was refreshing to see emotion, and regret.

Although not perfect, this book is heart-wrenchingly truthful. Cassidy, I’m glad to say, is not one that hides from difficult topics, and really making you think about them; neither is she scared of making us question ourselves, or teaching us a life-lesson we’re never going to forget. With an idea such as this, you have to take into account that this has, at times, been reality. The author doesn’t want the excitement that comes from an episode of CSI, instead we keep reading because we want to know, “Who is Jennifer Jones?” and “How did this all happen?” as, finding out who she is turns out to be quite the surprise. I won’t say that this wasn’t a page-turner, because that’s exactly how I would describe it. Despite the tension slipping at some parts of the novel, the time where I wanted to get to the next chapter, I thought that overall, the flash-backs were so interesting, and the plot itself was strong. A slightly slow few chapters in the middle was made up for by a captivating-ending, where you see the side of humanity that changes their perception of somebody within minutes.

Four Stars - For older readers

 

This book was published ten years ago, and because of the recent release of the sequel, "Finding Jennifer Jones" I was provided with a copy of this book, for review, by Harper Collins and Hot Key Books.

Have you read this novel?

How about the sequel?

Do you like books that handle tough-topics?

Tell me in the comments!