At the end of January I asked my friends on goodreads to recommend me their favorite books/the books that brought them to tears. I got A TON of responses... messages, comments, direct recommendations. So I decided to pick the ones that were most recommended and do a massive haul just off books recommended to me. I got around 15 books. One of the books that was suggested several times to me was This Song Will Save Your Life.
I was really skeptical at first about reading this because the first one of these recommended books I read I was let down by... This isn't the case with this book. Even though This Song Will Save Your Life was a suggested book, recently I've decided to go into books blind. So within the first few chapters I was really shocked about what this story turned into. When the "issue" happens and then is carried throughout the story I never originally saw it coming. It hit me hard too... Pretty sure I said "someone call a barista because this roast just got dark"... And I was worried that this heavy cloud was going to rain all over this book for me. It didn't
If my bookshelf at home wasn't arranged in alphabetical order than I put place this book right beside The Truth About Alice. I would more than likely say they were sister reads as well. This book hit my heart the same way that story did. Because Elise is someone I could easily relate to. Her struggles were some of the same I had to face when I was in high school. Elise's character development doesn't truly start toward close to the end of this story and I that would normally be a turn off for me, but it wasn't. The fact that it started so late into her story reminded me so much of my own life tale... because my character development didn't start till later either. I was also very lucky for two reasons in high-school one) that I had my very own Vicky and two) I was wise enough at the time to know that high school wasn't going to determine the rest of my life. I only had one real friend in high-school (who is still my best friend), who didn't judge me, didn't care that I wasn't the popular girl, didn't care that I wasn't interested in designer jeans, and was completely fine with my head always being in clouds because I'm a special breed of weird.
Books like This Song Will Save Your Life and The Truth About Alice are books that I wish were written and read when I was in school. They are coming of ages stories that just SHOULDN'T be missed. I'm writing this short and vague review just to rant in general about the amazing-ness that is this book. In hopes that you will just go out and buy it yourself. People will relate in some way to this book. There’s at least one character in this book that you know in real life. Or that you might even have been at some point... Good or bad. On top of all the wonderful things this book has to offer it also managed to flawlessly intertwine music into it. Being a big music person, going to a school of the arts, and taking so many theory classes I was relieved to find myself not having any complaints about it.
I'm so thankful I was recommended this story. A story with a strong lead, a strong plot, and a stronger message.
“You
think it's so easy to change yourself. You think it's so easy, but it's
not. True, things don't stay the same forever: couches are replaced,
boys leave, you discover a song, your body becomes forever scarred. And
with each of these moments you change and change again, your true self
spinning, shifting positions-- but always at last it returns to you,
like a dancer on the floor. Because throughout it all, you are still,
always, you: beautiful and bruised, known and unknowable. And isn't that
- just you - enough?"
This Song Will Save Your Life isn't the perfect book, but it has the perfect message. This was a book that I thought was going to be slammed with mess, mix messages, and tons of cliches'. It wasn't.
8/10 Stars
-Angela
No comments:
Post a Comment