Review: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, This Song Will Save Your Life is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

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Fans of contemporary YA fiction are seriously missing out if they haven't read any of Leila Sales' novels. This Song Will Save Your Life is the third book I've read from Sales, who is quickly becoming one of my go-to authors for smart, heartfelt realistic fiction and witty, engaging main characters.

This Song Will Save Your Life follows Elise Dembowski, a passionate girl who flings herself wholeheartedly into life and pursues her diverse interests with a reckless abandon. Well, at least she did, until she realized that being passionate and interesting just made her an easier target - for judgement, for laughter, for bullying. Elise decides to blend by embracing anything and everything that's "in" in an effort to discourage the teasing and bullying, but, much to her disappointment, she finds even this carefully planned effort to escape loneliness isn't enough. And then, unexpectedly, everything changes. One night Elise stumbles across a secret party, where she meets people who don't know that she's the unpopular, constantly mocked Elise Dembowski. Instead, she's an interesting girl with good taste in music and a natural skill for DJing. Elise loses - and finds - herself during her clandestine nights at the secret warehouse parties, but the double life she's carefully cultivated can't last forever.

Though it's alluded to in the novel's description, I really didn't realize how much of This Song Will Save Your Life would focus on bullying and suicide, nor did I realize how much it would affect me. This book reminded me how powerful a bully can be and how senseless bullying is. I was ridiculously angry at the kids in the book that picked on Elise over the years for absolutely no reason. Not that there is ever a situation that warrants bullying, but Elise, with her passion and interesting hobbies, is awesome! And I couldn't understand how her peers couldn't see how awesome she is.

When Elise finally gives up on winning the approval of her peers, I cheered for her. It was difficult to see her try to win over people who so clearly didn't appreciate what she had to offer (friendship with an interesting, unique person!) and see the resulting low self-esteem take hold and inevitable, self-questioning of what was wrong with her (rather than what was wrong with them). I think that this aspect of the book really shone: Elise taking charge of her life, in spite of the haters, and reaffirming what she believed in and cared about, to hell with all of them!

There is a small amount of romance in This Song Will Save Your Life, but it's definitely not the focus of the story. The romance elements seemed to be included to illustrate Elise's growth and the changes in her self-worth. The true romance in this book is between Elise, the music, and the sense of pride it allows her.

I highly recommend all of Leila Sales' novels, This Song Will Save Your Life included. Not only is this a great story about overcoming bullying and finding yourself, music lovers will appreciate the mentions of fantastic bands and songs!

Farrar, Staus, & Giroux, September 2013, Hardcover, ISBN:9780374351380, 288 pgs.

52 Days of 52 Reasons to Love Jessica Brody and Her Books & A Giveaway

I'm a huge fan of Jessica Brody and her novels, so I'm thrilled to be participating in this blog tour promoting her newest book, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father - out now!

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1 of the 52 Reasons to Love Jessica Brody and Her Books…. for 51 other reasons, visit Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile (August 17th), Novel Novice (August 19th) and Lili’s Reflections (August 20th), and stay tuned for more! 

 Jessica co-wrote the song "Hypnosis" with Tommy Fields.

(It's available on Itunes if you want to check it out.) 

Annnd, as I learned from another of the blogs participating in this tour (my fab friend Erica's blog, The Book Cellar), Jessica also produces and directs her own book trailers! I love all of them, but this one miiiight be my favorite. Check it out:



Curious as to how this trailer was put together? Check out the Making Of video here!

 About 52 Reasons to Hate My Father (FSG, July 2012) 

Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it. Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either. Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteenth birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her. In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him. 

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Interested in reading 52 Reasons to Hate My Father? Check out and excerpt here to get your fix, then cross your fingers and enter to win your own copy below!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover of the Week (33)

When the Sea Is Rising Red by Cat Hellisen

Farrar, Straus, & Giroux/2.28.2012

Description (from Goodreads):
After seventeen-year-old Felicita’s dearest friend Ilven kills herself to escape an arranged marriage, Felicita chooses freedom over privilege. She fakes her own death and leaves her sheltered life as one of Pelimburg’s magical elite behind. Living in the slums, scrubbing dishes for a living, she falls for charismatic Dash while also becoming fascinated with vampire Jannik. Then something shocking washes up on the beach: Ilven's death has called out of the sea a dangerous wild magic. Felicita must decide whether her loyalties lie with the family she abandoned . . . or with those who would twist this dark power to destroy Pelimburg's caste system, and the whole city along with it. 

I want it. Seriously. Awesome description and such a moody cover... The only thing I'd change is possibly making the title larger. There's almost too much open space around it. Otherwise, I love it.


Add it on Goodreads here.

Win a copy of MY LIFE UNDECIDED by Jessica Brody

Zeitghost Media has kindly provided a copy of Jessica Brody's MY LIFE UNDECIDED for one lucky winner at The Hiding Spot!

About the Book

PLEASE READ THIS! MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!

Okay, maybe that was a bit melodramatic, but I’m sorry, I’m feeling a bit melodramatic at the moment.

Here’s the deal. My name is Brooklyn Pierce, I’m fifteen years old, and I am decisionally challenged. Seriously, I can’t remember the last good decision I made. I can remember plenty of crappy ones though. Including that party I threw when my parents were out of town that accidentally burned down a model home. Yeah, not my finest moment, for sure.

But see, that’s why I started a blog. To enlist readers to make my decisions for me. That’s right. I gave up. Threw in the towel. I let someone else be the one to decide which book I read for English. Or whether or not I accepted an invitation to join the debate team from that cute-in-a-dorky-sort-of-way guy who gave me the Heimlich Maneuver in the cafeteria. (Note to self: Chew the melon before swallowing it.) I even let them decide who I dated!

Well, it turns out there are some things in life you simply can’t choose or have chosen for you—like who you fall in love with. And now everything’s more screwed up than ever.

But don’t take my word for it, read the book and decide for yourself. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll scream in frustration. Or maybe that’s just me. After all, it’s my life.

Check out the book trailer:

Find out more about MY LIFE UNDECIDED here.


Check out my review of the book here.

The Giveaway

Prize:

1 winner will receive:
(1) finished copy of MY LIFE UNDECIDED

How to Enter:
You MUST leave a comment on this post with an email address so I can contact you if you win.

Details:
Contest will close October 17th, 2011. Open to the US and Canada only! You must be age 13 or older to enter.

Good luck!

Review: The Karma Club by Jessica Brody

Title: The Karma Club
Author: Jessica Brody
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Pub. Date: 4.27.2010
Genre: Contemporary YA
Keywords: Karma, Revenge, Love, Friendship, Lies
Pages: 272
Description (from GoodReads):
Madison Kasparkova always thought she understood how Karma works. It’s that mysterious, powerful force that brings harmony to the universe. You know—do good things and you will be rewarded, do something bad and Karma will make sure you get what’s coming to you. A sort of cosmic balancing act.

But when Mason Brooks, Maddy’s boyfriend of two years, gets caught tongue-wrestling with Miss Perfect Body Heather Campbell, and absolutely nothing happens to either of them—except that they wind up the hot new couple of Colonial High School, it seems like Karma has officially left Maddy in the lurch. That’s why Maddy and her best friends, Angie and Jade, decide to start the Karma Club—a secret, members-only organization whose sole purpose is to clean up the messes that the universe has been leaving behind. Whether they’re modifying Heather Campbell’s acne cream as part of “Operation Butterface,” or righting a few wrongs when it comes to Angie and Jade’s own slimy exes, they know they’re just doing what Karma should have done in the first place. They’re taking care of one another.
Sometimes, though, it isn’t wise to meddle with the universe. Because it turns out, when you mess with Karma, Karma messes back. Now Maddy must find a way to balance her life for good, even as everything around her seems to be toppling to the ground.

Jessica Brody's THE KARMA CLUB is a great novel with an even greater message.

Maddy Kasparkova is an extremely relateable heroine, though I did find her a tad overwhelming at the beginning of the novel. She is completely consumed with being popular, which was definitely not me in high school. After Maddy realizes that being popular isn't all it's cracked up to be, she grew on me. I'm not sure it's a good thing, but I definitely identified with her revenge schemes. I think everyone has those times when they're fed up with how the chips fall and how terribly unfair things can be. Like Maddy, I sometimes feel like I should somehow even the score. I've learned that, while it may feel good in the moment, it doesn't feel so great later, a lesson Maddy quickly learns as well.


I'll admit to finding the Karma Club's revenge schemes hilarious. "Operation Butterface?" Classic. But it wasn't just the adventures and sticky situations the girls find themselves in that I found amusing, the dialogue and Maddy's inner monologue kept a smile on my face as well.


At the start of the novel, I wasn't sure that Maddy would have a romantic interest. In a fit of girl power she swears of boys and I felt confident that she'd keep that promise. I was suprised, but happy, when I discovered that was not the case... Actually, Maddy's unexpected relationship bore a happy resemblance to my favorite One Tree Hill (CW) romance.


It's rare that I can pinpoint my favorite part of a novel, especially in a fun novel like THE KARMA CLUB, but there was a part, near the end, that sticks out to me. After Maddy realizes that she has completely misunderstood karma, and scored herself some bad mojo in the process, she still admits that there is a part of her that enjoys all the drama and stunts The Karma Club orchestrated. I loved how honest that was. And it sticks with me because you can know something is wrong and still get some satisfaction from it. I find that people, myself included, often have a hard time admitting that. I thought it was important that Maddy came to that realization.


THE KARMA CLUB relays some important messages under the guise of a fun, lighthearted read. I highly recommend!


Grade: A

Cover of the Week (8)

Cover of the Week is a weekly feature at The Hiding Spot, in which I share a cover that gives me that swoony feeling.

Edges by Lena Roy
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux/12.7.10
Description (from GoodReads):
It is a story of love and grief, addiction and redemption, set in both NYC’s Upper West Side and in the red rock desert of Moab, Utah.

Seventeen-year-old Luke lives and works at the Moonflower Motel in Moab, having fled New York City where his father Frank drowns his sorrows after the death of Luke’s mother. Back in New York, eighteen-year-old Ava meets Frank at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. When these lost souls converge in Moab, what happens transforms them all.

I absolutely adore this cover! Where to even start??
The font is eye-catching and different than anything I've ever seen on a cover. I love how large the title is!
The image itself deserves a nod as well. I have a slight obsession with trees and the tree on the cover is so interesting.
The only thing that would make this cover better is if it has a unique texture to go along with the worn look. Even if it doesn't, I'll still love it!