Effortlessly Reading

ARC Book Review: This Song Will Save Your Life – Leila Sales


thissongwillsaveyourlifeThis Song Will Save Your Life
Author: Leila Sales
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: September 17, 2013
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Goodreads | Amazon | TBD

Summary:

All her life, Elise Dembowski has been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, she nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets her first real friends, develops her first real crush, and finds her true passion – DJing.
Told in a refreshingly genuine voice, This Song Will Save Your Life is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

 
First Sentence: You think it’s so easy to change yourself.

My Review:

I’m sure most of you guys know by now – I’m not a contemporary fan at all. I’m only into contemporary if it also has some paranormal or horror elements in it, with a very few select exceptions to this rule like Anna and the French Kiss, Pushing the Limits, and My Life Next Door. Because of this, I was so surprised to really love and enjoy reading This Song Will Save Your Life. From the very first page, This Song Will Save Your Life immediately caught my attention – and my heart. This Song Will Save Your Life will keep you reading, feel a wide range of emotions, and keep you personally invested in the book.

This Song Will Save Your Life is about finding your voice – and yourself. Elise has been struggling with her personal identity ever since she was a kid. She just didn’t fit in – her clothes were all wrong, the words she uses were all wrong, everything about her just didn’t fit in with the other, cool “ordinary” people. It was painful and sad for me to read about how Elise had tried to go through a transformation that made her not herself, thinking people will suddenly really like her and want be her friend because she was now ordinary. That completely broke my heart because that was like me when I was a preteen. Like Elise, I struggled to fit in, to have a close group of friends, and most of all, to be happy. I mean, who doesn’t want to fit in? Have a close group of friends? Have someone to share jokes with? No one.

But can you put a price on happiness? Really, if that’s what it costs to make you glad to be yourself, then isn’t it worth it? (ARC 8)

I really liked the main character Elise – with the exception of some cases. Elise wants to be accepted for who she is and not what she isn’t, struggling with that throughout the book. Elise doesn’t want to be judged; she just wants a friend. However, Elise is quite judgmental herself, so judgmental that I cringe when I read her personal thoughts sometimes. Elise portrays people with certain character traits from their classical appearance without really knowing them – something she doesn’t want people to do to her. To make matters worse, Elise has two “friends” that she constantly puts down in her mind, giving me a very strong impression that she thinks that she’s too good for them.

My friends are named Sally and Chava. They are both less popular than me, and I don’t know why, but I hope it’s because they are unbelievably boring. They have only one interest, and that is: what the popular kids are doing. (ARC 50)

If that isn’t judgmental, I don’t know what is. Luckily, Elise changes a bit in the end.

This Song Will Save Your Life also opened my eyes to DJing. Before I read the book, I thought that DJs had such an easy job, all they had to do was change songs before it ended. With technology the way it is today, anyone could easily do that job. It turns out I was dead wrong; DJing is so much more than that. Yes, you do have to change songs before the song has ended, but you also have to match beats. I especially know how hard that job is, especially since I’m tone deaf. Not to mention, to be an excellent DJ like Elise, you also have to learn how to read a crowd.

This Song Will Save Your Life has tons and tons and tons of beautiful, note-worthy, heartwarming quotes. In fact, my notebook is filled with lines and lines of them. Leila Sales somehow managed to describe some indescribable feelings in just two or three sentences, which absolutely just amazes me.

But I also felt like an eggshell that had gotten a tiny crack. You can’t repair something like that. All you can do is hope that it sticks together, hope that the crack doesn’t grow until all your insides come spilling right out. (ARC 169)

In the end, everyone has to read this book. I don’t care if you’re not a contemporary fan like me or if you don’t want to read a book with a suicide attempt in it. This Song Will Save Your Life is so much more than that. This Song Will Save Your Life is about Elise’s journey on finding herself and trying to fit in, her personal struggles, and most of all, her story. Bottom line: Everyone has to read this book.

I’ll end my review with this devastatingly beautiful quote:

Sometimes people think they know you. They know a few facts about you, and they piece you together in a way that makes sense to them. And if you don’t know yourself very well, you might even believe that they are right. But the truth is, that isn’t you. That isn’t you at all. (ARC 241)

fourpointfive

-Kelly

Speak Your Mind

  2. You had me sold on this book on the first paragraph, I can relate to this so much and the quotes you included in your review are absolutely heartbreaking. I just wanted to tear up reading the quotes, goodness knows what the book might do to me and I love books that can make me an emotional mess so this is definitely going on my to-buy list. Thanks so much for a fantastic review Kelly! :D
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  3. I think the MC being judgmental is to be expected from someone who craves for popularity, but it’s nice to know that she changes by the end. Anyway, awesome review! Now I really want to read this. Why is the release date so far away :(
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  5. Everyone has been raving about this book and Leila’s other book. I honestly can’t wait to read it though I’m sure it will take me eons before I get to it. But at least I know that whenever I get to read it, it’s really good. Thanks for the review, Kelly!
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  6. I’m so glad that you enjoyed it. I was really hesitant whether to buy it or not, but hearing it from you, I might as well try it out. I really do love books that have beautiful, meaningful quotes. Anyways, great review!

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  8. Goodness I want to read this book so so badly! It sounds really beautiful and I love reading books that involve finding yourself. Elise sounds like a really low self-esteem character, but also a character that will grow. The DJing aspect sounds so cool! Those quotes are gorgeous, I can’t wait to read this one! Lovely review, Kelly!
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    • I had to pick from so many good quotes Carmen! I was juggling quotes, trying to decide which one was best put where and which ones I couldn’t use or my entire review would be full of just quotes.
      Well, at first, Elise didn’t really consider them “friends,” although she calls them that. To her, they’re the only people who are also friendless like her, so they stick with each other because they’re forced to. However, in the end, Elise went through a huge character development and realized that no matter how different from her they are, they were always there for her, so she really started accepting them for who they are. I hope this doesn’t spoil anything for you. :P
      Kelly recently posted…ARC Book Review: This Song Will Save Your Life – Leila SalesMy Profile

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  10. This book sounds awesome. I can’t wait to read it, but I am bummed I have to wait until September! I love books like this about finding yourself. Great review!

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  12. I have to confess that I was just planning to skim through this review and didn’t really think that I was interested in the book. But, your last paragraph (the one that starts with “In the end, everyone has to read this book.”) convinced me that I needed to give it a better look and add it to my TBR list! Thanks for the review!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
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  15. September’s going to be month of the year or so I’m thinking. Amazing review yet again. I hope to get my hands on these soon enough. Soon enough,,,, soon,,, nuff. sooooooooooo
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  19. I got this book on NG and read it the day before it got archived. I totally forgot about it. Thank God I did see it because I would be sorry if I missed something like this.
    It was so easy to connect with the main character I sometimes felt like it’s me and not her in the story. Absolutely brilliant book.
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  20. Sometimes i think i just like Elise, and im still trying to find my real self. Anyway, its a really cool review, makes me want to have it>< and, hey, IT WILL BE RELEASED ON MY BDAY btw, kkkk, so…. do you mind to give me this book as a bday present? (winkwink^.~)
    —Elee

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  21. sounds like such a cool different kind of book! One of the booktubers i watched received a CD of some really cool songs along with her ARC copy which i thought was really thoughtful and would go really well with this book! :D great review :)

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  22. Beautiful quotes + an awesome title? Oh my!!! I need to read that book ASAP!!! It sounds AMAZING and I love contemporany, so after reading your review, I put it on top of my TBR list and I hope to read it very soon!

    Great review!!

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  23. Great review! I have read other great reviews for this book too. I am not the biggest fan of contemporaries, but this sounds good. ;)

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  24. I’m not a fan of contemporary either but if you say it’s great then I’ll check it out!

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  25. I love the cover of “This Song Will Save Your Life.” I think it matches the title of the book really well. And this one is definitely on my TBR list. I’m just not sure when I would get to it. But I know that I will have to someday. I also like that you gave the book a 4.5 rating out of 5 which means it must have been even more great. Hopefully I get to read this one soon and see why you gave it the rating you did :D

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  26. I had a lot of fun reading this book. I am a fan of good contemporary YA but lately it seems every book tells us the same story with just little details being different. I thought this was going to be the same, with the original twist of DJing. But I was so wrong! I mean the DJing was original but the rest of the story was equally unique. I loved this book and the way it shows an authentic perspective on being an outsider.
    Anyway, I also think everyone should read it :)
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Effortlessly Reading sometimes receives ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) from publishers or authors in exchange for honest reviews. Please note that no compensation of any kind has been provided in exchange for a review. Any use and/or duplication of my material without any permission is strictly prohibited.