Saturday 2 July 2016

Review: This Song Will Save Your Life

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My rating.


Review.


“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.”

This is a kind of book that won't keep you at the edge of your seat, or keep surprising you with plot twists; it's just a simple story about a girl who has never been popular in her life, does all the silly things teenagers does-some quite serious,too, but somehow it also inspires you and manages to leave a very strong impression. This is my second book by the author, and the thing I love most about her books is how well crafted and flawed her characters are that even such simple story could mean so much. Her simplistic writing and the way she handles such serious issues like bullying and suicide takes her books to the another level.

This book is from a perspective of Elise, who has never been famous in her life, has always been kind of a person who sits away from the 'cool' group, and not because she doesn't like them, because she feels like she could never fit in that cool group. The first half is basically Elise trying to become one of the cool kids, and for that she even had a list of things she was supposed to do. She also attempts suicide, just to get attention. And while I do not agree with that sort of thing, or in any way can come up with an excuse for her behavior-because it's just wrong, I've also heard about real life incidents like these around me, so as stupid as may sounds, people actually do this. But that didn't stop me from loving the book, because thankfully, that was only a small part of the book, and the rest of the book is actually very interesting and fun when we get to know about this underground Dj party, which in some way changes Elise's life.




The other issue in this book was bullying. When Elise was trying to build a new life with music, there was also something going on in her life that just didn't fit and made her life much more difficult. She was bullied constantly, and even though she said things she wasn't supposed to, I could actually relate to her. I wasn't bullied in high school, but I also wasn't the person anyone would consider to be fun and would hang out with. I was the kid who sat alone with few of her friends and just noticed people around her doing fun things which she wasn't able to do. So in that matter, this book really did touched me more than I could have imagined. And even the end of the book was somehow very similar to my life which just made this book more special.

Then there were secondary characters who made this book more fun to read. I loved Elise's family and her cute siblings, her bitchy and supportive friends, and yes, I also loved Char. Okay, not so much at the end, but overall I really liked his character. It was really nice to see how Elise realized at the end who her real friends were and how she was wrong about so many things in her life. Elise also had the habit of judging people without even listening to them, and that I think ruined many things on the way- because she won't believe anyone. The characters I will remember most are VIkki, Harry, Mel, and Char. There were also some characters whom I actually started liking at the end, when everything was sorted out.

I also like how this book had a bit of mystery going on, just like in Tonight The Streets Are Ours , and how it was handled at the end. Though the ending wasn't dramatic or anything, in fact I never really got emotional while reading the book, everything just kind of made sense at the end. The ending was very real, too. In real life not everything happens the way you want it to be, and this showed exactly that. I liked how everything didn't end happily with Elise's life, and that's because life isn't always pretty, but I also loved how some characters did get what they deserved,

It was a great, uplifting read for me. I can say that this book is either a hit or miss for people. But I am a kind of person who loves a story which gives a strong message, even if it not might be the most exciting book I've read, because I know that despite being simple, it was worth reading.
even if you're not like Elise, I'm sure you could relate to her somehow, and I would definitely recommend this book to everyone.

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