Book 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.

Title: This Song Will Save Your Life

Author: Leila Sales

Pages: 288

Format: Kindle

Goodreads Rating: 4.05/5

My Rating: 8/10

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Review

While I was reading the first couple of chapters of this book, I honestly didn't think I was going to like it all that much. I was mainly put off by the main character, and her almost clinical approach to the idea of killing herself. She didn't seem to have much thought for how it would affect her parents, and she didn't even consider her siblings. I felt like the way she was acting was quite childish, and I was looking for more emotion in those scenes, to really understand why she'd gotten to this point.

However, after those first couple of chapters the story really picked up for me. I started liking Elise so much more than I had at the beginning, and I loved meeting all the new characters.

I also really loved that there were so many music references in this book, because I love all kinds of different music, and this book has definitely given me some bands to look up.

On the whole I thought that the characters were written really well. I liked how Elise's character growth felt natural, and how she found something she was really passionate about, which enabled her to see things in a different light.

I'll admit, I was disappointed that there wasn't a bit more of a romance element. When we met Char I was really hoping that would play out differently. However I thought his character was written well, and I enjoyed seeing their interactions.

Overall this book was great. I enjoyed it so much that I read it in one day because I just didn't want to put it down. Had it not been for those first few chapters this book probably would have been rated a nine or ten.