This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Title: This Song Will Save Your Life

Author: Leila Sales

Book #: Standalone


Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Publish Date: September 17th 2013

Pages: 288

Format: Hardcover


Date Read: September 29th 2013

Rating: ★  / out of 5

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?

Summary:

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.
(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

Review:

This book was such a huge disappointment for me. Even before this book came out, all I heard and saw were non-stop rave reviews. Now, I'm not saying that this was a particularly bad book, but it obviously just wasn't for me.

__________

I am not going to tell you that the struggles Elise faces and the emotions and actions that come from it are unjustified. I have never been bullied at all, so I don't have any experience to draw on as far as that is concerned. I will say, though, that I have shared some of Elise's feelings due to other reasons. 

However, I just didn't like her character. I couldn't connect to her at all, really, for a couple of reasons. First off, for someone who has been "bullied", I found her to be very harshly judgmental.

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 unbelievable boring.

Okay... ? What gives her the right to deem them "less popular" than her when she's battling her own popularity. Can't she just relish the fact that they are human beings who don't seem to hate her like everyone else apparently does for a reason that I still don't understand? She also gives us this little piece of... "advice" on how to make friends:

Making friends is actually not that hard when you drop every single one of your standards.

I can almost see the humor in this, but I refuse to acknowledge it. It makes sense, yes, but I just don't agree. I don't think you should ever drop every single one of your standards on anything. Yes, you can't always get everything you want in a person and you will have to make exceptions, but settling for anything? No. Also, just another example of how inconsiderate she is being to the two girls who seem to be the the only two living human beings in school who will actually stand her company.

There is also this statement that she makes about herself:

"Come here!" she called.
I obey direct orders... that's why I was crossing the street now. Because someone told me to."

Okay...

What really made me not like her the most, though, was the moment she thought she could "save her sister" from being teased because she was exceptional and good at something, by tearing to shreds the project she worked so hard on. Really just way too dramatic and not something I agreed with at all. 


As far as the rest of the characters go, there weren't any that really stood out to me. I didn't like the love interest at all, and I only kinda-sorta liked Vicky and her band. 

The story, is anything, showed the only point of redemption. I really like self-discoveries and while this wasn't the best one I have ever read, I did enjoy seeing how Elise changed at the end. I also liked how the author mixed in some mystery as to who was writing the blog, which I did not pick up on at all.

Overall, I would still recommend this book if you are interested in it. It just wasn't what I was hoping it would be.

Quotes:

"Yes," I said, and did not want to elaborate that I always had my headphones on so I wouldn't always have to hear the world around me.

That's the problem with life. You never get enough time to stare at your ceiling and try to figure out what's going on.


On My Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/610214808#comment_form