This Song Will Save Your Life: Leila Sales

Goodreads Synopsis:
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

*I can't tell you how much of a mess this review is, but I am posting another review in March that has my full feelings and details, but this what a 'feels' review is, so if you're stopping by Loving the Language of Literacy for the first time, please don't think every review is like this*

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, I present to you my first ever "Language of Love" review for the fantabulous, the exquisite, the incredible This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales. According to my 'Blog Features' page, and yes I did have to look up what I wrote 

"Language of Love: The un-edited, or feels review is when I sit down right after I finish the book for a solid period of time, non-stop writing down my opinions, until I can't write anymore. This will be somewhat like an author's challenge where they force themselves to write for an hour without interruption. It could be a rant, it could be expressing all the feels, or anything like that, and the reason it's called un-edited is because that's what it will be, un-edited without any grammar check, all raw emotions. This is my personal favorite review because I hate spellchecking, and editing, so a lot less work for me."

Where do  I start with this book? Well, last Monday, I tweeted asking "What book should I read?

The winner of my twitter pole by a landslide was This Song Will Save Your Life, and I can definitely see why. The thing about this week, was that it was one of the hardest I have had in a long time, a lot of pressure, a lot of late nights, a lot of crying happened this week. Wednesday Night and Friday afternoon were some of the worst of my life. One of the many reasons I had been upset was because of not being able to read or blog the entire week. So I started This Song Will Save Your Life and didn't finish it until Saturday morning. Another thing about this book was that I had read the first 20 pages beforehand in Vromans book store about two weeks before, so I had thought I had already made my first impressions. I had heard a lot of buzz about this book from the blogging community. The first 20 pages made me think the book didn't live up to the hype it was given, that it was just an average contemporary novel. Thankfully, my impression of that changed drastically when reading this. One of the things you may or may not know about me is that besides reading, writing, and running, my greatest love and thing I'm passionate about is music, which is ironic since I can't sing or play any instruments. I have gotten into music over the past two years, and now consider myself as having a pretty eclectic taste. I will listen to alternative, pop, country, classical, rock, a little jazz, and some other genres. So this book was basically written for me. 

Elise Dembowski is one of the most relatable contemporary characters I have ever read about, and seen the world through. I am attracted to Young Adult Science Fiction and Dystopian novels because of the characters being larger than life. So Elise was a bit different for me to read about. The reason why I didn't like her as much in the beginning is because the book opens up with soppy sob stories (alliteration!) about Elise's past as an unpopular, uncool high school sophmore, and how she had changed herself, and that she was going to be different this year, and everybody would like her. The plot seemed, classic, cliché, everything Disney Channel Original Movies prey on. But after reading more, I quickly learned that it was nothing like that. Elise was no ordinary girl, which is one of the biggest conflicts there is in this book. She doesn't fit into the mold, she can't be sculpted, picked at, and plucked to become what people want her to be, including herself. I remember thinking in my mind once I got to know Elise a little more that everyone talks about their book boyfriends, who makes them swoon, who made their pulse race. No one ever talks  about who they would want their book best friends to be. While everyone is busy saying "Team Peeta," "Team Gale," "Team Edward," "Team Jacob," who is holding up the signs saying "Team Katniss," "Team June," "Team Tris," "Team Clary," "Team Hermione"? Well I'm here to say that I'm holding up my sign for "Team Elise"! As any teenager in the 21st century, I have to either conform to societies whims or be strong enough to carve out my own path, and be able to stand up for myself as someone who has her own voice and is her own person. I am very thankful my school isn't as cut throat as Elise's where there are the cliché High School Cliques, but there is that unspoken line that people have crossed, and once they do, there seems to be no going back. I am not like my friends, I don't have a tiger mom forcing me to do math workbooks, I don't have parents that will stay up with me until 3am to study for a 10 question science quiz, I don't have parents who force me to do piano recitals, and writing classes on the weekends. By the majority of my grade's definition, I am not normal. I love reading, I love writing, I love running, I love public speaking, I love doing things outside the box. My friends are very accepting, but in Elise's story, people aren't. Leila Sales touches and drabbles on a wide variety of topics in modern contemporary novels. Bullying. Depression. Individuality. Freedom. Elise is so relatable, and although at some points of her story, I was a bit annoyed, I honestly can't blame her because I know that I would have reacted the same way, said the same thing, done the same thing. At the beginning of Sophomore year, Elise makes three cuts on her wrist with an exacto knife. Eight months later, she has no real friends, no people to understand who she is, no one to talk to. When Elise finds the underground nightclub, "Start", everything changes. She's welcomed with open arms into a place where she could be whoever she wanted to be, but more importantly, a place where she can be who she is. She knows bands and music all the way back to the 60s, so Start is the perfect place for her. In that environment, no one cares what you have done, no one cares what you're going to do, all they care about is the now, and getting lost in the music, all their energy flowing into one being. 

At the same time, Elise isn't the classic Laurie Halse Anderson character either, because while she has quote unquote (I finally learned it wasn't 'quote and quote') deep thoughts, and wisdom, she isn't the kind of person that wants to sit around and ponder the universe. What Elise wants, as do we all, is pure acceptance. She's not asking for the perfect body, to be the head cheerleader, or to be president of student council. She's asking for people, even a single person to love, accept, and understand her for who she is. 

This Song Will Save Your Life is a reminder of why I love to read. I remember reading a quote once that said, "When you're a teenager, everything you read and heard affects you and makes an impact on who you are."  and I believe that above all, this book tops the cake. It's different than anything I have ever read, full or raw and real emotion.

{ARC Review} Fire & Flood: Victoria Scott

Rating: 7/10

Series: Fire & Flood #1

Genre: Fantasy, Survival, Thriller, Science Ficiton, Young Adult

Publication Date: February 25, 2014

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Page Count: 320

Source: Netgalley

Format: e-ARC 

Recommended For: Fans of the Hunger Games and Panic

Purchase Links: The Book Depository|Amazon|Barnes & Nobles

Goodreads Synopsis: A modern day thrill ride, where a teen girl and her animal companion must participate in a breathtaking race to save her brother's life—and her own.

Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she's helpless to change anything.

Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.

The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

*I received this book as a digital ARC which does not in the slightest affect my honest review of this book*

 

My Background: So there has been A LOT of hype about this book in the blogging community. I know sometimes a book doesn't live up to the hype, which I credit to the reader expecting too much from the book. I went back and forth as to whether I should rate this 3, 4, or 5 ink jars, but finally settled on three, only because of how similar it was to The Hunger Games. Although, if I had read this separately, I am sure my rating would be 5 ink jars. Anyway, so I was on Netgalley (even though my feedback ratio is already so pitiful), and I couldn't resist requesting Fire & Flood. I did it anyway because I thought, "What the hey? My feedback ratio is so low, and this book has been so hyped up about, I'll never get approved." Well, I was just about to leave for school when  I got the email from Scholastic saying my request had been accepted. You can imagine the fireworks going off around me in my imagination. Anyway, so I started the book Friday, finished today, and here is the review.

 

Plot /10: When I first told my mom about this book, there are two conclusions she drew. Number one, it's like The Hunger Games. Number two, was that the Pandoras are like deamons in the His Dark Materials trilogy. Something I would like to address is that Brimstone Bleed is extremely similar to The Hunger Games. The major differences are that you are not required to kill anyone or be the last one standing to win/continue on to the next ecosystem. That of course, cuts down on a lot of the gruesomeness and the possibility for graphic-ness. There is also the aid that the contestants get, and the rests between ecosystems, as well as information through the Devices. Nevertheless, there are similarities that I was very wary about how similar it was to The Hunger Games. The main rules were what really made the two books similar, and some might see it as copying. The crux of both competitions is the same, but what really set Brimstone Bleed apart is the competing for a family member. In The Hunger Games, you were fighting for your own skin, which may sound selfish, and gave room for people to try and save one another, as Peeta and Katniss did. In Brimstone Bleed, you are fighting, and giving everything you got (improper grammar) for the person you love, brother, mother, daughter, competing is about selflessness for someone other than yourself. 

The Pandoras, are nothing like deamons in His Dark Materials, besides the fact that they protect their human. Pandoras can be killed, they do not talk, they are not a human's soul. The list does go on and on. Basically, Victoria Scott proved my mom's assumption wrong. Anyway, competitors in Brimstone Bleed get to choose their eggs depending on their egg's appeal, such as the color, size, etc. I know a lot of people discussed them, but I personally didn't feel as big of a connection to them. 

About the plot itself of the book, Fire & Flood is a survival competition, similar to the reality television shows my mom hates. What I do want to say is that I was leaning towards two to three stars, or even a DNF around exactly one third of the story, but the story gradually picked up and started hurtling toward the land of books Sofia loves. This might be personal opinion, or mood swings (I am a teenager after all), but the book does pick up.

Characters 7.5/10: Guy. Guy. Guy. I freaking LOVED him. At the end of the year, he will be one of the my top book boyfriends. He is so swoonworthy, and perfect. Not just as a guy who I want to be my boyfriend. I also mean it as a character. In so many paranormal romance, or even any romance novels, once the girl and the guy are a couple, the guy (get it?) goes into over-protective mode. He doesn't let the girl do anything without him, and becomes the one to kill all the spiders, or people in some cases when we all know how perfectly capable she is. This cliche story continues when the girl does something the guy doesn't want her to, usually like handing herself over to the evil force of the story. My point is that Guy doesn't do any of that crap (excuse my language). Brimstone Bleed is unlike The Hunger Games because the contestants have someone to fight for, instead of just their lives (in some cases). While Guy does protect and love Tella, he still has sick cousin to fight for, and can't go completely hero-ey for her. Guy is there as a confidant, he's there for protection, he's there as a comforter, but what he's not there for is to baby her, something I am very greatly for. He does go after Tella to protect her, but when they do meet up, they're a team, even more so than Katniss and Peeta. While Guy does have ripped abs, and looks like a greek god without his shirt on, he and Tella have equal footing in their relationship.

My feelings about Tella are a bit mixed. She wasn't a Katniss, she wasn't a June, she wasn't a Tris. She couldn't fight with a bow and arrow, gun, or knives like some super-ninja. Neither was she a symbol of strength in character. But what I realized was that that was okay. She wasn't weak (like my first impression of her), whiny, or helpless (a major turn-off), she was an ordinary girl fueled by love for her brother that happened to love makeup, styled hair, and leopard slippers.

I'm going to call the various Pandoras in the book characters, because even though they weren't human, and couldn't talk (which would have been really cool), they were still a very prominent part of the story. They were all animals with somewhat super-human powers and no names which made them a little hard to keep track of. Maddox was one of the cutest/best animal accompaniments I've ever seen in a book, especially because of his awesome power that I won't be revealing. 

Romance 7.9/10: Most of my opinions about Guy and Tella were said in 'characters'. Bottom line, they are a great couple and cohesive team. I really like them as a couple, and they are my OTP of 2014....so far.

Cover & Title 8/10: May I just say, I am IN LOVE with the cover of Fire & Flood? I don't know who the hec designed it, but cudoos to you. The image of the burning white feather is powerful, striking, and if I was scanning in the bookstore, it would most definitely catch my eye. I had expected to find out exactly what the cover and title meant, that it was this huge 'AHA moment'. The truth is, there wasn't one. I think the designer just thought the cover was wicked cool, showed it to the author, publisher, and all of those other people they needed to, everyone thought it was amazing, and that was it. The 'Fire' part of the title may come from the desert ecosystem, as well as Tella's moments of courage and bravery. The 'Flood' part may come from the river that Tella and her allies had to cross. Those are my guesses. Nevertheless, if I was judging the book by the cover and title, this would 100% be one I would buy.

Pacing 5/10: The pacing wasn't the best in Fire & Flood as I explained previously in 'plot' because of how the action dragged. In any survival story, there is the risk of too much conflict (natural disasters, enemies, internal conflict), or too little (more than enough planning and strategics, lots of staring into space, etc). The pacing definitely could have been written better, especially in the space between the two eco-systems.

Ending/Continuation: There is an 80% chance I will be reading the sequel of Fire & Flood so I can see what happens in the other ecosystems, as well as have a chance to read more about Guy. Now that I think about it, ARCs are great, but I now want to find out what happens so badly, and it pains me to to think about the year or so until the sequel. The ending is a 7.75/10 because there was this HUGE revelation/WTH moment where we learn more about the oh-so-mysterious Guy, as well as some information about Brimstone Bleed that shocked me more than Thalia Grace when she's annoyed at Seaweed Brain. At the same time, the place it ended was a little awkward in terms of the eco-systems and how it was an in-between phase.
 

Quotes 4/10: Fire & Flood will not be winning any 'meaningful quote awards' from me any time soon, but Victoria had this uncanny ability to be downright hilarious. At random moments, Fire & Flood would make me laugh at loud. I tweeted her because I really wanted to post this quote, but she made me promise not to spoil the context. True to my word, all I'm going to say is that this scene was one of the best in the book.

"The cheetah. Ate. My finger." The girl looks at each of us. "That's what you're telling me? That Jaxon's Pandora ate the pinkie from my right hand? My writing hand?" "To be fair, he won it from M-4....They battled for it." "That is like, the best way for my finger to go."

Conclusion: Despite the many uncanny similarities between Fire & Flood and The Hunger Games, this book is an individual, new gem of the science fiction world with an uber swoony Guy, and how far you will go for your family members.

Book Buying & Bookshelf Organizing~ Musing Mondays (1)

This is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading where I can gripe about anything I want, because it's a freaking Monday.

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits. • Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s). • What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!  • Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it. • Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us! • Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

My 1st Musing:
So, it all started one day in December on a day that happened to be my birthday. One of the gifts I was most grateful for was a $50 Giftcard to Powell's Books a widely-known Indie book store based in Portland Oregon. My mom had said, "But Sofia, you can buy used books too." The problem was that I didn't have books that I wanted to own that were old enough to be sold used, if that makes any sense. 

So, one ordinary Wednesday last week, I received the bi-monthly Scholastic Book Orders. I usually scoff at them, laughing, and say, "I belong to a much superior world and have either read all of you over-hyped up books, or heard of you." But this particular batch of book orders have some beauties. If you are unfamiliar with Scholastic Books, this is the wonderfully-amazing-awesome catch. 

The books are sold at discounted rates.

I'm not talking a measly 20% off, but 50% and sometimes even more. A brand new, hardback copy of Cress by Marissa Meyer for $12. The Runaway King, and The False Prince sold in a paperback bundle for $9. There are so many deals like that in the book orders that overwhelm my book-hungry eyes. 

Now comes the hard part. I have to convince my mother to take my $50 Powells Giftcard, and then give me $50 for the Scholastic Book Orders. I calculated the books I wanted the most. I could get 7 or more books for $50 using Scholastic, and 4...maybe 5 at Powells.

These are the books from the book orders I want to buy:

$12~Cress: Marissa Meyer
*$10~Inhuman: Kat Falls
$9~The Ascendance Trilogy (#1 & #2)
$8~The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight: Jennifer E. Smith
*$5~Stung: Bethany Wiggins
$6~Between Shades of Gray: Ruta Sepetys

*Or...I could buy these instead of those
$9~Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: Ransom Riggs
$5~Blindsided: Priscilla Cummings

What do you think? Am I giving my mom the short end of the bargain? Am I being a smart and savvy book buyer? That's up for you to decide, in the comments below.

My 2nd Musing: 

I organized my bookshelf this weekend! I have a whole new organization system now that I am very happy with. Before I start showing pictures and going on and on about how brilliantly I organized it. I want to get something out there. On twitter, I have seen some pics of other people's bookshelves, and my entire bookshelf matches their ARC collection only. I know others might say I have so many more books than they do. I don't want to cause a dispute, I'm just showing my bookshelf, and I'm not doing this to brag, or anything like that, I'm just showing you this because I am really excited about it. 

Here's a fun fact about me; I hate cleaning, or even picking up my room (my mom has had years of first-hand accounts with this fact). But this was one organizing project I was happy to do. Now when I say bookshelf, I am referring to the small three shelf one in my room. I have another one in the family room with all my favorite childhood picture books, and other books like that. Then downstairs, my mom has a humongous book shelf taking up one wall of the Living Room with so many books, and I don't even know what kind they are (I'm convinced there is a secret passageway behind it).

The Bottom Shelf is of all my series I own that may not be my very favorites, but still look very pretty on my bookshelf.
The Inkheart Trilogy: Cornelia Funke
Reckless & Fearless (The Mirrorworld Series): Cornelia Funke
Wonderstruck & The Invention of Hugo Cabret: Brian Selznik
Les Miserables: Victor Hugo
Anne of Green Gables: Lucy Maud Montgomery
Tomorrow Girls Quartet: Gray
Among the Hidden Series: Margaret Peterson Haddix
His Dark Materials Trilogy: Phillip Pullman

The Middle Shelf holds all of my most prized possessions.
A random fact about me is that I find a new bookish obsession every year around late Winter/early Spring.
2008: Harry Potter: J.K. Rowling
I remember my best friend telling me about this series, and me scoffing at it because she wasn't that good of a reader at the time an I even had to help her with the hard words. It started with my mom showing me the first 20 minutes, of The Sorcerer's Stone, then saying it was bedtime. That got me hooked. I read the entire series in this order: 2, 1, 7, 3, 4, 6, 5. Did I fully follow? No. Did I care? No.
2009: Percy Jackson: Rick Riordan
I remember thinking that nothing could live up to Harry Potter until I found Percy Jackson. Everything was hilarious, Percy was relatable, and I just fell in love. The weird thing is the entire time I was reading the series, I imagined Percy like Harry, Grover like Ron, and Annabeth like Hermione.
2010: The Mysterious Benedict Society: Trenton Lee Stewart
My mom used to read to me every night and this was one of our gems. I remember begging her to read me another chapter more times than I can count with this series. It was so quirky, fun, and perfect for me at the time.
2011: The Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins
Now we travel into the Young Adult section.  I actually refused to let my mom know what this series was about for about two weeks after I finished it because I knew she would think it was a horrifying concept. Nevertheless, this was the launching pad for the reader I am today.
2012: Underland Chronicles: Suzanne Collins
I wanted more from Suzanne Collins, and where better to go than her Middle Grade series? There's a long story going with this one, but what I learned is to give books a chance no matter what your first impression. I loved Luxa and Gregor, they were my OTP even more than Katiss and Peeta because they were closer to my age.
2013: Legend: Marie Lu
I think we all know about this one. Legend is one of the best Young Adult novels I have ever read and will be even when I'm old and have read hundreds of others. I really don't need to say any more because you know how crazy I am.
2014: ?????? I have no idea what this years obsession is going to be other than -according to past experience- it's supposed to come soon.

The Top Shelf consists of my physical TBR list, and all the Standalones that I own that I love and/or books in series that I only own one book of (no grammatical sense whatsoever).
I don't want to bore you to death, but I'm going to share some stories about a few of these.

The Lost Children is one of my favorite Middle Grade books of all time. If you have any kid you need to get a gift for ages 8-12, you HAVE to get them this book. It was so gripping, suspenseful, mysterious, captivating, and everything else a little kid could want for.

 Moon Over Manifest was also one of the many books my mom had read to me, and it was one of our favorites. I don't remember much, but what I do recall is that the book went between two time periods, and it was a mystery I would give 4 ink jars to. If you want a book for a slightly quirky kid, then this will definitely be it.

The Limit was one of my first-ever futuristic, evil government books way before The Hunger Games. It was very suspenseful, and action-packed (in my memory), and let me tell you, the ending is a HUGE surprise. This was also one of my first-ever books that I read in one sitting, if you can call it that since I was reading in the bathtub (I was a weird kid).

This isn't part of bookshelf, but it is a huge part of me keeping track of my books. This is my trusty little Library Basket, which is pretty explanatory. From a young age, my mom made me put all my library books in it after every haul because I was notorious for losing library books.

While doing this, you can imagine I got a little misty. It was like re-discovering lost treasure as I looked at books that had been my bestest friends when I was little. I saw some of my childhood beauties and it was nostalgia galore of all the feels I had way back when.

Have you organized your bookshelf recently? If so, how do you organize it? By genre? Title? Author? TBR order? Leave it in the comments below and have a great Monday (although who am I kidding,it's MONDAY).