Book Review: This Song Will Save Your Life

About the Book: 

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, Leila Sales' THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

About the Author: 

Leila Sales is the author of the novels Mostly Good Girls and Past Perfect. She grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Chicago. Much like the characters in This Song Will Save Your Life, Leila regularly stays up too late and listens to music too loud. When she's not writing, she spends her time thinking about sleeping, kittens, chocolate, and the meaning of life. But mostly chocolate. Leila lives and writes in Brooklyn, New York, and works in children's book publishing.

The Review: 

The first time I read a Leila Sales novel was two years ago. I had ordered "Tonight the Streets are Ours" because the premise of that story felt oddly familiar. I was a little disappointed by the story. This Song Will Save Your Life kept popping up in my recommendations, because of my love for young adult fiction and my previous Leila Sales purchase.  

I finally caved and read the book two weeks ago. First of all, let me tell you that Elise is an extremely relatable character. The need to have friends, to be noticed is strong in every loner teenager. The story certainly made me have very painful flashbacks from my own school experiences. I like how Elise understands that sometimes you can only try so much, until you give in. She knows that she had to give up a part of who she is, to become the person she was always meant to be. As the story unfolds you raise you eyebrows at sixteen year-old Elise's life choices and wonder how has she managed to sneak out of her house without getting caught even once! But of course, this is a story. (I'm sure it's someone's story too out there.) This is a beautiful story but once more I was expecting a lot more from the climax! I wouldn't say I was disappointed more on the lines of, I expected it to affect me more than it did. 

If you're looking for a weekend read, then this is definitely one book worth testing out. 

Rating: 3.5/5 

You can buy your copy here: https://amzn.to/2Rh2YD0