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aethenea's review
4.0
I received an e-arc copy via NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and Entangled: Teen.
When I saw the cover of The Sound of Us I was immediately hooked. It's just beautiful. So many YA contemporaries have a really ugly cover but this one is definitely well done. But we don't read books because of their cover, right? (well, sometimes ...)
The Sound of Us tells the story of Kiki, a girl who is spending her summer practising her singing skills in opera summer camp. This combines some of my most favourite things - summer, singing and camping. I was sure this story would be very cute and I was not disappointed.
As I am singer myself (not opera though), I could get what Kiki is going through. I really liked her character. In a way she reminded me of Emily from Since You've Been Gone - always in a shadow of her (ex)best friend, a little bit socially awkward but otherwise a very interesting person who just thinks she's completely plain.
I did enjoy the amount of Twitter that's in this book. Sometimes I get the feeling that social platforms are completely left out of YA contemporaries which is weird because social platforms are parts of young adults' lives.
I really enjoyed the whole story, of course there was a romance but I felt it was well developed - it was afraid it'S going to be an insta-love thing because those two characters did have an instant connection but their "relationship" did develop slowly and it wasn't rushed.
Of course, there was a certain amount of teenage drama - well what else would get the plot moving,right? Buut again, I didn't find it horrible. The only thing that was kind of implausible to me was the insane strick rules of the summer camp.
Overall I liked this story very much, I think it is a perfect light summer read! I can definitely recommend it! :)
When I saw the cover of The Sound of Us I was immediately hooked. It's just beautiful. So many YA contemporaries have a really ugly cover but this one is definitely well done. But we don't read books because of their cover, right? (well, sometimes ...)
The Sound of Us tells the story of Kiki, a girl who is spending her summer practising her singing skills in opera summer camp. This combines some of my most favourite things - summer, singing and camping. I was sure this story would be very cute and I was not disappointed.
As I am singer myself (not opera though), I could get what Kiki is going through. I really liked her character. In a way she reminded me of Emily from Since You've Been Gone - always in a shadow of her (ex)best friend, a little bit socially awkward but otherwise a very interesting person who just thinks she's completely plain.
I did enjoy the amount of Twitter that's in this book. Sometimes I get the feeling that social platforms are completely left out of YA contemporaries which is weird because social platforms are parts of young adults' lives.
I really enjoyed the whole story, of course there was a romance but I felt it was well developed - it was afraid it'S going to be an insta-love thing because those two characters did have an instant connection but their "relationship" did develop slowly and it wasn't rushed.
Of course, there was a certain amount of teenage drama - well what else would get the plot moving,right? Buut again, I didn't find it horrible. The only thing that was kind of implausible to me was the insane strick rules of the summer camp.
Overall I liked this story very much, I think it is a perfect light summer read! I can definitely recommend it! :)
torijane_9's review
1.0
Abandoned. Couldn't get past the page where she pretends to not know her favourite Tv show to pretend to be cool.
sleepygirlreads_'s review
3.0
Originally posted on Brit's Book Nook
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy in exchange for my honest review.
I was really excited to read this one. A girl goes off to opera camp for the summer, but there’s a snitch who gets people kicked out of the program so she must risk everything to get a scholarship. Sounds exciting, right?
It wasn’t that exciting. I thought it would be way more cut-throat but basically when the first guy got cut everyone just started following the rules all of the time, which meant that out main, Kiki, didn’t get to have late night jam sessions with her camp bf. Boohoo.
There were a few twists that were thrown in that did catch me off guard a little bit, which made up for the rest of the story since it was kind of boring.
I did like Kiki though. She was a strong character from the beginning despite the type of people she has in her life. She stayed true to herself and stood up for others. She’s quite inspiring.
The one thing that I didn’t like was that Kiki is a fan of this show called Project Earth and since the book was mentioning other pop culture that was real I thought that it was a real tv show, but it wasn’t. I especially didn’t like that because Kiki kept mentioning the “iconic red dress” that the star of the tv show wore but I never got an idea in my head of what it looked like since that was the only description.
I don’t think I would recommend this book. It was alright, but it wasn’t my favourite. It was a quick read though so it might be a good book for a challenge.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy in exchange for my honest review.
I was really excited to read this one. A girl goes off to opera camp for the summer, but there’s a snitch who gets people kicked out of the program so she must risk everything to get a scholarship. Sounds exciting, right?
It wasn’t that exciting. I thought it would be way more cut-throat but basically when the first guy got cut everyone just started following the rules all of the time, which meant that out main, Kiki, didn’t get to have late night jam sessions with her camp bf. Boohoo.
There were a few twists that were thrown in that did catch me off guard a little bit, which made up for the rest of the story since it was kind of boring.
I did like Kiki though. She was a strong character from the beginning despite the type of people she has in her life. She stayed true to herself and stood up for others. She’s quite inspiring.
The one thing that I didn’t like was that Kiki is a fan of this show called Project Earth and since the book was mentioning other pop culture that was real I thought that it was a real tv show, but it wasn’t. I especially didn’t like that because Kiki kept mentioning the “iconic red dress” that the star of the tv show wore but I never got an idea in my head of what it looked like since that was the only description.
I don’t think I would recommend this book. It was alright, but it wasn’t my favourite. It was a quick read though so it might be a good book for a challenge.
tassiereads's review
5.0
I was honestly very very surprised that I was going to like this book as much as I did. I had bought it from a cheap shop for $2 and usually they’re duds but this one had me hooked, I couldn’t put it down.
Kiki, who said she didn’t have any friends made the bestest of friends at the music camp and I only wish we would get to see more of them when they actually attend the school full time. I NEED MORE
Kiki, who said she didn’t have any friends made the bestest of friends at the music camp and I only wish we would get to see more of them when they actually attend the school full time. I NEED MORE
liafiles's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
jubiweee's review
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
sc104906's review
2.0
Kiki is going to the opera camp, where her sister got her start. However, the stakes are higher for Kiki because her sister has graduated from the Opera program, but has no ambition to do anything other than party. Kiki's parents will not pay for college in the opera program and encourage her to go to the college where they work. But, forget that! Kiki is going to work her butt off at camp and leave her geeky obsession with a tv show behind. She will make friends and have a great time. Kiki is trying to get into the class of the greatest vocal teachers in the midwest, but he is kinda a jerk. Kiki's only outlets at the school are forbidden, so she is forced to decide between her future and happiness.
Is this the summer of trading everything away, so that you can be cool? Several books I have read this summer have been about that. The fandoms discussed in this book are either not popular enough for me to know what in the world the author is talking about, or the fandom base is super not interesting and unappealing. I think the book would have been bettered if the weird undercover geek girl was taken out, because it wasn't really developed anyway. Also the frenemy, twitter thing, did not work for me. It was like thrown in the mix but didn't really flow or make a difference. Several things about this book did not work for me.
Is this the summer of trading everything away, so that you can be cool? Several books I have read this summer have been about that. The fandoms discussed in this book are either not popular enough for me to know what in the world the author is talking about, or the fandom base is super not interesting and unappealing. I think the book would have been bettered if the weird undercover geek girl was taken out, because it wasn't really developed anyway. Also the frenemy, twitter thing, did not work for me. It was like thrown in the mix but didn't really flow or make a difference. Several things about this book did not work for me.
abigail_lo's review
5.0
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book for free from the publisher. This did not influence my opinion in any way.Books about classical music are always a hit-or-miss affair for me. Whenever the protagonist plays a piece perfectly without needing to practice at all: please! In your dreams, girl. Or when teenagers who study classical music are portrayed as single-minded, robotic snobs who are either practicing their pieces or dissing non-classical music: really? Just no. Wanna guess what I’m listening to now, as I write this review? No, not Beethoven, not Mozart, and not Chopin. #Hamilton for life guys! (“The Room Where It Happens†absolutely gives me life every time I listen to it!) And do you know how many times my friends and I goofed around during our “practice†time at the Indiana University Piano Academy (IUPA), one of the premier pre-c
ollege summer piano programs in the country? So many authors write about classical music without really understanding it or classical musicians. I can’t really fault them — after all, most of them have probably never been a classical musician themselves! But it’s still disappointing when yet another author fails to capture what’s so amazing about music.Not so with The Sound of Us! Ms. Hammerle must have been to an opera camp in high school. There’s simply no other way she could have written such a detailed & accurate account of exactly what happened to me at IUPA! I went through all the same things as Kiki: realizing how mediocre I was compa
ollege summer piano programs in the country? So many authors write about classical music without really understanding it or classical musicians. I can’t really fault them — after all, most of them have probably never been a classical musician themselves! But it’s still disappointing when yet another author fails to capture what’s so amazing about music.Not so with The Sound of Us! Ms. Hammerle must have been to an opera camp in high school. There’s simply no other way she could have written such a detailed & accurate account of exactly what happened to me at IUPA! I went through all the same things as Kiki: realizing how mediocre I was compa
haia_929's review
3.0
This is a trimmed down version of my review, to view the full review visit The Book Ramble.
I received a copy of this book from Entangled Publishing on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Kiki is spending her summer at opera camp this year, with the hopes that she'll prove to her parents, and her ex-bestie that she has what it takes to win a scholarship and study music full time in the future. When she gets to camp though its not exactly what she was expecting, the biggest problem being that she's not really sure opera is her "thing". Kiki's also very shy, so with the help of some new friends Kiki will need to bust out of her shell and prove to the world that she has what it takes to be a musician.
The Sound of Us was a cute read, with a lot of things going for it - like an interesting lead who is both a geek girl and on the plus size side. I liked that. I didn't like some other things about it though, the romance mainly, but also the writing wasn't my favourite, and the story pacing was all over the place. This is a sort of middling, cute-ish teen novel, not a standout but maybe a good read for people who liked that Hilary Duff movie Raise Your Voice.
Kiki is a really interesting character, as a lead she's got a ton of potential. She's a geek in a few ways - she loves studying Latin and music and she's full of pop culture knowledge - especially about her favourite TV shows. She's also ranging a little on the plus size side of things bodywise, which I thought was good - especially because it's a positive thing. Kiki learns across the book to love herself for all of her assets, including her fuller figure. Kiki as a character was the strong point of this book for the most part.
Other characters in the book are alright, they aren't really well rounded in the same way that Kiki is, and I never felt that I really knew them. I didn't feel the connection between Kiki and a lot of them either. Maybe Kendra and Norman would be the couple standouts but even then they weren't that strongly written either. There's a fairly large ensemble in this book, many of them are just bodies with one of two defining traits though so we don't really know them. A fairly major character in the book is Jack, Kiki's love interest. He has some layers, which I think are developed fairly well for the most part but not fully developed to the point that his cheating and lying later in the book really make a ton of sense to me. I also didn't really feel the connection between Kiki and Jack that would excuse his awful personality and behavior.
There was no sense of time passing in this book. The whole things meant to take place across 6 weeks, to me it felt like barely a week. There's no feeling of the long hours Kiki spends laboring away at this camp, and the bonds built between characters feel very unstable and underdeveloped as a result of this lacking depth of time.
All in all The Sound of Us is a good book, I'd recommend it more on the strength of Kiki as a character and as an important break from traditional characters in similar books, but I would never recommend it for the romance it seems so focused on selling.
I received a copy of this book from Entangled Publishing on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Kiki is spending her summer at opera camp this year, with the hopes that she'll prove to her parents, and her ex-bestie that she has what it takes to win a scholarship and study music full time in the future. When she gets to camp though its not exactly what she was expecting, the biggest problem being that she's not really sure opera is her "thing". Kiki's also very shy, so with the help of some new friends Kiki will need to bust out of her shell and prove to the world that she has what it takes to be a musician.
The Sound of Us was a cute read, with a lot of things going for it - like an interesting lead who is both a geek girl and on the plus size side. I liked that. I didn't like some other things about it though, the romance mainly, but also the writing wasn't my favourite, and the story pacing was all over the place. This is a sort of middling, cute-ish teen novel, not a standout but maybe a good read for people who liked that Hilary Duff movie Raise Your Voice.
Kiki is a really interesting character, as a lead she's got a ton of potential. She's a geek in a few ways - she loves studying Latin and music and she's full of pop culture knowledge - especially about her favourite TV shows. She's also ranging a little on the plus size side of things bodywise, which I thought was good - especially because it's a positive thing. Kiki learns across the book to love herself for all of her assets, including her fuller figure. Kiki as a character was the strong point of this book for the most part.
Other characters in the book are alright, they aren't really well rounded in the same way that Kiki is, and I never felt that I really knew them. I didn't feel the connection between Kiki and a lot of them either. Maybe Kendra and Norman would be the couple standouts but even then they weren't that strongly written either. There's a fairly large ensemble in this book, many of them are just bodies with one of two defining traits though so we don't really know them. A fairly major character in the book is Jack, Kiki's love interest. He has some layers, which I think are developed fairly well for the most part but not fully developed to the point that his cheating and lying later in the book really make a ton of sense to me. I also didn't really feel the connection between Kiki and Jack that would excuse his awful personality and behavior.
There was no sense of time passing in this book. The whole things meant to take place across 6 weeks, to me it felt like barely a week. There's no feeling of the long hours Kiki spends laboring away at this camp, and the bonds built between characters feel very unstable and underdeveloped as a result of this lacking depth of time.
All in all The Sound of Us is a good book, I'd recommend it more on the strength of Kiki as a character and as an important break from traditional characters in similar books, but I would never recommend it for the romance it seems so focused on selling.