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2.82 AVERAGE
2.82 AVERAGE
I LOVED If He Had Been with Me, and was pretty excited to see a new book from Laura Nowlin.
I really liked the lyrical quality of Nowlin's writing, and found it interesting, that most of the book is told from within each of the three MCs heads. There is not a lot of dialog, but rather more reflection and narration. I adored Romona. She was so quirky, full of life, and full of love. When she spoke about her mother, my heart ached, and when she tried to mend fences with Emmalyn, I just fell more in love with her huge heart.
Sam was also very special. The way he pined away for Ramona, and would accept any love that she could give him. They really had a very special friendship.
Tom was so intense and so complicated. I though the exploration of his sexuality was quite interesting. Asexuality is not something I am well versed in, and therefore, cannot comment on the success or failure, but I was intrigued to learn more. I really appreciated that Nowlin shared some of Tom's struggle with us. His trying to do more with girls, and going to a doctor to confirm that he was ok. Some of Tom's confessions were quite heartbreaking.
I have read other reviews, and most people are commenting on the love triangle. It was odd for me, but more jarring was the resolution, because it was sort of abrupt and odd. But, that does not change my opinion of the book as a whole, because this book is about so much more. This is a book about love, friendship, family, loss, moving on, making your own path -- so many things. There are so many sweet, adorable, and fun moments. I look forward to more from Nowlin.
I really liked the lyrical quality of Nowlin's writing, and found it interesting, that most of the book is told from within each of the three MCs heads. There is not a lot of dialog, but rather more reflection and narration. I adored Romona. She was so quirky, full of life, and full of love. When she spoke about her mother, my heart ached, and when she tried to mend fences with Emmalyn, I just fell more in love with her huge heart.
I was always just trying o be myself. I'm sorry we didn't get along.
Sam was also very special. The way he pined away for Ramona, and would accept any love that she could give him. They really had a very special friendship.
Sam, who I knew was my Sam as soon as I met him.
Tom was so intense and so complicated. I though the exploration of his sexuality was quite interesting. Asexuality is not something I am well versed in, and therefore, cannot comment on the success or failure, but I was intrigued to learn more. I really appreciated that Nowlin shared some of Tom's struggle with us. His trying to do more with girls, and going to a doctor to confirm that he was ok. Some of Tom's confessions were quite heartbreaking.
I wanted to be with you more than I ever wanted to be with anyone before. And I loved holding you. And I even liked kissing you, because I loved you. But because my body isn't interested in doing more, you left me. It made my love less valuable to you.
I have read other reviews, and most people are commenting on the love triangle. It was odd for me, but more jarring was the resolution, because it was sort of abrupt and odd. But, that does not change my opinion of the book as a whole, because this book is about so much more. This is a book about love, friendship, family, loss, moving on, making your own path -- so many things. There are so many sweet, adorable, and fun moments. I look forward to more from Nowlin.
Ah~~!!! This book is sooo good! Not every day does a book positively feature both a polyamorous relationship and an asexual main character! A+ 10 outta 10 Would recommend
I didn't hate this, but I felt it was lacking a little bit in terms of the physical environment. The emotions around love and music and art were excellent, but for me they needed to be a bit more grounded in reality.
This book ended in a way that I absolutely did not expect from the beginning. The beginning is kinda rocky and a little hard to get through, especially with Tom. However, if you stick with the book (which I HIGHLY recommend), you see each character shine and mature and all three main characters become real and three dimensional. It's wonderful.
I was really surprised by Tom, because at first he was the one dimensional Edgy Obnoxious guy who's Too Cool for Anything Mainstream. But you start to see something real in him, and you realize he's just legitimately of an older soul, one that doesn't understand the weird rules of society. He's extremely kind, sweet, and wants to make an impact on the world, but in his own weird, glitter-fueled way.
He's also asexual, which is great representation.
Overall, this was a really fun book to read. I'm a sucker for YA lit that involves music, and it was really cool to see this book progress and see the characters progress over the course of a year. I don't want to give the ending away, but please read it because this book will NOT end the way you expect, and it's so perfect and refreshing for the age old "oh no pretty girl has T W O boys she like??? How to choose?!?!?!"
Read it, y'all. It's good. It's refreshing. And this song is not for you.
I was really surprised by Tom, because at first he was the one dimensional Edgy Obnoxious guy who's Too Cool for Anything Mainstream. But you start to see something real in him, and you realize he's just legitimately of an older soul, one that doesn't understand the weird rules of society. He's extremely kind, sweet, and wants to make an impact on the world, but in his own weird, glitter-fueled way.
He's also asexual, which is great representation.
Overall, this was a really fun book to read. I'm a sucker for YA lit that involves music, and it was really cool to see this book progress and see the characters progress over the course of a year. I don't want to give the ending away, but please read it because this book will NOT end the way you expect, and it's so perfect and refreshing for the age old "oh no pretty girl has T W O boys she like??? How to choose?!?!?!"
Read it, y'all. It's good. It's refreshing. And this song is not for you.
I've now read both of Laura Nowlin's books and I am so impressed with them and with her as an author.
Both of her books would be easy to ruin. This one, especially, which is sort of the world's most uncommon love triangle (I don't want to get too specific but it's a very unique story)---it would be very, very easy to not do it well. Instead, every character is completely fleshed out and nuanced, and every character is handled respectfully.
I also love the way that the band in particular and music in general is basically another character in the book. Ramona, Sam and Tom are all so into music and I always enjoy seeing people be passionate about things.
This book was just a sweet, fast read. And I cannot wait to see whatever Laura Nowlin writes next. I'll read it for sure, whatever it is.
Recommended.
Both of her books would be easy to ruin. This one, especially, which is sort of the world's most uncommon love triangle (I don't want to get too specific but it's a very unique story)---it would be very, very easy to not do it well. Instead, every character is completely fleshed out and nuanced, and every character is handled respectfully.
I also love the way that the band in particular and music in general is basically another character in the book. Ramona, Sam and Tom are all so into music and I always enjoy seeing people be passionate about things.
This book was just a sweet, fast read. And I cannot wait to see whatever Laura Nowlin writes next. I'll read it for sure, whatever it is.
Recommended.
Really enjoyed this unusual YA novel centred on music - the experience of producing it, and being passionate about it. Great and diverse representation (I was sold this as having an asexual character, which it delivers on really well, and also deals with some of the complexities of being asexual but not aromantic). The novel will raise questions for a lot of YA readers as it pulls you in to the characters' relationships and concerns so well. A great one for artistic/creative/passionate teens and definitely will appeal to kids specifically looking for ace representation too.
I needed this book to be something it wasn't. I picked up This Song Is (Not) For You because I was searching for books with asexual characters, and this one got recommended to me over and over. Nobody warned me that for the bulk of the book, when Tom comes out as ace people react with 'that's not a real thing'. That Tom himself, while he doesn't buy into that idea, never really puts up a strong opposition to these claims. The end is supposed to be uplifting, but it rings hollow.
As for other aspects of the novel, I didn't love the voice or the plot. They were okay. If this book had gotten the ace rep right, the plot would have been fine, but it wasn't enough to even slightly soothe my disappointment over the reason I'd picked up the book in the first place.
As for other aspects of the novel, I didn't love the voice or the plot. They were okay. If this book had gotten the ace rep right, the plot would have been fine, but it wasn't enough to even slightly soothe my disappointment over the reason I'd picked up the book in the first place.
This was a quick, fun book.
In terms of ace representation, one of the main characters is ace, although the word "asexual" is never used. The ace character does experience romantic attraction (I would argue that he is biromantic, although that's not technically canon I guess). There is a bit of "what if I'm broken how can I be 'normal'" narrative although by the end of the novel the character and those he is closest to have accepted him. In addition, there is some aphobia from other secondary characters.
In terms of ace representation, one of the main characters is ace, although the word "asexual" is never used. The ace character does experience romantic attraction (I would argue that he is biromantic, although that's not technically canon I guess). There is a bit of "what if I'm broken how can I be 'normal'" narrative although by the end of the novel the character and those he is closest to have accepted him. In addition, there is some aphobia from other secondary characters.
I loved the title and the way it fit into the story, that these kids were doing this for themselves, not for you. I also really appreciated an asexual main character (though I would have appreciated even more actually using that word, since it wasn't as obvious as it could have been that this is a real thing and not just a part of Tom being weird and generally out of step with society.) I was very surprised by the way the main love triangle resolved itself, not having seen that particular solution in a book aimed at this age group before, which was exciting. I do wish, though that the options for asexuals was shown as being to either not have a relationship or to set up a menage situation. It seemed like all of the girls were very clear that Tom's asexuality was an absolute deal breaker for them. Even the perfect special snowflake love that the bandmates share is explicitly stated as not working if she didn't have Sam as a sexual outlet. When none of them are even sexually active at this point in their lives. There are many asexual/nonasexual couples in the world, there are ways to make it work.
While I loved the way that it resolved, I did think that it came too easily. There was no doubt or need to think about things. The solution was suggested, everyone involved was immediately on board. There was no jealousy or worry or any negative emotions. Even Tom just blithely accepted that she didn't want to touch him for weeks on end, since he was perfectly understanding. That sort of perfect understanding of everyone's emotions didn't ring true to me. And while all of the characters were clearly portrayed as not living within society's boxes, I think it's a little odd that no one ever hesitated for the slightest second at something so clearly outside of their range of experience.
I was reading an eARC, so I didn't even realize that the text as a lot of poetry-like line breaks until I started flipping through a physical copy. I thought it was just the digital ebook being weird. I'm not sure how I feel about that. When I saw the way it was laid out, it pulled me out of the story.
The book also felt short, as if it were really a novella that was trying hard to be a full novel. The font was larger than expected, and the non-music, non-romance sections felt sort of tacked on and unattached to the rest of the story.
I do recommend the book, to a particular set of readers, because of the asexual representation, of which there is so little in books for any age of reader, and the unconventional romance.
While I loved the way that it resolved, I did think that it came too easily. There was no doubt or need to think about things. The solution was suggested, everyone involved was immediately on board. There was no jealousy or worry or any negative emotions. Even Tom just blithely accepted that she didn't want to touch him for weeks on end, since he was perfectly understanding. That sort of perfect understanding of everyone's emotions didn't ring true to me. And while all of the characters were clearly portrayed as not living within society's boxes, I think it's a little odd that no one ever hesitated for the slightest second at something so clearly outside of their range of experience.
I was reading an eARC, so I didn't even realize that the text as a lot of poetry-like line breaks until I started flipping through a physical copy. I thought it was just the digital ebook being weird. I'm not sure how I feel about that. When I saw the way it was laid out, it pulled me out of the story.
The book also felt short, as if it were really a novella that was trying hard to be a full novel. The font was larger than expected, and the non-music, non-romance sections felt sort of tacked on and unattached to the rest of the story.
I do recommend the book, to a particular set of readers, because of the asexual representation, of which there is so little in books for any age of reader, and the unconventional romance.