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A review by lawbooks600
A Song Only I Can Hear by Barry Jonsberg
3.0
Trigger warnings: Death of a grandfather, PTSD mentioned, military violence and war themes, Vietnam War mentioned
7/10, this was an interesting novel that I've been wanting to read for a while and I can summarise this one in one word: Coming-of-age. The main character Rob Fitzgerald is interesting to say the least. Rob describes himself as of his own words, a loser and I could feel bad for him since this is realistically what some teenagers with low self esteem feel like; he brought pride by being a goalkeeper which he pulls off. Rob wants to go further and he receives a mysterious message on his phone from someone persuading Rob to take on some challenges which he accepts. Rob spends time with his grandfather and he is a fascinating character who plays a major role in his life despite swearing, still he wants to help Rob to improve himself.
Rob completes three challenges, the first of which is to be on Milltown's Got Talent and he succeeded but then the story takes a quirky turn... The second challenge for Rob was to get on the newspaper which he did by protesting against animal cruelty after researching a vegan diet prompted by his grandfather. The third task is here alongside a big reveal and a plot twist, yes I'm not kidding. The messenger was a character called Agnes who knew Rob's grandfather before he died and that mission was to be yourself which was inspiring; the latter event happens in the end and man was that a shocker.
7/10, this was an interesting novel that I've been wanting to read for a while and I can summarise this one in one word: Coming-of-age. The main character Rob Fitzgerald is interesting to say the least. Rob describes himself as of his own words, a loser and I could feel bad for him since this is realistically what some teenagers with low self esteem feel like; he brought pride by being a goalkeeper which he pulls off. Rob wants to go further and he receives a mysterious message on his phone from someone persuading Rob to take on some challenges which he accepts. Rob spends time with his grandfather and he is a fascinating character who plays a major role in his life despite swearing, still he wants to help Rob to improve himself.
Rob completes three challenges, the first of which is to be on Milltown's Got Talent and he succeeded but then the story takes a quirky turn... The second challenge for Rob was to get on the newspaper which he did by protesting against animal cruelty after researching a vegan diet prompted by his grandfather. The third task is here alongside a big reveal and a plot twist, yes I'm not kidding. The messenger was a character called Agnes who knew Rob's grandfather before he died and that mission was to be yourself which was inspiring; the latter event happens in the end and man was that a shocker.
“Sometimes a person needs to keep things to himself. You don't tell me everything and that's fine. We all need to keep some stuff locked away. If we didn't, we could end up getting hurt.”