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A review by xavia
Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
4.0
I read this book for book club, and before going in, I had no idea what to expect.
I really loved this book. I don't know if it was the angst, the unrequited love, the dark undertone, but this book hit all the right notes for me.
I love music, though maybe not to the same extent as Meche, and I love story telling and magic, and this book found a way to weave all of those things together in a story that was compelling and interesting and not overly hard to understand.
It reminded me of The Craft, a movie I just watched for the first time with my mother for Halloween. And like the Craft, the magic starts off fun and quickly dissolves into a tool to hurt people. I appreciated though, that even though the magic plays a role, its not central to everything that is happening. So much of the book is devoted to the connections of the people and their lives. The magic enhances rather than over powers.
I think, too, having the timeline split was a good idea. It doesn't always work in books and movies, but in this book it provided just enough mystery in the present to make me want to read more about the past. I kept thinking to myself that I desperately want to know what happened to cut her off so completely from her father and her friends. How she made it back to being on good terms with her mother when it felt like she resented having her around. I didn't get all my questions answered (I'd like to know what happened between Sebastian and Isadora), but I felt content with the end of the book.
I love these characters. Even when I don't want to. From the moment we got to read from Sebastian's point of view I knew I loved this gawky nerdy boy. Did he make some bad choices? Absolutely. But he was hurt, and he was in some bad circumstances, and he was a cocktail of hormones and bad decision juice and we all know that's a recipe for disaster. He was also too good for Meche. That he forgave her at all was a miracle.
Meche is an interesting character. I like her, but I don't want to. Because, by the end of the book especially, she is a mean person. She's mean to Sebastian, she takes Daniella for granted. She just assumes if she pushes hard enough things will fall into place. But maybe it's because I know she is 15 and full of hormones and playing with something she doesn't understand, and because we get to see her at 36 and know she's not that person anymore and that she does have some regrets, but I still found myself liking her. Which may be a testament to the writing.
Even though I felt he deserved better, I am glad Meche came back to him in the end. Because I want him to be happy, and apparently being with Meche would make him happy.
The final chapter was so cute. Maybe my favorite chapter.
I really loved this book. I don't know if it was the angst, the unrequited love, the dark undertone, but this book hit all the right notes for me.
I love music, though maybe not to the same extent as Meche, and I love story telling and magic, and this book found a way to weave all of those things together in a story that was compelling and interesting and not overly hard to understand.
It reminded me of The Craft, a movie I just watched for the first time with my mother for Halloween. And like the Craft, the magic starts off fun and quickly dissolves into a tool to hurt people. I appreciated though, that even though the magic plays a role, its not central to everything that is happening. So much of the book is devoted to the connections of the people and their lives. The magic enhances rather than over powers.
I think, too, having the timeline split was a good idea. It doesn't always work in books and movies, but in this book it provided just enough mystery in the present to make me want to read more about the past. I kept thinking to myself that I desperately want to know what happened to cut her off so completely from her father and her friends. How she made it back to being on good terms with her mother when it felt like she resented having her around. I didn't get all my questions answered (I'd like to know what happened between Sebastian and Isadora), but I felt content with the end of the book.
I love these characters. Even when I don't want to. From the moment we got to read from Sebastian's point of view I knew I loved this gawky nerdy boy. Did he make some bad choices? Absolutely. But he was hurt, and he was in some bad circumstances, and he was a cocktail of hormones and bad decision juice and we all know that's a recipe for disaster. He was also too good for Meche. That he forgave her at all was a miracle.
Meche is an interesting character. I like her, but I don't want to. Because, by the end of the book especially, she is a mean person. She's mean to Sebastian, she takes Daniella for granted. She just assumes if she pushes hard enough things will fall into place. But maybe it's because I know she is 15 and full of hormones and playing with something she doesn't understand, and because we get to see her at 36 and know she's not that person anymore and that she does have some regrets, but I still found myself liking her. Which may be a testament to the writing.
Even though I felt he deserved better, I am glad Meche came back to him in the end. Because I want him to be happy, and apparently being with Meche would make him happy.
The final chapter was so cute. Maybe my favorite chapter.