Scan barcode
A review by bookishly_faith
The Sound of Us by Julie Hammerle
3.0
I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review (Thanks!)
I think my rating is more 3.5 stars. I really did like this book but about halfway through, I got really fed up with Kiki's inner dialogue (aka angst) about Jack. This novel kind of reminds me of [b:All the Feels|29222548|All the Feels|Danika Stone|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1463478745s/29222548.jpg|45844743], except [b:The Sound of Us|27779285|The Sound of Us|Julie Hammerle|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1462217742s/27779285.jpg|47756646] was a bit more well-rounded because it didn't focus solely on the fandom.
This book is about Kiki, a girl who is going to a summer camp to compete for an opera scholarship. She wants to convince to her parents that opera is what she wants to do with her life and prove that she isn't a quitter like her older sister, who went to the school and now is unemployed. Kiki is also an avid fan of Project Earth and is inspired by her favourite character from the show, Dana. While at this camp, Kiki meets a guy who she jams with and they instantly connect. But there is a mole in the camp who will kick someone out of the running for the scholarships for not following the rules. Jamming out to rock songs instead of working on opera songs could get Kiki kicked out of camp. This book follows Kiki's struggles with finding out what her passion really is, working hard at opera camp and accepting herself.
I really liked that this book was about opera. I've never read a book where someone wants to have a career in opera. It was interesting to see how someone learns opera music and what a person studying music needs to learn to get a career in it. Sure, this book could have gone a little bit deeper, but overall, I was satisfied about what I learned about opera in [b:The Sound of Us|27779285|The Sound of Us|Julie Hammerle|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1462217742s/27779285.jpg|47756646].
The plot of this book was really interesting. It wasn't predictable at all. I find that contemporaries can really be predictable sometimes but this one wasn't the case. This novel was always fast paced and never boring. I liked how the author used the opera camp to get Kiki to grow while it also created a lot of delicious drama. (What can I say, I like drama in my contemporary books?) Sometimes I felt that the main character's actions were a tiny bit more bold that I expected from her, but nonetheless, I think they were all realistic.
I also really liked the main character of this book, Kiki. She starts off really insecure and shy and as the book goes on, you get to see her flourish when she finds friends and discovers what she wants. Kiki was super relatable because of her obsession with Project Earth. I liked when she would be like, I need to Tweet this. Or when she would ask herself what her favourite character would do.
At first, I liked the character of Jack, aka the love interest. He seemed really compatible with Kiki and Kiki was really happy and acted like herself with him. But once we got to the middle of the book, I started to get annoyed with how much of Kiki's thoughts this guy was taking. After that, I realized how insta-love their relationship was and I just got really angry with Jack by the end of this book. The ending with them made me pretty angry and was just a little bit too ambiguous for my taste. In the end, Kiki kind of realizes she shouldn't need a guy this much, but it took forever for her to get to a point of confidence. Now, don't get me wrong, I know that this book is to have romance, but in 2016, I kind of expect there to be more themes in YA contemporary about the independence of women.
All in all, this book was an engaging and fun read. Sure I was a little annoyed with Kiki's obsession with Jack, but this book was really unique and dramatic. I liked the friendship themes and the idea of finding yourself. I liked that it was kind of about college, which is a plot point that I like seeing in books. It was a good contemporary, but expect a bit of heavy romance-angst while reading.
I think my rating is more 3.5 stars. I really did like this book but about halfway through, I got really fed up with Kiki's inner dialogue (aka angst) about Jack. This novel kind of reminds me of [b:All the Feels|29222548|All the Feels|Danika Stone|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1463478745s/29222548.jpg|45844743], except [b:The Sound of Us|27779285|The Sound of Us|Julie Hammerle|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1462217742s/27779285.jpg|47756646] was a bit more well-rounded because it didn't focus solely on the fandom.
This book is about Kiki, a girl who is going to a summer camp to compete for an opera scholarship. She wants to convince to her parents that opera is what she wants to do with her life and prove that she isn't a quitter like her older sister, who went to the school and now is unemployed. Kiki is also an avid fan of Project Earth and is inspired by her favourite character from the show, Dana. While at this camp, Kiki meets a guy who she jams with and they instantly connect. But there is a mole in the camp who will kick someone out of the running for the scholarships for not following the rules. Jamming out to rock songs instead of working on opera songs could get Kiki kicked out of camp. This book follows Kiki's struggles with finding out what her passion really is, working hard at opera camp and accepting herself.
I really liked that this book was about opera. I've never read a book where someone wants to have a career in opera. It was interesting to see how someone learns opera music and what a person studying music needs to learn to get a career in it. Sure, this book could have gone a little bit deeper, but overall, I was satisfied about what I learned about opera in [b:The Sound of Us|27779285|The Sound of Us|Julie Hammerle|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1462217742s/27779285.jpg|47756646].
The plot of this book was really interesting. It wasn't predictable at all. I find that contemporaries can really be predictable sometimes but this one wasn't the case. This novel was always fast paced and never boring. I liked how the author used the opera camp to get Kiki to grow while it also created a lot of delicious drama. (What can I say, I like drama in my contemporary books?) Sometimes I felt that the main character's actions were a tiny bit more bold that I expected from her, but nonetheless, I think they were all realistic.
I also really liked the main character of this book, Kiki. She starts off really insecure and shy and as the book goes on, you get to see her flourish when she finds friends and discovers what she wants. Kiki was super relatable because of her obsession with Project Earth. I liked when she would be like, I need to Tweet this. Or when she would ask herself what her favourite character would do.
At first, I liked the character of Jack, aka the love interest. He seemed really compatible with Kiki and Kiki was really happy and acted like herself with him. But once we got to the middle of the book, I started to get annoyed with how much of Kiki's thoughts this guy was taking. After that, I realized how insta-love their relationship was and I just got really angry with Jack by the end of this book.
Spoiler
And I really don't get how Kiki sort of wanted back a spineless, cheating idiot?!All in all, this book was an engaging and fun read. Sure I was a little annoyed with Kiki's obsession with Jack, but this book was really unique and dramatic. I liked the friendship themes and the idea of finding yourself. I liked that it was kind of about college, which is a plot point that I like seeing in books. It was a good contemporary, but expect a bit of heavy romance-angst while reading.