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A review by raven_morgan
Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
5.0
An eARC of this book was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. After reading the ARC, I have purchased my own copy.
***
"Signal to Noise" follows three friends, Meche, Sebastian and Daniela, along two timelines - 1989, when Meche is fifteen in Mexico City, and 2009, after Meche has lived away from Mexico City, her family and her friends, and returns home after her father dies.
Fifteen-year-old Meche loves music, and uses it to escape from and to block out the world. She sees herself as an outcast, her only friends Sebastian and the malleable, sweet Daniela. One day, Meche plays a record and makes a wish. When it comes true, she realises that she can do magic using music. She enlists her friends in a kind of witches circle, and the three of them discover for the first time that they have real power.
This is a coming of age book that I think would appeal to both younger and older readers. Specific music is mentioned many times, and I challenge anyone who grew up in the eighties (or is familiar with much of the mentioned music) not to have a virtual soundtrack going through their head as they read the book. Meche herself is a fascinating character - she's not always likeable, and her emotions can be unstable (in the way of many teenagers trying to find their way and self), but her actions - even when they are truly dark - are always understandable.
This is a truly amazing debut, and I hope we'll see much more of Moreno-Garcia's work to come.
***
"Signal to Noise" follows three friends, Meche, Sebastian and Daniela, along two timelines - 1989, when Meche is fifteen in Mexico City, and 2009, after Meche has lived away from Mexico City, her family and her friends, and returns home after her father dies.
Fifteen-year-old Meche loves music, and uses it to escape from and to block out the world. She sees herself as an outcast, her only friends Sebastian and the malleable, sweet Daniela. One day, Meche plays a record and makes a wish. When it comes true, she realises that she can do magic using music. She enlists her friends in a kind of witches circle, and the three of them discover for the first time that they have real power.
This is a coming of age book that I think would appeal to both younger and older readers. Specific music is mentioned many times, and I challenge anyone who grew up in the eighties (or is familiar with much of the mentioned music) not to have a virtual soundtrack going through their head as they read the book. Meche herself is a fascinating character - she's not always likeable, and her emotions can be unstable (in the way of many teenagers trying to find their way and self), but her actions - even when they are truly dark - are always understandable.
This is a truly amazing debut, and I hope we'll see much more of Moreno-Garcia's work to come.