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A review by zedh
This Song Is (Not) for You by Laura Nowlin
3.0
This book... I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. I knew from the jacket summary that it wasn't going to be the kind of YA book that I usually read, so that obviously colors my opinion a bit. There were things that I really, really liked about this novel and things that annoyed me, but I'm wondering if the annoying parts were such just because this sort of book isn't my usual cup of tea. The YA I tend to read now (and, well, when I was a YA myself) tended to be on the sci-fi/fantasy/dystopian spectrum. I didn't read much of the "realistic fiction" YA and this book reminded me why: the characters tend to be holier than thou, "I am too good for high school and I am wasting my precious youth in a classroom," special snowflakes. The characters in this book can be like that, too... but they get called out on it or they learn to reshape opinions on things. So they grow, which I like, but the stuff before they grow was annoying. I guess - and this is occuring to me as I write this review - I guess I like the second half of the novel a lot more than the first. I acknowledge that the characters had to start where they did in order to grow and learn over the course of the book, but I like them - and the story - a lot more once the growth has occurred. Huh.
If you're wondering why I picked this book up in the first place, considering I said at the beginning of this review that the summary made it clear it was outside my usual reading zone, it's because I was doing some ordering for the library and trying to expand our LGBTQA collection and I read a review that said this book contained an asexual character and a polyamorous relationship. And really, that's what I wanted from this book. And it's what I got. And I loved all the stuff related to that. (Guys. Seriously. It's a YA book that turned a love triangle into a poly relationship that is honest and true and works for these characters. Holy smokes, I never thought I'd see that.)
So I guess I would say if you're looking for a novel with an ace character, or a polyamorous relationship, or teen characters who grow and mature, or you really like high school drama in your lit, then this was a fun, quick read. I like the author's writing style a lot, and the way the prose sometimes changes into freeform poetry; it surprised me at first, but it works well with the characters and what they are trying to convey. Huh, I guess I liked it more than I thought.
If you're wondering why I picked this book up in the first place, considering I said at the beginning of this review that the summary made it clear it was outside my usual reading zone, it's because I was doing some ordering for the library and trying to expand our LGBTQA collection and I read a review that said this book contained an asexual character and a polyamorous relationship. And really, that's what I wanted from this book. And it's what I got. And I loved all the stuff related to that. (Guys. Seriously. It's a YA book that turned a love triangle into a poly relationship that is honest and true and works for these characters. Holy smokes, I never thought I'd see that.)
So I guess I would say if you're looking for a novel with an ace character, or a polyamorous relationship, or teen characters who grow and mature, or you really like high school drama in your lit, then this was a fun, quick read. I like the author's writing style a lot, and the way the prose sometimes changes into freeform poetry; it surprised me at first, but it works well with the characters and what they are trying to convey. Huh, I guess I liked it more than I thought.