This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

                Getting you through another Monday is some good book fun!  Sorry for my lateness in posting I stayed at work substantially later than intended and slept well past normal waking times, but then what are day offs for.  I’m doing very good at catching up on some reviews I’ve been meaning to write or edit from the ramble phase.  I am hoping to get most caught up and ready to post if not posted by the start of 2016 to start fresh!  With that in mind today I’m going to be sharing my thoughts and feels on This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales.  I previously read another book by the author, Tonight the Streets Are Ours (review here), and I enjoyed it and it only made me want to check out the other title I have by her.  Technically speaking I had this one for a lot longer.  Also something I’m working on and working towards in 2016 but I'll post more on that in a separate blog.  Today it's all about the review.

Rating: 4.5 Songs

                This Song Will Save Your Life is about Elise.  She's never had any friends.  Really she just kind of floats around, the mean girls are catty as usual and find ways to harass her and she doesn't really fit anywhere or have people to talk to.  After a failed attempted to revamp her image and gain popularity fails she gives up.  One night she stumbles into a warehouse party and some friends: Vicky, spunky sweet girl in a band who accepts her from the start, Pippa, English carefree party girl, Char, handsome mysterious DJ.  Most importantly she finds a love for DJing and how it changes her life.

                I liked this story.  I was drawn to Elise and her pain.  I think everyone understands that feeling in some way, the rejection.  It never gets easy and as she had no real friends as a support system I could feel for her and wanted things to work out for her so badly.  She makes some decisions and as she changes her mid which I think is a very true reality that many go through.  She then has to deal with the consequences of her choices but she is working through it.  I respect that.  When she finds the club I am excited.  That would be me, out in lounge clothes not looking nice and get invited into a club out of nowhere.  Still she finds something in herself.  I really enjoyed Elise's journey and while I didn't agree with her choices at times I could understand them from her perspective. 

                 Music is also a huge aspect of the story, it is about DJing after all.  I admit to knowing nothing about being a DJ other than playing songs and balancing them out so they don't leave open space and jazz.   I enjoyed getting a bit more information on the subject and seeing her learn, but not being bogged down either.  I also may have randomly stopped reading to YouTube some songs mentioned just to hear them and read along at times.  I think with Elise we also have a few other characters who were each unique and important, like Vicky, Char, her parents and siblings.  Each one has their own personality and added to the story as a whole and Elise's life good or bad. 

                I enjoyed this story and my favorite aspect was that it wasn't scared to show the emotion.  The nasty nitty gritty emotion of it all from the highs to the lowest of lows.  I loved the journey that Sales too us on in this book and I think it is something anyone can enjoy and find some aspect to relate to or root for.  I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.  Remember comments spread love!  Tell me, did you love Elise?  Do you think certain people got off easy/harsh?

                Until next time…

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo ~Plus pictures from the last couple events!

                Hello everyone!  Okay so first let me say I’m sorry about skipping out on my Friday post.  I ended up staying in Atlanta and extra day and came home Friday and by the time I got home and settled it was much too late to post (and I hadn’t prepared one able to post by phone for Friday, bad planning on my part).  Bright side is I have a review of an amazing book for you today and photos from my trip so score!  Today is the first day back to work in a week so I’m getting back into the swing of things.

                Today I’m going to be talking about another book that the author was on the Fierce Reads team, Leigh Bardugo with Six of Crows.  Now some of you know I only read the Grisha trilogy earlier this year but that I really enjoyed them.  My past reviews can be found here: Shadow & Bone, Siege & Storm, and Ruin &Rising.  Before I go into the review a couple things in case you didn’t know.  Six of Crows does take place in the same world as the Grisha trilogy.  You do not need to read them in order to understand or enjoy Six of Crows but there is mention, very briefly, about a couple of characters from the trilogy and the after events of the trilogy that might spoil you.  That’s all the notes now onto review, I’ll try to keep it as spoiler free as possible.

Rating: 5 Stars

                Six of Crows in short is about a heist.  It’s about so much more but it starts in Ketterdam, the place known for crime.  Our leader is Kaz, criminal prodigy who is offered a HUGE payday for a specific heist.  He can’t do it alone so he assembles his team.  To steal someone from the impregnable location that could ruin the world.  A convict with a thirst for revenge, a sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager, a runaway with a privileged past, a spy known as the Wraith, a Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums, and himself a thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.  All six of them are dangerous in their own right but together they could be the perfect team or a hot mess.  Many different personalities fighting for different purposes.

                I have to say this: I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!  It was amazing!  I was captured from the start.  First can we talk about the dark and beautiful cover…and the black edges?  Are they important to the story?  Okay not really but we all first see a cover and it just adds to the feel of it.  A little added touch.  Plus two maps!  One we are familiar with in the world if you’ve read the Grisha trilogy and one of the Ice Court which is all new and shiny!  Again just added details.

                There are also several POV’s.  We get to see inside the heads of out different team members.  This really adds to the perspective of seeing what is pushing each towards this apparent suicide mission as well as what in their past has brought them to be the criminal they are today. With this you also get to see how one thing can be seen in different ways and how ones prejudices and past experiences influence their thought process.  While sometimes I wanted to stay in certain characters longer, needing answers to my questions, I was just as eager to read from someone else.  I hated putting it down but I stayed with my read-along plans (until the day before I was meeting Leigh and HAD to have it finished).

                 There is so much happening in this story both in the world, the characters, and the overall plot. There is some serious plotting and scheming going on and it.  I’ve heard someone reference Oceans 11 meets Game of Thrones and I love that!  I did get a very master thief vibe.  It was masterful.  With a larger core group of characters for me no one felt under developed.  I felt like I got to know each one of them, some a bit more than others but as this is a new series I hope some will be developed even further in the next book.  Still I knew enough about them to be invested in them.  For those who are familiar with the Grisha world as this story doesn’t take place in Ravka but in a much different place where thoughts on Grisha are vastly different. 

                I can’t really discuss what happens in the story without fear of giving much away so I will simply say you are constantly going.  There is a ton of action from chases, fights, gun fights, and explosions as there is subtle thievery that uses more stealth.  I was never bored.  I just adored this book.  It ends in a way that left me frantically trying to turn the page for more and not finding more.  My most important question at the event was asking when could readers expect to see their next books out?  Mostly it was for Leigh and Josephine as they are involved in series that left you hanging in a serious way but still.  No confirmed dates but Leigh did say her first draft went to her editor so cheers to progress.  Also side note Josephine Angelini stated the next World Walker book should be out next September so an almost date there.

                So my review is finished let’s enjoy some beautiful pictures.  All the ladies were super sweet and engaging.  They were happy to sign books and take photos and jabber for a bit without rushing.  Yay!  Also I didn’t take a photo of it, because I forgot, but Fierce Reads gave out these awesome tote bags with a really long and wide strap!

Bogdana and I waiting to go up!  Plus the penny floor!  How cool!

Our #fiercereads ladies on the couches and introduced by the one and only Kim! <3 Little Shop of Stories

Josephine Angelini & Leigh Bardugo answering some fan questions!

Marie Lu did a chat, reading, and Q&A before signing and photos!

Stuart Woods and his dog Fred #7 (I believe)!  I love dogs so score plus Woods...this was his 61st fiction book out! OMG! Thank you Eagle Eye Books

Tonight the Streets Are Ours

                Hey happy readers!  I hope you all have had a fantastic time.  I’ll jump right into it as I’m posting from away from home on my phone).  I have the pleasure of spending yesterday and today at book events, and due to the distance and an awesome friend letting me crash so I could save 8 hours and 500 miles whoohoo this is how it is.  Yesterday we attended the Fierce Reads event with Josephine Angelini, Leigh Bardugo, Leila Sales, and Emma Mills (pictures to be shared later or check out my twitter or facebook for faster pics) and today is the lovely Marie Lu.  Big thanks to Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, GA for having so many wonderful events through the year and generally being awesome people. 

               

                Today I actually have for you my review of Tonight the Streets Are Ours by the lovely Leila Sales.  First can I just take a moment to appreciate this cover, it's just beautiful.  This book was provided by NetGalley and the publisher as an ARC, though technically it wasn’t approved until the day it came out, as always I thank them.  Let's get right in to it.

Rating: 4 Blank Checks

                This is a story of the recklessly loyal Arden.  She is always taking care of everyone else, it gives her purpose and makes her life matter.  Though as of late she's become a bit resentful of everyone, from her mother who abandoned them, to her best friend and even her boyfriend.  She wonders something I think we all may have wondered at one point or another, 'Why does nobody love me as much as I love them?' This is how she stumbles upon a website/blog called Tonight the Streets Are Ours, an online journal of a NYC aspiring writer named Peter.  His ramblings and thoughts have become a voice to things Arden has never known how to express herself.  Though they have never met she finds in his writings understanding.  Until one night after a road trip she finds Peter.  Together they have one crazy night out on the town where anything can happen.  Everything seems perfect, but what you see on the internet might not always be the whole truth.  Maybe Peter isn't as perfect as she thought.  Maybe she isn't who she thought she was.

                This story was a really interesting read.  I went in not knowing much about it, just that it involved a road trip at one point and it was about self discovery.  That's it.  I kind of liked going in blind and just letting it unfold before me.  It wasn't super happy or super sad, more reflective.  It's about Arden and her journey in finding out how to deal with the world she is in.  She cares so deeply for people and when they don't seem to care as much for her it hurts and makes her wonder why.  I myself have always found that I am there and care for others many times more than they do for me.  Some people are just more emotional than others.  I found myself relating, in a small way I'm not nearly as nice as Arden, to her.  I wanted her to figure things out and find a way to come into her own.  There wasn't anything wrong with her as a person for caring just that she lets her devotion for others rule her world at times.  When she finds the blog and begins to read it I instantly liked Peter and his writing.  I was looking forward to when their lives would merge.  I wanted to see what would happen. 

                I found the characters to be pretty realistic, I've known people who could have easily been these people.  While I didn't always agree with them, it was told in such a way that it seemed so real.  I was caught up in the quest of self discovery. The journey is just as important as the destination.  Peter, while not our main character felt like he was a bit as most of his story was told from a journal POV and as such we were in his head and heart. It's not a typical feel good happy RomCom but it made me happy.  It also sheds light on what perspective can really mean.  One persons view of how things happen could be vastly different when someone else recounts the same events.  I liked that aspect.  It makes you think about an story you tell and how the other parties involved might have viewed it.  The epilogue sums it up pretty perfectly. 

                That's all I have to share with you today.  Anything more would ruin the journey I think.  I enjoyed Tonight the Streets Are Ours and went through it pretty quickly once I sat down with it without constant interruptions.  That's all for now.

                Until next time…