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A book about love, loss, and the power of music, perfect for fans of Nick Hornby and Fangirl. Taliah Sahar Abdallat lives and breathes music. Songs have always helped Tal ease the pain of never having known her father. Her mother, born in Jordan and very secretive about her past, won’t say a word about who her dad really was. But when Tal finds a shoebox full of old letters from Julian Oliver—yes, the indie rock star Julian Oliver—she begins to piece the story together. She writes to Julian, but after three years of radio silence, she’s given up hope. Then one day, completely out of the blue, Julian shows up at her doorstep, and Tal doesn’t know whether to be furious or to throw herself into his arms. Before she can decide, he asks her to go on a trip with him to meet her long-estranged family and to say good-bye to his father, her grandfather, who is dying. Getting to know your father after sixteen years of estrangement doesn’t happen in one car ride. But as Tal spends more time with Julian and his family, she begins to untangle her parents’ secret past, and discovers a part of herself she never recognized before. By the acclaimed author of My Heart and Other Black Holes, this is an intergenerational story of family and legacy and the way love informs both of those things. It’s about secrets and the debt of silence. It’s about the power of songs. And most of all, it’s about learning how to say hello. And good-bye.
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0This book was unfortunately not what I hoped it would be. It's not really a subject matter I venture into often (family issues), but I wanted to give it a go and read something a little different to what I'm accustomed to. I think it just was a case of the book not being exactly my fit, but I still enjoyed it for what it was.
Things I liked:
- Really well written; the writing wasn't overly vague nor overly descriptive. The balance was definitely there and that made the story more enjoyable.
- Character diversity was great.
- The feminism was a fabulous touch.
- The discussion about families and friends and how important they can be in life.
- The musical element. I really liked the fact that the story was entwined with music. I also enjoyed how much detail the author went into to discuss the topic, such as mentioning specific artists and instruments. It was really refreshing as I haven't read many books with music as the primary theme.
Things I disliked:
- I found the plot lacklustre overall.
- A little dull in parts; there were a lot of flashbacks which I felt became useless after so long and definitely became uninteresting. It just fell a little flat as a whole.
- Taliah was a very unlikable character; she was incredibly immature, childish and irritating.
- Felt largely unrealistic (even though it's fiction of course).
- The quirky references, metaphors, quotes etc., I just ended up rolling my eyes at them because they made Taliah seem like a manic dream pixie girl. I feel mean saying it but she was just one of my least favourite characters. If the story had centred around someone else, I think I'd have enjoyed it more!
Despite my thoughts being somewhat negative, I would recommend you read this one - even if you aren't a massive fan of young adult contemporary. It was an enjoyable book for what it was and I did like the story overall. It is absolutely worth the read and I know this could be the perfect fit story for someone!
0everything was going all fine for me! until! the! ending! what! kind! of! ending!
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