Pages:
352
Publisher:
Hodder
Release
Date: 28th
July 2016
Edition:
UK proof, review
copy
When
aspiring photographer Charlie Bloom receives the invitation of her dreams – to
take backstage photos for chart-topping boyband Fire&Lights – it’s an offer
she can't refuse.
Overnight
she is launched into a world of fame, paparazzi and backstage bickering –
caught between the dark charms of the band’s lead singer Gabriel West, and
boy-next-door bandmate Olly Samson.
But
then Charlie stumbles upon a spine-tingling truth: all the songs Gabriel has
written for Fire&Lights debut album are, impossibly, linked to her and her
past.
What
does he want with Charlie?
What's
really going on?
Oh man, did I love this book! The
recommendations of the UKYA community never fail me.
Songs
About a Girl is
FUN. But it’s also more than that. Charlie is a fab heroine – I love that she’s
not a fan of Fire and Lights, that she’s super chill and quiet and shy. I just
want to be her friend, really. Watching her grow across the novel was a
pleasure. I love that she made mistakes, got into trouble, made snap judgments
and mostly, that she wasn’t afraid to say when she was wrong.
I kinda went in to Songs About a Girl not thinking I was going
to be that fond of the boys in Fire & Lights as I’m not a Directioner, I don’t
like 5SOS or anything other young, male pop bands, but I totally fell in love
with them. Yuki, Aiden and Olly are adorable and Gabe is mysterious and smouldering
– though it took me a while to really warm to him. I think my favourite is
actually Yuki…
Seeing how being in the band had
changed the lives of the guys was fascinating. Their newfound fame meant that
everything about their life was restricted, planned, controlled and nothing was
off limits to the media. I felt so bad for them, but it was definitely
interesting to read about! The tension between Olly and Gabriel is chafing and
palpable under the pressure of their situation – glorious! What I wasn’t expecting
was the fallout of Charlie spending time with the band. The trolls, the
vitriol, the downright abuse. It was
scary and really demonstrated cyber bullying and the dark side of social media.
I think it’s an important side of these platforms to show.
Songs
About a Girl ended
on a cruel cliffhanger and I’m dying to hear more from Charlie and the boys
from Fire and Lights – thank goodness there’s going to be another book! Chris
Russell’s debut is one of the books that I've had the most fun reading so far
this year.
Thanks to Hodder for the review
copy.
Sophie
Girrrl this book is a HOOF! As in it''s so much bigger than I thought it would be. I saw the shiny shiny cover, picked up and was like DAYUM!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it's a fun read because it''s high on my TBR. :)
Ohhh great review this is actually the first time I heard about this book, but it looks and sounds absolutely amazing and right up my all. Thank you for the awesome post.
ReplyDelete