Lady Smits Reviews This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

 

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

There are so many things that I could say about this book. It is a tale both incredibly depressing yet ultimately uplifting. I found so many lines, of the main character’s thoughts, feelings, and words with which I identified. High school was very hard for me, and until this book I had never found an author who captured that tortuous time so succinctly. At times I wanted to clutch the book to my chest lovingly while also suppressing the urge to hide it under my pillows so I would not have to look at it anymore.

Adolescence is not easy, especially for Elise Dembowski. A social pariah, she studies everything she can so she can be “cool.” When her attempts fail, she decides suicide is her only option at ending all of the taunting and rejection with which she deals daily at the hands of her peers. After a failed “practice” attempt goes horribly awry, she spends her nights walking around the town in which she lives. It is during one of these walks that she stumbles upon an underground dance club. Drawn to the music and bright lights, she meets a group of people who help and save her by being her friends. She also begins learning how to DJ, unearthing a passion and talent she never knew she had. Eventually her two lives (student and star underground DJ) collide, and Elise must deal with the repercussions.

Kirkus Reviews say that Elise’s journey is “compelling,” and that she is “a remarkably self-aware character.” An example of this can be seen in the quote below, the actual design taken from the Quote Roundup section of Mac Teen Books.

 

 

The Gateway Award is for books which are appropriate and of interest to high school aged students. Although some, who are more conservative, may balk at the thought of students reading a story about a girl who had suicidal thoughts, sneaks out of her house, has a relationship with an older boy, and continuously lies to cover her tracks to be wildly inappropriate, I believe book is a realistic view of teen life. I think there are a large number of teens who feel as though they are being bullied by their peers and struggle to make it through adolescence relatively unscathed. I agree with The Horn Book Magazine’s review that the story and dialogue is authentic and that Sales has created an “insightful celebration of individuality.” Regardless of your experience in high school, do yourself a favor, and read this book.

Please forgive the formatting of the resources I collected to create this review. I’m still new to this whole WordPress thing, and creating properly formatted citations section is a bitch. Thanks.

“This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales.” Kirkus Reviews, 26 June 2013. Web. 9 Sept. 2014

<http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/leila-sales/ this-song-will-save-your-life/>.

“Quote Roundup: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales | Mac Teen Books.” Mac Teen Books RSS.

7 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://www.macteenbooks.com/ya/quote-roundup-this-song-

will-save-your-life-by-leila-sales/>.

Sales, Leila. This Song Will Save Your Life. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2013. Print.

Smith, Rachel L. “This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales.” Horn Book Magazine, Sept. /Oct. 2013:

110. Print.

 

The link below will take you to DJ Elise’s personal song list,
copied from the back of the book. 

Recommended Listening

Until next time!

~ Lady Smits