Review of This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Title/Author: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
Publisher/Date published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September 17th 2013
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley
Buy this book at: The Book Depository

Goodreads summary: Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Guys, I'm now officially a Leila Sales fan and she's going on my auto-read list! I absolutely loved This Song Will Save Your Life and it really deserves all the buzz it's gotten so far!

Oh man, I think so many people will relate to this book! Especially the bookworms among us who aren't natural social butterflies. Elise has a hard time fitting in at high school, or actually she's been having this problem all her life and the kids at school just don't recognize what an awesome person she is. Cause she is. I LOVE Elise! She's my kind of girl with her quirkiness and her love of music and her family! And I so felt for her! Kids can be mean and they don't always appreciate people who are different. And guys, I can absolutely relate to the feeling of not fitting in. I wasn't bullied or shut out for years like Elise, but I've had my moments. And it sucks. And I can't imagine going through that for years and still having Elise's spirit!

I adore Leila Sales' writing style! She deals with a pretty tough subject here and still manages to not make the book depressing even for a minute. I mean, I felt Elise's sadness, but it wasn't a dark book. I loved the voice she gave to Elise and she really knows how to tell a story!

And guys, can I just say how much I loved Vicky? Vicky is one of the girls Elise meets at the warehouse party and she is awesome. She genuinely wants to be Elise's friend and she's just a really good person. I love her and her claiming her own dance space, don't care if anyone thinks she looks crazy dancing!

There's a little romantic plot with Char, but while I see how he was good for Elise in the sense that he introduced her to new things, I was never really that into him. I mean, sure, charming and a DJ, but I never felt myself swooning over him. And I was kinda hoping for something else! And in the end I got my wish, so yay!

But while there's a little romance, This Song Will Save Your Life is about Elise and how she discovers herself and what she wants to do. And that it's ok to be yourself. And that is beautiful.
I know there's been a lot of buzz about this book and that can scare people off, but seriously guys, this book deserves it! It's a compelling story that I didn't want to put down for a minute once I started it! I got completely sucked in and it was just SO GOOD! This story will stay with me for a long time!

My rating: 5 stars

Made me crave: mushroom pasta