3.5 stars

I love books with music. I find that they’re
always fun and guarantee a good time. This one is no different. We follow shy girl Victoria Cruz as she combats the monotony of her daily life by joining a band. We see Victoria’s personality and get to rock out along side her.

Things I Liked:
Victoria is a really relatable character. She’s bored with the monotony of her life and starts to want more, hence the band. She feels pressured by her family to get into a great school because that’s what they want for her. She experiences many firsts - boyfriend, kiss, detention - and we’re along for the ride. She is so very human. She makes mistakes and has regrets, but she also wants more but feels stuck.

I LOVED the music in the story. The band aspect was fun and really helped Victoria come out of her shell. Even beyond that she has a love for music that was great to see. I also loved that the chapter titles were songs. It created an instant playlist for the book - something I’m sure Victoria would love!

Things I Didn’t Like:
While I did think Victoria was a relatable character, she was also a little unlikeable to me too. Basically I had mixed feelings about her. She was immature at times and a little over the top with the teen angst. She is also a little self-involved, which I guess is a pretty typical teenager response to life, but it did make me like her a little less.

I wanted more at the end of the story. I was left feeling a bit unsatisfied. I wanted to know what was going to happen with the band moving forward - now that Victoria has went after what she really wants; what is she going to do about college; and is she going to be more open with her parents? I would have liked to get a few more answers before the story closed.

This was a fun book that was a breeze to get through. I loved exploring Victoria’s firsts alongside her, even though she was frustrating at times, and the music was a highlight for sure. I’m happy that I liked the book enough to want more, and I think this is a fantastic debut from Janelle Milanes

I received a copy of the book from Simon Pulse via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. ( )