Summary: There are defining moments in life when everything changes. For Dani Mays, it was the day she witnessed her father kill her brother. Now seventeen years-old, she still hasn’t put it behind her.
After Jace’s death, she bounced between her alcoholic mother and foster homes, until she found a permanent place. And a reason to stay: Reece Tyler He’s her best friend, yet Dani wants more from Reece.
Faced with possibly losing Reece, Dani struggles to define his place in her life and escape the memories of her brother’s death and the influence it has over her choices. Even as she weaves the pieces of her heart back together, the past becomes more than a memory when a former foster brother reappears and Dani begins receiving threatening phone calls.
My Thoughts: This wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good. Will I read it again? No. And I’m glad I didn’t buy it. But, the story wasn’t a complete loss. It was interesting. I wanted to see where it was going and how things would play out for Dani. Reece is a likable guy. Dani, however, is an idiot. And, man, is she lucky that Colin is actually a decent guy.
The drama with the “threatening phone calls” was a bit hokey for me. It seemed forced, and it seemed to be thrown in to add something other than the ongoing relationship drama that was central to the story. Toward the end, when that particular part plays out, I all but rolled my eyes. (Can’t roll eyes while reading! 
) It was forced and rushed.
I often felt like things were over-written. It’s almost like the author was trying too hard. Over-explaining things. Or trying to write more eloquently than was necessary. I’m not entirely sure. And in some cases, the verbiage just confused me. Or at least made me have to stop and read it again, to make sure I read it right. One example:
The touch of him was so natural, how could I ever have thought he didn’t love me?
The “touch of him”? I get what is trying to be said here, but there are better ways to do so.
A few other things didn’t work for me:
- There’s little to no talk about football until Thanksgiving is approaching. And, at that point people are worried because Reece, who apparently is a good player, quit. And there’s more football talk after Thanksgiving. This is high school we’re talking about. With the exception of the playoffs and tournaments, high school football is generally over by November. At least in my corner of the country. Perhaps it’s different in Colorado? Even if it is, why isn’t his football prowess mentioned earlier?
- A lot of the dialogue is somewhat off. It just isn’t very natural in some places. And in a few, it’s just wrong. Like Dani calling Reece’s mom and chewing her out, calling her a selfish bitch out loud. Just didn’t work for me. I get what she’s doing. I get the circumstances, but I just don’t think that works.
- Grammar. I know I read an ARC, and it actually was pretty good overall. There were some things, though, that I found mildly annoying: using “effecting” instead of “affecting” in one spot. Mixing up lay and lie. Overuse of apostrophes (they should NEVER be used to note plurals). Some articles (the, an, etc.) missing. Stuff like that. Thankfully, it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t get into the story.
Despite all of that, I did find Dani’s story interesting. I was engaged and interested for most of it. It’s a fast, easy read, and I am not sorry I took the time to enjoy the story.
My apologies to those who were involved in this book. I do not intend to hurt anyone’s feelings or anything like that. I make it a point to post honest reviews. I believe my reviews are more credible when I share both the good and the bad. I recognize that my opinion is just that, an opinion. I always try to find positive in books when I generally don’t have a lot of good things to say, but I believe honesty helps me keep my integrity as a reviewer. No one can possibly love – or even like – every single book that comes their way. And no one book will please everyone.
Source: Received through The {Teen} Book Scene for review. (Click the button below for more tour stops.)
Challenges: Counts for the 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge.
FTC Disclosure: All items reviewed were either obtained by me for my own enjoyment or sent (from the author, publisher, publicist, via tour sites, etc.) in exchange for an honest review. I receive no monetary compensation for my posts. All opinions expressed are my own.
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Twitter: BookwormAsheley
I read a similar write-up about this book not too long ago and it seems like I remember that the blogger mentioned that there was little mention of music in the book. At least I think I remember that…
To look at the cover (which is beautiful, by the way) it looks like the book has a lot to do with music. Yet I don’t see any mention of music in your write-up either. That makes me a little bit sad…that the cover and title can be that misleading to me. (I say that without having read the book myself, so I may be off-base here, and forgive me if I am.) I want to believe that if I read this book, it will be really great because the cover is so beautiful, you know?
Yes, I forgot to mention that I was disappointed by the lack of music in the book. I didn’t feel it warranted the title “Songbird.” My apologies for having left that out!
Great review here! I agree. I think I ultimately liked it a little better than you did, but I was pretty disappointed in it overall. Sigh. So much potential, not a great follow through.
Ashley recently posted..Review: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
Thank you for sharing your review today. I always find it hard to share the negatives as well, it is just hard. Enjoyment of a story is so subjective that I like to read lots of reviews and opinions, especially about books I am on the fence about, as there are so many I definitely want to read
I do have to say if there is no music related to the story, I am already annoyed:)
There is a little bit of music. If I remember correctly, the main character talks about writing songs a couple of times, but not nearly enough for a book that – from outward appearances, at least – promises to have musical ties.