This Song Will Save Your Life (Paperback)

'if you like good, character-driven contemporary YA, read TSWSYL' Sarra Manning 'a beautiful book about the power of music' Lauren Oliver 'this book spoke to me on so many levels. I wish I’d had it as a teen' Marissa Meyer The beginning of the book sees Elise in a quite a dark place. She's working hard on changing her image so she'll fit in at school and when all her attempts fail, she ends up feeling suicidal and harming herself. I have huge respect for the author for taking on these subjects and managing to get inside Elise's head and portray her worries so well. The book also deals with issues like cyber bullying and references eating disorders and binge drinking. I think it's important that books don't shy away from these things and although some scenes may be dark, I was really pleased with how they were addressed. This Song Will Save Your Life managed to balance everything really well so that you feel the emotion but there's enough uplifting moments to keep you entertained as well as moved. I was just drawn in by everything I read - I liked the music references, I really enjoyed reading about the other characters, whether it was Elise's family or the people at the party. This Song Will Save Your Life is such a real and raw and emotional book, it made me fall in love with Leila Sales and her writing. The story is incredible, the way you feel about Elise from the start is powerful because she is just so messed up, she is so alone and so sad about it all. She wants to be happy but just like all 16 year olds she doesn't really know the best way to go about becoming the person she wants to be but have people like her for it. The very start of the book honestly made me sad, really sad, Elise is so low and I could see why and how that felt and I've been there, to the point she was at. It's an awful place to be and it's hard to read about it but I knew I had to keep reading, to see what happened and see where the story goes. It had its hard places, but it also had some great places and I loved how much Elise grew. Unexpectedly crawled under my skin and nestled into my heart where I imagine it will stay for a long time to come I haven't given five stars to a book for a very long time . . . one of, if not the best contemporary book that I've read in years.