AMPLIFIED
by TARA KELLY
Publisher: Henry Holr and Co.
Published: October 25th, 2011
When privileged 17-year-old Jasmine gets kicked out
of her house, she takes what is left of her savings and flees to Santa Cruz to
pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Jasmine finds the ideal room in an
oceanfront house, but she needs to convince the three guys living there that
she's the perfect roommate and lead guitarist for their band, C-Side. Too bad
she has major stage fright and the cute bassist doesn't think a spoiled girl
from over the hill can hack it. . . In this fresh new novel by critically
acclaimed author Tara Kelly, Jasmine finds out what happens when her life
gets Amplified.
You know
this book is going to be good by its title, cover, its main character: Jasmine
Kiss (awesome name), and the fact that she's in a house full of guys. Some good looking guys at that. Guys who play instruments.
That's right, a rock band… who doesn’t love a
rock band? Guitar solos, people… Guitar solos…
Even better,
The Guy is in the Rock Band. Musicians…. A guy in a band is the sexiest thing
in the planet, everyone loves a guy like
that
But as if
that isn’t enough, the GIRL is in the band too!
Now you
have the band, the guy and the kick-ass girl in the rock band. Throw in an evil
queen (or just a nasty bitch), and you got one of the greatest books ever.
Amplified
is an amazing read. And a MUST for everyone.
The story doesn’t
go too fast nor too slow. It moves to the perfect rhythm.
If I’d have to use a
music analogy (just because the book asks for it) I’d said is the PERFECT solo ever
played: It starts in the middle of the song (or problems for Jasmine in here) and
grows into an intense peace that makes you wish it never ends (Or make her
problems grow into an intricate web of lies), that makes you get lost in the
notes… and then it wraps itself again in a softer or slower melody that leads
to a great ending (or as a normal review would say, Jasmine finds her place in
the world where she truly belongs and can be herself)
The first
lines of the books let us see that Jasmine’s, a 17 year-old and high school
graduated, life is at a turning point: she’s homeless, her car broke down and
she has little money… oh, did I mention that her one and only friend is off on
vacation with his boyfriend? Yeah, not fun times for Jasmine.
However, what I love about her is her drive to do this. She doesn’t want to prove anything to anyone but herself that she can do it: she can become a real guitar player. That’s her dream and she’s ready to face whatever comes her way. She’s done everything that was expected from her all her life but this time it’s about what she wants and needs. It’s not just a rebellion, is a way of finding herself in the only way she knows how.
And that is something that you can relate to no matter what because at one time or another everyone grows up (right?)
However, what I love about her is her drive to do this. She doesn’t want to prove anything to anyone but herself that she can do it: she can become a real guitar player. That’s her dream and she’s ready to face whatever comes her way. She’s done everything that was expected from her all her life but this time it’s about what she wants and needs. It’s not just a rebellion, is a way of finding herself in the only way she knows how.
And that is something that you can relate to no matter what because at one time or another everyone grows up (right?)
In this
unexpected journey she meets C-Side, an Industrial Rock Band whose members are
one more interesting than next in line. She’s determined to show the guys that
she's just as good of a musician. A
determined girl with a kick ass spirit, such a hero!
The other girl in the band is Veta, an eccentric 19-year-old and singer in C-Side that makes the best BFF in the world, then we have Bryn, the womanizer drummer who wants nothing more than make his band the next big thing, we also have Felix, the band’s keyboard player who’s as cute as he’s big. And last, but definitively not least, we have Sean, the loner, bad-guy-type and bass player.
He’s sarcastic, a closet romantic and super hot. You can’t ask for more! Wait, you can, he has a tattoo!
The other girl in the band is Veta, an eccentric 19-year-old and singer in C-Side that makes the best BFF in the world, then we have Bryn, the womanizer drummer who wants nothing more than make his band the next big thing, we also have Felix, the band’s keyboard player who’s as cute as he’s big. And last, but definitively not least, we have Sean, the loner, bad-guy-type and bass player.
He’s sarcastic, a closet romantic and super hot. You can’t ask for more! Wait, you can, he has a tattoo!
As a girl
band, Tara Kelly gives us more than just descriptions to the music, and The
Music, my friends, is as important as the other characters in there. There are
music terms that just make the whole read a lot richer, you can hear the music
as background for the story. But don’t worry, if you don’t know the terms or
what a specific instrument is, it doesn’t ruin anything and usually there’s a
brief description on what it is so you’re not completely lost in there.
A LITTLE
SIDE NOTE:
I absolutely love this book (as if you couldn’t tell) and Tara IS
writing a sequel!! So let’s show some support and let’s help her so her
publisher knows we want need that sequel as soon as possible.
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR:
Tara Kelly adores variety in her life. She's a YA
author, one-girl-band, web designer, video editor, digital photographer, and
literary agent intern. She lives in Portland with her ten guitars, supercool
bf, and a fluffy cat named Maestro.
GET HER BOOK:
CONTACT HER:
Review by: Cyny
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