Book Review: The Sound of Letting Go

This was never what I planned on reading next. I just finished The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead when I decided to read a different book. I just want to savor the 4th book in the last series that's why I decided to read a book not included in the series, thus The Sound of Letting Go.

Title: The Sound of Letting Go

Author: Stasia Ward Kehoe

Publication date: 2/6/2014

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Format: eBook

Pages: 400

First, this is not your usual young adult novel. Second, if your thinking this is full of love and romance then I’m gonna crush your imagination, it's not. The story tells about Daisy, her love for playing the trumpet, her autistic brother Steven and her parents who are giving up his brother to child care center.

Daisy Meehan is a good daughter who loves playing the trumpet, member of a jazz band, has a crush on a bad boy, Dave Miller, and best friend to Justine Jenkins and has an autistic younger brother. For sixteen years she has never broken rule and has always been on time whenever it was her responsibility to look after her autistic brother, Steven. She believes her parents doesn't see her as their child but just an another adult in the house. Her life, or their family life, has always revolved around Steven. Looking for ways and how to's for caring and helping children with autism. Even looking for babysitter has been a problem that's why their lives has never been normal. But after a while, her parents decided it's time for Steven to be sent to a special care center. It was like sending Schizophrenics into mental institution. Daisy was furious and decided that rebellion was the only way to show her parents that she should have been consulted. She started  slacking in school, missing jazz band practice and falls for the school bad boy which was also her childhood friend Dave. But despite every changes she has done, there was one person who keeps on bringing her back, an Irish exchange student and a talented musician, Cal O'Casey.

Daisy is a character full of conflicting emotions. On the first part of the story, playing with the band or playing her trumpet was like a way of life for her. It was her only refuge every time she feels the pressure at home due to her autistic brother. But on the latter part, she suddenly changed and started wearing dark kohl eyeliners and dark nail polishes. It was like her way of rebelling to her parents so they would treat her like a child not like an another adult  in the house. She even thought of dating, what she described as “troublemaker”, Dave Miller, a childhood friend, as a way of rebelling which I find really immature. Because in the middle of dating Dave she, herself, was confused if what she felt for Dave was love or not. I actually find Daisy a bit selfish in that part. Yes her parents forgot to treat her as their child, but rebelling isn’t a way to show them that.

Actually I thought this book was full of crap about breaking up and the like, since I didn’t read the synopsis before starting this book because I want my mind raw of any ideas with this book. So when I started reading this, I thought it was really different. I even mistaken it for a book of poetry since it was written in verse and not in paragraphs, I almost stop reading. But just like Daisy Meehan, I didn’t want to give up. I pushed through and finished this book which I didn’t regret. It was a refreshing book, for me. It was different from my usual reads.

This novel actually gave me realizations in life. It was as if this book wasn’t a young adult novel, it looked like a self realization novel(if there ever was). It had a LOT of quotations that really struck me.

“Who do we love anyway? People who love us? People who care for us? People who are put in our care? Is love trust, understanding. the ability to communicate? Is it the ability to touch and be touched in return?”

“Writing stories is harder than playing music, isn’t it? Weaving together all these facts is not the same as playing a score."

“Life is a big story. Music is just one way to tell it, to realize how many tales all kinds of people share.”

“Don’t worry if you hit a bad note; just put it behind you and play the next one. Keep moving forward through the music.”

“The grief of loss-isn’t something that goes away. It just evolves.”

SO, do I recommend this? Maybe, to those who are looking for a different book that will inspire you should read this. And maybe for people who would like to read a short novel especially like today, a Friday. But for those who are hard core young adult/romance novels, no.

RATING:

Happy weekend friends, enjoy and stay safe! Don’t forget to bring a book or two.