I am a musician and there’s just something about a book that calls to me from a musical standpoint. so, i decided to look at books that did just that – fiction stories that were about music! Let’s see how they did.

stars and smoke by marie lu

3.75 stars
Fun ride. Basically like that movie “I Spy” but instead of a boxer, it’s a singer, and instead of a buddy cop drama it’s a romance… sort of.
I actually really liked the story and how they folded in the characters together. Some of it had to suspend my disbelief, but what else is new 😂
There were parts that felt like even in the world of these characters wasn’t realistic or believable. For me, I also felt the flashback memories of the characters pulled me out of the story and slammed me back in just by saying “the memory faded” over and over. I would have liked maybe a smoother way to bring these across.
It was quite witty and I did like the dynamic of the two main characters. I actually appreciated the ending (don’t come for me!) but there was also a bitter sweet feeling across the entire book. Lots of grief and traumatic background to propel the characters forward.

finding my destinee by Natalie Bright, Denise F. McAllister

2 stars

This had elements that could have been good if the main characters weren’t so insufferable.
What kind of grown ass woman let’s her mother run her life and take away her phone, not tell her how much money she’s making or even where they are going and what shows they booked until the last minute, chose her outfits and not say a single damn word? None that I know. Intellectually I can understand if you’ve lived under someone your whole life, it would be difficult to break out of that – but she’s married with a kid! And nobody is saying nothin? Heck no! It made no sense.
I was excited for the singer on the road aspect, interested to see how that would affect a husband and child left behind, but Travis seemed like a spineless whiner, and Destynee was a personality-less blob.
I don’t know why we had a Christmas countdown when the story had basically nothing to do with it.
The ranch sections, personally I found to be quite boring.
The story is about two people in a marriage but there’s zero romance in here, and they spend the whole book apart. There was so much about this book that either didn’t make sense or didn’t seem to fit.

fifteen minutes by karen kingsbury

3.5 stars
It wouldn’t be a Karen Kingsbury book without drama, drama, drama. This kind was pretty good though.
A look into the darker side of a singing/talent show, and how it changes you even with the best of intentions.
POVs from a start eyed and well intentioned contestant, a former winner who wants to let newbies in on the potential pitfalls of fame, and a judge who felt the call of God but ignored it for fame and is trying to find her way back.
We saw a few more people too, but these were really the main focuses of the book, and it was an eye opening experience. I do believe this is largely the experience of people chasing fame. We weren’t designed to be worshiped or put on pedestals, and this kind of story happens all the time.
It felt real, heart strings were tugged and frustrated exclamations uttered out loud.

silent songbird by melanie dickerson

3.5 stars
A combination of a Little Mermaid and Ruth from the Bible story mashup.
I like how Melanie does this combination, and thought it actually worked really well together.
It was nice to see how the story points from Little Mermaid were going to be incorporated (like having no voice), and it was quite a good story all up.

shine by jessica jung

3.5 stars
Good look into the K Pop world – dealing with double standards and really high expectations and sacrifices for following your dreams.
I liked the story, though the ending was a bit of a let down (a quick read of the second book also doesn’t seem worth picking up for me).
I liked it overall

While I do enjoy seeing a behind the scenes look, or understand another creative and musical persons motivations and process, these books seem to be a little hit and miss for me. Even so, I will always be drawn to a book about music in some way just like others are drawn to books and stories about sports heroes or entertainment. We like what we like.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace