Review: Amplified by Tara Kelly
Title: Amplified
Hardcover, 304 pages
Author: Tara Kelly
Publisher: Henry Holy and Co
Publication Date: October 25, 2011
Source: Review via Shelf Awareness
Buy: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads
Book Summary from Goodreads.com:
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. . .
Review:
Amplified was my Amtrak read for a 12 hour ride (WOOHOO) and it was a really great choice.
Jasmine is a talented musician that gets kicked out of her house because she wants to go to school for music and her dad doesn’t agree with that choice. She drives her car to a few towns over, where it promptly breaks down and she is forced to immediately look for somewhere to live. Luckily, she finds an ad in the paper for a band looking for a new guitarist AND housemate!
I found the music to be the most excellent part of this book – both the plot that is based on Jasmine’s music and the language that Tara Kelly uses. She weaves musical terminology throughout the scenes which really pulls you into Jasmine’s world and makes it a true performing arts novel.
Jasmine deals with several relationships in Amplified as well that evolve as she learns more about the band and chooses who to share more about her life with. Things don’t go smoothly for her and there are consequences, making it a realistic portrayal of a young adult trying to follow her dreams.
Amplified is an excellent addition to the performing arts subgenre of contemporary YA. Strongly recommended for readers interested in music, guitars, bands, etc!
Twitter: yayeahyeah
Haven’t heard of this but it looks very cool – I love books where music plays a major part in the plot! Great review, thanks.
Twitter: readingdate
I have this on hold at the library. I really like the performing arts subgenre of YA, especially when music plays a major role in the story. Sounds like you picked the right book for the train. Can’t wait to read it!
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Twitter: booksandwine
I love music focused YA! Amplified is absolutely going on my to be read list, I hope my library has a copy, because YAY MUSIC. And it sounds like Five Flavors Of Dumb in that there is a band, not really the other stuff, but hey that’s how my brain makes connections.
I enjoyed this one as well. Just the right amount of conflict/angst with romance and character development.
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