Dec 042011
Title: Amplified
Author: Tara Kelly
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: October 25, 2011
Pages: 304
Source: Borrowed from Ginger
From Goodreads:
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…
***
Amplified was a fun, fast read that encompassed a lot of different themes but blended them together seamlessly. As I started reading the story I definitely got a Stephanie Perkins vibe with the writing style, which made it that much more enjoyable to read.
Jasmine has got a lot going on right now – parental issues, money issues, self-confidence issues, and more. We have all been in Jasmine’s shoes before and it made her super relatable to the reader. Even though Jasmine had issues with her parents, I still like that they were at least semi-present in the story. Let’s be for real, not many teenagers have picture-perfect relationships with the parentals, and I applaud Tara Kelly for including this in the story.
As a person who loves to listen to music but isn’t exactly up on the technical lingo, I felt that the author did a great job of incorporating the musical language into the story without making the reader feel clueless or out of the loop. In fact, I actually learned more about guitar playing then I ever knew before, so bonus for me!
Overall, Amplified is a quick and enjoyable read that I thoroughly enjoyed and I can’t wait to read more from this fabulous author!
I enjoyed this one too. You should definitely try her first Harmonic Feedback, it was equally awesome.
I’ve been hearing quite a bit about this book lately, it does sound really good though. I haven’t read any books by her, but I am going to have to pick this one up when I get a chance. Great review.
Yay!
I LOVED her debut novel, Harmonic Feedback and I am SO looking forward to this one! So glad that you liked it! It looks awesome!