Audiobooks: This Song Will Save Your Life + And We Stay

This Song Will Save Your Life
Leila Sales; Read by Rebecca Lowman | 9780553395815 | CD | 7/8/2014 | Audio; Listening Library
Amazon | Goodreads
4.5 Stars!

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, Leila Sales' THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

Includes a PDF playlist of recommended music.

*I received these audiobooks from the publisher in exchange for an honest review* 

Story: I've had a copy of This Song Will Save Your Life sitting on my shelf since last May, but I couldn't bring myself to read it. Not yet. It hit a little to close to home at times, and not because I moonlight as a DJ at the hottest underground dance party, although my cupcake business could be a good cover for that...but because I understood (from personal experience) the decision Elise makes in the beginning of the book. I *got* her pain and loneliness in so many ways. But this is ultimately a hope-filled story about family, friendship and figuring out who you are and what you're worth. Plus, the music is FANTASTIC!

Audio: Every audiobook in the history of audiobooks should be narrated by Rebecca Lowman! Seriously, she does an OUTSTANDING job every.single.time. (She could read my grocery list and make me fall in love with it.) Rebecca manages to give each character a unique sound and brings the story to life in a way that few other voice actors can. She even makes the guys sound like guys, and not a girl trying to sound like a guy. Rebecca is truly fantastic, you should give her a listen. (She's also the narrator of Landline and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.)

And We Stay
Jenny Hubbard; Read by Erin Spencer | 9780553396249 | CD | 7/8/2014 | Audio; Listening Library 
Amazon | Goodreads  
3 Stars

When high school senior Paul Wagoner walks into his school library with a stolen gun, he threatens his girlfriend Emily Beam, then takes his own life. In the wake of the tragedy, an angry and guilt-ridden Emily is shipped off to boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she encounters a ghostly presence who shares her name. The spirit of Emily Dickinson and two quirky girls offer helping hands, but it is up to Emily to heal her own damaged self.

This inventive story, told in verse and in prose, paints the aftermath of tragedy as a landscape where there is good behind the bad, hope inside the despair, and springtime under the snow.

Story: I wanted to like this book, but the fact that it's told in third person with a mix of verse and prose threw me for a loop and it just wasn't for me. I WILL say that the setting, mid-1990s, was intriguing because I assumed it was a modern day contemporary. If Emily had had access to social media, the secrets she was keeping would've been spilled a long time ago.

Audio: The narration was stilted at times, unfortunately making the disconnect I already felt even bigger.