Thank you, Tara Kelly, for reminding me of what a well-written contemporary YA with a flawed but still strong female protagonist can do for me and a relaxing reading night. AMPLIFIED was my unexpected but wholly gratifying pick for the type of evening I was worried I had lost forever: several hours of relaxing into Jasmines ultra-cool, exciting, and satisfying musical world.
I wish this book could have somehow come with a soundtrack: Tara Kellys descriptions of Jasmines mindset as she plays guitar is the kind that you want to experience, to live, yourself. To feel the thrill of being utterly absorbed in the act of artistic creationreading AMPLIFIED made me all the more determined to practice guitar more or get back into writing!
There was something satisfyingly right about the tone of Jasmines narration. It couldve been easy for her to go over-the-top dramatic with her reactions to everything going on in her life, but I loved that the writing was so smartly controlled. This means that we are allowed to sympathize with both Jasmine and her father as they battle it out epically over letting her scrabble uncertainly on her own or following his well-intentioned path to success. It means that we can connect with every member of the band: Veta with her admirable badassness yet kind heart; the utterly adorable Felix (no elaboration necessary, you really just have to read the book for this); Bryns well-intentioned anal-retentiveness; and Seans snide remarks masking a creative and sexy soul.
Indeed, all of the characters, from major to minor, were well drawn, believable, and easy to empathize with. Somelike Sean and Vetas younger sister, Zoe, with her thousand-page fantasy epics and cute-to-die-for crush that she so determinedly deniesare easier to like than othersSeans vengeful exbut when it comes down to it, there are no stereotypes in AMPLIFIED, which made for an thoroughly absorbing read.
Contemporary YA authors may have a more difficult time finding an audience fueled on hype and flashy premises, but in the long run, they, in my opinion, often gain the more devoted fans. And as Tara Kellys sophomore novel was no less well-written and music-filled than her first, Harmonic Feedback, you can bet that I will be hovering through the Internet, waiting for news of her future books.
I wish this book could have somehow come with a soundtrack: Tara Kellys descriptions of Jasmines mindset as she plays guitar is the kind that you want to experience, to live, yourself. To feel the thrill of being utterly absorbed in the act of artistic creationreading AMPLIFIED made me all the more determined to practice guitar more or get back into writing!
There was something satisfyingly right about the tone of Jasmines narration. It couldve been easy for her to go over-the-top dramatic with her reactions to everything going on in her life, but I loved that the writing was so smartly controlled. This means that we are allowed to sympathize with both Jasmine and her father as they battle it out epically over letting her scrabble uncertainly on her own or following his well-intentioned path to success. It means that we can connect with every member of the band: Veta with her admirable badassness yet kind heart; the utterly adorable Felix (no elaboration necessary, you really just have to read the book for this); Bryns well-intentioned anal-retentiveness; and Seans snide remarks masking a creative and sexy soul.
Indeed, all of the characters, from major to minor, were well drawn, believable, and easy to empathize with. Somelike Sean and Vetas younger sister, Zoe, with her thousand-page fantasy epics and cute-to-die-for crush that she so determinedly deniesare easier to like than othersSeans vengeful exbut when it comes down to it, there are no stereotypes in AMPLIFIED, which made for an thoroughly absorbing read.
Contemporary YA authors may have a more difficult time finding an audience fueled on hype and flashy premises, but in the long run, they, in my opinion, often gain the more devoted fans. And as Tara Kellys sophomore novel was no less well-written and music-filled than her first, Harmonic Feedback, you can bet that I will be hovering through the Internet, waiting for news of her future books.
