Wednesday 19 June 2013

Pieces of My Heart by Lynn Madelenna Menna


Publication: June 18 2013 by Merritt Press
Pages: 239
Source: ARC provided by publisher for honest review
Where to buy:

SYNOPSIS

Still in high school, Marisol Reyes gets the chance of a lifetime to be a real singer, and she leaps at it. After all, this is the dream she held on to, all the days and nights she spent growing up on means streets of East Harlem. Marisol never gave in--no matter what her boyfriend or her best friend had to say. Who cares if only one in a hundred pretty, talented girls make it? She will be the one. In her rush to fame, Marisol tramples on the heart of her loyal best friend, and Julian, the boy she loves. But will it be worth it?

One night at a private gig in the Hamptons, the little Latino girl with the big voice from East Harlem gets a severe reality check. A famous rapper who claims to be interested in her talents turns out to be interested in something else, threatening not only Marisol's dreams but her body and soul. Will the realities of the gritty New York music scene put out the stars in Marisol's eyes forever?

MY REVIEW

I requested this book from the publisher when I first heard about it as the synopsis peaked my interest, and I was lucky enough to receive a copy. I went in to the book with not huge expectations, but big ones thinking I would really enjoy it, however, it did not live up to what I was expecting unfortunately. I am not sure if it was the writing, or where the story line actually went, or not being able to connect with the characters, or all of the above.

There were some parts of the book that I liked, for example the relationship that Marisol has with her step-mom, it is pretty open and she seems to really care for Marisol, and wants to see her do her best, that is very nice to see in a situation that is not very typical. In saying that, it was not enough to make me enjoy the book any better than I did. I really did not enjoy the relationships that she had with her friends, I get that they may have been missing Marisol with all the time that she had been spending doing gigs with her friends at parties, and when she started to get gigs on her own, but I would never just cut my friend out of my life, I would be happy for her and her success.

The part of the book that takes place in the Hamptons and everything around that, I just thought for a contemporary novel, it was a little far fetched, and not very believable. For someone who has been through so much in life so far, she is too naive when it comes to what people will want from her, and why they are willing to help, I just wanted to shake her and make her see who really is out for her best interests. 

Overall, it was just not a book for me I guess, I am going to give it a 2/5 as it was not terrible, but it is just not something that had enough in it for me to really enjoy.

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