Review: "The Vinyl Princess"

The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz
4 out of 5 stars

After reading The Lucy Variations a while back, I went in search of more music-inspired books and came across this one. I was finally able to pick it up at the library and I am very happy it was my second read for 2014. This book is about music, yes, but it's all about the classic rock & roll, where Lucy was all about classical. I was kind of surprised I rated it 4 stars, because it does have its flaws, but overall I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to music buffs.

Allie is 16 years old and a music fanatic. Her job at Bob & Bob Records fuels her appetite for old vinyls and weird people. She is excited to have a whole summer of just working at Bob's and starting up her new music blog, called "The Vinyl Princess". I love that she starts a blog, but her sudden fame was highly unbelievable. As I'm sure most of you know out there from your own blogs, it's hard to get followers and comments, and she goes from zero comments one day to 18 people commenting in one hour a few days later. Yeah, no. It doesn't happen that way lol. That was one of the few things that annoyed me about this book. Anyway, she also starts up a fanzine that I would love to see the cover of: a vintage pen-and-ink of an ice princess on skates wearing a tiara, executing an arabesque, using an LP as a skating rink. Anyone want to draw that for me? :) (eta: okay, I totally did not see that on the author's site the first time I looked! Doh!!)

This story is mostly about Allie and her love affair with music, but also about her family and friends. Her mom and dad split up a year or so ago and they have both started moving on, leaving Allie to deal with the repercussions. She has a crush on a guy who comes in the record store and turns out to be hiding something pretty big. Her best friend gets her heart broken by a musician and Allie's beloved record store is in danger of closing. Can she survive the summer? And more importantly, does she have the right music for it?

(Pic taken by me)