Monday, February 10, 2014

Review: "Shrinking Violet"

Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph
3.5 out of 5 stars

I really need Goodreads to allow half star ratings. This is a perfect example for why: it's not destined to be one of my favorites like a 4 star but it's also not so average that it only needs 3 stars. Ah, book nerd problems. :) I read the majority of this book Friday night, while watching the Olympics Opening Ceremonies. Did you watch? The main thing I got out of it was that I wanted to watch Cool Runnings and Netflix streaming doesn't have it boo.

Okay, back to the book! Tere is a painfully shy girl who just wants to get thru the last few months of her senior year without embarrassing herself completely. And when I say "painfully shy", I mean it was downright painful to read sometimes. The poor girl could probably benefit from some medication or therapy. Her mom is the complete opposite and as such, they don't get along at all. Tere only really comes to life while talking about her passion for music. I know, you're thinking "another music themed book??" I can't help myself, I've just been enjoying them lately! (Check the "Music" tag for the last few I've read & comment below if you have a recommendation!) 

Tere wants to be a DJ more than anything in the world. Conveniently, her stepfather owns/runs a radio station and one of their late-night DJ's suddenly quits. Tere finally works up the courage to ask if she can help out and bam, Sweet T is born. Emma, on Goodreads, mentioned that this book reminded her of the early 90s film Pump Up the Volume with Christian Slater and she is so right! Ooh I may need to watch that again soon. Tere slowly comes out of her shell a bit at the radio station and manages to actually talk to her group members during a school project. That might have been helped by the cute, sort of quiet, musically inclined Gavin. But she is mortified when shock jock DJ Derek puts her up as the prize for a song-writing contest and her cover as Sweet T is set to be blown out of the water.

The journey that Tere takes throughout the book will make you root for her and her super predictable happy ending. While some of the band names were high on the cheese factor (PJ Squid?) it was fun to read about the inside workings of a radio station and it will make you want to pull out your old high school poetry books and try to turn it into a song. (I know I'm not the only one, don't make me start posting my poems again!) And with that threat, I'll leave you with the first stanza of the winning song, that just might make Tere take a chance on love. ;)

The moon stops for you.
Not a cloud in sight
Gleaming down at your pretty face
Just enough glow to make you sparkle.
The moon stops for you.
Who needs the sun when you're around?
You're a natural satellite, always shining bright.

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