I am in awe of this incredible writing. There is no way this is a debut novel because Isabel Banta can WRITE! Her words are poetry, plain and simple.
Right away I am taken aback with nostalgia. As a woman who also came of age in the late 90s and early aughts, I resonated SO HARD with her metaphors about growing up and fear of our ever-changing bodies. The way we felt about ourselves was wrong and gross. The way others wanted to pick on us instead of realizing it’s going to happen to them too. The first crushes that you think are first loves that in turn cause a heartbreak so painful you don’t think you’ll ever move on…until you find your real first love.
“So when the spinning bottle landed on me, and he took my hand and led me into the closet, all the other girls visibly withered, and I expanded.”
Our powerful main character uses singing as her release. She thinks of Jack, her crush, and how he humiliated her. She thinks of her friends and how they are not real friends, she thinks of her small beatdown apartment she shares with her mom and brother and how she hates living there, and she releases it all in a magical, spell-bounding voice. The voice that gets her noticed, and a ticket to Hollywood.
We all know the stories of Jojo, Taylor Swift, and Ke$ha and this book is a reimagining of their experiences and many others. Horrible actions happen to artists, especially women creators, every single day. A manipulative world with powerful people who can make you, break you and run away with everything you’ve got…even your own voice.
I am SO excited to read this book and find out what happens. Does Amber make it out in the end? Does she escape the public ridicule, the shame, the embarrassment? Or does she end up like so many others…canceled? I NEED TO KNOW!
This one was added to my MUST-READ shelf so fast. I love reading about the lives of celebrities and all they must endure just to make it. How any action, clothing item, word, expression, relationship, and so much more can cause so much havoc for them, that any regular person would shut down forever. It’s always amazed me, and I am completely invested.
Right away I am taken aback with nostalgia. As a woman who also came of age in the late 90s and early aughts, I resonated SO HARD with her metaphors about growing up and fear of our ever-changing bodies. The way we felt about ourselves was wrong and gross. The way others wanted to pick on us instead of realizing it’s going to happen to them too. The first crushes that you think are first loves that in turn cause a heartbreak so painful you don’t think you’ll ever move on…until you find your real first love.
“So when the spinning bottle landed on me, and he took my hand and led me into the closet, all the other girls visibly withered, and I expanded.”
Our powerful main character uses singing as her release. She thinks of Jack, her crush, and how he humiliated her. She thinks of her friends and how they are not real friends, she thinks of her small beatdown apartment she shares with her mom and brother and how she hates living there, and she releases it all in a magical, spell-bounding voice. The voice that gets her noticed, and a ticket to Hollywood.
We all know the stories of Jojo, Taylor Swift, and Ke$ha and this book is a reimagining of their experiences and many others. Horrible actions happen to artists, especially women creators, every single day. A manipulative world with powerful people who can make you, break you and run away with everything you’ve got…even your own voice.
I am SO excited to read this book and find out what happens. Does Amber make it out in the end? Does she escape the public ridicule, the shame, the embarrassment? Or does she end up like so many others…canceled? I NEED TO KNOW!
This one was added to my MUST-READ shelf so fast. I love reading about the lives of celebrities and all they must endure just to make it. How any action, clothing item, word, expression, relationship, and so much more can cause so much havoc for them, that any regular person would shut down forever. It’s always amazed me, and I am completely invested.