Amplified

Author: Tara Kelly

Release Day: October 25th, 2011

Source: Publisher

Summary: (goodreads) When privileged 17-year-old Jasmine gets kicked out of her house, she takes what is left of her savings and flees to Santa Cruz to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Jasmine finds the ideal room in an oceanfront house, but she needs to convince the three guys living there that she's the perfect roommate and lead guitarist for their band, C-Side. Too bad she has major stage fright and the cute bassist doesn't think a spoiled girl from over the hill can hack it. . .

Review: Want a wild ride? Parties. Music. Spunky characters. That is what Amplified can offer you! I sound like a salesman (or woman). But in all seriousness, it was good.

Jasmine's personality is very vividly written. She holds back a lot, guarding and keeping mostly to herself. Her love interest, Sean, is the epitome of calm and collected. I enjoyed the development of their relationship because things did not go exactly as I had expected.

Sean was dealing with getting over his ex-girlfriend while Jasmine was trying to build self-confidence. The guys and Sean's sister liked girls, so it made it hard for Jasmine to convince the band of letting her stay with them because she was a minor and therefore "jailbait". She really had to prove herself.

When Jasmine played, or when someone else was, the scenes were well-written. I did not know reading about how a song sounds could be so real! Although there is guitar jargon that I would have no knowledge about, it still felt like I could hear the music. And let me tell you, Jasmine has loads of talent. Every song was uniquely described and it didn't feel boring or repetitive or nonsensical.

I would have liked to learn more about where Jasmine came from. Her home life is a big part of the baggage she carries. Her relationship with her father is clearly defined, but it was difficult to come up with that contrast of her "privileged" life versus living with C-Side. The book starts off with Jasmine already out on the streets looking for a place, so that is why the contrast is missing.

Jasmine's character and interactions as well as back story were sufficient though, so this is just a question on my part. Otherwise, it was an interesting book on achieving dreams, fixing relationships and finding a place to belong.

Rating: 1 2 3 4 5