OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is a volunteer review of "Music to My Ears" by Heidi M. Simone.]

Music to My Ears is a book written by Heidi M. Simone and published by the OnlineBookClub(.org). It is a fantasy-fiction story with 24 short chapters. It is the first in The Sirens Series.

Sophia Andrews is a girl who just hit her 20’s and is looking forward to starting her music career. However, flashbacks in the form of dreams keep taking her back to an incident on a Rhode Island beach where Jeremy, a former schoolmate of hers, almost died from drowning. She eventually shares about these dreams with her grandfather, who seems to know something but is held back from sharing it with her for some reason. After winning a place as a movie score composer through an audition in New York, she meets Dante, a more experienced composer who is to work with her.

Dante realizes there is something special about Sophia. With time, he reveals to her what he knows, and the kind of danger she could find herself in by virtue of her nature. With this new discovery, she slowly overcomes her denial while Dante also helps her overcome her apprehension for visiting the beach. Her reunion with the ocean helps her rekindle ties with her old friend, Kalliope the dolphin, and discover far much more about herself than Dante could have known.

Music to My Ears starts with a slow pace but slowly picks up while the story moves from what seems like another teenage/young adult romance story to a surprising plot that taps into ancient mythology. What I like most about the book is the simplicity of prose that flows easily and allows the reader to enjoy the story without distractions, like searching for meaning/clarity for example. Young girls will relate well with Sofia. They will hopefully tap into the inspiring process of her transformation from an ignorant girl to that of a person who many people look up to in society. I highly recommend it to them. I wouldn’t recommend the book to anyone averse to fantasy novels with a hint of romance.

There wasn’t anything I disliked most about the book, save for the fact that I expected it to be a fictional journey of a musician for some reason. The story is the Author’s to tell, so one cannot choose what is told. There wasn't any spelling error in the book that I saw, but there was a small issue with the line space formatting in the epub copy that I got which can be ironed out easily. It makes the book seem that it’s still in the process of being polished. I rate the book with 4 out of 4 stars.

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Music to My Ears
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There's a dolphin! Silly things make me happy. I can't wait for this book to be out and to read it with my daughter.

esp1975 wrote: ↑22 Aug 2019, 10:42 There's a dolphin! Silly things make me happy. I can't wait for this book to be out and to read it with my daughter.

Just a heads up there is an attempted rape scene at the end that I was not expecting at all when I read this book. The Disney princess vibes through the beginning of the story did not prepare me for the very perverted character in that scene.

Everydayadventure15 wrote: ↑22 Aug 2019, 18:39 Just a heads up there is an attempted rape scene at the end that I was not expecting at all when I read this book. The Disney princess vibes through the beginning of the story did not prepare me for the very perverted character in that scene.

Thanks for the warning. She'll be 16 in 5 days (oh dear heavens, she'll be 16 in 5 days), and especially if we're reading it at the same time, so she can talk to me about it, I think we'll be good.

esp1975 wrote: ↑22 Aug 2019, 10:42 There's a dolphin! Silly things make me happy. I can't wait for this book to be out and to read it with my daughter.

Yes, there's a dolphin. As you've been alerted there may be a tense scene near the end of the book, but overall an enjoyable read. At 16 she should be made aware of 'predators' with ill intentions...