Review of The Music We Make

[Ngozi Onyibor]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Music We Make" by Michelle Rene Debellis.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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During a New Year party at his crush's home, Santiago learns she is engaged. Before he heard the news, he had come to the party to tell her how he felt about her. With no reason to remain, he called his mother to come and drive him home. On their way home, they talked about his plans after college graduation. And he told his mother that he wasn't sure he wanted to pursue a career as an architect as his father wanted. Instead, he wanted to become a professional musician. His mother promised to talk to his father about it. While they were still talking, another driver lost control and ran into them, and the car caught fire. Santiago's mother was severely injured and unconscious. Santiago sustained some injuries but could still move, so he rushed to help his mother out of the car before the fire engulfed their car. He tried laying her down, but her head hit the concrete road with a thud. That was the last thing he remembered.

The Music We Make by Michelle Rene Debellis is a story of love and redemption wrapped with a musical bow. As a music lover, I like how the author crafted a rich narrative around the main character's passion for music. Michelle has a gift for wielding her reader's attention. Her writing hooked me from the start, and my attention rarely strayed from the pages until the end. The characters are one of the book's greatest charms. They are as realistic and humane as can be. Sophia and Lucy were my favorite people in the book. Lucy's love for her brother is unrelenting, while Sophia is unwavering about her principles. Best of all, the book is a beautiful reminder that although things might not turn out the way we want, we will be okay in the end.

Santiago's relationship with Catherine was the least pleasant element of my reading. I found it predatory that she would use his weakness against him in the manner she did before they started recording her song. In addition, she constantly acted like a pervert whenever she was alone with Santiago, which made me uncomfortable. Also, some dialogues have no speaker tags, so it's sometimes confusing to figure out who is speaking.

I enjoyed reading the novel. It is a realistic portrayal of life. But the errors I spotted and the quibbles I noted above stop me from giving it a perfect score. Hence, I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars.

The Music We Make is a fantastic story for readers that enjoy a good redemption story that revolves around music with trimmings of conventional and unconventional romance. That being said, it is a story for mature readers, as it deals with touchy subjects, such as grief, drug and substance abuse, and attempted suicide. So I wouldn't recommend the book to young or sensitive readers.

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The Music We Make
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I love music and I might just read this novel
Your review is well detailed
Great job

[CharlesC+Esq]

The first paragraph of the review really had me wanting to read the book.
However, it sounds all too often and common that all these women are letting down some guy in romantic flings or whatever one can make of it. It starts to become boring, predictable to an extent that one would or read a story that does not contain divorce, disappointed nd disgruntled lovers, scandals....why doesn't it just have to be the kind of steamy romance that the heart aches for and a happiest ever after? Has anybody written a romantic story in the main characters were just right into each other without any drama and politics?

[Micah_1]

The book cover attracted me to this review. It depicts music too. Your review did Justice to the book too.