Book Review | Our Song by Ashley Bodette

 

Title: Our Song

Author: Ashley Bodette

Release Date: May 31st 2016

Published By: From the Ashes Press

Page Amount: 250 pages, Paperback

GoodReads Link

GoodReads Blurb:

Becca:

I broke up with Trip four months ago. But with the exception of my parents, I haven’t told anyone why. Not my friends, not my little sister, not even Asher.

Asher:

I’ve been missing my best friend every day for the last nine months. Even though Becca broke up with Trip months ago, she’s still been distant, even when we’re in the same room.

Trip:

She thinks she can break up with me and then go on a “family” vacation with him? I’m going to prove to both of them that she never should have left me. 

Review:

I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

It took me much longer to read this than I would have liked. May was a busy month and I kept battling between reading books and writing my own. But I took today to finish this book and I'm glad that I did!

I knew from the second I heard about this book that I was going to have to read it. So when I was chosen to receive an ARC I was so happy. This book tackles an important subject and one that is often glossed over. Abuse. Specifically, dating abuse. Often people can be led to believe that abuse means it is physical but abuse can also be emotional, verbal, etc. This book touches on all of these. I was in a verbal/emotionally abusive relationship myself for while so this book really spoke to me. I could really relate to a lot of things that Becca was feeling. I was nearly brought to tears several times while reading. (Actually, at one point, I was.) The emotions were very real and for me, very relatable. Most of what was relatable for me was from Becca's POV but there was still relatibilty in Asher's POV, as well.

Before I go into all of the good points the one thing I would say is that sometimes the dialogue seemed a little bit unnatural or the sentence flow would throw me off. But these are really the only criticisms that I have.

As for the characters they were great. Becca, for me, was the character that I connected with the most. While there are some things about Becca and I that are very different there are also many things that are similar. Of course, the type of relationship that she was in. However, there are also other things. Her fondness for music. I may not play an instrument but I very much enjoy singing. She loves rock candy and so do I. She's a fan of Doctor Who and so am I. She loves to cook and so do I. She loves to read and so do I. So, clearly, there are a lot of similarities that made it even easier for me to relate to and connect with her.

Asher was so sweet and thoughtful. He really paid attention to all of the little things about Becca and he didn't use these things against her. He would use these things to male her happy and to comfort her. He was always there for her since they were children. Asher very clearly wanted to protect her but didn't treat her like she was weak. I loved when they played board games together and that he ended up getting addicted to Doctor Who.

The side characters were also great and fun to read about. Side characters can really help to make a book. Asher's parents, Becca's parents and sister were all great side characters.

Trip was a scary character, as he was meant to be. The pieces of the book that were in his POV gave you a little bit more of a peek into his mind. It's both scary and sad that there are people like this in the world.

The little touches like Becca and Asher playing Don't Break the Ice, the rock candy, the Pull n' Peel Cherry Twizzlers (a favorite of mine), the cooking, the singing and the watching of Doctor Who all made this book even better. Seeing things that I love in this book made it even more relatable and these little details made me smile.

This was a very good book about a very important topic. I enjoyed the ending, as well. I think this is a good book to read for many people and of many ages. It's not for children, but for older teenagers and above I think just about anyone should read this. The book that I'm working on deals with abuse and in my first book, My Heart is Yours, I touch on the topic. It is an important issue that should be discussed more. I recommend this book to just about everyone and I can't wait to see what Ashley has in store for us next. I give this one 4 quills.