From Goodreads:
Beth has always been “The Beast”—that’s what everyone at school calls her because of her awkward height, facial scars, and thick glasses. Beth’s only friend is geeky, golden-haired Scott. That is, until she’s selected to be her choir’s soprano soloist, and receives the makeover that will change her life forever.
THE LOVE AFFAIR
When Beth’s choir travels to Switzerland, she meets Derek: pale, brooding, totally dreamy. Derek’s untethered passion—for music, and for Beth—leaves her breathless. Because in Derek’s eyes? She’s not The Beast, she’s The Beauty.
THE IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE
When Beth comes home, Scott, her best friend in the world, makes a confession that leaves her completely torn. Should she stand by sweet, steady Scott or follow the dangerous, intense new feelings she has for Derek?
THE HEARTBREAK
The closer Beth gets to Derek, the further away he seems. Then Beth discovers that Derek’s been hiding a dark secret from her …one that could shatter everything.
This book was a roller coaster ride for me. There are some parts that I am going to talk about that are spoilers for the book. To read these parts (which I will surround with stars), highlight over the words and you can see them.
At first, the book was just okay for me. I didn't really like Beth. She just wasn't a character that I could connect to. And when she had her makeover, I kind of had a problem with that. I feel like some of the makeover went a little too far and sends the wrong message to teens. Yes, I know teens want to present the best image of themselves possible, but I don't feel you should completely change yourself to make others happy.
Then the story got a little better for me when Beth met Derek. I felt that their relationship was a little too weird. Derek would go missing for weeks and months at a time (which there was a good reason for), but Beth didn't know that. I don't think a normal teen would just sit through that and take it. I liked that Derek was a good guy. I kept waiting for some "jerky" thing to come up with him, but I'm glad it didn't.
But then it went back down for me with Scott and Beth's relationship. Scott just seemed too pushy and wouldn't back off when Beth told him she had a boyfriend. It was uncomfortable to me.
Then almost all of the end went way uphill for me. Before I go into spoiler mode, I will say that I got choked up. I had no idea that this was going to be such a sad book. Get the tissues ready! But unfortunately the story ended on a bad note for me. I listed why in the spoiler below.
***
I knew pretty much from the beginning of Derek and Beth's relationship that he was sick and not a druggie. Maybe it was from reading all those Lurlene McDaniel books awhile ago, but I picked up on it right away. But I didn't know that the end would be just that sad. Gah....I can't imagine going through that with a boyfriend. I did like Beth here. I felt warmth from her and her love for Derek was real. So I had just decided that I really liked this book, when BAM! It went downhill bigtime for me---on just the last two pages! I really did not like that on the day of Derek's memorial CF-benefit concert, she goes home and kisses Scott and suddenly decides she can love him. If she was so in love with Derek, how can she go to loving another guy so quickly, even one that she was maybe having feelings for before she met Derek??? I just don't get it and I was sad the book ended this way. I think it would have been much better without the last two pages. Oh well, just my opinion.
***
I gave this book a rating of 3/5.
Sing Me To Sleep was released today.
This book fullfills items for the following challenges:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 30
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 21
What's In A Name? 3 Challenge: Music Term
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 21
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.
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