Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A Song for Julia by Charles Sheehan-Miles Review


Title: A Song for Julia
Author: Charles Sheehan-Miles
Published: December 5th, 2012 by Cincinnatus Press
Book rating: 5 stars
Cover rating: 4 stars

Everyone should have something to rebel against.
Crank Wilson left his South Boston home at sixteen to start a punk band and burn out his rage at the world. Six years later, he’s still at odds with his father, a Boston cop, and doesn’t ever speak to his mother. The only relationship that really matters is with his younger brother, but watching out for Sean can be a full-time job. The one thing Crank wants in life is to be left the hell alone to write his music and drive his band to success.
Julia Thompson left a secret behind in Beijing that exploded into scandal in Washington, DC, threatening her father's career and dominating her family's life. Now, in her senior year at Harvard, she's haunted by a voice from her past and refuses to ever lose control of her emotions again, especially when it comes to a guy.

When Julia and Crank meet at an anti-war protest in Washington in the fall of 2002, the connection between them is so powerful it threatens to tear everything apart.

I'm not exactly sure how I'm pulling this off but lately I've read such amazing books and A Song for Julia definitely fits in that category! I fell in love with Julia and Crank right off the bat and I was invested in there story from the beginning. I was cheering them on and hoping this book wouldn't leave me with some awful depressing feeling, I had so much hope for this book after reading the blurb and seeing the cover and it did not disappoint. A Song for Julia is well paced and easy to follow and the story line is beautiful with a sense of humor to get you through the rough times.

Julia is a girl from a home that looks perfect from the outside but is broken on the inside. Her mother isn't there for her and her father is too wrapped up in work to even realize she needs him. Her sisters are too young to understand what's going on so she just closed herself off and became a very isolated person. She built a wall up so high and so thick between herself and the world until Crank comes and slowly makes his way around it. It was so inspiring to see a girl who has been through such tragic things learn to come out of her shell and take risks even if that means she might get hurt again. To watch Julia grow as a person and unchain herself from her past was admirable and inspiring. Charles did a wonderful job developing her as a character. 

Crank is definitely swoon worthy despite the fact that he was a man whore, that is until Julia came along. Crank also comes from a broken home, his mother left, he rarely gets along with his father, and he struggles to help take care of and be there for his brother Sean who suffers with aspergers which is a type of autism. Crank was such a strong guy and I was so proud of him when he decided to open himself up so many times in this book and tried his hardest to grow and realize that Julia was a keeper and he couldn't give up on her. Their love story was such a beautiful relationship to read about. Watching it grow and become stronger was really heart warming even though they had their rough patches. This was the first book by Charles Sheehan-Miles that I've read but it definitely won't be my last. A Song for Julia is about opening yourself up to someone and learning to trust not only others but yourself. I highly recommend you all read this book and experience the awesomeness that I did. 

Thank you to the author, Charles Sheehan-Miles, and to AToMR tours for providing me with a copy to read and review with my honest opinion. 

Favorite Quotes

"It mattered that I not put her off, that I not poke a hole in whatever limited trust we were developing. Somehow, I had to convince her to trust me. And if it took me lying here with blue balls all night long because I couldn't touch her, then that's what it took." - Crank

"I glanced around the room, momentarily alone, except for the Secret Service agent who eyed me closely. It was hard to tell if he thought I was a possible assassin or if he was merely undressing me with his eyes, but the effect was the same. I felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny, and the skin on the back of my neck started to flush." - Julia

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1 comment:

  1. I love duel narrative books! It's so cool to see things from two sides! This one looks great!

    ReplyDelete

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