Music
Written by Sean Williams
Contemporary, Music, Loveozya
320 Pages
Published July 2019
Thanks to Allen & Unwin
RRP $19.99 AU
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★★★☆
When the song is over, what remains? A novel about rediscovering yourself when everything you once took for granted is gone.
Music is Simon's life, which is why he is devastated when a ministroke obliterates his hearing. He resists attempts to help him adjust to his new state, refusing to be counselled, refusing to learn sign language, refusing to have anything to do with Deaf culture. Refusing, that is, until he meets G, a tough as nails girl dealing with her own newly experienced hearing loss.
In an emotionally compelling tale crackling with originality, Simon's quest to create an entirely new form of music forces him into a deeper understanding of his relationship to the hearing world, of himself, and of the girl he meets along the way.
The last thing Simon Rain can remember hearing is the music blaring through his earphones as he fell asleep. That was nine months ago and after suffering from a stroke in the middle of the night while he slept, eighteen year old Simon hasn't heard a thing since. Coming to terms with his diagnosis has been a difficult journey for Simon. As a musician, music has been his life and an outlet to express himself creatively. Now angry and isolated, Simon refuses to learn Auslan, Australian Sign Language and prefers to communicate through screens and text messages.
Simon is profoundly deaf and after months of testing, doctors have determined his diagnosis as a rare form of sensorineural hearing loss, often caused by damage to the nerve that carries the signals to the brain or in Simon's case, a stroke. At a loss and grieving, Simon is determined to find new methods of creating music and being accepted into a prestigious university course. Music isn't only heard, it's felt and along with an abrupt, no nonsense music professor, devises a method to allow everyone to experience music. The musical aspect was fascinating, creating music as a sensory experience. Simon was so incredibly passionate about making his concept a reality, it consumed him and his determination was palpable. Unfortunately the technical aspects and musical terminology were lost on me, especially the emails Simon and the music professor exchanged.
Simon attends doctors appointments, counselling and a program for hearing impaired students but refuses to participate, after all he's still grieving the loss of his hearing and no one seems to understand how isolating the loss of noise is. All except George. George or G as she's affectionately known was diagnosed with tinnitus after a secondary roller derby accident. G's mental health begins to deteriorate, her recently diagnosed tinnitus has worsened, leaving her with constant noise that no one else can hear.
Simon and G begin to depend on one another as their relationship develops and although they seek solace in one another over their shared hearing impairment, they also enable one another. Communicating through text messaging while in each others company, neither using Auslan. I never really felt a sense of who G was aside from her illness. We see G through Simon's thoughts as the troubled, brooding love interest but apart from their diagnosis, seemingly have nothing in common. I would have preferred to have seen Simon and G as friends rather than the tentative romance.
The main focus of the storyline is music and the many ways in which we listen. I found the concept fascinating and thought provoking but there was just so much theory and technical terminology. Simon seemed to be eighteen years old going on forty and his extensive knowledge of musical composition felt at odds with his character, even with the influence of his one hit wonder, music producer father.
Despite the long passages of musical terminology, I enjoyed it. It was a little too clever at times and could have been far more engaging with less of the descriptive and more character development, especially concerning G. Despite not being an own voices novel, the deaf experience was so authentically written. The grief, the anger and the isolation of being a hearing impaired person in a world brimming with song, it was incredibly and intricately written.
Written by Non Pratt
Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Published in Australia August 1st 2015
304 Pages
Thank you to Walker Books Australia
RATING ★★★★
From the author of Trouble comes a new novel about boys, bands and best mates.
Kaz is still reeling from being dumped by the love of her life... Ruby is bored of hearing about it. Time to change the record.
Three days. Two best mates. One music festival. Zero chance of everything working out.
Best friends Karizma and Ruby are embarking on an epic adventure of boys, bands and learning the value of female friendship. Both Kaz and Ruby are newly single, with Kaz and former boyfriend Tom having called it quits only a month prior. He declared that their relationship was little more than a friendship, while Kaz was left utterly heartbroken and still pining for the lad they call Rugby Tom, the kind of boy you take home to meet your parents. Ruby is the wild girl who caught her boyfriend in the embrace of another and didn't hesitate to walk away. She refuses to think about Stu and declares the Remix Festival weekend a chance to both start again. Best friends, boys and rocking bands to cure a heartache is in order.
One sleazy rock star, two former boyfriends, one moment of regrettable sex and a new girlfriend you're expected to babysit later, Kaz and Ruby will have lived a weekend to remember. Old flames rekindled, new loves discovered, finding yourself and realising that life isn't defined by your past mistakes.
Remix was an entertaining read that not only shows the turmoil of friendship, but how we are all irrevocably flawed. But rather than take issue with how we make mistakes, often over and over, it celebrates our differences and how we grow from our misdemeanors. Kaz and Ruby may be best friends, but the two girls couldn't be more different. While Kaz is quiet and pines for former boyfriend Tom, Ruby is a wild child who isn't afraid to put herself back on the market. Or is she? The musical festival plays a very small part of the storyline, but focuses on the lives of a small group of friends, the girls, Ruby's brother and his boyfriend and the relationships they form. One of the biggest flaws I find in young adult, is the unrealistic portrayal of teen relationships, and while not all teens are sexually active, many are and Remix showcases teens who are perhaps not ready to deal with the maturity that comes along with adult relationships.
It also touches on issues such as cheating and the moral dilemma between suspecting someone isn't single, and having it confirmed he or she is attached. Kaz is single, and refuses to believe that former boyfriend Tom has already moved on, so she doesn't ask and it makes for an incredibly uncomfortable situation. Although morally Kaz should feel ashamed, she isn't the one who should be feeling guilty. It's a fine line that will divide readers and raise discussion about loyalty. Although Remix is sex positive with Kaz's mother promoting sexual health, I think the sexual situations the girls both found themselves in was anything but positive. The experience of regretful sex in both cases adds to their journey of growth, showing yet again how flawed we all are.
Thank goodness Kaz meets Sebastian. He's absolutely lovely and just what the storyline needed. A positive beginning of what could possibly be a new relationship.
The emotion of it's characters, their flaws and how we learn from our mistakes is what makes Remix so emotionally raw and realistic. It's the passion and lives beyond the music that makes Remix compelling, the lines that are crossed, the chances taken. It's teen life at it's worse... And best.
MY THOUGHTS
Remix was an entertaining read that not only shows the turmoil of friendship, but how we are all irrevocably flawed. But rather than take issue with how we make mistakes, often over and over, it celebrates our differences and how we grow from our misdemeanors. Kaz and Ruby may be best friends, but the two girls couldn't be more different. While Kaz is quiet and pines for former boyfriend Tom, Ruby is a wild child who isn't afraid to put herself back on the market. Or is she? The musical festival plays a very small part of the storyline, but focuses on the lives of a small group of friends, the girls, Ruby's brother and his boyfriend and the relationships they form. One of the biggest flaws I find in young adult, is the unrealistic portrayal of teen relationships, and while not all teens are sexually active, many are and Remix showcases teens who are perhaps not ready to deal with the maturity that comes along with adult relationships.
It also touches on issues such as cheating and the moral dilemma between suspecting someone isn't single, and having it confirmed he or she is attached. Kaz is single, and refuses to believe that former boyfriend Tom has already moved on, so she doesn't ask and it makes for an incredibly uncomfortable situation. Although morally Kaz should feel ashamed, she isn't the one who should be feeling guilty. It's a fine line that will divide readers and raise discussion about loyalty. Although Remix is sex positive with Kaz's mother promoting sexual health, I think the sexual situations the girls both found themselves in was anything but positive. The experience of regretful sex in both cases adds to their journey of growth, showing yet again how flawed we all are.
Thank goodness Kaz meets Sebastian. He's absolutely lovely and just what the storyline needed. A positive beginning of what could possibly be a new relationship.
THE VERDICT
The emotion of it's characters, their flaws and how we learn from our mistakes is what makes Remix so emotionally raw and realistic. It's the passion and lives beyond the music that makes Remix compelling, the lines that are crossed, the chances taken. It's teen life at it's worse... And best.
NON PRATT SHARES... HOW BEING A FEMINIST AFFECTS MY WRITING
Feminism is having a moment. Or at least, it feels like that since I read Caitlin Moran’s How to Be a Woman and realised that I was a feminist. It’s a lot like Neo in The Matrix choosing the red pill over the blue. Once you’re in, you don’t just see feminism everywhere, you see the need for it: the disparity in pay, in treatment, in success; the lack of female roles in films, female names on prize lists, female politicians in parliament.Men and women are treated differently when they should be treated as equals. It’s a simple principle, but as is often the case with the simplest concepts, people have a hard time agreeing on how to action it. At times it feels as if feminism spends more time looking to itself than looking to the society it wants to change.YA, written by women (and men) who often place teen girls at the heart of the story, is already a fertile ground for feminist sensibilities. As one of these authors, I’m throwing my own voice into the chorus and I don’t mind if we’re not all singing from exactly the same hymn sheet. (I’m not here to tell other people how to be feminist. It’s enough that you are one.) But, for the record, here’s the one I sing from:
• My female characters can save themselves / other girls / boys.• My female characters can be saved by boys… but they probably won’t be.)• If I have girls tearing each other down, I will also have them building each other up.• If my female characters consent to sex it is because they think they will enjoy it. (Although that doesn’t always mean they do…)• If a character is going to cast aspersions on girls for having casual sex, another character will cast aspersions on boys who do the same.• If I write what seems like a gender stereotype, it will be a decision, not a default. Fathers can be competent around the house and mothers in the workplace. Some school girls can be good at maths, some school boys at art. No activity is off limits because of gender alone.• I will think of every character as a person before I think of them as anything else.• I’m an optimist, a big believer in writing the world as a hybrid of the way it is and the way you want it to be. Eventually, one will become the other.
ABOUT NON
Non Pratt grew up in Teesside and now lives in London. After graduating from Trinity College Cambridge, Non decided to work in children's publishing. Since then she has worked at Usborne as a non fiction editor and fiction publisher at Catnip. She now writes full time
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Broken Strings
Written by Maria Farrer
Contemporary, Musical
Published July 2014
352 Pages
Thank you to Scholastic and Scholastic Australia
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It is the story of a brilliant young violinist, her determination and struggle to achieve her dreams and the discovery that she is at the center of an extraordinary secret that has pulled apart her family for two generations. Jess, a talented seventeen year old violinist, suffers from stage fright as she auditions for a place at a prestigious music school. Her family do not have enough money for her to continue to study so when she fails, she vows not to play again. Until her wealthy grandmother, estranged from her family since Jess's mother fell pregnant - shows up at their doorstep and promises six months of tuition in exchange for Jess moving to live with her. Once ensconced in her grandmother's rich, but empty, life she starts to uncover the mystery of why her grandmother never spoke to her mother again, and the secret which tore her family apart.
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