Publisher: Dial (Penguin)
Goodreads Synopsis:
The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.
The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?
Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.
Review:
I really liked this book. Like, a lot.
It's about Piper, who is mostly deaf, managing a band called Dumb. And she has a new little sister who is also deaf, only she got a cochlear (I think?) implant. And her parents spent some of her college fund to pay for it.
Piper was written out very well. She had her own voice, and I understood all of her conflicts. She was pretty moody, but I don't think I'd call her whiny. A bit angst-filled, though. But I still understood why she was that way, as she had very good reason. And she had a couple of very good, kind of self-righteous moments that I would like to have myself. And I like that they didn't last. And she was very good on her feet, and confident even while not actually very confident. She was a very realistic, moody, teenager.
I also really liked her family. Her brother, Finn, is awesome. He's adorable, and very sweet, and a bit sensitive. And her little sister is cute. Her mother is nice, while sometimes a bit not so cool. And her father, while at first was a big jerk, later was completely awesome. I wasn't expecting this, but he changed a bit into the book, and turned awesome.
The band works out very well in the end. In the beginning, they are a big mess. Josh is a jerk, but a very well made jerk. Will doesn't do much or seem to care about too much. Tash is a bit rough around the edges, but I liked her. Ed is awesome, and a bit adorable, and I pretty much love him. And Kallie is also quite awesome. While not really what I was expecting, and still quite timid, she's a good character. I like how the band changes, grows, and it does a lot of it.
Pretty much all of this book was amazing. The characters were done really well; the pace was good, while maybe a bit slow, did keep me interested. And the band aspect was good, and it's interesting, the things she learns, about herself and music and everything else. I really liked the poker parts, and the chess parts. And, while it took Piper a while, I liked the romance a lot. The part about Piper being deaf, I at first thought could have been done a little bit better, but I think they were mostly done well. I did find that her being deaf and being a manager for a band was very interesting to read about, especially since she's very inexperienced with music of any type. And I thought that how her going to talk to Ed was a little too fast, but with all the things that he hinted at, and with rereading it, there were several more hints of her feelings changing. And the coffee shop scene was very nice. Even the ending was satisfying.
It was all fantastic, really. I'm a bit surprised that this review is so short, actually, because this book was pretty much made of awesome, and I'm uber excited for John's next book.
Thanks for the lovely review, Jude. Much appreciated!
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