Amplified by Tara Kelly {Review}

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. BYR

Publish Date: October 25, 2011

Source: Gifted/Own
Goodreads

When priviliged 17-year-old Jasmine gets kicked out of her house, she takes what is left of her savings and flees to Santa Cruz to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Jasmine finds the ideal room in an oceanfront house, but she needs to convince the three guys living there that she's the perfect roommate and lead guitarist for their band, C-Side. Too bad she has stage fright and the cute bassist doesn't think a spoiled girl from over the hill can hack it...

Amplified was a fun read, but sadly not as awesome as I’d hoped. I think I’d been a little setup for failure, though since I’m not quite as big a music fan as most of my blogger friends who gave it rave reviews. Still, it was really fun (and a little weird) reading about a main character who shared more similarities with me than just a name. Besides, you know, musical abilities :P

Jasmine was a hard-headed, stubborn girl, but I didn’t really find it too annoying for the most part. She knew what she wanted and she was willing to do the hard work to get it. Sometimes I just wanted to shout at the girl to ask for/accept a little help, but I completely understand why she was the way she was. I mean, with a father as crappy as hers, I’m sure I’d have learned to do things on my own too.

I really liked the band and how the characters who made it up were really well-rounded. They didn’t really feel like side characters at all, in fact. If any of them were missing I kind of feel like the book wouldn’t have been the same at all. That’s not to say I liked them all. I kind of hated Bryn, actually. He was a big fat jerkwad and I frequently felt like punching him in the face. Veta was spunky and crazy and just plain awesome. She was definitely one of my favorite characters :] Felix was…well, Felix was strange to me. I don’t have a problem with dudes wearing tutus and pigtails, but I just wanted to know why. I’d actually love to read a companion starring him.

Then we have Sean and his and Jasmine’s relationship. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Sean. He was sexy and snarky, sure, but he was also really hung up on that stupid Amy girl. I get it, I really do, but I wish he could have gotten over her and just went for Jasmine wholeheartedly. If you’re looking for a fresh relationship formula, then you’ll definitely find it in Jasmine and Sean.

The Nutshell: Though Amplified wasn’t a complete win for me, it wasn’t really a loss either. I think most of my disappointment could be attributed to high expectations. If you’re a music lover or like books with music then you’ll probably have a much bigger appreciation for Amplified than I did. If you’re looking for something beyond your typical boy-meets-girl-and-smoochy-smoochy-ensues then you should definitely check this one out. If you love bold, strong characters then give Amplified a try :D

Pages: 293

Series: No

Rating: Near Miss