Sing Me To Sleep...

Sing Me To Sleep by Angela Morrison

In Sing Me To Sleep we meet Beth, who is nicknamed the Beast at school since she is very tall and not attractive. Even her own father called her "damn ugly" when she was born. Beth has a childhood friend, Scott, who you can tell right away really likes her, unattractive or not. Beth's one bright spot in her life is singing. Not just in the school choir, but in a competitive girls choir. And Beth can really SING.

The girls choir gets invited to a competition in Switzerland, where Beth meets handsome and mysterious Derek, who is part of the famous Amabile Choir.

Derek is elusive - he is with Beth for a day or two, and then disappears for days or weeks at a time, and gives no explanation to Beth. This makes Beth wonder if he loves her as much as she loves him. Derek insists he does love Beth, but is still not willing to divulge his secrets. This made me want to keep reading and find out what this gorgeous, confidant boy was hiding.

Portions of the storyline take place in the form of song lyrics. Beth wrote lyrics to help her get through life. Sometimes she wrote down the lyrics, but sometimes they were just in her head. This was a really interesting way to show what Beth was thinking and feeling throughout the book.

Overall, this was a good read for me. It was entertaining and a little mysterious and kept my interest until the very end. Yes, there are things that bothered me. Derek's actions made him appear selfish and manipulative, but by the end of the book I understood why he did what he did. The character of Beth came off as a little too needy and clingy - and always wanting to kiss Derek to show her love - no matter the circumstance (which were sometimes weird). I don't think the author intended Beth to come over this way, that's just how I interpreted her actions.

On a side note, this is a completely beautiful cover. I think it captures the innocence of first love.

Be sure to check out the Sing Me To Sleep page to watch the trailer for the book and to hear the Amabile choir sing "Beth's Song". If you watch the trailer you also learn how to pronounce 'Amabile', which I totally screwed up for most of the book.

Then, AFTER you have read Sing Me To Sleep, be sure to read The Epilogue.


Waiting at my library for me to pick up are
Taken by Storm by Angela Morrison
and
The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson