Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - It Sounds Like This

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It Sounds Like This by Anna Meriano

4 reviews

wardenred's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I thought I was doing something right, something that would make me Section Leader Material, something I could write about in my college essays. Now I’m afraid I just did something I’m going to regret.

A refreshing, beautifully diverse quick read. I really liked Yasmín as a protagonist. She's flawed and sympathetic in equal measure, and I really enjoyed witnessing her journey as she became more introspective and started figuring out who she was, what she wanted and why. She really goes through considerable growth, and I'm here for it. I also really related to her struggle to balance what the adults in her life and her peers expected of her, and I liked her relationship with music.

In terms of plot, there's a lot going on here, between the marching band, the online harassment plot, Yasmín's struggles at home as she feels she has to manage her Mom/her Mom's tense relationship with her sibling Ellen, the pressure to succeed at school, and more. The storyline that runs through all of this and strings all the small plots together is Yasmín's relationship with her (ex) best friend Sofia, and it really was my favorite part of the book, from the start to the resolution. It's painful in many ways, and kind of bittersweet, and both of them messed up so much and were so unfair to each other in different ways—and the way it played out in the end feels really genuine.

I'm probably not the best audience to appreciate all the nuances of the school band setting; it's a rather unfamiliar subject for me, and while it's very clear the author is passionate about it, I did sometimes feel like the story got bogged down in the marching band details. Perhaps I would consider it a strength of the book if I was more invested in the subject, though, who knows! As it was, while there were those "bogged down" moments, I can say there was also a fair amount of the interesting interpersonal stuff injected into them, or some cool turns of phrase spicing up the band dialogue/Yasmín's narration. So I never really felt bored, simply a bit overwhelmed.

Content Warnings

alittlebitheather's review against another edition

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inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

UGH SUPER CUUUUUUUUTE. I love me a contemporary that is just kind of the happenings of every day life and romance kind of takes a back seat. PLUS Aro/Ace rep is off the charts in this one. I really found myself sucked in and got invested in all the characters, not just Yasmin. Also - I liked the ending a lot.

Not every friendship can be fixed and sometimes you really just do outgrow people.

If you loved This is How We Fly - this is a super satisfying sophomore book (though they are unrelated universes as far as I can tell).

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Yasmín and high-school me have shedloads in common. She was such a relatable character, and I just wanted to give her a big hug. I felt so called out and kind of loved how I could recognise my own personal development by seeing what I used to be like in Yasmín. I wish I had had this book during high school as I think it would have made me question my priorities and normalised some of the experiences I was having. I loved how flawed Yasmín was, how she didn’t have all the answers at the end of the book because she’s literally a kid and not supposed to.

Through Yasmín’s journey, a wide variety of themes were explored. Toxic friendship was a focus, specifically how hard it is to recognise you’re in one and to navigate changing how you relate to one another. Another major aspect was looking at being an people-pleasing overachiever and how narrow that mindset is, how you do things for achievement and not enjoyment, or being with other people, or learning. But so many more complex topics were discussed, including toxic family dynamics and the pressure to sacrifice yourself to make things easy; the morality of gossip culture; queer self-discovery; and navigating what being Catholic means. I will always love a book when it covers such a dearth of topics in such a balanced way, because it’s such a realistic depiction of life. You’re never just faced with one challenge, one learning curve.

Found family was another favourite part of this book for me. The dynamic of the lower brass section was to die for. I love that Meriano took the time and space to show casual interactions between the members; it was such a natural way to prove the comfortability they shared.

The story also perfectly encapsulates that American high school feeling you get from watching movies like High School Musical. So few pieces of media capture this feeling for me nowadays, so I was having a whale of a time. Also, this book says it’s about marching band and it is ABOUT marching band. Marching band and music is at the forefront throughout the narrative. The reader gets details about learning an instrument and practicing by yourself, as a section, and as a band. Meriano describes the emotions that come with practice and performance and effortlessly illustrates the insular culture of band. I thought it was so well done.

And of course, this book is queer! There was fantastic questioning aroace rep in Yasmín. I really appreciated that the story wasn’t focussed on her developing a non-platonic relationship with Bloom; it was about her self-discovery, about doing things at her own pace, and also about showing the diversity of the aroace spectrum and the complexity of attraction.

I just really enjoyed reading this book. It was the type of story that you anticipate picking back up, and I’m really interested to see what else Meriano puts out!

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

- IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS is the ideal YA novel: it balances big life concerns with the intricacies of teenage friendship, the characters learning about themselves along the way while never feeling like a Very Special Episode.
- I adored the nerdiness of these band kids. And Yasmin is such a great protagonist: she isn't always the perfect person she wants to be and the book lets her make mistakes and learn from them.
- Plus, this book covers both religion and queerness in a loving, expansive way. Personally, I am grateful for the discussions of aromanticism and asexuality!

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