Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Music of What Happens

Although it's not the worst book ever, it's also not the best. I thought the representation was fantastic. But aside from that, the book felt uninteresting. First of all, this book is advertised as being for young adults. While it's true that a young adult book can address issues like rape, sexual assault, and abuse, this one did so while using extremely disturbing and descriptive language.

Second, I detested the majority of the characters. Most of them weren't even all that unlikeable. Reading the dialogue between the characters makes me think a lot of 2013 Wattpad, and not in a good way. The characters enjoy helping one another out. It's possible to kill someone and then explain that you have to because you're depressed. I get why the author decided to incorporate a ride-or-die friendship, but if they keep giving one other the benefit of the controversy rather than calling each other out on their nasty behaviors, it isn't a true friendship.

Thirdly, I believe the writing of the characters was really problematic. Jordan and his friends have a "inside joke" where they hand out passes to one another. One can get away with anything, for instance, because they are cisgender and white, whereas the other can because they are gay and it would be homophobic not to. The jokes about skin tones and equating max's skin tone with food persisted among Max's friends. It's repulsive.

Additionally, the conflict was not adequately addressed, which raised the suspicion that these two wouldn't be together for very long. What makes a successful rom-com? A happy conclusion! Even though the conclusion was undoubtedly joyous, it raised some issues. Without giving anything away, the conclusion was really disappointing. The storylines involving Jordan's mother, Max's PTSD, and Max's baseball team are all left open-ended. Only the romance between Jordan and Max remained as the "completely solved" problem in this situation; everything else was left out.

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rayne_1906's review against another edition

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emotional 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

3.75

Audiobook - 4 hours 36 minutes - This wasn't quite what I was expecting - it was a lot heavier than it seemed in the synopsis, exploring darker themes than a book just about a summer romance would. I liked Max's character - it took me a little longer to like Jordan. There were some elements I didn't like at first but I realised towards the end of the novel that a fair few of these were intentional and specifically commented on as part of the conclusion. There were parts of this book that were extremely hard for me to read - Max's story in particular hit far too close for home and upset me a lot, but that is on me for choosing this audiobook at random without researching the content warnings. But overall, I liked the structure of this book - it diverted from the 'automatically happy ending' that I've come to expect from YA novels, and it was a refreshing change, that made sense within the context of the book.

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catrasbookclub's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

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frantic_vampire's review

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emotional funny reflective sad 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

4.5

This book was not what I expected it to be. I thought I was getting one thing and ended up with something completely different. And that’s the thing I liked about it the most. It just grabbed me by the hand and wouldn’t let me go until the very end.

I felt so much for both Max and Jordan. For different reasons, but damn did this book go after my feelings every chance it got. I really liked that this dealt with a whole host of different issues, from mental illness and shitty parents to the aftermath of rape and consent. And none of it felt like it was forced or out of place in this story. Sure, there were some things that could have been handled a little better, but I felt like this book did a really great job getting its point across.

Over all this was a really great read and I would highly recommend it! This is getting a four and a half stars.

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davidbythebay's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

An emotional story touching upon several difficult topics, this was a beautiful exploration of youth, coming of age, and being gay. When two gay boys take over a food truck for the summer, the story looks likes its going to be a sweet unknown/enemies to lovers trope. And it sort of is. But it's more about realizing what our boundaries are, how to communicate, the strength in speaking your truth and in supporting others' truths, and coping with significant trauma. It's about speaking what you want and having someone listen to it and abide by it. Boundaries are the key theme of this book and it handles them beautifully. Really, a sweet read that spoke volumes in a matter of pages.

TW: parent death, grief, addiction, gambling, rape, sexual assault, gaslighting, bullying

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lindsayrodier's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

2.0

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