Blues Harp Green

By: Nicole Schubert

Narrated by: Amelia Clover

The second Francie met Chet, her poetic memory danced.

Meet Francie Mills. She's 16. Lives in the boring burbs of LA. Is super determined and hopeful. And wants one thing: to be an amazing tennis player. Because if something exponentially, brilliantly wonderful like that happened, like winning the US Open or even getting to nationals, everything would be okay. Her life. Her family. Her. She would matter. Be part of something important. And wouldn't have to feel so unbearably sad and alone every time her dad gets drunk, again. But the likelihood of amazingness starts to seem impossible when Francie injures her knee, that is, until she meets Chet Jones, lead singer of the band Blues Harp Jones, in Austin, on location for her dad's movie job. Francie instantly falls for Chet, in his weird blazer and God Save the Queen t-shirt, sexy, genuine, funny. And she's sure something wonderful is finally happening, especially when Chet miraculously falls for her too. But the closer Francie gets to Chet back in LA and the more her dad's drinking tears her apart, the more she realizes the best kind of something wonderful isn't at all what she expected....

©2017 Nicole Schubert (P)2017 Earnest Parc Press

Captures the intensity of being a teen

While I liked this book less than the other works by this author, I still enjoyed the close-up view of the constant drama of this teen’s thoughts and feelings. The narration was excellent, and kept me interested in what might seem like trivial events from the outside, but loomed large and significant in Francie’s mind.

Lacks depth

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I love YA fiction. I am a teacher and always on the lookout for new books to suggest my students read. I really wanted Blues Harp Green to be one of those books. Unfortunately the book fell flat in almost every area.

The main character is annoying and very difficult to enjoy due to her overly embelished "angst" that makes the reader feel more like the author was trying to prove they understand teens. Her love at first sight turns into stalker mode, combined with her John McEnroe tantrums on the court make her a huge cliche.

Then enter the "bad boy" singer of a band. He has similar problems to her! Yes, addict parents, especially those with alcohol problems are not uncommon. But instead of having a true conversation about this topic to help teens relate, this topic is just cast aside to a main character that falls in love with and spills her heart to a guy who so easily plays with her head. It doesn't take long to realize there is no strong female lead; it is just another twilight without the vampires.

The whole book just felt unfinished. Like a rock skipping across a pond, it hits on many topics but doesn't go into much depth on any of them. It left me not really caring about anyone in the story.

I love an easy read that you can sit by the pool and read or curl up on thr couch and read on a rainy day. Unfortunately this book is not one of them.

The main character was a bit hard to take

I can count on one hand the number of books where I disliked the main character so much. This one leads the pack. It's a YA novel and I'm certainly past that, but that's not the reason. Francie Mills was...frustrating.

This book is essentially a girl crush on a boy band member with a tennis backstory but at the end, I was just happy to get out of Francie's world.

I liked the narration though, and will look for more books by Amelia Clover.

good

I enjoyed parts of this story and the narration was really well done. I struggled a bit with the main character but overall this was an enjoyable YA story that many teens will like.

I received a review copy of this audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

Accurate Portrayal of Teen Life

This was a fun book to listen to. The voice acting was really great, and made the story that much more enjoyable.

The main character sometimes got on my nerves, but I think a lot of girls that age have similar issues and thought processes. Seeing the situations she got into and choices she made had me rooting for her.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Ya contemporary with real topics

Tried this book via audiobook. It's a typical ya contemporary. Teen going through emotional turmoil, difficult family situation, finding themselves.

I think what I connected to was how it wasn't dependent on a romantic arc, which I do happen to like in ya, but its a nice change for a character not to worry about that, and more about herself.

I wasnt particularly moved by the story but it was well written and a good story regardless.

I received a copy via the author and voluntary reviewed this book

Meh

The story was a very predictable and the narrator did the most annoying teen voices. I was annoyed that every other sentence started with and. Overall I felt no overall attachment to any of the characters. Also, the title was the band name with one word changed and it bugs me that it wasn't explained at all.