Book Review - The Songs We Remember, by Chantal Gadoury

This was a really solid sequel to ‘The Songs In Our Hearts‘ and I liked the issues it explored–it really strengthened the book.

The music plays on…

It’s official – Micah Jacobs and Charlie Blake are dating. Now they’re learning how to be an ordinary high school couple, navigating things like PDA and saying the “L” word. With the holiday season approaching, Micah and Charlie are swept up in the most magical time of year.

But when an unexpected tragedy strikes her family, Charlie is left devastated. Isolating herself from her new boyfriend and the rest of the world, not even the music she and Micah once shared is enough to heal her shattered heart. In this emotional continuation of The Songs in Our Hearts, will Micah’s songs be enough to remind Charlie of their love – and of all that is worth remembering?

Add To Bookshelf

Get Your Copy

What I Liked:

This book explored some different issues–regarding relationships and love and family and loss and all sorts of stuff that was a step deeper than the first book. I really liked seeing the story go to such an extent.
I liked the portrayal of sex in this book and how it was explored, I think it’s a really good example for young people to read about.
I also like how I was able to understand grief really well from Charlie’s perspective.

What I Disliked:

I didn’t really like the beginning because it wasn’t immediately clear whether there was some kind of conflict. I felt like we were just reading an extension of Micah and Charlie’s relationship–and as nice as it was, there was nothing that really ‘hooked’ me to the book until about halfway through. However, I did like that they spent this time exploring their deeper feelings.
The church scene honestly made my gut twist. It’s not a complaint, but it was a little jarring. I think that’s the effect it was meant to have though.

Final Thoughts:

This book was a lot more serious than the first one–and while I didn’t enjoy it at first I feel like it took a real turn that got me engrossed. It was really interesting to see such a raw reflection of grief and pain in a story, and I think that really made the sequel unique.