Jessica Pennington

Interning for a battling bands reality television show, teenaged Vee reconnects with Cam, her first love (and her first heartbreak), but the media spotlight threatens to expose the couple's past secrets.

A Novel

Love Songs & Other Lies

Candyce Kirk

Love Songs & Other Lies is unique in a couple ways compared to other Young Adult books. This book has chapters in the past and now, but it's also told from both Virginia and Cam's perspective. That really made me fall in love with this book. A lot of time in a contemporary we only get to read about how one character experiences everything. Also, because this book keeps switching back and forth between the past and now, we slowly figure everything out. I loved not having all of the information in the beginning and having the puzzle pieces settle in to place as time went by.

Virginia is excited about her summer internship on the tour bus with her best friends. She is unpleasantly surprised that Cam is on that bus as well. At first, she's ready to go home, but in the end she just wants to ignore him. Being followed by a camera takes some getting used to. They literally film everything. It's exciting to go along on the road and see the guys perfom. It's her dream to perform after all.

Cam was excited when the guys called him and asked him to participate in the competition. He didn't know Virignia was going to be there, but he sees this as the perfect time to try and ask for forgiveness. He really messed up and knows this very well. Neither of them expected to be in the spotlight so much and don't realize how far fans can go. Being a tourbus doesn't give much privacy, but they slowly start to get to know each other again. They both feel something, but can they get over the past?

The whole idea of a band competition was so much fun. I loved that we got to read about everything they had to do and how far the camera men went with filming. There lives aren't private anymore, but if that can make their dream come true. Why not? Virginia and Cam both have a past and as we read more, I love how we find out what was going on. I loved Virginia's grandmother. She only wanted what was best. The past kept getting in their way though. Virigina always felt Cam was hiding something and Cam isn't sure how to talk. Even though they both love the other, Cam and Viriginia have to get past their demons before they can move on.

Jessica's writing is amazing and I love the song lyrics mixed in. I would love to hear the actual songs! We really got to know both characters and it made me understand them so much more. I loved going on the adventure with these characters. I loved them both in the end and was really hoping they would get their happily ever after. The grand gesture at the end of this book left me with a huge smile on my face. I don't think she could've ended this book better than she did.

laura

* I got this book for review*
I you are 90's kid and grew up with shows like O-town and etc. I think this book was so much fun. I loved the both the music aspects of this novel and how it was framed around a music reality t.v show like making the band. I also really liked the story of rekindled love and also how we got both characters sides of the story and also duel timelines both current and past. This novel was a lot like onion you kept getting more info throughout the novel and that kept me engaged and it was hard to put this book down. I found this to be the prefect summer read!

Alexis 

3/5 stars

I don't have much to say about this book. It honestly fell a little flat for me. Everything to me was just fine. There wasn't anything that really stood out to me while reading. It was a fast and easy read though.

Belle Ellrich

Firstly, I just want to address the fact that I finished this book in two days. Two freaking days. I haven't finished a book that fast in over three months! This book was incredible, and I seriously can't wait to reread it over and over again.

Jessica Pennington has definitely become one of my favorite authors, even though this is her first book. A debut book is always my judgment on whether or not I would like to continue reading from that author, and Jess definitely killed it. Love Songs and Other Lies became one of my most anticipated books as soon as it had been announced. And after reading it, I have so much I want to say but can't out of fear of spoiling it.

So, let's start with a few of my favorite quotes from this book.

"I can't believe how much fun I'm having right now."

This is a very relatable quote, especially for someone like me. I actually saw a lot of myself in Virginia Miller, the first main character. She's very passionate about music, but she'd never outwardly admit it. In fact, there are a lot of secrets about her that are spilled in this book, and I find those secrets to be some of the best plot twisters I've ever read from in contemporary.

"My mom only wishes there was a story of wild adolescent rebellion attached to the disappearance of my green Ford Focus."

Again, I find myself relating to this character. My mom is always begging me to do things, whether it be going out with friends, going to a party, getting a boyfriend or rejoining the soccer team (it's never going to happen for the second and fourth ones, mom). In this book, Vee's mom is basically keeping an unwanted eye out for her "rebellion". She never actually rebels in this book, except for one scene that I wouldn't really consider rebelling but maybe talking back? Either way, you get a little action between these two characters.

"And I know; this is exactly what falling in love sounds like."

I've always loved music, so I know exactly what this quote feels and sounds like. As a high school freshman reading this, love is like a turning wheel. It never ends, feels real for a good twenty-four hours, and then falls to pieces. Hearts get broken all the time, for all ages. And I feel that this book could actually help a lot of teenagers find their paths.

With Cameron Fuller, the second main character, he's got a mysterious past with his heart set on music. He joins a band for a lot of reasons, but it helps him get back on track after a bad accident. Once upon a time, he was in love. But just like most teenagers, that love passed.

With Vee, she's got a cautious lifestyle. She's afraid to put herself out there for just about anything dealing with boys and music, even though she obviously loves both. She has this sureness about her that, with the help of a friend or lover, she will be able to conquer anything.

In my perspective, Jess really killed it with this debut novel. She made the lives of these characters seem realistic, which was a really important factor since it's contemporary. She made the love and the fights seem real, and she hit the nail straight into the wood with that ending.

For this, I give this book 5/5 stars. I seriously cannot wait the second book to release because y'all know I'm going to be entering all of the giveaways and requesting to get it like crazy. I want to thank Jess for holding the giveaways and signing my prize (everyone knows that I LOVE my books personalized, and that was a dream come true for me). 

If you were ever on the fence about this book, get off of it. You will fall in love with the characters, the plot, the dialogue, everything! Just give it a chance; you won't regret it.

Love Songs & Other Lies A Novel

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