Tone Deaf by Olivia Rivers
Synopsis: His world is music. Her world is silent.
Ali Collins was a child prodigy destined to become one of the greatest musicians of the twenty-first century—until she was diagnosed with a life-changing brain tumor. Now, at seventeen, Ali lives in a soundless world where she gets by with American Sign Language and lip-reading. She’s a constant disappointment to her father, a retired cop fighting his own demons, and the bruises are getting harder to hide.
When Ali accidentally wins a backstage tour with the chart-topping band Tone Deaf, she’s swept back into the world of music. Jace Beckett, the nineteen-year-old lead singer of the band, has a reputation. He’s a jerk and a player, and Ali wants nothing to do with him. But there’s more to Jace than the tabloids let on. When Jace notices Ali’s bruises and offers to help her escape to New York, Ali can’t turn down the chance at freedom and a fresh start. Soon she’s traveling cross-country, hidden away in Jace’s RV as the band finishes their nationwide tour. With the help of Jace, Ali sets out to reboot her life and rediscover the music she once loved.
*Credit: synopsis is from the book and not written by me
Review: I recently discovered this hidden gem of a book. Tone Deaf by Olivia Rivers came from nowhere out of left field and completely knocked me out of the park. I had never heard of this author before reading this book. Originally, not to sound shallow, it was the cover that attracted me to read this book, but I found that the concept behind this story was amazing.
A girl, with a troubled home life, and a rockstar with the means to act as her "savior" may seem a little cliche, but I was impressed by Rivers' presentation of both the characters and their relationship. Aly is very brave. She makes plans to get away from her father, and when Jace offers the opportunity to help she is hesitant to cancel her plans to travel to New York as a lone runaway in favor of hitching a ride on Jace's tour bus. However, when faced with the choice of accepting help and living in her abusive household, Aly's decision seems very courageous for someone so young.
In addition, I appreciated the fact that Aly was not the only vulnerable member of this relationship. Jace's experiences with Aly take him back to a time when he was similarly vulnerable because he also lived with an abusive parent. This creates a kinship that is the foundation for their relationship. As far as their relationship goes, I consider it a typical YA relationship. They are two people who will continue to grow, and I think that their relationship is something that needs to grow. I acknowledge the author's skill in creating a romance that is intriguing and genuine. However, I feel that they have room for improvement as a couple.
The supporting characters are truly AMAZING. The most prominent supporting characters are Jace's band members. Their names are Arrow, Killer, and Jon. Part of what I loved about this book was the diversity among the characters. Arrow and Killer are a gay couple, so they represent the LGBTQ community. Killer was also adopted by his parents who he refers to as hippies. Jon is Jace's final band member. He is very quiet and is most noted for his hulking size, yet kind demeanor. Jace actually tells a story about how their high school football coach tried to get Jon to play, but Jon would try to apologize each time he had to hit someone. The last supporting character I want to not is Aly's best friend, Avery, who is one of the most loyal characters I have read in a YA realistic fiction. She actually took an ASL class in high school in order to be better capable of communicating with Aly. Avery and her parents make efforts to remove Aly from her abusive household, but are sadly ignored.
Also, Jace's dog, Cuddles, provided me with endless enjoyment and a few wishes for more dogs than the one I have. As long as a book mentions a cute animal, it gets a five star animal rating because animals are automatically five star material. Duh.
The last thing I want to mention in this review is just to commend this author for her realistic representation of a disabled character. She managed to seamlessly integrate Aly's deafness into her life. Aly faced problems that are abstract to most people, but that deaf people face everyday. From listening to vibrations in order to get the feel of music, attempting to follow people's lips, being left out of conversations because everyone forgets that she can't hear, to having the need for subtitles while she watches a TV show. However, Aly was completely relatable and I don't think any reader would pity her for her disability.
Main Character Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Romance Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Supporting Character Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Diversity: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Animals: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall 📚Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Character Summaries:
Aly- amazingly smart, brave, vulnerable, abused, hopeful girl who escapes her father and finds a new family
Jace- angsty, genuine, rockstar who offers help to Aly because she reminds him of his experience with abuse
Arrow- Jace's best friend/ bandmate; Killer's boyfriend; and an overall good person who is presented as a little moody
Killer- Jace's bandmate; Arrow's boyfriend; incredibly enthusiastic, loving, friendly person who should never drink caffeine *Avid Doctor Who fan*
Jon- Jace's bandmate; gentle giant
Cuddles- cute pit bull; loves Jon; scares Aly; is amazing; 🐶
Works Cited:
http://www.signlanguagenyc.com/getting-involved-in-the-deaf-community/
http://pajka.blogspot.com/2016/04/interview-with-tone-deaf-2016-author.html
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25898555-tone-deaf
Ali Collins was a child prodigy destined to become one of the greatest musicians of the twenty-first century—until she was diagnosed with a life-changing brain tumor. Now, at seventeen, Ali lives in a soundless world where she gets by with American Sign Language and lip-reading. She’s a constant disappointment to her father, a retired cop fighting his own demons, and the bruises are getting harder to hide.
When Ali accidentally wins a backstage tour with the chart-topping band Tone Deaf, she’s swept back into the world of music. Jace Beckett, the nineteen-year-old lead singer of the band, has a reputation. He’s a jerk and a player, and Ali wants nothing to do with him. But there’s more to Jace than the tabloids let on. When Jace notices Ali’s bruises and offers to help her escape to New York, Ali can’t turn down the chance at freedom and a fresh start. Soon she’s traveling cross-country, hidden away in Jace’s RV as the band finishes their nationwide tour. With the help of Jace, Ali sets out to reboot her life and rediscover the music she once loved.
*Credit: synopsis is from the book and not written by me
A girl, with a troubled home life, and a rockstar with the means to act as her "savior" may seem a little cliche, but I was impressed by Rivers' presentation of both the characters and their relationship. Aly is very brave. She makes plans to get away from her father, and when Jace offers the opportunity to help she is hesitant to cancel her plans to travel to New York as a lone runaway in favor of hitching a ride on Jace's tour bus. However, when faced with the choice of accepting help and living in her abusive household, Aly's decision seems very courageous for someone so young.
In addition, I appreciated the fact that Aly was not the only vulnerable member of this relationship. Jace's experiences with Aly take him back to a time when he was similarly vulnerable because he also lived with an abusive parent. This creates a kinship that is the foundation for their relationship. As far as their relationship goes, I consider it a typical YA relationship. They are two people who will continue to grow, and I think that their relationship is something that needs to grow. I acknowledge the author's skill in creating a romance that is intriguing and genuine. However, I feel that they have room for improvement as a couple.
The supporting characters are truly AMAZING. The most prominent supporting characters are Jace's band members. Their names are Arrow, Killer, and Jon. Part of what I loved about this book was the diversity among the characters. Arrow and Killer are a gay couple, so they represent the LGBTQ community. Killer was also adopted by his parents who he refers to as hippies. Jon is Jace's final band member. He is very quiet and is most noted for his hulking size, yet kind demeanor. Jace actually tells a story about how their high school football coach tried to get Jon to play, but Jon would try to apologize each time he had to hit someone. The last supporting character I want to not is Aly's best friend, Avery, who is one of the most loyal characters I have read in a YA realistic fiction. She actually took an ASL class in high school in order to be better capable of communicating with Aly. Avery and her parents make efforts to remove Aly from her abusive household, but are sadly ignored.
Also, Jace's dog, Cuddles, provided me with endless enjoyment and a few wishes for more dogs than the one I have. As long as a book mentions a cute animal, it gets a five star animal rating because animals are automatically five star material. Duh.
The last thing I want to mention in this review is just to commend this author for her realistic representation of a disabled character. She managed to seamlessly integrate Aly's deafness into her life. Aly faced problems that are abstract to most people, but that deaf people face everyday. From listening to vibrations in order to get the feel of music, attempting to follow people's lips, being left out of conversations because everyone forgets that she can't hear, to having the need for subtitles while she watches a TV show. However, Aly was completely relatable and I don't think any reader would pity her for her disability.
Main Character Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Romance Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Supporting Character Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Diversity: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Animals: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall 📚Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Character Summaries:
Aly- amazingly smart, brave, vulnerable, abused, hopeful girl who escapes her father and finds a new family
Jace- angsty, genuine, rockstar who offers help to Aly because she reminds him of his experience with abuse
Arrow- Jace's best friend/ bandmate; Killer's boyfriend; and an overall good person who is presented as a little moody
Killer- Jace's bandmate; Arrow's boyfriend; incredibly enthusiastic, loving, friendly person who should never drink caffeine *Avid Doctor Who fan*
Jon- Jace's bandmate; gentle giant
Cuddles- cute pit bull; loves Jon; scares Aly; is amazing; 🐶
Works Cited:
http://www.signlanguagenyc.com/getting-involved-in-the-deaf-community/
http://pajka.blogspot.com/2016/04/interview-with-tone-deaf-2016-author.html
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25898555-tone-deaf
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