Sing Me To Sleep

Sing Me To Sleep

By: Angela Morrison

True love can turn you into a whole new person. Even if you once were The Beast, you can become The Beauty. One boy can awaken the music inside of you and make your voice sing out. And then, one terrible secret can take it all away.

But as Beth soon discovers, no matter how painful love is, it's worth it. Because it's better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.

summary from book

My Rating: 4/5

Sing Me To Sleep is a beautiful story inside and out which I immensely enjoyed. For me, it is always the books with difficult and saddening subject matter that leave the largest lingering impression. This book was at times difficult to get through but definitely worth the read.

There were a number of things that I loved about this novel. Angela Morrison's writing style was one of them. She has the ability to make the reader feel everything that is happening in the novel firsthand. I could feel the connection between Beth and Derek, could feel their chemistry and longing for one another. Much like her debut novel Taken By Storm, Morrison showcases the complexity of emotions being inhibited by her main characters flawlessly. She doesn't just tell you that Beth and Derek really like one another and so on. Instead, she shows you and through that experience, the reader is able to connect not only to the characters but to the story line on another level. Often one of my favourite parts in YA romance is the heightened and new emotions being expressed and felt by the characters. There was a lot of that in Sing Me To Sleep as Beth and Derek have never felt for anyone else what they feel for each other. Lastly, the premise of this novel especially the choirs was a lot of fun to read about. I'd never come across a novel that centered around competitive choirs and I really enjoyed that aspect as well.

As always, there were a few things I didn't like as much. One of those being the constant mention of children (which plays a semi large part in this novel although I don't want to give away as to why it does) and marriage. Now, I understand that we're all different and with that comes different priorities, hopes and dreams but for me, I didn't understand why a bunch of seventeen year olds were always dwelling on things that didn't always seem so authentic to their age. I'm not saying that teens don't think about marriage and having children but the topic was brought up quite often in this book that it threw me off from time to time. For me, it felt more as if the author was imposing her views more so than letting the characters form their own. This is of course inevitable because authors pour so much of themselves into their work many times without even noticing. Nonetheless, this was just a tiny thing that bothered me but in no way took away from the overall story and characters.

Another aspect I'm still not so sure of is the end. I'm not speaking of the conclusion as a whole but more so, the last few lines before the story ends. Maybe it has to do with my dislike for a particular character or maybe it was because things felt too soon and too rushed. I don't want to give too much away but I think if you've read this book or are planning on doing so, you'll understand what I'm discretely drying to say.

All in all, I really loved this book and look forward to reading more from Angela Morrison in the future. She really has a way with bringing her characters and story lines to life which I really admire. A small tip of advice, don't read the acknowledgements and the little section at the back before reading the story because it will spoil a few things for you. Reading it after however will bring you to tears. I was a mess by the end of this book.