Review: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales (Spoiler-Free)

People are who they are and, try as you might, you cannot make them be what you want them to be. Every teenager can relate to at least one thing from this book. It follows the story of Elise as she tries to change and discover herself. It tackles the feeling of not fitting in, the feeling of escape, and the feeling of finding a secret part of your life that you can protect and keep from getting ruined. When you find a passion, or something that makes you happy, you must pursue it. Don't worry about what others have to say about being too precocious or enthusiastic; just embrace it. You won't be happy pretending to not like something you love. It's much easier to do what you love and put up with a few stares. In high school, it can be hard to think this way, and it is something that Elise must learn over the course of the book. She must learn that being who you are is essential. She must learn that, sometimes, when it seems like a person can be changed to fit who you want them to be, it is just as impossible for them to change as it would be for you to change. She must learn that Sometimes people think they know you. They know a few facts about you, and they piece you together in a way that makes sense to them. And if you don't know yourself very well, you might even believe that they are right. But the truth is, that isn't you. That isn't you at all. All of this takes a very long time to discover, and That's the problem with life. You never get enough time to stare at your ceiling and try to figure out what's going on.

Song I was reminded of while reading: Iris