Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Our main character, Adi, finds herself in the foster system after her grandmothers health declines. She meets a local boy, Rupe, at her new home whom does his best to make Adi feel included. Adi and Rupe start a whirlwind friendship when they find themselves swept away to a fantasy land of dreams and existential beings. Can Adi and Rupe help these beings when the future of all dreams on Earth are at stake or will the lurking shadows swallow them whole?

When I requested this book I knew it was written for a middle grade audience and went into it with an open mind. However, I couldn't connect with the characters as they felt even younger than the author intended. Rupe comes off like an overbearing 4 year old, rambling on about his interests to no end. Adi, while written as a heroine, seems meek and afraid throughout the entire story even with others cheering her on. I had a hard time understanding what was really happening and held tight to the bits I did understand. While this book is written for middle grade students, it is so choppy I think even the students would have a hard time concentrating, therefore also missing the intended story.

In closing, I would not recommend this book based on my experience. It wasn't a bad book, it even had some good moments, but they were hard to find and even understand.

This book called out to the artist in me. The lyrical way of speaking was just beautiful, created such magnificent scenery.
The main theme of this book, from what I took of it, was grief. Adi is dealing with the passing of her grandmother and is discovering how to live on without her.
This would be an absolutely fantastic middle-grade book for those younger generations who may just be experiencing grief for the first time. The sense of hope given in such a poetic way and the will to continue on without that loved person in your life.

*Arc supplied*

Please note that these are only my personal opinions and are not a reflection on the author or anyone who loves this book.

It had a good message but I felt confused most of the time and didn't really understand what was happening and why it happened. The language was okay, but felt a little forced.

The story was really creative to read - there was a lot of interesting mythology woven into the story. The characters weren't super relatable but I still enjoyed reading about their experiences throughout the novel.

The Music the Stars Sang
TL Cervantes
MG Fantasy
2 ⭐

Netgalley provided me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

About the book:
When daydreamer Adi is placed in foster care after being separated from her dying Gran, even the music she sees written in the sky and her new smarty-pants friend Rupe can’t keep her grief away. Nightmares peel off her bedroom walls and materialize, and Shadows pursue her.

Once Adi and Rupe are chased into the magical kingdom of Dream Miners, where miners unearth dreams in the form of gems, Adi welcomes the escape. She feels at home, like she’s stepped into one of Gran’s stories.

But Shadows taint the jeweled gardens blanketing the forest kingdom. Left unchecked, they are growing into a Darkness that will turn dreams into nightmares for children everywhere – unless Adi taps into her unpolished musical talent to stop it.

In a world filled with music, star lore, and Shadow monsters, Adi must decide. Will she risk her own memories to protect the dreams of others?

My take:

I am so sad to say I did not care at all for this book. It is trying to be lyrical and whimsical, but instead comes off as wordy and pompous. I also found myself rereading entire chapters to try and figure out what was happening. This focused so much on descriptions and not enough on presenting a cohesive and easy to follow storyline.

Librarians and parents: Its not often that I say this, but I do not recommend this book. Its target audience is MG and I don't see a MG student sticking with it.

I recieved this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Maybe this is the first time in many years that I feel bad writting a bad review and I don´t know why.

When I request this book I feel so happy because the cover is gorgeous, I was feeling like I want to read a middle grade book about magic and music so... why not?

But when I read this book I feel... confused? Too many times I feel very confused about what is happening in the story with the characters and situations. I had to reread several parts to understand what was happening

I had a bad feeling when I read the first chapter, I don´t like it. The situation when Adi meets Rupe was hard to believed and a little forced from Rupe´s part I mean... I would not like someone to force me to be your friend and that is the feeling this first chapter send me.

Sorry but, I dind´t liked the characters, the magic world, the situations, the end. Everything was too forced and easy, I would like to know more about everything and I like magical worlds, but not this world.

I think this is a book that I will forget very easily.

This story is mesmerizing and magical. It follows Adi from her relationship with her grandmother and her stories to the magical world. She experiences profound loss and confusion and she needs to use her talents to find a pathway. It’s well written but I think it’s more of a young adult book. It can get confusing and intense. But for lovers of fantasy, this story is worth a read.

The most interesting character in this book was the wolf, Marnus. I really wish he had played a larger role in the story as I feel it would have made the story better. I found this book rather boring, and I wish there had been more action and adventure. The characters didn't seem to have much personality, and I was left wanting more.

I received an advanced reader's e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

Great book! This is definitely something you could read to children or allow a child to read on there own. It was slow at times but it picked really quickly.

Overall i enjoyed this book, The second half was much better than the first and once the drama started happening i finished it in no time. i did find it a bit slow going in places but as the book went on it definitely picked up. I liked the writing style and it flowed really well, the characters were great and i loved the focus on the stories adi has been told by her grandmother.

The Music the Stars Sang is the story of Adi and Rupe, two brilliant characters that find each other by chance when Adi is placed with a foster family while her grandmother gets medical care. The author uses music-oriented imagery to describe the beauty and the dangers of the world throughout the narrative. After Adi's grandmother passes away, she is thrown into a bout of grief that is gut wrenching and something that middle grade readers may have similarly experienced. Readers are introduced to a 'getaway' world called The Sidereal Kingdom when Adi and Rupe venture out.

This world is filled with memorable characters, beautiful descriptions of sounds, smells, and sights. This is a surreal world designed to be an escape and what a wonderful escape this is! I loved the characters and worldbuilding, along with the wonderful tendrils of music threaded through the story.

Books in and of themselves are used as an escape from reality, which is a coping mechanism that is used by many people. Personally, I use books to escape periodically into a new world or a world that is familiar and safe. Weaving the musical elements through the narrative is also a beautiful note that lends itself to this coping mechanism. Particularly when I was around 10-13, I listened to music in order to cope with various things. I love this idea for middle grade readers and reading about Adi's story of working through her grief is particularly relevant and timely for readers.

I would absolutely recommend this book to any middle grade reader or parent interested in books such as this. Adi will hold a special place in my heart from now on. I will be purchasing a copy of this book for my son to read when he is a little bit more skilled at reading. I am going to look into other works by T. L. Cervantes, who has a beautiful and engaging writing style! I am so glad that I was approved for this book, it has been a joy to read and review!

The Music the Stars Sang is available now and I would encourage you to purchase from your favorite retailer!

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing a galley copy of this book in return for an honest review.

The Music the Stars Sang by T L Cervantes is about 11 year old Adi, a daydreamer whose world is turned upside down when her grandmother falls I'll and she us sent to live with foster parents. There, she is quickly sucked into a dreamworld, and tasked with saving it from those who would turn all dreams into nightmares.
I really loved the sound of this book, but found it confused me quite a lot. I did wonder if that was some clever writing, designed to mimic the mind of a grieving child, but it frustrated me. That said, this was a nice story, and the land of the dream miners magical and glimmering. I did find the characters hard to relate to and found I disliked a lot of them, and struggled to really get into this story. It is a middle grade book and I think perhaps a younger reader might enjoy it, but it is not one I'll be adding to my library. 3 stars.

Wonderful book with lots of imagery. It is so easy to feel the emotions of the character in the book.

I am so impressed with this book.

***Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for providing me a free copy in exchange for a honest review***