Enjoyed this a lot - and so will the target YA audience. Much more about families and friendship than I expected (a good thing), and explored the school dynamics well. I hadn't realised it was the beginning of a series but I definitely want to read the next instalment. Not just for boy band fans (that's so not me it isn't even funny!)

Couldn’t really get into this but understand the appeal for target audience. The original songs were definitely a nice touch.

Not at all what I would normally read, but I’m glad I did. Totally enjoyed every second. Engaging characters that I took to my heart straight away.

So, it was always my dream – to say I’m with the band. It never happened for me sadly but I got to live that dream vicariously through the awesome YA fictional story of Charlie Bloom.

Songs About a Girl is the story of Charlie Bloom and how she is fast-tracked to the world of fame – something that she didn’t expect or actually want. Charlie is asked to take photographs for TV talent show winning band Fire&Lights and whilst taking the photographs she finds herself becoming the proverbial Yoko Ono. She begins to fall for frontman Gabriel West who she has this bizarre connection with and it upsets the delicate balance of the how the band works.

Amidst all of this Charlie is dealing with family issues, falling out with her best friend and dealing with her new found infamy. No one ever said that being a teenager was easy.

I absolutely adored Songs About a Girl. It made me want to be a teenager again….which as a 34 year old woman is not something I say lightly or often. Chris Russell really has got down to the nitty gritty of what it is like to be a teenager.

I am so glad that I have the sequel to this book downloaded and the third in the series pre-ordered.

Songs About a Girl by Chris Russell is available now.

For more information regarding Chris Russell (@chrisrusselluk) please visit www.chrisrussellwrites.com.

For more information regarding Hachette Children’s Group (@HachetteKids) please visit www.hachettechildrens.co.uk.

I think 15-year-old me would have loved this a hecking lot. Though reading this was like an ode to my band-crazed fangirl past life, I just couldn't enjoy it as much as I knew I would've back then.


This was cliche after cliche with a love triangle and too much drama. I did feel bad for Charlie because of the whole bullying and harassment thing - it made me more emotional than I expected, and I definitely did feel for her. But I didn't like Charlie or Gabe, to be honest. Felt they were quite flat, uninteresting. I loved Olly, Yuki and Aiden though! They saved this book for me.
I still give it 3 stars for entertainment, sweetness and GOOD OLD OLLY, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

Songs About A Girl was one of the books that I read and love from last year and was one that I would recommend to anyone who listens.

Songs About A Girl follows Charlie who is a photographer but accidentally gets to photograph the popular band, Fire and Lights, a massive boyband with one of the members, Olly going to her school. This was something that I loved reading about as it was interesting especially seeing the relationship between Charlie and her friend as she was a massive fan of the band in question.

The novel itself is quite topical and relevant dealing with a popular boy band as well as online bullying and trolling which occur online today. It is often rare that you see this done in a book so seeing this in books, in general, is great but seeing it done well is a bonus.

The band itself is great and I love all of their personalities in the book as they do bounce off each other but I do kind of prefer Yuki and I can't see where they go in the second book.

The Verdict:

Songs About A Girl is a great read that deals with band culture and online bullying and is a must read for anyone who loves a popular boy band.

Songs About a Girl reminded me a lot of The Heartbreakers with its synopsis, but The Heartbreakers was fun, albeit cheesy, but the romance was pretty cute and had some chemistry, which Songs About A Girl lacked for me.

I had a rocky experience with Songs About A Girl, it started out slow, and It's the kind of book that gets better as it goes along, but still in places were pretty meh, so I don't really have much to say about it. Nothing really stood out to me and it took me forever to get through.

The characters were alright... I guess, our main, Charlie is pretty bland, she didn't feel like much of a personality, I thought the more we got to know her, the more she would feel real, but nope. Same as Gabriel, one of the love interests, who tells her she's not like other girls...yeah. Then there's the other love interest (and a second band member of Fire&Lights) that bad much more of a personality and was really sweet, but we didn't get to know him as much, same as with my favourite characters (and the last band members) Aiden and Yuki, who actually have personalities and I would've gladly read a book about them to be honest.

Yes, by the above, there is a love triangle, and it didn't work in the books favour because I don't get it?
The romance felt forced and cliche with the Two Bandmates Fight Over the Same Girl, but honestly the Gabriel/Charlie thing was forced, they met each other a few times, talked a few times and he's. Basically in love with her. Ohhhkay.

Okay, so positives! There's good female friendship rep, which yay, but there is a little drama with it, though kudos for it not being about a boy. There's bullying rep that does get handled, too. Uhm, Yuki and Aiden?

If you're into books about bands and music, Songs About a Girl might be for you, but it didn't work for me at all.

Review featured in this vide0 - https://youtu.be/H96eE-Nrsew

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did! Although I have a soft spot for books about music, I figured this would just be another boy-band book. And yet despite the ridiculousness of the situations, and the instant love triangle, I really enjoyed it. Charlie as a main character was very relatable and I rooted for her throughout. I loved how much Charlie did not car at all about the band, and not because she sympathised with the band, but because she simply didn't care, which was refreshing.

Just reading the first few pages put a smile on my face as I was hit by memories of my teenage love for boy bands. Charlie was different though, she wasn't interested in that kind of thing because she had a passion for photography. This intrigued me and raised lots of questions about her life.

The beginning of her whirlwind adventure actually got my heart pounding as though it was me in her position (I might still consider running off with the Backstreet Boys but now I'd have 4 kids in tow ha ha).

The style of writing was comfortable to read and very expressive, I could almost hear the words in front of me being spoken out loud. The characters felt so real and each of them brought something different to the storyline, all put together they were addictive. Melissa was one of my favourites because she made me laugh out loud, I found myself looking forward to any scenes that involved her.

It wasn't all boy bands, concerts and after-parties though, there was a surprisingly deep part of the storyline which was quite emotional to read. Then there was a mystery that drove me crazy trying to figure it out and even a love triangle (ooh I do love a good love triangle) which added yet another exciting side to the storyline.

Later on came a completely unexpected turn of events which had me holding my breath as I waited for the outcome and this was followed by a gasp-inducing cliffhanger that totally left me wanting more. When will there be more?

Songs About A Girl is the perfect read for anyone who ever had dreams of 'being with the band'. It took me away to moments of pure escapism and thoughts of a marshmallow world!

Songs About A Girl by Chris Russell was so much fun. Music, a boy band, fans and fandom, friendship, kissing. All my favourite things!