User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
thank you penguin teen for sending me a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
overall this book was a really cute coming of age book. It was really different for me to relate to some of the characters though so this book was a bit of a drag for me. I really liked all the rep in this book though! i also loved the marching band aspects. Overall this book was really cute and I wish I liked it more but it was honestly just a bore. this book is definitely for the younger reader (yes I know it’s YA, I read YA a decent amount of the time) but I just felt a little too old for this one
Rating: really liked it
This book was one of the sweetest things I've ever read! As a band nerd and flute player myself, this book felt like the representation I sorely needed. The way that the book describes being in band and playing flute and marching on the field during halftime all struck a chord (hah) within me. This book perfectly captures what it means to be a band kid. Other than the representation of band kids, the casual queer representation in this book was so amazing to read. The main character, Yasmin, is on the aroace spectrum, her love interest is aroace, her other love interest is queer of some sort, her sibling is nonbinary, and there is a smattering of identities represented in the rest of the low brass section (including a transmasc character!!).
The story focuses more on the main character's personal journey and relationships with her friends and family than any potential romances, which I thought were very well explored and defined. The main interpersonal relationships were between Yasmin, her childhood best friend Sofia, her mother, and her sibling Ellen. The broader relationships, such as Yasmin and the band and Yasmin and her section, were also well done and captured the spirit of being a band kid very well. I went into this story thinking it would be more romance-heavy, which it wasn’t, but the subtle moments between Yasmin and her love interest were so cute! I also loved the treatment of anxiety and social media in this book, plus the toxicity in band. People might think that band is a harmless activity where we just play instruments and make cool shapes on a football field, but there is so much drama and tension in band. I thought that this book captured the toxic parts of band just as well as the exhilarating parts.
The main thing I loved about this book is that Yasmin’s character arc is really defined. She starts out as a goody-two-shoes who is dependent on her best friend and bottles up all her emotions (as a gifted child in a nontraditional household does). She finishes the book as, well. Still a goody two shoes, but with an understanding that just because you’ve been friends for a long time doesn’t mean that who will always be friends, and with a realization that she doesn’t have to be perfect all the time. If you like smaller stories about personal growth and overcoming obstacles, I would highly recommend this book!!
Arc was provided by NetGalley and Penguin Teen in exchange for an honest review!
Rating: really liked it
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. There are two Quidditch mentions in the beginning third of this. Unfortunate.
It Sounds like This is a YA contemporary that follows Yasmín Treviño who is ready for sophomore year after her first year was mostly cancelled thanks to Hurricane Humphrey. Yasmín is hoping to learn how to march fast so she can earn first chair in her section, even though her BFF Sofia has always been flute section leader. But when Yasmín reports an anonymous Instagram account for harassing new members, the entire low brass section is kicked out.
Yasmín can't let the year be destroyed by this so she switches to tuba along with several freshman boys in order to fill out the band. Not only must she learn a new instrument, but the Instagram account seems to be out for Yasmín's blood. Along with her deteriorating relationship with Sofia, Yasmín isn't sure how to pull everything back together.
I really enjoyed this contemporary! The exploration of friendship and sexuality was so well done. I loved that friendship break ups are given the emotional weight they deserve. Sofia and Yasmín have been best friends for as long as they can remember, but as their relationship grows increasing toxic, they must decide if they should keep trying or let it go. It can be so hard to let go of a friendship, especially one that has lasted so long. I liked that this book had the message of it's okay to do that, even if it is really hard to do that.
I loved seeing Yasmín learn more about the boys who joined Low Brass. It took a while to get to know everyone but omg it was such a fun group! I really loved Bloom. He was so sweet and soft. My little cinnamon roll who must be protected at all costs. I'm so glad this section never gave up on each other!
Yasmín was a relatable and realistic character. She's a very driven young girl, but she also makes mistakes throughout the book. I loved seeing her continue to grow as a character and learn to do and be better. I loved seeing her family relationships, her faith and more about her outside of band. She reminds me a lot of myself in high school, I was also a constant busybody in like all the things.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. Could've done without the Quidditch references though.
Rep: Biracial Latina fat asexual-questioning cis female MC, Jewish gray-aromantic gray-asexual male side character with ADHD and APD, side MLM pairing, Latino cishet male side character, Black cishet male side character, white trans male side character, nonbinary side characters, Latina cishet female side character, BIPOC queer male side character.
CWs: Toxic friendship, bullying (online harassment), emotional abuse. Moderate: misgendering, religious bigotry, discussions of sexual content, sexism, misogyny.
Rating: really liked it
I received an ARC from Edelweiss TW: cyberbullying & harassment, toxic friendship, misgendering
4.5
Yasmin has been waiting all year to start marching band, and finally steal away first chair flute from her best friend and rival, Sofia. But when Yasmin reports some of the band kids for bullying a freshman at their party, it has the unexpected consequence of getting the entire brass section kicked out. Which means no competition level band, and everybody hating Yasmin. The only solution is to cobble together a volunteer brass section, obviously including the cause of this whole mess- which means waving all hopes of first chair flute goodbye. The new section is a joke, their section leader- the very bullied freshman she'd reported the brass guys for- is out of his depth, and an anonymous gossip site is determined to never let Yasmin live another second in peace.
I lost all my notes for this when I got a new phone, so bear with me please 😅
I loved Anna Meriano's first book, This is How We Fly, so much, for the Muggle Quidditch aspect, and the community aspect, but especially for Ellen herself, and her casual gender-questioning representation. So I knew I'd love this book, just because it's Meriano, but I had no idea that the Yasmin of this book is the same Yasmin, Ellen's little sister, from This is How We Fly! Which meant seeing the family again, getting updates on Ellen's journey, and coming into this story with a main character I sort of feel like I saw grow up. All in all, a dream!
And that energy from This is How We Fly really does continue in this book. There's something about the way Meriano writes that makes me feel so validated, and her messy, just trying to get through intact, characters with their strained friendships and self doubt are just incredible to see. I loved Yasmin and her imperfections, and I loved the way she represented band kids everywhere.
Speaking of representation- the a-spec representation is fantastic! Not only is it still rare to see any rep of the kind, particularly the aromantic part of things, but it managed to avoid so many of the casual pitfalls others always hit.
Yasmin and Bloom both felt so real. Their romance, too, was incredibly sweet, very nicely paced, and just complicated enough to sink your teeth into. I would gladly read more about the both of them.
Though I can say the same about most of the characters in this book! The characters are all wonderfully rendered, and so fun. The brass section in particular was great, and I am very ready for the trend of interconnected books to continue so I can get myself a Lee-centric story.
While I can see moments that some other readers may not always love, I thought this book was great, and will most likely be adding it into my rereading collection, right next to This is How We Fly.
Pre-review comments belowAnna Meriano already wrote a book close to my heart but the fact that this has an ace love interest and is giving off massive Brass and Sass vibes? I don't think I'm emotionally ready but I
want itUpdateLEE BOOK
WHEN??
Rating: really liked it
I just finished It Sounds Like This and I am SO SAD to be done! It was a total joy to read. I graduated high school ten years ago, and every year at this time, I get sad and nostalgic because I miss the field. I miss hitting my spot, snipping the tips off my gloves, lacing up those black marching shoes, fastening collars. I miss the lights shining down on the field and the way you block everything out as you go through the show. I miss the third quarter breaks and goofing off with my friends while we had our snacks, and being called to attention. I miss memorizing the music, practicing scales, sectionals. I miss the drum major calling us to attention.
I miss the posture checks. I miss making sure that I’m stepping off on the correct count - and always with the left foot on the odd numbers (I still count my steps as I walk, and to this day it’s always left foot first). I miss making sure I had black socks and keeping an extra pair in my backpack just in case.
I miss all the commands: as you were, at ease, at rest, atten-hut, backwards…march, forwards…March, by the numbers, cover down, cut off, dress left/center/right…dress, ready - front, fall in, fall out, mark time…march, etc.
I miss that tingle of anticipation as we lined up, hearing the announcer at a showcase or competition ask the drum major if the band is ready to perform and after their salute, “You may take the field.”
Band was a major part of my life during high school and I honestly wouldn’t be the person I am today without it. Major kudos to Kris Smith and Mark Bailey, the best band directors I could have ever hoped for.
There is a disappointing lack of reading material on marching band in particular, so I was overjoyed to run across this book. ❤️
Signed,
a forever band nerd.
Rating: really liked it
3.5/4 stars
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for the e-arc of this. All opinions are my own.
CW: cyberbullying and harassment, misgendering, ableism, acephobia
Rep: Biracial Latina Questioning mc (a-spec), Jewish gray aro/ace sc with ADHD and ADP, trans rep, sapphic wlw couple, mlm couple, nonbinary rep, in general 90% of the characters are queer.
I thought this was a really sweet book. I absolutely loved getting to know the characters and Bloom has my entire heart. Yasmín was a little annoying at times, but i mostly related to her. I liked seeing how she became friends with everyone and took charge of her new section.
A lot of the LGBT rep was super casual and I really enjoyed that. There was a lot of diversity in this, which I really loved.
I did think the pacing was a bit off in the beginning and I didn’t really start getting into it until 25% in. I honestly almost dnf’d it, but i’m glad I didn’t. Another thing that rubbed me the wrong way was the multiple Quidditch mentions. I purposely have not bought or read the authors other book because I truly want nothing to do with Quidditch or any other references to Harry Potter.
Rating: really liked it
Love!!! Give me ALL the band books!!!
Rating: really liked it
THIS IS EVERYTHING IVE EVER WANTED HELP
Rating: really liked it
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book to read and review. Honestly this book was a struggle. I loved the band background because I know band is a really special place for people. However instead of feeling special, this felt catty and juvenile. Yasmin was an insufferable main character and her friends and other side characters at the beginning of the book were not much better. This book was great on the diversity levels. There was a lot of LGBTQIA+ rep in the side characters and I liked learning a bit more about Ace rep! There also was Jewish rep in Bloom and he honestly became my favorite character. I liked where this was trying to go with the community aspect, but it really was hard to enjoy at points because of the characters. It also felt so young and I couldn't get past that too even with knowing it was a YA book.
Rating: really liked it
This was super cute book. It brought me back to my band days (alt. saxophone) and all the drama. I will say, some of the characters did annoy me, but I overall loved the representation in this novel. It was very slow in the beginning, but picked up towards to middle of the book! This book is perfect if you want a semi quick read!!
Rating: really liked it
4 stars for nostalgia and an incredibly accurate depiction of what high school marching band is like. also very sweet ace rep. but would I like this book this much if it followed any other group of people besides the marching band.. probably not
Rating: really liked it
Trigger & Content Warnings Misgendering
Sexism
Toxic friendship
Cyberbullying & online harassment
Rating: really liked it
Thank you so much to Penguinteen for giving me a finished copy of this book!
I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. I felt so nostalgic reading it, as it constantly reminded me of my time in band. While there were great points of band life, this book also showed the toxicity around it and being a high school kid in general having to deal with bullying and terrible friends. But I think that I loved the resolution that Yasmin was able to achieve and that she was able to speak her mind the way she wanted to after holding so much. I loved all of the different rep in this book! I really appreciated seeing how diverse this school band was, as my band experience was not filled with diverse people at all. I thought that this was such a fun and easy read, especially if you are a band nerd who wants to remember their time in band.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read a good book about band stuff and being able to stand up for oneself.
Content Warning: This book does contain cyberbullying and toxic friendships
Rating: really liked it
3/5
This was such a cute coming of age!
I really liked the backdrop of using band since marching band does foster enough angst and drama in one week to last you the entire year. I thought that it gave Yasmin the chance to grow and challenged herself to grow out of what she was comfortable with.
The book does touch on quite a bit of things that a 15 year old would start struggling with: outgrowing friends, gaining new friends, getting out of your comfort zone, figuring out your sexuality, and struggling with fitting in this image that your parents built for you, versus who you find yourself becoming.
The one thing that really kept me from giving the book a 4 or even a 5, but I felt like Yasmin didn’t grow a ton in the book. She still felt the same as she did in the beginning.
Rating: really liked it
This was a really cute YA story. I was in marching band in high school, so I totally understood a lot of the feelings and activities that were discussed in this book. There was a lot of great representation for young people to identify with. I enjoyed this book and was interested in where the story was going throughout. I liked the growth of some of the characters even though the overall plot wasn't particularly deep. I'd recommend it to high school age readers, especially those in band like I was!
