4.5 
 I wasn't really expecting much when I started this one. Honestly I have trouble with books that are music-centric as I'm not much of a hardcore music listener myself. The books I have read in the past were mostly just okay. I didn't feel much for the main characters or the plot so I was kind of meh going into this one. But I had heard such wonderful things I went for it anyway. And truthfully, This Song Will Save Your Life has changed my thoughts on music-centric books. It was fantastic and I read it in next to no time at all. 
 This Song Will Save Your Life is the story of Elise, a quirky teenager that no one seems to get. All Elise wanted was to have a different life, to be noticed, for people to care. She wanted to have friends and be popular and get asked to dances. She wanted to fit in with fashion and pop culture and boys. She wanted to be a normal teen. Instead she was bullied and made fun of even when she tried to make over herself. Not really knowing what to do she makes a decision to give up and when things don't go as planned Elise finds herself wandering around the streets until she comes upon an underground warehouse party. Pretty soon Elise finds a place for herself with these people that seem to not need sleep and finds a love for something she never considered, DJing. But now that she has found her place will she be able to keep it? 
 Elise made me want to hug her so bad. She was just so uncertain about everything she did. She had parents that were supportive and told her it was okay to march to the beat of her own drum and she resented that, resented them, because it made her stand out. People thought she looked down on them and thought she was better than them when really all Elise wanted was to be one of them. What they saw as snobbery was really jealousy. I really wanted to yell into the book, well my eReader, and tell Elise it was okay to be different. It was okay to be herself and to not be one of the 'popular' people. I swear no one was happier than me when she found that club and found people that didn't care about anything other than the fact that they weren't alike and had found comfort in those differences. And her friendship with Vicky was really amazing. Even with all that stuff I loved, there was one part that stood out for me that really made Elise the fabulous character that she was...her new found talent for DJing. 
 When you are feeling down about yourself they always say to find something you are good at and something you love to do, and Elise did just that. Minus some of the weird stuff with Char, that I'm still not sure how I felt about (hence the 4.5 star rating), he taught her the ropes on something she genuinely loved and had no idea she would be so good at. Elise found her niche in that underground club and it was truly enjoyable to read. 
 Basically This Song Will Save Your Life is really an uplifting book about hitting rock bottom and picking yourself up and finding what you love and that it is okay not to be like everyone else. Being different is what makes us us and there is always something out there that can raise someone just as quickly has the air deflated out of them. Sales wrote a complex story of figuring out who you are but did it with class and grace and this is a book that everyone should pick up. After all it might just save you in some way, shape or form.