Initial reaction 3/2/14 4.5 stars - review to come! 
 Updated: 4 to 4.25 stars... 
 Review 4/2/14: I feel like I've been finally catching up with a lot of books that have received a lot of hype lately and THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE was definitely one of them. I picked up the ARC at BEA, having Leila Sales sign my copy, confident that I would fall in love with the book and this would be one I wanted to keep. Then with all of the hype about the book, praising how honest and amazing it was, my confidence didn't wane, but the hype did start to allow doubt to set in just a tiiiiiny bit considering my recent track record. 
 Well, the good news is that I definitely still enjoyed it! Right from the beginning, I connected with Elsie, who has always felt like an outsider in her own life. She's never been good at making friends, has never been the popular one, and somehow even after trying, she still doesn't manage to fit in with really anyone at all. I felt so bad for her and just couldn't grasp what exactly was wrong with every single kid at her school and why Elise couldn't manage to get in good with anyone. In a way, I totally related to her. I wasn't ever one of the popular girls in middle school (or high school, but I had stopped caring by then) and in a class of only twenty-four kids for pre-school through eighth grade, it was glaringly obvious when you weren't a part of the "in" crowd and that was something I struggled with for a long time. That fact alone allowed me to connect with Elsie on many levels so I really appreciated that character connection and directly tapping in to my personal experiences. 
 I finished THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE in two days. I almost finished it in one afternoon but you know... Life got in the way. Anyway, I was utterly captivated and reading about Elsie's story was both incredibly interesting and heartbreaking... But unfortunately for me, this just wasn't a book that really stuck with me. I was totally sucked in as I was reading but only those pivotal moments in the beginning of the book really stuck with me after I finished and sitting here writing my review weeks later, I don't feel the magic with me still that many other fans of the book did. 
 I think my lack of feelings towards the book may be because I didn't connect with the rest of it as much. You see, Elise falls in love with a DJ but more so, she falls in love with DJing. It's something she never even considered doing but she does love music and once she starts this new craft, she completely throws herself into it, determined to be the best she can be. I certainly know a thing or two about that having spent much of my time in high school perfecting the crafts that I could. I absolutely loved how much Elise loved music and I also loved the music featured and the bands that were named dropped (I even begged Twitter to let me know if there was a playlist. There is!!), but I just didn't connect with the whole underground club scene and I wasn't a huge fan of Elise's new friends that she met there. I didn't dislike them, but I wasn't a huge fan of Pippa and the whole quasi-triangle thing between Elise, Char, and Pippa. I didn't have major issues while I was reading, but it seems like the more things I think about as I review, the more things I notice that I just didn't quite connect with. 
 I loved the message that this book sends and I absolutely could have used a book like this when I was in junior high or high school. I went through so many of the same things that Elise did -- maybe not as extreme, but I had plenty of friend issues and especially in junior high, the constant wonder of the arbitrary system of who's popular and who isn't -- and I think it's definitely an important read if you've gone through anything like this (chances are, you have). I really loved how the book wrapped up and seeing Elise go through so many personal changes and revelations. For me, I think the hype monster did get me just a little bit. It's hard to go into a book when everyone else raves about it and while I did enjoy it a lot, I'm not sure it's sky-rocketed to a favorite for me. 
 I love how this book made me think back on my own history and it sort of brought a personal peace. I've already made peace with these things a while ago, but it's always nice to have that reassurance that being popular or having a ton of friends doesn't necessarily equal personal success. It's about the quality of friends. The importance of family. The level of enjoyment you allow yourself to have in life. Most of all, THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE tells us all that be whoever you are, no matter who that person is. Your dreams are so much easier to follow when you're true to yourself and life is just so much more fulfilling that way. 
 For a full review including character breakdown, recommendations & more, check out my blog at The Book Addict's Guide!