Every time I venture into a world created by an author as a first time reader, it takes me a bit of time to acclimatise to the dips and flows of the author’s writing, the characters’ voices and the story. For the first time ever, the moment I began a book, I sank into it as if it were a familiar embrace instead of a novel handshake.
When I first heard of Not Another Love Song, I can’t remember if it was the cover or the blurb or some inexplicable pull that drew me to it. But I had to play the waiting game because I needed to finish some of my other reads before I got to it. But even without having read it, this book was never far from my mind and I was racing towards it every single day.
The best way I can describe reading to most people is that it can be the single most immersive experience that whisks you away on a journey of the mind that then ensnares your heart and never gives it back. But reading Julie Soto’s latest book? That was nothing like reading and everything like living. I was every single word she had written on the page of her book. I was the hum of every note, the sharp twang of a mistake, the breath before each line and the emotion after every word. I imagine violins, cellos and guitars feel the way I did; as if Soto knew where the strings of my heart were and played them like a master. Immersive doesn’t even come near the word I need, to express the experience that was Not Another Love Song for me.
With compelling writing that captures the attention and drowns the reader in enrapture, Not Another Love Song has secured its spot as my favourite contemporary read of this year. There’s something that I felt the author has done in this book that read a lot like foreshadowing to me; however it wasn’t until the end that I recognised it. I know next to nothing about music and I’m ready to be wrong, but there was a certain piece that the author describes in this book—and despite being fairly ignorant about sheet music, how it reads or how a duet between two instruments sound—I swear the whole book is that exact song. Yes, you never hear the song, but the book plays out exactly the way the song would. To have your reader (who might just be a little tone deaf) hear music where there is none? Now that’s writing. And Julie Soto excels in it.
It’s extremely hard to separate different aspects of this book, nail them down and describe them in isolation, primarily because all the elements of this book are deeply and inexorably entwined with one another. It’s hard to think about the pace of the book when you’re lost in the pages. However, I will say that I came up for breath maybe a total of once while reading. Expect the book to transport you in a way I’ve personally only ever experienced with a fantasy novel—because of how they call on you to detach from everything you know to sink into a whole new world with unique rules, ways of living and stakes. It’s amazing that Soto can work magic into books based in reality and this makes me extremely curious about how she would write fantasy.
The characters in this book are such an absolute mix of both amazing and aggravating. With skill that wrecks our emotions, Soto manages to both, focus heavily on her primary characters while making room for all her secondary and tertiary characters. The FMC and MMC of her story have chemistry that sparks off the pages and electrifies everything around. It was extremely interesting to watch every single interaction between the two of them, the push, the pull, the mistrust, the pain, the discordant actions and finally the HEA. The secondary and tertiary characters in Not Another Love Song add so much personality, plot purpose and humour to the story. I can predict your heart will be smiling and your thoughts will be giddy at many of the moments that some of these special characters share with one another.
Now, the plot of this story is simple… which is what makes it extremely complex. The blurb reveals very little, a metaphorical peek of the orchestra behind the curtains, but until said curtains part, you do not know what it is you are about to experience. There were so many interesting contradictions written into this story and I know we might’ve even seen some of them before, maybe even in similar set-ups, but there’s something so unique about Soto’s style that made everything part of the journey feel like you haven’t seen them before. I found myself often thinking:
“That’s so serious, how’s it going to resolve?” “That feels so important, how do you walk away/towards it?”. I understood all the plot knots, loved the plot twists and nearly weeped in emotion at the significance of the way the book ended. For the first time, I felt no need for an epilogue. It was perfect in its portrayal of a risk filled but worthy high that accompanies the strength of choice. I cannot explain how much I recognise the theme as an important one and I love that Soto chose to write about it.
Even without having read her debut, I somehow recognised the characters from them in this book from just remembering the blurb from when I’d read it when it was first revealed. That’s how much Soto’s work resonates with me. Some authors just write to your heart and Julie Soto is clearly that for me.
Ten stars out of ten. Also, the first thing I did after finishing Not Another Love Song? I purchased Forget Me Not and just like the name of her famous debut, I think Soto and her work are going to be unforgettable to her readers.
Not Another Love Song is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Two string players fight their attraction for each other as they compete for center stage in this spicy and emotional romance.
Gwen Jackson and Xander Thorne are both musical prodigies, but each has had very different paths to success. Xander was born into classical music royalty, while Gwen had a natural ear for music that was nurtured by a kind shop owner.
After Gwen performs at his friend’s wedding, she’s mortified when she realizes Xander has no clue who she is—despite having worked together for a year at the Pops Orchestra. But she’s more furious that he arrogantly critiques her performance.
When Gwen is offered the role of First Chair of the orchestra, something Xander had secretly coveted for years, their existing hostility goes up a notch. But their respect for each other’s music is undeniable, and their onstage chemistry off the scale. As they begin to explore their feelings for one another, suddenly they’re box office dynamite and the fragile romance that’s growing between them is in danger of being crushed beneath a publicity stunt…
