Review: Amplified by Tara Kelly

Amplified

By: Tara Kelly

Pub. Date: October 25, 2012

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.

Pages: 293

Source: Library

When privileged 17-year-old Jasmine gets kicked out of her house, she takes what is left of her savings and flees to Santa Cruz to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Jasmine finds the ideal room in an oceanfront house, but she needs to convince the three guys living there that she's the perfect roommate and lead guitarist for their band, C-Side. Too bad she has major stage fright and the cute bassist doesn't think a spoiled girl from over the hill can hack it. . .

In this fresh new novel by critically acclaimed author Tara Kelly, Jasmine finds out what happens when her life gets Amplified.

When I first saw this book pop up on other blogs, the cover was the first thing that I noticed. I love books that center about music and bands, but I haven't read too many of them. So I could not wait to read this one. Amplified did not disappoint. It was a cute, fun, fast-paced story. It featured great writing, great characters, and a great plot!

Jasmine grew up privileged, but she has never seen eye to eye with her dad. When she tells him that she doesn't want to go to college just yet so she can pursue her dream of music, her father kicks her out of the house. With not a lot of money saved up, her guitar equipment and a dream, Jasmine drives to Santa Cruz. It's there that she joins a band, makes friends, learns to open up and gains the confidence that she needs to become a great guitar player. What I liked most about Jasmine was how real she was. She made real mistakes, which I liked. It makes her very relatable.

I loved Jasmine. I thought she was so brave to defy her father and do what she felt she needed to do. She has so much more guts then I could ever have. She also tried out for a band, and even though her audition wasn't the best, she didn't give up. I enjoyed watching her character grow. By the end, she was so different then when we first met her. The first person she meets in Santa Cruz is Sean. Sean acts like a jerk, but he actually is an extremely smart, talented and sweet guy. I also liked how honest of a person he is, you usually don't see that quality much anymore. I love the connection between the two of them. There constant back and forth bickering was hilarious.

The secondary characters were also well written. I loved all of the members of the band, especially Veta. She was so much fun! Veta and Sean's mom was also pretty awesome.

I really enjoyed reading Amplified and I am looking forward to reading more from Tara Kelly!