REVIEW: Piece of My Heart by Lynn Madelenna Menna

Still in high school, Marisol Reyes gets the chance of a lifetime to be a real singer, and she leaps at it. After all, this is the dream she held on to, all the days and nights she spent growing up on means streets of East Harlem. Marisol never gave in--no matter what her boyfriend or her best friend had to say. Who cares if only one in a hundred pretty, talented girls make it? She will be the one. In her rush to fame, Marisol tramples on the heart of her loyal best friend, and Julian, the boy she loves. But will it be worth it?

One night at a private gig in the Hamptons, the little Latino girl with the big voice from East Harlem gets a severe reality check. A famous rapper who claims to be interested in her talents turns out to be interested in something else, threatening not only Marisol's dreams but her body and soul. Will the realities of the gritty New York music scene put out the stars in Marisol's eyes forever?

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My Thoughts:

There's nothing more exciting than a theater with it's frenzied energy. Musicians are tuning up their instruments  Vocalists are running scales in their dressing rooms. Stage managers are yelling orders. I love this world.

Marisol Reyes is seventeen and a girl with big dreams. Dreams that she plans to make a reality. She is going to be a star. And she knows she has the voice to do it.

When I first read the synopsis for Piece of My Heart, I jumped at the chance to review it. It sounded like it would have everything that I loved. Unfortunately it fell a little short of my expectations. It's really hard to become invested in whats happening in a book when you don't feel any connection to the main character. To be quite honest, there weren't really any characters that I actually liked very much. 

Told from Marisol's point of view, I really liked her determination to make a better life for herself and to follow her dream of making it in the music industry. She knows what she wants and is going after it. What I struggled with was that she really didn't seem to care about who she hurt to get it. She would regularly leave her friends hanging but couldn't comprehend when it was done to her. She had an incredibly high opinion of herself which after a while started to rub me the wrong way. She was constantly telling us how amazing her voice was and how much better it was than most of the already established singers, or how amazing she looked in whatever she happened to be wearing at the time. After a while that got a bit old for my liking.

As for her friends... I don't know that I would even call them that because they were as equally self centred as Marisol. In my world, friends are supportive and caring, but not in Marisols circle they're not. And her on again, off again boyfriend Julian was not one bit supportive or understanding. I didn't feel their love or connection for most of the book.

Don't get me wrong, there were things that I liked about the book. I really enjoyed the glimpses into the music industry and the glitz and glamour of the parties and red carpet events. It did deal with some pretty heavy issues throughout, but they were done in a way that was not too descriptive. I liked the wrap up and ending of the story. Everything felt nicely rounded off, but the possibility to continue the story is still there.

Unfortunately due to my lack of connection to the characters I wasn't able to rate this one higher. 2.5/5 Stars!!

*** I received this book via Netgalley for an honest review***