<h1>Erica's book!!</h1>

So I wanted to take a few moments to sum up how much I enjoyed reading Erica's book "Rock My World". I thought long and hard about what I wanted to say about this book, because it really threw me for a loop. I wasn't expecting it to be nearly as profound as it was, just because it was a YA novel. But I should know better by now, cause those books ALWAYS seem to strike that chord within me.

But honestly? I think out of all the YA novels I've read, that Erica's took the cake. Even up against Phoebe Stone's "Deep Down Popular". And I didn't think anyone out there had the ability to touch me in that "YA" sort of way that Phoebe Stone's book did. But alas, Erica came out the victor.

Let me just share the email I sent her in regards to the book, it kinda sums up what I felt:

(I hope you don't mind Erica.)


Okay.

First off.

Let me just say....

That in the very long line and lists of endless questions I have to ask you, and don't ever know that there will EVAR be enough space and time to ask all the bazillion and one questions I have for you, that this one question takes precedence above all others....

WHERE. HAVE YOU. BEEN. ALL. MY. LIFE?

Oh my GOD. I started reading that book like around 11 o'clock in the afternoon, and didn't put it down until 8 at night, and realized that I was done reading it. I probably would have finished a hell of a lot sooner, had I not spawn to pick up from Spawn Academy, dinner to cook, and other such little motherly nuances to attend to that only other mothers know and understand.

But MY GOD Erica! That was a damn good book. I loved every inch of that book. (No pun intended, or was it?) :D

But for serious. I loved, loved, LOVED how you intro'd each chapter with a song title, and I swear, I think I knew every song you mentioned there. And I about exploded with joy when I saw the Napalm Death title. And your mention of N.W.A.? and Black Hole Sun, and ohhhhh, there are just TOO MANY things.

You made me cry too. Not one of those "teary-eyed" moments either. One of those, deep down, "Soul-Crushing-The-Earth" typed deals, that I'm still recovering from today.

I'll have to say though. My most FAVORITEST part? Was the end...

This part:

"The hardest thing to learn in life is that there may be no truth--not really. Not in black and white.The truth changes for each person who tells it."

I am now fully convinced that I need to give you exclusive access to my Fartsmeller Memoir. I feel like I need you to read it!! There is just toooooooooooo much magical connection here between you and I. To the creepiest extent. And I LUUUURVE creepy.

It's going to take a few days to create the perfect blog post for telling all about this book. I wanna give it everything it deserves.

Sincerely, Realm (Rachel)


And that was it.

The musical appreciation in this book gave me the chills. With intros to each chapter donning song titles such as:

~"Rock and Roll Lifestyle" -Cake
~"Crimes of Paris" -Elvis Costello
~"Climbing up the Walls" -Radiohead
~"A Question of Lust" -Depeche Mode
~"Starfuckers, Inc." -Ninch Inch Nails
~"More Than Meets the Eye" -Napalm Death (this one had me smiling all Cheshire like!)

(along with a PLETHORA of other musical gems!) I just couldn't wait to see which song was going to be lined up for the next chapter!

I know you would absolutely love to read it Katie.

But anyway. It's just grand like that. The book touches on so many bases, and still caters to that lost, lack-lustered, and very self-conscious adolescent in us all, portraying all those little nuances of inside observation that only YOU think you are capable of making. And then you read a book like this and are all about the "Oh my GOD!!! She knows!! Little miss author really does know!"

Liv is the main character, a young and vibrant teen, with sort of a more pessimistic, or rather, realistic way of looking at life. With the "rock star life" her once druggy-but-now-gone-sober father has afforded her to chalk up as great experience, but with an ironic twist, you come of it with the realization that Liv is so allergic to that "rock star" way of living that we all think we want, but yet, she would've traded for a "normal" life in a heartbeat.

Till you get to the nitty gritty of it all. She winds up going on tour with her dad's band, in order to interview them for her new position as journalist on infamous music magazine "Rock On". Not only does she find the "truth" about the mysterious love triangle that is her father, mother and another member of her dad's band, but also. she finds love, when she least expected it.

So, for me, it came down to listening to other people's stories. Taking time to hear both sides of a situation. To be in a middle grounds of sorts about other's perspectives inasmuch as you can.

Again, like Erica so elegantly puts it: "The hardest part about life is that there may be no truth. Not really. Not in black and white".

Cause like, who are we to judge anyone's character flaws, right?

Right??

So up my alley.

I want to see a movie production in the hands of the Hollwood Gods. Soon.