BOOK REVIEW | Just a Girl by Ellie Cahill

Title: Just A Girl
Author: Ellie Cahill
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Release Date: June 21, 2016
Pages: 224
Source: I recieved an ecopy of Just A Girl through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and Loveswept!

Synopsis:

After getting kicked out of her own band—by her own boyfriend—Presley Mason finds herself back in Wisconsin, helping her parents run their renowned music store. Instead of belting out powerhouse vocals to sold-out crowds in L.A., she’s stocking shelves and inspecting rental violins. But the shop isn’t all bad: When she’s vacuuming up late one night, she bumps into the guitar teacher with the smoldering amber eyes and the killer tattoo. And that’s when things take an interesting turn.
Presley soon finds that Paul Kellerman is as good in bed as he is on guitar. So why isn’t he stoked to share his band, Jukebox Bleu, with her? Turns out Paul has crippling stage fright, which he’s been self-medicating without much success. But when Jukebox Bleu’s lead singer gets called for military service, the other members beg Presley to front them. Even though she swore never to mix men with music again, the temptation to perform is almost as intense as her chemistry with Paul. Now Presley must decide what’s more important: a second chance at love . . . or rock stardom.

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To be honest, I had a really hard time trying to write a review for this book. I don't really dislike or like this book, so I initially thought I didn't have much to say. However, I did a pros and cons list and saw that there were several things I wanted to talk about. 

First, let's talk about the pros. Presley has a great relationship with her best friend, Liv, and her parents. I always am so happy to see relationships that actually seem genuine in a genre that so often pits girls against each other and avoids the parents altogether. Just A Girl has a strong musical aspect, and I really loved how that played such an important role in the book. There were playlists throughout the book and I loved checking out the music that was featured. I liked experiencing how Presley fell back in love with music and performing.  I felt as if I was able to connect to her more since I am a performer myself. I found myself caring about what happened to Presley's music career as I read. The book was entertaining the whole time too, and I never found myself getting bored.

Now, the cons. Though I didn't find myself getting bored, I found myself getting frustrated. The relationship between Presley and Paul seemed very one dimensional. There aren't really any deep conversations between them and their "cutesy" moments were non-existent. They all a lot of sex, but the romance just skimmed the surface and didn't go deeper. This led to me not caring that much about the relationship and how it ended. I felt as is they didn't have much chemistry and were unhealthily codependent on each other. Along with that, I felt as if there were both too angst-y. Presley and Paul are adults, not teenagers. I would expect this amount of push and pull in a YA novel, but not a NA novel. Eventually the conflicts seemed repetitive and didn't hold that much power. 

Like I said before, Just a Girl did keep my interest piqued the whole time. While I had my issues, I think this is a solid NA novel. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see some of my friends loving this book. Though there are books with musical aspects that I have enjoyed more, Just a Girl is an okay read. Would I recommend it? Not to everyone, but I would to some. 


With that, I give this book
3 out of 5 Stars!