I was sent a free copy of this book from Readers First in exchange for an honest review. So this was the first experience I have had of this author, and I’ve got mixed feelings about reading the others as this wasn’t quite what I was expecting it to be. It’s definitely a young adult book and marketed as such but there is some more adult content and vocabulary as well as some trauma issues that should probably have received more of a trigger warning on the blurb of the book. I liked the way we saw the two main characters relationship develop and it remains as a front and centre theme throughout but there are a lot of troubling side issues which impede it and in some areas it made for quite difficult reading. Its great to see some supportive parent role models in the form of the ex step-dad and Mal’s parents, but even there are some worrying parenting choices that made it hard for me to believe in this book – im not sure I would have financed my teen son and his friend who are still in high school driving off to a different state alone and footing their hotel bills! I like how we do see more bonds formed and relationships mended as the book progresses but I don’t want to go into further details without adding some spoilers and I felt we could have done with seeing a bit more of the singing side of things. Still, it’s a nice quick and easy book to read and touches on some important topics – just didn’t quite hit all the right notes for me to rank it higher unfortunately.