The Melody of You and Me (book review)

 

AUTHOR: M. Hollis

GENRE: Romance

PUBLISHED: 2016

AUDIENCE: New Adult

 

The Melody of You and Me is a novella about Chris, a university drop-out who works in a bookstore, and tries not to feel guilty when her parents ask her when she’s going to start taking classes again. Chris meets Josie, the new girl at the bookstore, and is immediately attracted to her. Chris isn’t sure whether Josie is interested in girls though, and Chris still thinks about her ex a lot. Chris and Josie build a friendship and then love follows on.

In a time where people are increasingly aware of the power of representation, the draw card of this book for me is the sexuality of the protagonist. Chris is pansexual, and it is, apparently, surprisingly hard to find books with lead characters who use that label. Not only does The Melody of You and Me have a protagonist that does, it is also the kind of light, optimistic rom-com that LGBT+ characters are often (though less so recently) denied. The book does well at entertaining, by falling to classic rom-com tropes like a shared workspace and nights out dancing.

The story also touches on a lot of common concerns for people of Chris’ age which I think are important to discuss. The idea that you don’t have to be sure of where your life is heading straight out of high-school. It’s comforting to see a character reflect your same indecision and hold-ups with university. The message here is about not forcing yourself to choose before you’re ready, but rather, waiting to find something that really resonates with you. As someone who completed a whole degree and later realised they did not want to be in that field, Chris’ position it’s comforting.

The writing is simple, favouring plot over prose, which makes The Melody of You and Me an easy read. However, the novella leans a little too much on its draw cards (as discussed above). The writing is used as a medium for the story, not for the sake of beautiful writing, and there are some clunky moments in setting up story, where foreshadowing is done with a heavy hand, and tropes edge too far into cliché.

That said, if you’ve ever bemoaned the lack of optimistic, light-hearted romances for LGBT+ characters, you might like to give this novella a go.

2.5 out of 5.

Until next time.

Buy the book for Kindle.