Review: The Saddest Song by Susie Kaye Lopez

Publication date: 11th February, 2013
Publisher: Self published
Links: Amazon|Goodreads|Barnes&Noble
Source: Review copy
Rating: 3/5 stars

Where do you turn when you've lost your other half?

When Rainey Martin loses her high school sweetheart Garrett in a tragic accident right before the beginning of their senior year, her whole world is shattered. Feeling lost and alone, Rainey turns to the only person whom she knows might be able to comprehend her despair: Garrett's twin brother, Max. Max who is as devastated as Rainey, takes solace in their mutual misery. The two form an unlikely friendship that tailspins into a bond so deep it begins to make them uneasy. Could they each be what the other needs to feel complete again?

Told from the alternating perspective of Rainey and Max, The Saddest Song is a novel that explores love, loss and finding light inthe midst of darkness.

REVIEW

I wanted to read this book as the title reminded me of a song: The Saddest Song by Until June. It's a song that always managed to pull me into a vortex of intense sadness and silence. Rainey, the protagonist of The Saddest Song by Susie Kaye Lopez feels utterly devastated and helpless when she finds out that her boyfriend, Garrett, was killed in an accident. An accident that took place when he was on his way to see her.

Rainey is riddled with guilt and not entirely sure of how to deal with the loss of someone she imagined her future with. Everything, from her college plans, has lost meaning...

Max, Garrett's twin brother, feels just as emotionally wrecked and yet sees it as his duty to help both himself and Rainey get through the shock. The Saddest Song is about Rainey and Max picking up the pieces with some help from a psychic, a friend who can See ahead and a little help from Garrett himself. In the process, Max struggles to find words to a song he's been working on which he calls The Saddest Song.

The Saddest Song was a mixed bag for me. I did feel sympathetic towards Max and Rainey and everything they had to deal with. I loved the paranormal elements that gave the story a great deal of edginess; whether it was the psychic who wasn't simply guessing around or signs and messages from Garrett himself. The book also pays heed to the existence of soul mates, the One True Love you're meant to be with over lifetimes. I'm not really sure if I believe in soul mates but I've always thought of it as a beautiful idea and reading about it is always interesting.

The characters in the story were very likable! Almost all of them were people I'd instantly want to be friends with. Perhaps some of the secondary characters could've been more fleshed out... I felt we were only privy to their sunny sides... but I did enjoy reading about them! And while there was no particular character or sequence of events that annoyed me, sometimes the dialogue did. There were parts where the dialogue fell flat. It gave off practically no feeling or underlying sentiment when it was apparent that it was meant to be emotional. But in most other aspects, especially the descriptions, the story flowed pretty well.

Despite the issues I had with the book, I did want to find out what would become of Rainey and Max and I was happy to see them eventually learn to be honest with both themselves and each other! It is this growth that made it worth the read. The Saddest Song is by no means a perfect read but it's definitely worth a shot! It's a story of loss and acceptance, of music and messages from beyond, all of which aid fate and self discovery.

Rating: 3/5 stars