Tone Deaf

by Olivia Rivers

His world is music. Her world is silent.

Ali Collins was a child prodigy destined to become one of the greatest musicians of the twenty-first century—until she was diagnosed with a life-changing brain tumor. Now, at seventeen, Ali lives in a soundless world where she gets by with American Sign Language and lip-reading. She’s a constant disappointment to her father, a retired cop fighting his own demons, and the bruises are getting harder to hide.

When Ali accidentally wins a backstage tour with the chart-topping band Tone Deaf, she’s swept back into the world of music. Jace Beckett, the nineteen-year-old lead singer of the band, has a reputation. He’s a jerk and a player, and Ali wants nothing to do with him. But there’s more to Jace than the tabloids let on. When Jace notices Ali’s bruises and offers to help her escape to New York, Ali can’t turn down the chance at freedom and a fresh start. Soon she’s traveling cross-country, hidden away in Jace’s RV as the band finishes their nationwide tour. With the help of Jace, Ali sets out to reboot her life and rediscover the music she once loved.

• ISBN10: 163450707X
• ISBN13: 9781634507073
• Publish Date: 19 May 2016 (first published 3 May 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Skyhorse Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Ali was a reminder of Jace's past life, but when he realized she was stuck in an abusive situation, he was compelled to help her escape. A connection was born from their shared pain, and having someone, who could fully relate, helped both characters find some solace.

I really enjoyed being part of Ali's escape plan. I was a big fan of this setup. Former musical prodigy escapes her abusive home life by going on tour with a popular band. Sounded like a lot of fun, and there were some really humorous moments, but there were also a lot of really meaningful moments too. Rivers did a nice job creating characters I liked and could feel empathy for, but I wish she had explored Ali's backstory a little more, because it was a really great one. The ending felt a bit rushed for me, but I did get an epilogue, and it was a good one.

Though I wanted a little more, I greatly enjoyed this book, and more or less, devoured it.

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[nitzan_schwarz]

I really enjoyed this one! Enough that I would like to see more of this band & these characters!

The synopsis for this book made me finally want to read after around a month of being in such a funky mood, and I am eternally grateful for that! I always love reading books about disabilities and I am a sucker for a messed up past, so this sounded right up my alley, and it was!

I liked the characters even when they were total jerks, mostly because they FELT like stupid teenagers. I never quite understood why being rockstars seem to cancel the age (mental wise) in a lot of books, and that didn't happen here. Yes, Jace is a jerk. He's also a messed up kid from a messed up background who is kind of angry with the world for never being there and you know what? That makes sense. But he's also a kid that has a good heart, and just kind of buries it very deeply. He needs something powerful to make that heart rear its head up again, and that happens to be Ali, which I really enjoyed.

I also thought it did a good job with representing the sheer hopelessness kids like Ali and Jace feel like, but also the difference a good support system and good friends can make in someone's life.

Overall, really enjoyed this one!

[ellieroth]

Original de: El Blog del Gato - El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Tone Deaf, es otra prueba que las editoriales independientes y no tan conocidas tienden a tener los mejores libros. O quizá solo para mí, quién sabe.

Este libro ha sido muy especial, ya que a diferencia de muchos libros sobre alguien que tiene que vivir con una discapacidad luego que un accidente transformó su vida "normal" y solo drama gira alrededor de ello, y es diferente porque Ali, la protagonista acepta su sordera y busca hacer todo lo posible para llevar su vida lo más normal posible. Me gustó mucho como la escritora lleva la historia en ese sentido, porque siendo sinceros, habría sido tan fácil dirigir la historia desde un punto fatalista, donde chico-salva-chica y así sin nada relevante. Tone Deaf es genial en ese sentido.

Olivia Rivers, como digo no idealiza (o "romantiza", aún no se si esa es una palabra :v) la discapacidad, en el caso de Ali, se muestra el abuso que muchas personas con discapacidad sufren diariamente por no caer en la etiqueta de "normal", mientras que con Jace, esta el otro lado de la no idealización, que es que no porque tengas una discapacidad inmediatamente eres un santo, libre de cualquier tipo de pecado. Siento que es importante poner más de este tipo de cosas en los libros, no la violencia, pero sí diversificar las personalidades de personas con discapacidad en ficción, porque aunque un tanto extremista en este caso, la realidad es que una discapacidad no dirige tu personalidad.

Even if I can't love you, I will love you

Creo que lo criticable es que me faltó un poco más de tiempo para meterme totalmente en el romance, es bonito, pero muy insta-love, y un poco más de desarrollo en el desenlace, quizá es porque soy desconfiada por naturaleza y pienso lo peor de la gente, pero fue sumamente obvio quién fue el culpable de cierto asunto.

O de repente solo soy muy mal pensada

Tone Deaf si bien no es un libro perfecto, para mí fue tan bonito, no solo por las historias de Ali y Jace y cómo mencionadas historias se cruzan, sino también por los personajes secundarios, Arrow y Killer son extremadamente adorables, y se me hizo imposible no conectarme con Jon.

Si estás buscando algo que salga de lo encasillado, pero con una historia bonita y sencilla, además con una narración fluida y rápida, Tone Deaf es una buenísima opción.

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[Jack]

I greatly enjoyed this book! For once there was no insta-love, and the main character is deaf! Both of which you don't see often in books now a days.

Truthfully I don't read the whole entire blurb before I downloaded an review copy of this book from Edelweiss so I didn't know immediately what had caused Ali to go deaf. I found out later in the story what caused it. I enjoyed finding out this way versus knowing right from the start. It gave the book an air of mystery about it. Especially because Ali never wanted to discuss what had happened.

At the start of the novel we are introduced to Ali, a deaf girl of seventeen who is dragged to a concert by her best friend. Not being a fan of the band Tone Deaf, Ali is not happy to be there. Even more so when she wins a backstage tour with the band.

She outlines who the members of the band are once she gets backstage. There's Jace, the lead singer and guitarist of the punk band, Arrow and Killer. Killer was by far my most favorite character. He was so bubbly and happy all the time, and being British was a major plus. He's in a relationship with the Bassist Arrow who was my least favorite character of the book. I can't find anything redeeming about him. He was mean, rude and untrustworthy. I thought Jace could be mean, but this kid had major issues. Jace and arrow are cousins, and Arrow states that he trusts him, but then doesn't as soon as Jace helps Ali, who desperately needed help.

The initial meeting between Jace and Ali is not a pretty one. Upon finding out that Ali is deaf, Jace flies off the handle, flips her the bird and leaves. Ali both hurt and angry asks to leave as well, not wanting to finish the tour that barely got started.

We are then introduced to Ali's home life, and boy was that a twist. I was not expecting it at all! I wasn't fond of it at first, as the heroine is abused by a family member is an often used cliche. But the author did it right! She made the story and actions of her father very believable. And even now after finishing the novel I feel a small tinge of sadness and pity for the man. He clearly needed help but he chose alcohol instead. She hates her home life and vows as soon as she is eighteen she will move far away from her father.

As compensation for how poorly Jace treated Ali he agrees to give her eight thousand dollars. Ali desperate needs the money although she doesn't want to let Jace know that. She wants to take the check and leave.

When Ali and Jace meet up in order to give Ali her money Jace see's how much trouble Ali is in and offers her a way out. A way to escape her abusive father and get somewhere safe from him. Ali doesn't want to take his help because she doesn't like him in the slightest. She's still hurt about how he treated her when they first met. Understandable! She turns it over in her mind all night.

Ali finally accepts Jaces help and she sets off with them on their cross country tour. The author did an excellent job of portraying how uncomfortable Ali was to be on the bus, as if she didn't belong, she was in a whole nother world.

Killer makes her feel welcome by being friendly, nice and all around a good guy. He was the goofball and nerd of the group, which Ali could identify with. Arrow on the other hand wants nothing to do with her, and hardly interacts with her.

There was absoultuely NO insta-love! I could cry tears of joy at how happy that made me. There was also a welcome absence of those sappy lines often associated with love at first sight.

Jace and Ali took time to get to know one another, especially since they were both so closed off from everyone, unwilling to let their walls down to talk about sensitive issues. Jace understood Ali's pain and living situation which was why he helped her out in the first place but he was unwilling to talk to Ali about how or why he could relate to her.

Although as early as 25% Jace really wants to help Ali, it's not because he wants to get in her pants it's because he knows the pain she has been through and wants to help. No anterior motives at all.

Ali spends a lot of time on the bus thinking about her life and what it could be like. She also thinks about Jace a lot and what it meant for him to help her. Jace and Ali have some sweet moments, their feelings for each other gradually building as they travel.

All good things must come to an end though. Ali is eventually found and is being sent back to live with her father. Both her and Jace are crushed at the thought of Ali leaving to back to her abusive dad. Jace comes though in the end though and saves the day! I was so so happy for that to happen. I couldn't imagine Ali having to go back to her father.

Everything wrapped up nicely and I hope that the author will write more about this couple! I'm not sure how much the author researched sign language and deaf culture but everything seemed solid! (I work on a sign language database. I know a thing or two.)