Blue Notes

by Carrie Lofty

[bookishzelda]

There are some books that I look at and think, this looks interesting. I’ll probably like it but don’t expect to be immediately sucked in and then am pleasantly surprised when I do. Blue Notes is one of those books for me. I felt invested in Keeley’s story right from the beginning.

I like Keeley. She’s had a hard life and has wisdom beyond her years for it but she also has a innocence to her. She has insecurities and sometimes a hard time blending in because she has had the hard younger years she had. She is also grateful to her foster parents who helped turn her life around. Which is nice to see and she builds a strong bond with her friends Janey and Addie.

At first I felt like her relationship with Jude was kind of toxic. Yay there was tons of chemistry and he did get her to come out of her shell a lot of times. I thought he was a little too controlling and dominant. There is a point where Keeley steps back says wait hold up is this what I really want and it changes the course of things. I really liked that she was able to do that. The other interesting thing is that I think it’s been a long time since I’ve read an NA or Adult that only shows on pov. So we only get Keeley’s side of things which makes Jude more mysterious. You want to know what he’s thinking. I forget how much fun that element can be.

I liked the plot. I thought there was a lot of different avenues that it could possibly take which made it so you were not 100% sure where it was going. I kept thinking up scenarios like uh oh what if this happens and then it didn’t and I was happy with the route it took. It was a lot about Keeley figuring out who she was now after shedding the alias and settling on persona finally. Being able to be open finally. I loved seeing her develop through the story.

I like the writing and the setting of New Orleans area was a lot of fun. I loved hearing about different food in areas as weird as that sound. I also love that there was a Chicago connection. Yay Chicago. I also really enjoyed the side characters of Addie and Janey. There was also Brandon who was definitely interesting. He added that little side drama.

So I enjoyed this read and I don’t think you can go wrong with a likeable MC that holds herself accountable for the things she does.