Book Review: A Song for Julia - Charles Sheehan-Miles

Title: A Song for Julia (Thompson Sisters #1)

Author: Charles Sheehan-Miles
Release Date: December 4th 2012

Publisher: Cincinnatus Press

Source: AToMR Tours

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Everyone should have something to rebel against. 

Crank Wilson left his South Boston home at sixteen to start a punk band and burn out his rage at the world. Six years later, he’s still at odds with his father, a Boston cop, and doesn’t ever speak to his mother. The only relationship that really matters is with his younger brother, but watching out for Sean can be a full-time job. The one thing Crank wants in life is to be left the hell alone to write his music and drive his band to success. 

Julia Thompson left a secret behind in Beijing that exploded into scandal in Washington, DC, threatening her father's career and dominating her family's life. Now, in her senior year at Harvard, she's haunted by a voice from her past and refuses to ever lose control of her emotions again, especially when it comes to a guy. 

When Julia and Crank meet at an anti-war protest in Washington in the fall of 2002, the connection between them is so powerful it threatens to tear everything apart.

I admit, I got into this book thinking it was going to be an easy read, light and cute and fluffy. Yep, I ignored the blurb. Again. And I was pleasantly surprised. Again.

Julia Thompson and Crank Wilson both had tough teenage lives. Now in their twenties, they were still at odds with their parents and keep everyone at a safe distance to protect themselves from the hurt they'd tried so hard to run away from, so just what would happen when the lives of these two very similar yet very different people converge?

Julia was a woman to look up to; smart, beautiful, and confident. Unfortunately, that strong-willed persona was a mask to hide her tragic past, not overcome it. But still, she was slowly trying to build a life of her own and stop following her parents' plan for her. It was really fun to see her little bouts of rebellion against them.

Crank's facade couldn't be farther away from Julia's. He was the sexy, womanizing lead singer of Morbid Obesity who was realizing that he wanted something more than the one-night stands. It was fun to see him show his funny, sweet, thoughtful, and basically just freaking lovable side. This dude plastered a lot of stupid grins on my face.

The chemistry between these two was immediate and palpable, so it made me really sad to know that there were a lot more hindrances than I thought to their being together, especially for Julia because she certainly had worse experiences than Crank. And although he jumpstarted her healing process, he still got hurt along the way. I didn't like how, up until before the end of the book, Julia still hadn't gotten over her trust issues even when Crank did nothing but show his love for her. At one point, she said this:

Never again would I watch my own lifeblood pouring out of me into a bathtub because I needed people in my life. I was going to live life on my own terms or not at all.

I pitied her by then because she thought she was living on her own terms by pushing away everyone who cared about her, when really she was living it on her past's terms.

A Song for Julia wasn't a simple romance novel. It was heavy on family drama and touched on some sensitive topics that I won't name to avoid being spoiler-y. It was the story of two broken people coming together hesitantly and finding love. The romance fell to the side towards the end because of Julia's self-realization, but the story's closure was very satisfying... and it might have pulled out some tears from me.

MY FAVORITE PART was Crank sleeping at Julia's dorm XD

RATING:

(cover and summary from Goodreads.com)