Guitar Notes by Mary Amato

      ⭐️⭐️.5

           Tripp Broody loves the guitar and.... well, that's pretty much all he's good at and all he cares about; so much that his mother confiscates his guitar until Tripp can bring his grades up and make a few friends. Without his guitar he is a shell of his former self until he finds out that he will be allowed time in the music room to play the school guitar on odd days, while another musician occupies the room on even days.
           Lyla Marks is an outstanding cellist & a perfect student, but despite the perfect person everyone at school sees and high standards that her dad has set before her, she feels like something inside her is yet to be awakened. She gets a glimpse of the life she could be living when her and Tripp start leaving notes for each other in the music room.


           Reasons I bought this book: It's about music & I'm a musician. It had actual song lyrics in it and chord progressions. The rating on goodreads was 4.06.

           I didn't like too much about the book. I didn't hate it either. The characters were very basic, cliche even. The author didn't really go into expanding on their disposition and personality. The only other classmate we got to know a little was Annie, Lyla's best friend. What were some of the students' opinions of Tripp or Lyla first hand? Tripp, Lyla, & Annie might as well had been in a school for three because it's like no one else was around.
           I also thought the lyrics were very corny and amateur. These kids seemed pretty witty, I think Amato could have came up with something more serious and clever than a "little room to play..." The songs were 6th grade level and these teens are in high school; juniors at the least. Sometimes the dialogue was witty, & other times it was super childish.
           This book was completely out of tune.