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Our Song
By: Jordanna Fraiberg
Published: May 2, 2013
Published By: Razorbill, an Imprint of Penguin Group
Source: Publisher
Hosted by: Itching for Books
GR's Summary:
Olive Bell has spent her entire life in the beautiful suburb of Vista Valley, with a picture-perfect home, a loving family, and a seemingly perfect boyfriend. But after a near-fatal car accident, she’s haunted by a broken heart and a melody that she cannot place.
Then Olive meets Nick. He’s dark, handsome, mysterious . . . and Olive feels connected to him in a way she can’t explain. Is there such a thing as fate? The two embark on a whirlwind romance—until Nick makes a troubling confession.
Heartbroken, Olive pieces together what really happened the night of her accident and arrives at a startling revelation. Only by facing the truth can she uncover the mystery behind the song and the power of what it means to love someone.
Welcome to my tour stop of Our Song by Jordanna Fraiberg. To follow the rest of the tour click here.
Our Song, by Jordanna Fraiberg, was a beautiful story full of substance. It touched on many themes such as death, rebirth, life lessons, transformation, love, learning from mistakes, and evolving. Our Song, is told from the main character, 18 year old, Olive's, perspective. She dies from a car accident, and is brought back to life by the paramedics. While she's in the hospital, her boyfriend of two years, Derek, doesn't visit or contact her. In fact, the only person from school that visits, is her best friend Annie. Nobody really knows what lead up to the car accident. Derek told the police that he and Olive got in an argument, and that she sped off like a crazy person. Olive doesn't remember, but tells her parents, and the police that she was rushing to the library. Nobody believes her, and her parents and the police are convinced that her story is false, and she was attempting suicide, based on how fast she was going, and the fact that she didn't step on the brakes. After the accident, Olive keeps hearing bits and pieces of a song, in her head, that she has never heard before. When Olive returns to school two weeks later, people are staring at her, and whispering that she's crazy, and tried to kill herself. Olive goes out of her way to try to find Derek, because she is convinced that whatever they argued about the night of her crash, can be resolved. However, it appears that Derek is going out of his way to avoid Olive. Then, at lunch time, Olive goes into the cafeteria for lunch, (where Derek sits with his friends,) and sees him sitting next to a popular cheerleader named Betsy, in Olive's usual spot. They appear to be together, but Olive decides not to jump to conclusions. Then, later in the day, Olive spots Derek making out with Betsy, groping her, for everyone to see. This is when she realizes that Derek has moved on. Olive would do anything to get Derek back. She is still in love with him, and is completely heartbroken.
Olive begins to fall into a deeper depression, her grades begin slipping, she can't sleep at night, and everyone is concerned for her well-being. The school counselor, and her mother, tell her she needs counseling or to attend a support group. Olive's best friend, Annie, tries to help her through her heart break. She is an excellent best friend who listens, gives very wise advice, stands by her side, and stands up for her. To get everyone off her back, Olive tells them she is attending a support group. Instead, she locates a group that speaks about near-death experiences that she found on Google. Annie offers to take Olive to her meetings, and at the first group meeting she meets an interesting, and good-looking guy her age with an English accent. She recognizes him as a guy that she was intrigued by when she saw him before, but he didn't see her. Pretty soon, Olive is going to L.A., where the meetings are held (but not attending,) and taking off having good times, and adventures with Nick. Every time she is with him, she hears parts of the song, and the more time she spends with him, the more she hears of the lyrics. Olive experiences a sense of freedom, lightness, and happiness that she hasn't experienced in a very long time. However, Nick has a lot of secrets that he's hiding, and even though Nick can be carefree, there are times when he dazes off, and Olive can see that he is dealing with a lot too. Nick is good for Olive. When she is with him she feels pretty, starts gaining more confidence in her self, he opens her eyes to the world, and makes her more observant of everything around her. He makes her evaluate her life, question the world around her, and decide what she wants out of her life. However, the more she changes, Derek realizes that he wants her back, and Derek is what Olive has always thought she wanted. The question becomes, Does Olive want Derek back, and the life that she had before the accident, or does she want her new life with Nick?
When I saw the cover to Our Song, I thought that it was really pretty, and was drawn to the story. The summary of the story caught my attention. As I began reading, I became more and more intrigued by the story. I wanted to find out what led up to Olive's accident, and how the song that Olive heard tied in. I'm happy to say that the story answered all of my questions. There wasn't a cliffhanger ending. I would say that, Our Song, was a medium paced story. The beginning, and the ending were fast paced, but the middle was a lot slower. This story was a little long for YA, but I enjoyed that because I felt like the author really developed the characters, the plot, and didn't rush the ending. I love seeing character growth in a story, and Olive made a huge amount of growth. At the beginning of the story she started out being shy, insecure, trying to blend in, make everyone happy, (especially her family, and Derek, and lost herself.) She defined herself as being Derek's girlfriend, and bent over backwards to make him happy, while he treated her like she was beneath him. I loved watching the transformation, as Olive turned in to an independent, confident, self-aware, and mature individual. She also learned that everything wasn't always as it appears. Her mother acted like a stepford wife, but Olive realized that her mother had feelings to, her own troubles, and just dealt with them in a different way.
Our Song was a great YA Contemporary. It was a story with many messages, that readers will be able to connect with, relate to, and care about. It is a story that deals with tough subjects, such as death, suicide, and heart break. I look forward to reading more stories written by Jordanna Fraiberg. Through Our Song, she has proven that she has a lot to say, and one thing is certain, Our Song will touch your heart, and stand out among its peers.
I give Our Song 4 Beautiful, Melodic, Life-Changing, Transformative, and Transcendent Stars! It is a story with substance, and deep symbolism that will have you contemplating taking charge of your own life, and truly living, by freeing yourself from the expectations of society, your family, and even yourself. You will take a journey, as you see life through Olive's eyes, and will want to spread your wings and take an adventure of your own choosing. Our Song makes you contemplate life's endless possibilities, and realize that sometimes the prison we live in, is one that we've constructed, in our mind.
"As the screen flickered to life, I went straight to Google and typed the lyrics into the search field. There was something about the way they danced in my head that made the melody not only bearable, but uplifting. It was like this mysterious voice, sweet as honey, was an organizing principle, turning the random chaos into something intelligible, something seductive. (ARC, pg. 58)
~Olive
"If you think your life is over, then do something about it. She went to put her boots back on and gather her bags. Maybe you were given a second chance for a reason. Maybe this is your opportunity to start over. Did you ever consider that?" (ARC, pg. 101)
~Annie
"From that vantage point , all this effort to get good grades just to go to college and do the same thing there all over again seemed pointless, like a way to avoid really living. I was starting to realize that I had spent my life trying to make other people happy-Derek, my parents, my teachers. (ARC, pg. 166)
~Olive
"It was right then that I knew there was no returning to my old life, a life spent accepting the status quo, a life trapped within the invisible boundaries of this antiseptic bubble. Not just because it was impossible. But that it wasn't what I wanted anymore. Not only was I not the same girl in the bottom drawer photo anymore. I couldn't be. (ARC, pg. 197)
~Olive
"It reinforced the fact that it didn't matter where we had been. What mattered was how it had changed us, how it had brought us together, and what happened next." (ARC, pg. 204)
Jordanna Fraiberg was born in Montreal, Quebec, and currently lives in L.A., where she settled after receiving degrees from Harvard and Oxford. A former national squash champion and Hollywood film executive, she now divides her time between dreaming up stories and chasing her toddler. She is the author of Our Song andIn Your Room.
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