Review: Love Song by Sophia Bennett

A million girls would kill for the chance to meet The Point, but Nina’s not one of them.

She’s the new assistant to the lead singer’s diva fiancée, and she knows it’s going to suck. She quickly learns that being with the hottest band on the planet isn’t as easy as it looks: behind the scenes, the boys are on the verge of splitting up. Tasked with keeping an eye on four gorgeous but spoiled rock stars, Nina’s determined to stick it out – and not fall for any of them …

There has been a recent trend of books involving music and bands – such as Kill the Boy Band, Girl Online: On Tour, Songs About a Girl, and this one – and I love it. I think they’re really fun, new and interesting, and in these respects, Love Song did not disappoint.

The behind-the-scenes world which Nina entered was entertaining to read about, and even though the characters had quite dramatic personalities which I did find a little unrealistic, it definitely added to the story. I thought it was nice how Nina’s calm and responsible personality contrasted with the ones of the stars – moody Angus, flighty Sigrid, distant Jamie – which meant she could have a really positive effect on them, and I liked how they all grew as people, including Nina.

Another aspect that I liked about the novel was that Nina first worked for the band through Sigrid, and that there was a valid reason for why Sigrid wanted to work for her. The concept of a girl working for a band is often quite difficult to realistically pull off when it is quite unlikely that it would ever happen, but I feel like Sophia Bennett made it work by making Nina very responsible and Sigrid demanding (so that she would be fussy about her assistant, and allowed to choose one herself), as then their personality traits made the events a little more believable – and then there was the additional reason which Nina only discovers later on which provides even more logic behind it, and also begins to show how Sigrid is more cunning than originally perceived.

I really loved Ariel, Nina’s little sister, who was initially a huge fan of The Point, but soon turned her back on them when Nina’s feelings were hurt, and I loved the sibling loyalty they showed each other. For example, Nina took Ariel to a meet and greet for the band at the beginning, and it continued throughout the story when Ariel turned her back on them after Nina’s feelings were hurt, and then later went with Nina to the concert and provided emotional support.

Overall, I thought that Love Song was a fun read, with a fast-paced plot and entertaining characters. While some aspects were a tad unrealistic, this is only to be expected in a book combining normal teenage girls with a world famous band, and Sophia Bennett certainly made the best of this by making it as well-explained as possible. I loved the inclusion of song lyrics and letters and excerpts from news articles, and as a whole I thought Love Song was really enjoyable, and I would recommend it in particular to slightly younger readers who are looking to move up from middle grade to young adult, as it would definitely be a good book to bridge the gap.

Love Song was published on the 7th of April by Chicken House. You can find out more on Goodreads here or purchase a copy on Amazon here.