Book Review: melophobia

The time—now; the place—America, but in a world where the government controls all forms of art and creativity. Any music sowing the seeds of anarchy is banned—destroyed if found—its creators and listeners harshly punished.

Merrin Pierce works as an undercover Patrol officer assigned to apprehend a fugitive musician who threatens the safe fabric of society, only to confront everything she thought to be true – her values, upbringing, job, and future.
Can love survive in a world without music?
Publisher’s Weekly called it “a convincing alternative history novel and…an accomplished coming-of-age love story that asks big questions about freedom and expressiveness in the face of oppression.” 

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My Review:

I got this book from the author, who offered it in exchange for an unbiased review.

Let's start with the good:

The plot is great. Anyone who shares the love of dystopians but the boredom of hearing things from the rebel perspective will appreciate this book's plot.

The writing style and flow are great. The book was interesting and easy to read, but there was one phrase (you'll know it when you see it) that kept repeating at weird moments that irked me.

The side characters were awesome and developed. But this brings me to the not-so-good.

It's almost glaringly obvious this book is self published. The main character, of all characters, felt forced and had poor development. It felt like the author had never met a real girl before. Merrin started off great, but felt forced ironically enough right when she was meant to be showing development.

I wouldn't buy it as is. This book needs some serious polishing. But it has promise. As it stands I'd recommend borrowing it or buying it on sale. If a second edition were to come out that addressed a few issues, then I'd probably buy it in a heartbeat.

Overall: 3.5