Bookreview: 'Sweet Thing' by Renee Carlino

Mia Kelly is a twenty-five-year-old walking Gap ad who thinks she has life figured out when her father’s sudden death uproots her from slow-paced Ann Arbor to New York City’s bustling East Village. There she discovers her father’s spirit for life and the legacy he left behind with the help of an old café, a few eccentric friends, and one charming musician.

Will Ryan is good-looking, poetic, spontaneous, and on the brink of fame when he meets Mia, his new landlord, muse, and personal heartbreaker.

A story of self-discovery and friendship, Sweet Thing shines light on the power of loving and letting go.

- “I guess I'm realizing we're all just people... trying to figure it all out.“ -

I can hardly find the right words to describe this book. It's amazing, surprising, well-written and different than anything I've read before. I'm a sucker for quotes and this book is full of them. Renee Carlino has a way with words you don't see in every book and rarely so well used.

This book isn't just about love and friendship, it goes so much deeper.

Mia and Will end up being roommates when she moves to New York City after her dad died, to continue her fathers business, a café in the East Village. She loves music and learned to play different instruments from her father when she spent the summers in NYC. But she likes safety more than music.

Will is a musician by heart and even though Mia soon discovers her feelings for him, she won't let him see them because he's anything but safety as a musician on the verge to fame but with no record deal, hopping from bar to bar playing every other night with his band or solo.

They become best friends who jam at nights in their apartement and discover their love for music and each other but Mia fights every urge to go for it, she rather goes out with a banker she doesn't love and ends up getting jealous about Will's girls.

Mia seems hard to love and makes you want to shake her from time to time to see how deeply Will loves her. Will on the other hand seems easy to love. He isn't afraid of putting his feelings into the music. He writes little notes, gives Mia nicknames and tries to show her how much he cares about her even when she rips his heart out over and over again without realizing it.

I don't wanna give too much away so that's all I'm gonna say about the story.

Like I said this book isn't just about love and friendship. It's about music, it's poetic and it's about the way to self-discovery. Mia fights so hard to go for the things she really loves that she hides behind those who seem to be safe. Will makes her want to escape that part of her life but she's too scared to have faith in anyone.

„You have to teach your heart and mind how to sing together... then you'll hear the sound of your soul.“

During the book Mia teaches her heart and mind how to sing together even though she needs more time than anyone might've expected.

„Sometimes it takes the love of others to show us who we really are.“

Mia slowly finds out who she really is but not without hurting people on the way and losing hope in between. She ends up finding her right way with the help of her friends and the music and a lot of faith.

Renee Carlino uses music as a way of conversation and understanding. I think music is highly underrated when it comes to that side and so I ended up loving this book not just because of the characters who are so much different than those in other books but mostly because of the way she uses the music as a connection for Mia and Will.

Music brings people together, it helps people to pour their hearts out if they might not be ready yet to tell others face to face how they feel. It's a poetic way to handle words and I love that about music and 'Sweet Thing'. The book is a rollercoaster ride and my heart broke not just once for Will and Mia but it's a refreshing story, different than anything you've read before.

This book is on a whole new level of inspiration. I just finished it and feel the need to read it again.