The Music Within Your Heart by Isaac Samuel Miller
After Sophia discovers her older brother’s mutilated body in The Lake of Tears, she attempts to taker her own life at the tender age of thirteen. Halted by a life-changing encounter in a prejudiced community in California during the summer of 1963, she shares her life’s biggest secret with a new, and questionable neighbor.
Although this neighbor is battling biases and a disability of his own, he feels that in Sophia, he has discovered not only the voice of his generation–but a friendship unlike any other–until they’re torn apart by a horrific crime. Due to hatred beyond their control, Sophia and her family are forced to flee, leaving behind her secrets and the young love she forged.Can love reunite childhood friends ripped apart for decades? An unlikely romance, deep secrets, and a powerful gift sets the stage for a tug at the heartstrings odyssey of an unforgettable love story between a young girl and her risky soulmate, while answering this question: After years of setbacks can true love be rendered 5000 miles apart?
The Music Within Your Heart Review
I was compensated with a small amount for my time and effort in reading the book and writing this review. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and are based on my honest personal experience reading the book. Nor did the publisher in any way shape or form ever pressure me to give a positive review.
The Music Within Your Heart tells a moving story that starts when Sophia, just thirteen years old, finds her brother’s body and becomes suicidal thoughts. But her destiny is changed in the summer of 1963 by a meeting that changes her life. The novel delves into Sophia’s inner secrets and the unusual bond she forges with her new neighbour, all set against the backdrop of a bigoted neighbourhood in California.
After a horrifying event splits them apart and forces Sophia and her family to escape, they struggle with their own prejudices and impairments. The story spans decades and tackles topics of racism, love, and the immutable laws of nature while asking whether love can bring childhood friends back together after a period of time apart.
To start off, as an avid fan of beautiful book covers, I just want to take a moment to commend how requisite the cover for The Music Within Your Heart! I love it so much and it’s so beautiful. The only nitty-gritty comment I have is the things in her ears on the covers look like earphones, which was a bit odd considering how the book takes place in 1963. But nevertheless, this does not take away from the overall aesthetic of the cover.
This book brought back memories of studying African-American literature in my American literature course all the way back in high school. It was reminiscent of many of the books I read years ago during that time. The historical background of the novel combined with a strong female lead reminded me of books like Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred. Though the genres are different (Kindred is more fantasy-focused, while The Music Within Your Heart is more contemporary historical and romance-heavy), their common examination of racism and historical contexts both captivated me in similar ways.
Speaking of Sophia, the protagonist’s character is definitely one of her strongest positive traits. Her intelligence, common sense, and sympathetic responses in the setting of the narrative make her a fun and interesting main character. Her quest turns into a gripping examination of love and resiliency in the face of historical adversity as the story progresses.
The worldbuilding and characters are also done extremely well. From the quality of the writing, I can tell this is a very polished work. Even though I am a huge romance fan and I usually read books for romance, I accepted the review request for The Music Within Your Heart because I was interested in the historical racism theme. And it did not disappoint. As expected considering the context, The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) are the villains of the story. I appreciate the author going their way to depict their disgusting behaviour not for shock value but for actual progression for the characters and story.
With disturbing content in relation to themes like racism, one thing I despise is if the author puts them there but they don’t amount to anything for the book as a whole. Because of how distressing they are to read, if they don’t contribute to the story or characters, it is always immensely upsetting for me to read because it’s like I’m putting myself through mental suffering for absolutely nothing. So I genuinely appreciate the author not doing that.
One thing that did stand out to me when reading is its slightly unconventional format. While it adheres to the standard structure of a prologue, chapters, and an epilogue, what stood out were the additional sections within the chapters, such as “My Mind Spoke Too Soon” and “When Love Finds You.” Initially, this formatting surprised me, leading to a moment of confusion as I realized these were not separate chapters but rather mini sections embedded within the larger chapters.
It was quite funny looking back and remembering how I tried to figure out what was going on because I was like “Wait a minute, this is not lining up with the chapter list”. Though these sections were by no means “bad” for my reading experience, I do question its necessity. These mini-sections would’ve been incredibly useful if they were used to distinguish interruptions within the story and the main plot.
If they had done that it would have been amazing because a recurring issue I have with books is how easy it can be to miss when they are jumping between places within a chapter due to ambiguous formatting. But instead of doing that, these sections in The Music Within Your Heart most of the time are more so just continue the same sequences. Therefore, though this does not detract from the book’s overall quality, it does make me wonder if it’s necessary for the writing or just a stylistic choice on the author’s part.
The Music Within Your Heart is a thought-provoking story featuring a brilliantly portrayed protagonist that makes for an engrossing read. The unorthodox format may raise some eyebrows, but it gives the narrative a distinctive depth. All things considered, Isaac Miller skillfully crafts a story that speaks to history, love, and the characters’ continuing fortitude.
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