Songs of Our Break Up Review

It's official. Jay E. Tria is my favorite English Romance Filipino writer. But as to now, I'm still not quite sure whether I like Songs of Our Break Up more than Blossom Among Flowers because I'm biased to Japanese setting stories. Shinta is Japanese too, so that's a bonus, but I'm not gonna lie. I love Kim. Kim. Kim. Kim. Can you hear me sighing dreamily?

Songs of Our Break Up is novella about the vocal lead of the band called Trainman (Densha Otoko, fans out there? You'll get along fine with Son). Jill and her longtime boyfriend breaks up, hence the title of the book. The catch is that they belong in the same band as Kim is the lead guitarist and leader of Trainman. Drama, right? But wait, there's more. A hot Japanese actor named Shinta, who's Jill's friend-almost best friend. As the line says in the cover, what do you when forever ends?

But you read it right. I love Kim. Cue happy, dreamy sigh again. Yes. Not Shinta. I admit Shinta is gorgeous, almost every girl's dream, but there's this gravity that pulls me towards Kim. 

Okay. I'm going to pause my admiration slash explanation why I pick Kim. If you have read the official blurb for the book, you can already see who would end up with Jill. If you haven't read it, check it on the goodreads or amazon.

Apart from Kim, I also like the songs in the book, and it would be nice if it were ever recorded or performed. It is a well-written quick read that would make you smile.
The breakup isn't too dramatic as what I have said in the summary, but you'd also find yourself also feeling bad for Jill as she went through that three month period probation as Miki suggested. Well, I don't believe in that three month period, but I believe that it is hard to get over someone you really like especially if there is no one else. But I know you've already heard that falling in love (going out) again with someone else is the quickest way to get over someone. I guess it's true (breaking the unwritten three month period) as long as it's not a rebound, and you're not lying to yourself.

It was written in third person point of view, and the flashback thing was effective plus the cover was nice, too. And I'd been wondering ever since I got my copy whether the guitar is truly for leftie. There was no concrete evidence that Jill is left-handed, but I would have to check the book again to see if I'm right. My only complain is that it was too short. I was slightly surprised when I reached the end. Things (not the tension if you know what I'm talking about) escalated quickly, and  then it was bam. Despite that, I think it ended at the right time, place, moment and it was sweet nonetheless.

I want to talk about the book more in detail-Kim mainly, so I'm going to end this almost-spoiler-free part with: if you're a a fan of band/music plot or just plain band fans/one of the groupie, you'd want to read this. I thought it would be like The Breakup Playlist (you know, the movie). In some sense, it has similar aspects, but totally different plot.

The Playlist series is set in the Philippines. There's two books out, and I hope there would be more. My review of the Songs to Get Over You, book 2, Miki's story, would come up next.

You can buy Songs of Our Break Up in Amazon for $2.99, Buqo, or in print from the author. You can contact her through the following: Jay E. Tria || Twitter || Wattpad || I ordered my book here and you can also email her at jayetria@gmail.com, and you can read an excerpt of this book in Wattpad.

And you can scroll through if you want to read me talk about the part of the story (spoilers), mainly Kim, I repeat.

Wait, one other thing, I think I should mention this in case you are a minor or a very conservative person. Heavy makeout sessions with some specific details.

Premarital sex in Filipino stories or movies is weird, but I'm over that now. I have a whole rambling about it, but I'm just gonna leave at that. Your belief is your belief. I won't be forcing mine.

Oh, and, here's a podcast of the book. I tried listening to it once before.

If you haven't seen that Jill would end up with Shinta, come on! Are you serious? Okay, maybe you're not really much of a romance reader that's why. A part of me wished that she'd get back with Kim or she'd stay with him, but that's not going to happen, and I knew it. 

Kim isn't really that better than Shinta, but to me, he is so much more. So much more. If Ms. Jay E. Tria ever write Kim's part (I hope not, for now. I want to see him happy, but who said you couldn't be happy without a  love life?), I don't think I could read it. My heart would break. 

I think I have this tendency to like jerk/assholes character. Not always. But for very good reasons. Take Julian Marquet for example. Well, I think he's the only asshole that I really really like. Kim isn't much of a jerk, anyway. Not the best boyfriend but he's not that bad. He broke up with Jill through text. Okay, he was a jerk for that. Also when he clung to Jill when he found out that his mother had cancer. He was weak. (I wanted to hug him. Cue another sigh). Plus Kim admitted Shinta is trouble waiting to happen. 

Yep. Because Shinta liked Jill right from the start when he saw her in the music festival in Japan. I don't see that the breakup was Kim's fault completely. Jill liked him too even if it weren't in the same level or even if she didn't realize it at first. Not that I hate Jill and Shinta for it. Their breakup was the right thing to do, and Jill was right for not settling for less.

Kim may be less for Jill, but he's more to me. So much more. I think I've said that already.

To be honest, I feel that Songs of Our Breakup was really written for Kim and Jill pairing. I think that's true with the title and all. I've enjoyed the flashbacks more than the happenings between her and Shinta especially the Hongkong trip and that morning after where Jill wore Kim's t-shirt. (I'm rolling my eyes at Shinta for using it as his cell phone wallpaper. That's private). But I know Jill and Shinta's right for each other. And I liked seeing them together more in Songs to Get Over You, but I have a different feeling about book 2. I'll elaborate more in the next review.