Review: Songs from the Phenomenal Nothing by Steven Luna

Title: Songs from the Phenomenal Nothing
Author: Steven Luna
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Booktrope Editions
Publish Date: August 31, 2013
Source: I received a copy from the publisher; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a YA fiction fan.
• You don't mind tough subjects.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "It's just me and him. Him and me. A man I can't comprehend, designated by the universe as my father but someone I prefer to call Tom, and a kid he can't relate to but calls son anyway because he's determined to try. I really wish he'd just call me Tyler. He probably wishes I'd call him Dad. But I'm not comfortable with that at this point. Our differences and our lack of mutual understanding are the only things we seem to agree on. And even those get heated sometimes. Seriously, it's a miracle that we haven't hurt each other yet. I'm not sure how much longer we can hold out. 

Seventeen year-old guitar prodigy Tyler Mills has become lost in the aftermath of his mother's death. Disconnected more and more from his father, he takes refuge from it all in two things: his music and his girlfriend. But everything changes with the chance discovery of his mother's journal-and the long-held family secret within that could alter his life forever."

My Two Cents:

"Songs from the Phenomenal Nothing" is the story of Tyler who is absolutely reeling from his mother's death. He is pulling away from his father and seems uninterested in studying classical guitar, a hobby where he has a lot of talent. This is a story of coping with grief and uncovering family secrets that can both enlighten and hurt all at the same time. I really enjoyed this story!

I really don't want to give away anything about the big twist in this book as I think you should really read it yourself but let me tell you, the twist is a huge bombshell. I really enjoyed reading how Tyler copes with everything that's going on in his life. He finds out about a part of his family that he never knew existed before.

He is able to find a lot out about his mother after her death. This leads him to go on an adventure where he will be able to know more about his origins, his mother, and himself.

Luna does a great job of making Tyler really feel like a real person. He had emotions and flaws. He really feels like a 3-dimensional person, which really brought me into the story further.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.