'Sing me to Sleep' by Angela Morrison

From the BLURB:

THE TRANSFORMATION

Beth has always been "The Beast" - that's what everyone at school calls her because of her awkward height, facial scars, and thick glasses. Beth's only friend is geeky, golden-haired Scott. That is, until she's selected to be her choir's soprano soloist, and receives the makeover that will change her life forever.

THE LOVE AFFAIR

When Beth's choir travels to Switzerland, she meets Derek: pale, brooding, totally dreamy. Derek's untethered passion - for music, and for Beth - leaves her breathless. Because in Derek's eyes? She's not The Beast, she's The Beauty.

THE IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE

When Beth comes home, Scott, her best friend in the world, makes a confession that leaves her completely torn. Should she stand by sweet, steady Scott or follow the dangerous, intense new feelings she has for Derek?

THE HEARTBREAK

The closer Beth gets to Derek, the further away he seems. Then Beth discovers that Derek's been hiding a dark secret from her ...one that could shatter everything.

Beth is the Beast. Too tall, too gangly, too much acne and four-eyes for as long as she can remember. Freshmen are chained to her locker as a ‘sacrifice’ and school is a daily battlefield. Beth only has two points of solace – her best friend, Scott, and her singing.

Scott has been by her side since the playground, but now he’s starting to pretend like he wants more. But singing, that’s Beth’s constant. It’s what lifts her up, makes her feel whole and helps her forget what she looks like.

So when Beth’s singing troupe win their place in an overseas singing competition, with Beth in solo, she is truly happy for the first time in her life. But that’s nothing compared to how she feels when she meets Derek. The beautiful solo singer of a Canadian group of all-male singers.

Derek is beautiful and talented. He’s also crazy in love with Beth, and she with him. But Derek has a secret. Just as Beth doesn’t want Derek to find out about ‘The Beast’, Derek wants to segregate Beth from his world . . . the other parts of himself that are too horrible to even think about.

‘Sing me to Sleep’ is the new contemporary YA from Angela Morrison.

I loved this book. It’s definitely one to tug at the heartstrings and wet the eyes . . . but Morrison’s novel is also beautiful and light, full of hope and love even if she does explore some darker sides of life.

Beth is a gorgeous and sad character. Every day she’s just trying to get by and survive high school – which isn’t easy to do when she’s a gangly giant with face-hiding hair, acne and thick geeky glasses. She is a smorgasbord for bullies. Thank God for her best friend, Scott. He has always been her back-up and a diversion for the bullies. But, lately, Scott has been undergoing some serious changes. He’s bulking up and stirring feelings within Beth. She’s finding it hard to think of him as just her friend anymore, especially when he hints that he wants more;

“I know your soul. It’s there in every note”. He brushes my lips with his. “You can’t fake that. You can’t hide it”

Enter Derek. Beautiful Derek who sings like an angel and falls in love with Beth when he hears her singing in Switzerland . . . She and Derek form an instant and deep connection. And they continue their romance even after they fly home – seeing one another between America and Canada, experiencing true love for the first time.

But Derek is keeping secrets. He wants Beth separated from his life back home . . . a life full of secrets and a world he doesn’t want to be in anymore.

‘Sing me to Sleep’ is gut-wrenching, but beautiful. Morrison is exploring a lot of big issues – from bullying to abandonment, and a plot-twist of such heartbreak you’ll never see coming. But in between Morrison has also written two love stories for Beth ‘The Beast’ – as she’s caught between two boys who prove that true love is more than skin-deep. Stunning.

5/5