Muted by Tami Charles

 

Name of Book: Muted

Author: Tami Charles

ISBN:978-1-338-67353-1

Publisher: Scholastic Program

Type of book: music, YA, fame, verse, poetry, modern times, Colored heroines, friendship, lies, betrayal  weight, diet, singing, focus, stardom, talent, USA, abuse, grooming, 

Year it was published: 2021

Summary:

A ripped-from-the-headlines novel of ambition, music, and innocence lost, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Jason Reynolds!

Be bold. Get seen. Be Heard.

For seventeen-year-old Denver, music is everything. Writing, performing, and her ultimate goal: escaping her very small, very white hometown.

So Denver is more than ready on the day she and her best friends Dali and Shak sing their way into the orbit of the biggest R&B star in the world, Sean "Mercury" Ellis. Merc gives them everything: parties, perks, wild nights -- plus hours and hours in the recording studio. Even the painful sacrifices and the lies the girls have to tell are all worth it.

Until they're not.

Denver begins to realize that she's trapped in Merc's world, struggling to hold on to her own voice. As the dream turns into a nightmare, she must make a choice: lose her big break, or get broken.

Inspired by true events, Muted is a fearless exploration of the dark side of the music industry, the business of exploitation, how a girl's dreams can be used against her -- and what it takes to fight back.

Characters:

Main characters include Denver, Dali and Shak, the three talented and colored women who are finishing high school. All three at the start are loyal and dare to dream big dreams. Denver comes from a loving but extremely busy family and often feels as if she failed them because she can't match up to her older sister. Dali is an illegal immigrant who needs money to send back to her family. She stays with Denver through hard times and doesn't dare leave her. Shak is a girl raised by her grandparents and she tends to be very serious about her faith and warns the girls about Mercury's issues. Sean Mercury ELLIS is a talented yet ruthless pop star who is not above using people for his own ends. He is also paranoid and uses old technology like VCRs to hide his secrets. 

Theme:

There is a dark side to fame 

Plot:

The story is in first person narrative from Denver's point of view, and the style is verse or poetry one can say. The characters and the world they inhabit is well developed and drawn. I also enjoyed a lot learning about the music business and what women needed to do to stay on top. I personally would have wanted a bit more information and his females assistants more background information, but I do understand it's Denver's tale and it's vital to give voice to women like her. It's also a YA novel.

Author Information:
(From the book)

Tami Charles is the critically acclaimed author of numerous books for young readers, including Like Vanessa and Becoming Beatriz. In her teens and early twenties,  Tami enjoyed a taste of fame as a member of an all girl RB trio. They performed for Boyz II Men, BET and SHowtime at the Apollo and had a one hit wonder on the radio.  Those were the good old days! Tami's adult years would lead her to the classroom, where she wokred as an educator for thirteen years before pursuing her childhood dream of becoming an author. FOr more information on Tami and her books, visit www.tamiwrites.com 

Opinion:

Aside from Genji, I have never read a novel in verse or poetry. Yet that is what happened in this story, and it's a story I won't likely forget. The story begins wih three friends dreaming of becoming the next pop sensations. They are talented and they know it. Through careful planning, they catch the eye of Sean Mercury ELLIS who then becomes determined to mould them into mannequins at the cost of their voices and selves. Because I am not used to reading verse or poetry, I felt as if details that I depend on normally became missing in this tale, and a lot is implied or drawn indirectly, if that makes sense. Its definitely an emotional read as well as heartbreaking.  

This was given for a review 

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)