Megan Likes Books: Review: Wildflower

Info:

Title: Wildflower
Author: Alecia Whitaker
Publisher: Poppy
Publication Date: July 1, 2014
Source: I received a complimentary ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Synopsis:
The best songs come from broken hearts.

Sixteen-year-old Bird Barrett has grown up on the road, singing backup in her family's bluegrass band, and playing everywhere from Nashville, Tennesee to Nowhere, Oklahoma. One fateful night, Bird fills in for her dad by singing lead, and a scout in the audience offers her a spotlight all her own.

Soon Bird is caught up in a whirlwind of songwriting meetings, recording sessions, and music video shoots. Her first single hits the top twenty, and suddenly fans and paparazzi are around every corner. She's even caught the eye of her longtime crush, fellow roving musician Adam Dean. With Bird's star on the rise, though, tradition and ambition collide. Can Bird break out while staying true to her roots?

In a world of glamour and gold records, a young country music star finds her voice.

Review:
Wildflower is a fun, light read and would be perfect to bring along to the beach. With a relateable main character, lots of music references, Wildflower was good, clean fun to read.

Bird is a likeable main character and seems pretty realistic, despite her unusally upbringing. She and her family are a traveling bluegrass band and Bird has lived in a Winnebago for the past five years. She definitely fits in the "good girl" category, which I enjoyed. I find that sometimes contemporaries focused on more rebellious teens (because it makes an interesting story), but I found myself much better able to connect with Bird, since she was more like me growing up, other than the country music star part.

Wildflower covers a lot of contemporary bases. Trying to get the attention of the boy you like, family drama and finding out more about who you are. I liked Adam a lot. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy and I though him and Bird's quest to find the best fountain Coke in America was adorable. Bird also faced some family problems, which I thought were super realistic and it would be felt weird if they hadn't happened, given the situation the family was in.

It was interesting to watch Bird learn about the rest of the music industry beyond playing shows with her family. It seems super tough and stressful, although very fulfilling if that's what you love.

I enjoyed the ending of this one. I felt it was realistic, but still hopefully. I think I read somewhere that this is part of a series, which I'm excited about, since I liked Bird a lot and want to see what the future holds for her.

I think it's also worth mentioning that this book definitely fits into the clean teen fiction category. Like I mentioned about, Bird is a good girl and there's no cussing, drinking or sex in this one.

I really enjoyed Wildflower. If I went to the beach, this is the exact sort of book I'd like to bring along.