Jazzy Reviews: ‘It Sounded Better in my Head’

Jazzy today reviews a novel that I devoured and adored, ‘It Sounded Better in my Head’ by Nina Kenwood. This is a beautifully gentle coming-of-age story about friendships, self-image and first love and teen readers will completely connect with the authenticity, humour and emotion of Kenwoods prose.

You can read more of Jazzy’s review on her website here.
Book Club Notes here for ‘It Sounded Better in my Head’.
Teaching Notes here.
Spotify list for the book by author Nina Kenwood here.

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My body was a shameful disaster. I was too embarrassed to go outside unless I absolutely had to. No, it was worse than that. I was too embarrassed to exist. I hunched down and inwards, trying to hide every part of me. I hated how much space I took up, because I got taller too. I was huge and hulking. I felt like everywhere I went, I was being seen and noticed in a way I didn’t want to be seen and noticed. Even now, on my very best skin days, I’m uncomfortable with people looking at my face. Eye contact makes me feel exposed.

THE GIST

Natalie is an 18-year-old girl who has just come out of school, with recently separated parents. As the quote I used indicates, she despises her appearance and has a skin disorder. She judges herself extremely harshly, which means that when problems keep piling onto her – the divorce, her first romance and friendship troubles – she can’t deal. What good could possibly come out of this?

THE JUDGEMENT

‘It Sounded Better in my Head’ was a pleasant surprise, from the aesthetics of the front cover to the relatability of the main character. While it wasn’t filled with action and adventure, it was still wonderful because of how well the characters were built, the differences between them and more.

This was also a completely different book choice to what I would normally read. It is a romantic comedy, and I don’t have any experience with romance, including in novels. However, as my first attempt at reading the genre, I adored the characters and the way the author subtly weaved humour throughout the storyline.

Natalie is extremely authentic, so much that she could be real; I recently even had a dream about meeting her. She has terrible skin, is extremely awkward, lies occasionally, has separated parents and is, of course, obsessed with the very prospect of romance. I really enjoyed how much she grew throughout the story, too – she goes from being shy and inexperienced in love, to a little more confident and more experienced.

My favourite character in ‘It Sounded Better in my Head’ is, funnily enough, Lucy. She is such a supportive and kind friend of Natalie yet has her own problems; further into the story, Lucy says that she lied about something important (I won’t spoil). Her character is also the victim of Natalie’s jealousy, as she is prettier and better than her at almost everything.

To be honest, this was a difficult book to review. There is inappropriate content, however easy enough language used for a young person to understand. Therefore, I recommend ‘It Sounded Better in my Head’ to readers aged 14+.

I loved this book. The author Nina Kenwood has done a fantastic job in building Natalie’s character in a fascinating way, so I will be looking out for more of her novels in the future. I give ‘It Sounded Better in my Head’ 9 bookbolts out of 10.

ISBN: 9381925773910
Publisher: The Text Publishing Company