I like some of what this book is doing. I like the picture of viral fame and it's impact on the entire family as well as the acknowledgement of privilege in the music industry. But the plot is a bit cluttered and unfocused.

Before I start my review, I just wanted to put some trigger warnings in place as there is mention of overdosing within the book, so please be careful if these pose a potential trigger for you.

"Real life is about fighting, constantly, even after the credits start rolling. It's about knowing that sometimes you're not going to get validation from other people, even when you deserve it, and that's oaky. You don't need anyone's approval to keep doing what you love.

This was such an absolute joy, about finding your own voice in a world where at times it feels squashed or overlooked, and being comfortable in your own skin and with who you are, not only on the outside, but the inside too. This s a touching and heartfelt story about friendship, love and how the strength of music can unify and bring people together.

Meg McCarthy is a 17 year old whose overshadowed by her famous singer-songwriter older brother, Caspar. Music is something that's always been important and a means of escape for Meg. In a world where she's often overlooked and ignored, even by those closest to her, music has been an outlet for her frustrations and upset. Life feels very much out of Meg's control, with press and people at school using her to meet her brother, and with brands constantly pressuring her to promote their brands, it's all too much. To help her cope with these overwhelming and inevitable situations, Meg turns to making lists, and writing songs. Unlike her brother, Meg is uncomfortable with sharing these songs as herself, and thus uses an alias on a website called MusicHunger. She regularly converses with Bandsnapper, with whom is always really warm and encouraging whenever she sends snippets of her songs. Whilst at her summer job, she meets Alana Howard, an optimistic and happy go lucky young woman. Alana also writes and sings songs within the local community, and although Meg and Alana are complete opposites in almost all respects of their life, their friendship blossoms into an incredible partnership which could change both of their lives.

Meg is such a witty and likeable character. I loved her determination and courage throughout, there are definitely parts of her life that are relatable to all teenagers. Her friendship with Alana was really refreshing and incredible to read. The way they empowered and supported each other through each of their own battles was really inspiring and evoked a lot of hope, particularly in times where either of them were experiencing self-doubt.

It really focused on the difficulties you can face as a teenager, particularly in a time where social media is rife. It really showed the dangers and toxicity of social media, and how overwhelming and difficult it can be to be openly and unapologetically yourself, and achieve what you want. It's so incredibly written, showing how comments from others can shatter your self-confidence and affect your self-worth, especially in a world so intent on tearing others down. I loved the focus on body positivity throughout this book and the positive message that it promotes to be yourself and that you're enough as you are.

This story was so charming, and shows the true power of music and the bonds it can create. It was so well written and enthralling, I don't know what I was expecting from a booksical but this was incredible. Full of wit, humour and relatable characters. It was just so wonderful and refreshing.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

This was such a sweet and heartfelt read. Meg and Alana connected for their shared love for music - and honestly, can a friendship have a stronger foundation than one formed through music?? The themes of love, family, and friendship were so beautifully presented through the storyline. I loved seeing both Meg and Alana grow with the help of the bond they shared. The songs and the lyrics were just the best things ever. . <3

“The songs you’ve never heard” by Becky Jerams and Ellie Wyatt was a really fun ya contemporary about family, friendship, growing up and music. Our main character Meg has primarily lived in the shadow of her older brother Caspar, a world wide famous singer, and likes to hide herself behind an online persona when texting with her crush. When she meets Alana though everything changes. Their friendship brings out the best in both of them and allows them to show the world what they can truly do.
The book handles topics such as fatphobia and online bullying in a refreshing way and I really enjoyed seeing a not so perfect family displayed.
For me personally the many song references were a little too much at times, but if one is into these types of things in their books this one might be perfect.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I gave it 4/5 stars on goodreads!

I absolutely loved this book! I loved the friendship between the two protagonists and a relationship founded on a love of music and songwriting. The lyrics were beautiful too!

3.5 stars

i had a good time reading this book-it's a quick, enjoyable ya read. i liked seeing the growth of our two main characters, allana and meg, their friendship, the insights into the music industry, and all the pop culture references. overall, this was a joy to read, and i'd recommend it to anyone who's passionate about music.

This one was so lovely and so fun.
I adored Meg and Alana so much. Their voices really shone through.
This one is so cute and definitely getting recommended to all of my friends.

thank you Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review
The Song's You've Never Heard was a joy to read! This book follows Meg, a girl in the shadow of her brother's fame. She's a singer too, but she feels invisible to her family and the world except for her online best friend. Her online bestie is also the guy she has a crush on in real life that she can't help being horrible to face-to-face. Meg gets a job at a yogurt shop and befriends Alana, a plus-size sunshine personality singer! Alana helps Meg find her voice.
Things I loved in this book: the pop culture in this book and seeing singers like Halsey and Oh Wonder mentioned! The plus-size rep in this book! The identity reveal! I am such a sucker for identity reveals. And the song lyrics of course! The friendship between Alana and Meg was so healthy and refreshing. Would recommend to anyone who likes music, has been bullied or gotten down by the internet, and likes female friendships

Really fantastic book that gets you hooked straight away....you just want to keep reading!


Perfectly made for tweens/young teens, but even as a 30 year old, I enjoyed it too!

Well written, with believable characters you care about and a great story line with a powerful message. The songs really add to it and can be listened to as you read - adds another dimension to this original and heart-felt story.

I think I just found my new all-time favorite book!!

Well, if you love watching teen movies about music, I am sure you will love this book. It's so light but not that light, and so much enjoyable to read. I think it's a wholesome book. It's about family, friendships, and also about love. I cried at some parts of this book. It felt like watching a movie while reading it. And I just found out that all pieces of music in this book were already published on YouTube!! OMG!!

I honestly can't talk about it without spoiling everything ... so, yeah ... please read it when this book is OUT!

Thank you NetGalley and Sweet Cherry Publishing for the ARC of this book. Really wish to have a physical copy so I can hug it, annotate it, and reading it again.

In The Songs You've Never Heard 17-year-old Meg is overshadowed by her world-famous popstar brother Casper. Her parents, who are obsessed with his career, force her to take a job at the local ice cream shop where she meets Alana, a singer/songwriter who encourages Meg to sing with her at open mic nights. Together they beginning writing and singing songs and develop a following, including Matty, a boy Meg has a secret crush on. Unbeknownst to him, they have an online relationship using pseudonyms. In person, for reasons unknown even to Meg they are constantly at odds. When Casper is in the throes of writers' block, his sister may just be the one to save him. The power of music to provide solace and purpose is explored, as well as finding and using your own voice. The book is being released with a companion album that features songs included in the book.

DNF at 40%. As much as I wanted to love this book I just couldn’t. Getting through these 40% was much harder than it should have been all thanks to the main character, who was absolutely insufferable. Her selfishness, complete lack of empathy to anyone but herself, unnecessary rudeness and straight up catfishing made it really hard to feel bad for her.

The promise of the book was interesting and exciting but the execution fell flat. None of the characters were likeable and the storyline took way too long to develop ( it pretty much didn’t if we don’t count unnecessary romantic subplot). Don’t get me wrong, maybe someone younger than me would find themselves in Meg and understand her reasoning better than me, thus enjoy this book more. I unfortunately didn’t and no matter how bad I feel about dnfing this book, I can’t spend any more time getting annoyed and probably getting myself into a reading slump in the end. Nope.

I’m still grateful to NetGalley and the authors for allowing me to give this book a chance♥️

This kind of "musical book" was the first of its kind that I have ever read and it left me reeling. I really loved the lyrics so much and they were interwoven so wonderfully with the story, I was absolutely amazed and delighted. At the end of this book, I was massively emotional and cannot wait to read more by this dream team.

Music is universal, and everyone's talents should be celebrated, but what happens when your brother takes up all of the musical spotlight and you think there isn't room for you?

That's what this novel answers the question of, as well as deals with the questions of making it in an industry that's working against you for the way you look.

By the end of the book, I was in tears. I loved the lyrics that were created for the songs in this book and found myself making up tunes as I read along. They melded well into the story and really bring out the heart and soul.

“I take a deep breath, close my eyes and let my voice soar.”
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rating: 4,75/5
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Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is about Meg McCarthy, sister to the famous singer Casper McCarthy, who's always lived in the shadows of her brother. But it will stop when she meets Alana at her summer job, and together they will bond about music and be in the spotlight.
I absolutely loved this book, the characters were so good and their evolution was amazing, especially Meg's. I loved reading about Meg and Alana's friendship, they both are amazing characters and I loved how they both clashed with each other. How Alana's confidence inspired Meg, and as the book kept going how Meg and Alana became anchors for each other.
Overall if you love books about music and friendship, it is made for you.
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Rep: plus sized black character
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genre: YA contemporary
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#TheSongsYouveNeverHeard #NetGalley

The Songs You’ve Never Heard is the story of a girl whose brother is a popular singer. While she has been living in his shadow, she has secretly been writing and recording her own music. However, she is afraid to share this music with anyone. She befriends her coworker, who she discovers is also a singer/songwriter. They begin to write and sing songs together.

I read this as an advanced digital copy. The formatting was not the best, so at times it got confusing between the music lyrics and the narrative. I assume this will be better in the print copy of the book.

I felt like the book was a little slow in the beginning, but it definitely picked up pace as it went and I ended up enjoying it. There were so many themes weaved into this book: friendship, body positivity, self-confidence, family dynamics, teenage crushes, etc.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you love music and enjoying feeling that lyrics in a song are relatable, you will love this novel.

In this book our protagonist Meg lives in the shadow of her famous brother who has a hit record. She has difficulty dealing with the fame and attention required of her by her family due to his success. She really struggles to find her own path.

We find Meg living her own authentic life in secret and thus dealing with the irritation of living in the shadow of her brother's success.

OIverall, the story was great I really enjoyed following the budding friendship between two girls in the story and seeing them deal with the hardships of being a teenage girl. They tackled some difficult topics like body image that all teenage girls deal with.

In this book you also get the song lyrics that help you understand each of the character's perspectives and feelings.

This was a book I really enjoyed and struggled to put down.

I received the arc through Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. All opinions ahead are based only on my experience reading it.

I typically adore books that have music in the plot and I must admit the authors' own background took those expectations sky high. However, not so sure how to feel about the book in general.

It might as well be just me who is not that into YA as a genre as of lately but it turned out rather hard to have a consistent conection with the characters.

That said, plot wise really enjoyed Meg and Alana's friendship and their journey. Also, having parts of the lyrics? *cheff kiss*.

Might not had been the easiest read personally but I am excited to see the authors next projects.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher once again for the chance.

nope. i can't do this anymore. the characters (especially the mc), the cliché plot, everything... no thanks. dnf at 35%

I love music and I had high expectations for this book but unfortunately, I disliked the main character. She kept annoying me over and over with her behavior to the point where I just didn't want to read this book anymore. She couldn't stand up to bullies but she sure had enough mean in her to spew vitriol on a nice person. The way she bemoaned her life on and on, and despite what she kept saying about how everyone fell over themselves for her brother, she sure was as obsessed. In addition, she was just as prejudiced as the people she criticized. Also, there was too much name-dropping for comparisons rather than good descriptions. I did try to keep reading but I really disliked the main character.