Live by Luke Palmer

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✦ BLURB ✦

Year Twelve pupil George is passionate about his band and his music, even if the three other band members are a little more laid back about it. They play for all their friends' parties, and just might, he hopes, hit the big time. But they have surprise competition from new girl Beth and shy fellow-pupil Tadhg. Then disaster strikes. Dealing with loss and grief the whole year group must work out how to rebuild their futures and who their true friends are. Comes complete with song lyrics and accompanying playlist!

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✶ PRE-READING ✶

From the blurb, I was expecting a coming-of-age story with emotional weight, and I was curious how the musical elements would be handled. Was it going to be background texture or something woven into the narrative? I was especially interested in how grief and art would intersect.

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✶ POST-READING ✶

As I thought... The emotional tone is honest and raw, and the teen voices feel grounded in reality. George’s passion for music - and the ways it both unites and isolates him - was a highlight. The story captures the intense closeness of friendship groups at that age, and how fragile that closeness can be in the face of trauma.

It surprised me by... How central music really was - not just a motif, but a living, breathing part of the narrative. The lyrics and playlist aren’t just extras; they reflect the characters’ emotional journeys and give deeper resonance to their choices. Tadhg and Beth were far more nuanced than they first appear, and the way the group processes grief felt incredibly true to life.

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✦ RECOMMENDATIONS ✦

You’ll Like This If You Enjoy:

• Music-centred YA with emotional depth

• Stories about friendship, loss, and finding meaning through art

• Listen along with: Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees”, Wolf Alice, Phoebe Bridgers

Book Recommendation: I'll Give You the Sun, another story of teens trying to deal with the worst things that can happen and forge new relationships as they go.

TV or Movie Recommendation: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, an intense movie of teen relationships, memories and the bonds that form and break at that age.

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✧ VIBE CHECK ✧

🎨 Colour palette: Indigo, broken-glass silver, warm amber stage light

🎧 Soundtrack: Lo-fi rehearsal takes, late-night acoustic covers, “Exit Music (For a Film)”

🌦️ Season: Early autumn - reflective, raw, but with potential for growth

💭 Mood: Quiet devastation and tentative reconnection

🌬️ Scent: Dusty guitar strings, damp rehearsal rooms, candle wax at a memorial

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★ TAROT CARD PULLED ★

Page of Cups (Tarot for You and Me)

In this deck, the Page of Cups is an artist, brush in hand, surrounded by the quiet glow of inspiration. It’s a card of emotional openness and creative expression—qualities George is forced to develop as he navigates both his musical dreams and the raw, uncharted territory of grief. Like the Page, he learns to process complex feelings not through detachment, but through art. This card gently reminds us that vulnerability is strength, and that even in the aftermath of tragedy, something beautiful can emerge.

Live publishes on the 5th of June, 2025. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.