You Can't Pay For Love

Dark Song
By: Gail Giles

Amber Medbery

Family love could be light or the love of family could be dark. The life of Ame was exotic - all the fancy vacations, clothing, and lives in a mansion - she had a life of a no stress. In the novel Dark Song by Gail Giles; the novel had a true meaning of how life can be good at times, but also very rough. “The disaster has been and gone.” (Giles 5)

In this book there is a girl named Ames Ford; Ames has a younger sister named Chrissy, a mom, and dad. In the beginning, Ames’s family goes to a big fancy rich vacation which leads them in their description of the family being rich. The two daughters go to a private school, have a big house, expensive clothes, and other fancy things. “Me: sweaters, jeans, books, a new laptop, more clothes, and new hiking boots.” (Giles 8) As the story goes on with the life of Ames at school with drama, love, drama, love, and then more drama and love, it’s a continuation. Time goes on and the life of the Ford family suddenly goes downhill. During school one day her best friend Emily - who’s dad is a lawyer - tells Ames that something is going to happen with her relatives, “Something about your dad and his job. If people are whispering, it’s not a promotion. There’s something wrong.” (Giles 22) The parents mention something about money and how they need to be careful of what they buy through these times, but as the story goes on no one tells Ames the truth about why her dad is now staying home, starts to have a drinking problem, her mom is now getting easily aggravated, and now their money has to be used very safely. In Ames situation, she has to deal with two things, her family and the drama at school about how her father and her family are getting poor… Life isn’t going so well as the book continues Ford’s family love is not good. The mother and father aren’t having any more good love connections, and the only thing that's possibly keeping them together is Chrissy and Ames, but Ames and her mother are definitely not in good terms as the - almost - ending of part one evolves. “When I got up, I found a note from Mom: If you plan to go to school, you can use the bus or ask Em to take you. I’m done chauffeuring you.” (Giles 102)

In my opinion, I think the book is very realistic - no wonder it’s in the genre realistic fiction - and dramatic. The choice of diction the author uses seems so satisfying. I connected with this character, especially Ames because I truly feel sometimes the way that Ames feels about how life changes so quickly and how it's unfair. Life sucks. The writer's language makes each character seems so special. This book impressed me with its way of having Ame's thoughts and her tones. through the writing. I really recommend having 14-year-olds through however old you would like. This is because throughout the book it is very mature for some parts and I would imagine the author to take in each moment that Ames witness rather than just laugh at it abruptly.

The book Dark Song by Gail Giles shows how life can change just in an instant.