You're Not Sett(l)ing This Book Down
Tara Dublin's debut self-published novel, The Sound of Settling, is a gem.
Note: I am cribbing some of this from the review I wrote on Amazon. Don’t judge me.
I've had the privilege of being friends with Tara Dublin for over 12 years now, meeting her in the early days of Twitter before it became a cesspool of hate and billionaire whinging. We’ve commiserated over right-wing shenanigans, talked through the horror of Donald Trump’s rise and the coordinated campaign of anti-Semitic spamming of her social media accounts (not to mention a SWATting effort as well), and I’ve watched her bust her ass to be tops at everything from social media to political commentary. None of her work to date, though, can beat her debut novel.
Maybe it's because I have known Tara so long that I could detect every personal reference in here, but The Sound of Settling resonated deeply with me, and once I had the time to dig in, I couldn't stop. And when I say couldn’t stop, I mean that I wrote the Amazon review at 5 am on a Sunday morning because I’d been up all night reading it. Tara's rock DJ background gave her the knowledge to write an immersive view into the life of a rock band and the emotional burden placed on those around them. Her wit sparkles throughout, especially when it comes to Lila and Blake's wisecracks in the book’s homestretch, and the ending is stunningly emotional.
I think a lot of people can relate to the thoughts that pour out across the book, the way we feel about sacrifice and family and spouses and love. We give up so much for love, a constant tension between our sense of self and our love for the most important people in our lives, and love is often the barrier to finding a satisfactory answer to the questions Lila asks herself in the moments she's alone.
Someone sign Tara to a book deal already. If she can produce this on her first try, I can't fathom what she'd do with proper support from a publisher, especially since she just announced she’s working on a sequel. Go buy the book. It’s absolutely worth the money.