Sounds Like Love

Joni’s ongoing collaboration with Sasha reiterates the novel’s theme of Music and Songwriting as Self-Expression. Although she and Sasha agreed to write a song together, Joni continues to face writer’s block. When she sits down at the piano, “not a single [key] call[s]” out to her (216). For years, music has been a form of solace for Joni. In the present, however, even the piano feels foreign and unapproachable. She has passing moments of creative thought, but each of these inspirational threads rapidly snaps, leaving her “holding the frayed end” (216). The image of the snapping thread conveys notions of fragility and irretrievability—echoing Joni’s emotional and artistic frustration. Without a way to express her thoughts and feelings, Joni feels lost, alone, and frustrated. To rediscover her creative inspiration and artistic passion, she must learn to open her heart to love again.

The more Joni and Sasha work together, the closer Joni comes to rediscovering her artistic and emotional voices. Their relationship is an essential facet of her artistic journey. Her internal monologue during one of their songwriting sessions provides insight into this artistic and romantic exchange:

I knew we needed to finish this song, but the more of the day I spent with him, the less I wanted it to end. The melody in our heads got progressively louder throughout the day, and we were getting louder in each other’s heads, too. With it came a strange sort of connection (221).

This passage implies that their artistry and romance are entangled. Joni and Sasha’s collaborative work on their song symbolizes their burgeoning intimacy. When they’re writing melodies and lyrics, they’re connecting on a spiritual level that Joni hasn’t experienced before. Sharing their consciousness inspires them to be more vulnerable. The novel implies that music and songwriting can create human understanding. This is true for Joni and Sasha. The longer they work on their song, the more they open up to each other about their fraught relationships and pasts. Sharing these private aspects of their personal histories draws them closer together and deepens their trust in one another.

Joni’s self-development, which thematically reflects The Journey Toward Healing and Self-Reclamation, is peppered with interpersonal conflicts, which challenge her to own her guilt, regret, and mistakes. Her confrontations with Hank, Wynona, Gigi, Sasha, and Van make her uncomfortable in the moment, but ultimately usher her toward change. Instead of tamping down her emotions, Joni begins to articulate her frustrations to her loved ones. They, in turn, communicate their frustrations with her. These intense scenes of dialogue imply that interpersonal conflict catalyzes self-reflection and change. In the past, Joni and her loved ones kept their frustrations to themselves to spare one another’s feelings. Withholding did nothing to facilitate intimacy and even precluded Joni’s growth. Once she starts opening up about her fears and insecurities, she can more confidently claim who she is and what she wants.

In addition, Joni’s connection with Sasha helps her come to terms with her mom’s health condition and impending death. Sasha is the only one who can fully relate to Joni’s heartbreak over Wynona, because he lost his mom. She therefore trusts Sasha’s opinion of her situation and finds comfort in his reassurance: “I still miss her every day,” he says of his mom, “But some days I miss her more than others […] And then I have to remind myself that she’s gone, but bits of her stay” (241). Sasha is intimate with death, loss, and grief. His experience offers Joni a balm for her heartbreak. The lovers’ multifaceted relationship ushers Joni toward personal healing.

The chapter titles continue to reference popular songs. The title of Chapter 26 (in which Joni and Sasha connect more deeply on her uncle’s boat) refers to Van Morrison’s “Days Like This,” while that of Chapter 28 (in which Joni confronts her parents about disregarding the future) derives from Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One.” Chapter 29 (in which Joni and Gigi argue) takes its title from Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).” The title of Chapter 32 (in which Joni breaks things off with Van) refers to Bruce Springsteen’s hit “Dancing in the Dark,” while Chapter 33 (in which she and Sasha consummate their relationship) is titled after the Rolling Stones hit “Wild Horses” and its lyric “couldn’t drag me away.”