Hi friends! Welcome back to another discussion question post. This month, for those who don’t know, we read and discussed Like a Love Song by Gabriela Martins, and let me tell you, we had an absolute blast doing so. Grab a warm drink and a cozy blanket, and keep reading to see what we thought of Like a Love Song.
Question 1: One of the biggest plot lines in Like a Love Song is Nati growing comfortable with sharing her Brazilian culture with her fans and being true to who she really is. What do you think of her character progression, and what scene do you think is the most pivotal in her choice to fully embrace her Brazilian roots?
Caitlyn: Although our situations aren’t the same, I do understand some of Nati’s struggles with fully embracing her heritage. I think that the journey Nati goes through over the course of the novel has a lovely and very realistic arc. If you’ve had a hard time embracing a certain part of yourself, you’re not going to suddenly wake up one day and be ready to fully embrace it. Little things will happen along the way, and then one day something will happen and all the pieces will fall into place and you’ll realize that you’re finally ready, and that’s why I really appreciated Nati’s journey.
Part of why I really liked her relationship with William — both the romantic and platonic aspects of it — is that he was able to be the sounding board she needed when it came to reconnecting with her family in Brazil. It’s clear that she didn’t know how to talk to her mom about her fears, because that’s her family and Nati doesn’t want to say anything that would hurt her mom, so she kept all those fears and worries bottled up inside. Whereas with William, since he doesn’t know the family, he could look at the situation and help Nati see a different point of view in an unbiased way, which I think gave her the confidence to start trying.
The most important scene, to me, is when she’s in the cafe in the airport in Portugal after William has left and the two fans — Carla and Betina — come up to her. That’s actually one of my favorite songs in the book as it’s such an honest and open scene for all the characters involved. I think in general, the phrase “Come to Brazil!” has become a meme online (which I’m not getting into, but that’s always felt really weird to me), but I think that the girls telling Nati how much it would mean to them if she were to come to Brazil, and in general how much she had inspired them, made things really click into place for her. She realizes that for them, she’s more than just a singer, she’s an example of their culture in the mainstream and she’s adored and praised. I really think, had that scene not happened, Nati probably would’ve continued to push aside that integral part of her in order to be seen as more “marketable” to an American audience. The girls didn’t tell Nati anything she didn’t already know, but they gave her the little push she needed to finally take the step that she’d been too scared to make before.
Cossette: While I’m not from Brazil, like Nati, I really resonated with her diasporic experience. Just like her, I’ve spent a lot of time living away from my hometown, and I constantly feel like I’m losing bits of my culture. I’ve seen it in my cousins too, who have less of a tether to home than I do, and how they aren’t — like Caitlyn said — ready to fully embrace their culture. It really takes time, patience, and intentional effort, in the same way that any relationship needs time and effort to grow. Reading about Nati choosing to embrace her heritage was just so heartwarming and lovely.
A scene that was really special to me was Nati’s phone calls with her grandmother, and her conversations with her family. Despite the language barrier, they’re all so proud and supportive and just as loving.
Mary: I loved seeing Nati become more comfortable with her Brazilian heritage, and really grow into it throughout the novel. I think it’s the most special thing about this book, especially as you continue to read through her journey and discover more about her. For me, I think I have to agree with Caityn and say the most pivotal scene was in the train station with some fans. I loved seeing her interact with people who held so much admiration for her, and realise how much she means to people. I think it was written in such a beautiful and realistic way that it really made my heart warm.
Question 2: Were there any songs (or albums) that remind you of Like a Love Song?
Caitlyn: Every time I read the title I think of Love You Like a Love Song by Selena Gomez, and I’ve been hearing that song on the radio a lot lately, which I think is funny. I do think that Like a Love Song has a lot of The Lucky One by Taylor Swift vibes, mostly toward the beginning of the story where Nati is feeling more lost. I also feel that Back In My Body by Maggie Rogers reflects some of Nati’s journey throughout the book.
Seeing Blind by Niall Horan (featuring Maren Morris) definitely reminds me of Nati and William. I could also see Nati visiting William in London and singing and dancing along to London Boy by Taylor Swift as he just watches and laughs.
Cossette: I also think of Love You Like a Love Song by Selena Gomez! I’m also reminded of Taylor Swift’s I Think He Knows and Nothing New. I Think He Knows reminds me of Nati and William’s dynamic, and particularly the they tell you while you’re young / “girls, go out and have your fun” / then they hunt and slay the ones who actually do it / criticize the way you fly when you’re soarin’ through the sky / shoots you down and then they sigh, and say “she looks like she’s been through it” and it’s like i can feel time moving / how can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22? / and will you still want me when i’m nothing new? / how long will it be cute / all this crying in my room / whеn you can’t blame it on my youth and roll your eyes with affеction? lines.
Mary: I definitely third what Cait and Coco have said with Love You Like a Love Song by Selena Gomez. For whatever reason, I always think of Love Song by Sara Bareilles, but I think that’s because of the title of the song more than anything! I also think of Absolutely Smitten by dodie – I think it’s a super fun song that makes me think of Nati and William as a whole. I love that song a lot, and I feel like they would too!
Question 3: Another big theme in Like a Love Song is the topic of celebrity culture, and how we approach celebrities. Did it make you re-evaluate the way you approach media and contribute to celebrity culture in any way, shape or form?
Caitlyn: I think that Like a Love Song does a great job of discussing the positive and negative sides of celebrity culture.
On the positive side, Like a Love Song shows the importance of diversity in the mainstream media through scenes where the two Brazilian girls speak to Nati in the airport that I mentioned in the previous question, and when Nati meets her favorite singer Gemma Santiago. Those two scenes are some of my favorites in the book, and show one of the better sides of celebrity culture. As a person of color, it is so important to see a person who looks like you not only reach that level of fame, but also represent your culture and be embraced by mainstream media. The way that the two young Brazilian girls, Carla and Betina, looked up to Nati reminded me a bit of how I viewed Lea Salonga as a child and how she inspired me.
On the more negative side, Like a Love Song definitely tackles the negative and harmful sides of celebrity culture. There’s this belief that as a society we are entitled to every aspect of celebrities’ lives, the good and the bad, and then we exploit it. I think that is shown extremely well in the aftermath of Nati and Trent. At that moment, Nati reacts in a way that I think most people in her situation would react, however, because it happens at an award show and she’s being filmed, her emotions are then used against her and turned into a meme. Something that I really hate with celebrity culture is how, as a society, we tend to view celebrities as something other than people. Because they’ve chosen to follow their dreams and passions that just so happen to result in life in the public eye, society has decided that they should not be awarded the same privacy that those outside of the public eye deserve.
While there are many great aspects of social media, there are many negative ones too and I think that social media plays a huge part in celebrity culture and the public’s media consumption. Because celebrities are now just a click away on Instagram, Twitter or TikTok it’s easy for the lines between appropriate and inappropriate behavior blur, and people often cross them. People assume that because they’re posting anonymously, their words aren’t going to affect the person that they’re speaking about, both positively and negatively. I think that we also forget that celebrities are just like us. I don’t think I’m the only one who could say that I could get hundreds of nice and lovely comments on one of my posts, but the one negative comment is going to be the one that will stick with me. As a society, we’re so used to harping on negatives about ourselves, and celebrities are no different, they’re people just like us but with bigger, shinier, more “in your face” jobs, and because of that there’s this culture that you can say anything you want to or about them because you’re not saying it to their faces.
Being able to interact with your favorite celebrities online can be incredibly exciting, but the culture can also be incredibly toxic. I think it’s really important that Like a Love Song shows the positive and negative sides of that, and I hope that in reading this (and other books that cover the same topics), readers become more conscious of how they interact with celebrities over social media and in person.
Cossette: I really loved how Like a Love Song discusses celebrity culture. Just like Caitlyn said, I think it talks about it in two ways — the positive aspect of representation, and then the harmful facets of celebrity culture.
Like a Love Song starts off with showing the negative aspects of celebrity culture; the complete invasion of privacy that Nati has is absolutely appalling, as is the way she’s mocked and trolled on the internet for responding to something in a human manner is so heartbreaking. Everyone goes through moments where they don’t respond in the best way; I couldn’t imagine having that documented on the internet forever and being made fun of.
I think social media and celebrity culture go hand in hand; we have a wealth of entertainment at our fingertips, and so we want everything now. Media cycles move quickly, and also everything on the internet is forever. With Instagram and Twitter, among other forms of social media, celebrities really are simply at our fingertips. We’re able to communicate with them in ways that we couldn’t before, and I think sometimes people see large amounts of followers and forget that there’s a real person behind the screen. Just because someone has a large following doesn’t mean they won’t be able to see harmful messages, nor do those harmful messages hurt any less. And don’t even get me started on Deux Moi — I’m just as guilty as anyone else for checking it, but it’s also incredibly alarming how people have no regard for someone’s privacy, and are more than happy to just send in a photo of where they last saw a celebrity. I know, for a fact, that I would feel incredibly creeped out if someone did that for me.
I think with celebrities, we sometimes forget that there is a real person there. Celebrities are usually shiny and golden, and presented in a light that makes them marketable and likable. Sometimes, I also think that people forget that the celebrity persona that someone puts on is different from who they truly are, in the way that I’m a different version of myself to my family, versus my friends, and especially at work.
On the other hand, Like a Love Song also shows how social media can be used in a positive light. It allows Nati to connect with her fans, it opens up a channel of communication between them and that is truly lovely. You can tell from the get-go how much the fans mean to Nati, and they play a huge part in why she continues to release music, and put up with the negative aspects of celebrity culture. And like Caitlyn said, it’s also an opportunity for people to feel represented and seen.
Mary: I think Like a Love Song definitely made me think about it more! I think, for me, the most interesting thing to remember about LALS is that Nati is a literal teenager. She’s a teenager thrown into fame, and now she has to navigate growing up while remaining positive in the public’s eye. I can’t even imagine how hard that is! Being a teenager is, usually, a messy time of peoples’ lives – you’re expected to love and lose and deal with big emotions very suddenly, and the fact that Nati doesn’t get to experience/work through that privately is truly unfortunate. In fact, she goes through a very emotional moment that gets made public for the entire world to see, just to be told she’s overreacting. Nati isn’t allowed to just exist as a teenager, she has to exist as a global pop sensation. Honestly, it’s reminiscent of how Olivia Rodrigo is being treated in the industry these days. People criticize her for her music being too teenage angst forgetting that, hello, she’s a teenager! Of course her feelings are going to be reminiscent of a 16 year old girl’s because, surprise surprise, she is one. I think it’s a very interesting factor to remember, and I think Gabriela Martins did a great job in communicating that.
Question 4: How did you feel about William as a love interest? Did you think that he and Nati worked well together?
Caitlyn: William Ainsley, my beloved. I fell in love with William right away. I love how much he loves his family and how he works so hard to stay connected to him while so far away from home. I love his fun and colorful socks (Ashley, don’t hate on the socks), but most importantly, I love his unwillingness to change who he is.
I spoke a bit about this in question 1, but I think that William’s strong sense of character was perfect to pair with Nati, who felt so out of place and like she didn’t know who she was. He was a great anchor for her, and I loved how he listened to and respected her. He’s the sweetest and I adore him.
Cossette: I absolutely adore William! I think he is just the sweetest little guy, and I loved how much he cared about those in his life. He truly wanted what was best for Nati and his family, and you could easily tell that he’d stop at nothing for the ones he loved. I think that Nati and William worked really well together as a pairing too; Nati encouraged William to break out of his shell a little more, and William encouraged Nati to find herself and stay connected to her culture.
Mary: I really liked him! I think they both compliment each other so beautifully, and I loved their dynamic. I don’t think I’ve ever read someone as wholesome as William, if I’m being honest! I think they worked very well together, and I think they brought the best out of each other.
Question 5: How do the differences in Nati and William’s gender, race, and sexual orientation affect their dynamic, how they handle rising fame and the exposure that comes with that?
Caitlyn: I think that part of why Nati and William are a good team is because they have different life experiences and they’re able to help the other see things from a different point of view — which I covered a little bit in my answer for question four. On the other hand, because of their differences — Nati being a straight Brazilian woman, and William being a white bisexual man — they’re going to react to certain situations differently.
The two face challenges that the other hasn’t, and probably won’t ever have to face. William will never be able to fully understand the way that Nati has to constantly prove herself and fight for respect in the industry as a Brazilian woman, and Nati can’t understand the struggles and fears that William may have as being a bisexual man in the entertainment industry, and I think those differences are really reflected in the way that they approach fame.
I think that because of his sexuality and the way that society seems to be uncomfortable with bisexual men (and people in general, but there does seem to be less acceptance for bisexual men), William is much more uncomfortable with the level of fame that Nati has. He mentions in the book that while he loves acting, he is also doing this to help provide for his family and that is part of why he wants to keep a low profile. However, because he’s not out to the public eye (not that he has to be, he does not owe anyone any information about himself that he doesn’t wish to share), and because he is a white man, he doesn’t face much scrutiny from the public. He simply is allowed to exist, which is not a luxury that Nati has.
Cossette: Seconding what Caitlyn has said! A large part of why Nati and William are good together is because they’re willing to learn about each other’s identities. One of my favorite scenes in Like a Love Song is when Nati finds out that William is bisexual.
“No. My best friend is bi, but I know it’s not the same…since you’re a guy. Different struggles and all. I mean—I’ll do some research. I don’t want you to have to school me on anything I can find online. I don’t want to sound ignorant—which I sort of am, to be fair. But…Yeah. It’s not fair to you. I don’t want to be a bigot.”
First, I really appreciate how Nati acknowledges how William, a white man, would have different experiences than her best friend. I also found it refreshing when Nati said that she’d do her own research, and that it wasn’t necessary for William to educate her. As a bisexual woman of color, it can get emotionally draining when you’re constantly expected to educate people based on your experiences.
William has a very different approach to fame than Nati does. He doesn’t have the same fanbase that Nati does, and hasn’t really had his big break yet, which makes it easier for him to set certain boundaries to protect his family (and himself). That isn’t to say that he doesn’t have his own struggles, especially being a bisexual man in the entertainment industry, but he isn’t under the microscopic lens the same way that Nati is.
Mary: Thirding here! I think one of my favourite things about their relationship is just how willing both were to learn more about the other. I think Cossette and Caitlyn have covered it better than I can, but I think the fact that they’re both so patient with each other when things get revealed is so lovely. There’s never any pressure to talk, or keep talking, they do it because they trust each other fully. There’s many great moments like this throughout the novel that I adore.
I really enjoyed reading about how different their approaches to fame were. To me, it came across as William using it more as a means to get by – he was doing it for the sake of his family, for their stability, rather than for his own gain. In fact, he didn’t necessarily love it, as opposed to Nati, who really seemed to enjoy being famous. I think his experience is a lot easier because he fits the mould of what Hollywood ‘expects’ him to be – a man and white. I think it’s a lot easier for him, too, because he isn’t out to the world yet, so he gets to live a less invasive life.
Question 6: Is there anything you wished to see in Like a Love Song that didn’t necessarily happen? What would be something you’d like to see if a sequel was ever made?
Caitlyn: Something I would’ve loved to see was how Nati and William rebuilt their relationship. I appreciated that they took the time to develop their friendship and then got back into a (real) relationship, but I wish that we got to see that instead of just reading that it happened.
I also would’ve loved to have seen Nati reunite with her grandmother and the rest of her family in Brazil. It was huge for Nati to reconnect with them, and realize that even though she hadn’t been to visit them in years, there was no animosity on their end. They love and support her and just want to see her, so I wish that we could’ve gotten that in the book.
Cossette: I felt like this book was really short, and I would’ve loved to see more of Nati and William’s relationship, as well as Nati learning more about her culture. I don’t necessarily think there needs to be a sequel, but I’d love a spin-off about Padma and Brenda, and their dynamic!
Mary: I would’ve loved to have seen more of Nati making music, and performing! I always love performance elements in books, so I would’ve loved to have seen more. I would’ve loved to have seen more of William’s acting projects, too, but that’s okay! As for a sequel, I would love for it to follow Nati on tour – I think the travel element would make for such a fun story and and some interesting plot points.
Question 7: What other books/movies/etc. would you recommend to people who liked Like a Love Song?
Caitlyn: If you’re a fan of the celebrity aspect of Like a Love Song, I think that you’d enjoy Axie Oh’s XOXO, which happened to be our book club pick back in October of 2021. I would also recommend Lyla Lee’s I’ll Be the One which also involves the performing arts, and will make you laugh, smile, and probably shed a tear along the way.
Cossette: I’d definitely have to recommend Miss Americana; I think Taylor Swift’s documentary really highlights what it’s like to be a celebrity in modern day, and I think Nati would really relate to it. In terms of books, I think that Gloria Chao’s Rent a Boyfriend is another fun spin on fake dating, with important discussions about culture and family dynamics.
Mary: I think readers might like You’d Be Mine by Erin Hahn! It’s about two celebrities in the music industry, and I remember really enjoying it when I picked it up a few years ago! Maybe I will re-read to see if it still holds up.
Thank you so much for reading and answering our discussion questions for May! We cannot wait to discuss our next book, THE CARTOGRAPHERS, with everyone. See you all again next month!
