Release Date: October 18th, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Rating: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: Sent from Author
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Now is not the time for Carmen to fall in love. And Jeremy is hands-down the wrong guy for her to fall for. He is infuriating, arrogant, and the only person who can stand in the way of Carmen getting the one thing she wants most: to win the prestigious Guarneri competition. Carmen's whole life is violin, and until she met Jeremy, her whole focus was winning. But what if Jeremy isn't just hot...what if Jeremy is better?
Carmen knows that kissing Jeremy can't end well, but she just can't stay away. Nobody else understands her--and riles her up--like he does. Still, she can't trust him with her biggest secret: She is so desperate to win she takes anti-anxiety drugs to perform, and what started as an easy fix has become a hungry addiction. Carmen is sick of not feeling anything on stage and even more sick of always doing what she’s told, doing what's expected.
Sometimes, being on top just means you have a long way to fall....
**This Review is based on an Advanced Reader's Copy. The final text and/or cover is subject to change.**
Okay. One word to sum it all up? Here it is:
MESMERIZING
verb
hold the attention of (someone) to the exclusion of all else or so as to transfix them.
That's exactly how I was during the whole course of the novel.
When I first saw the cover, of course, being a hypocrite and going against the moral of "Don't judge a book by it's cover" I of course, fell in love with it. And that's just by looking at the cover! I found out what it was, and asked the author if I could review her book, knowing I just HAD to get a copy of this. The amazing author, Jessica Martinez sent back a fast reply and a copy of the eGalley.
I. completely. FREAKED OUT.
Unfortunately, due to a whole bunch of deadlines, I had to push this one back to closer to the release date. And I wish I had no other deadlines before, because I was completely shocked (in a good way) of how amazing this book was. I read it one sitting, my laptop fully charged and me just staring at the screen for around 2 hours.
I haven't really read anything to do with fame and teens, except for probably Secrets of My Hollywood Life. But this...was so much more...raw-er. It was so emotional, I could feel Carmen's stress through her perspective, about pleasing everyone and trying to fit everything together. I could feel her frustration with her mom, her violin competition and her feelings so well. Martinez's words are exactly like music: they flow, yet isn't without it's change of tempo and rhythm.
Carmen's character was so stressed, I felt so sorry for her. I'm not prodigious in any what so ever way, so I haven't dealt with the stress and weight of expectations that Carmen has to go through. And then there's Jeremy. Have I ever told you all how obsessed with boys into music?? Well, he was certainly no exception. Loved him from the first sighting of him. No, wait. Scratch that. From the very first mentioning of him. That's how lovable he is. Love both these characters, and the tension is pretty high between them.
I loved how everything sums up in the end. We start the book with an event that happens further into the book, near the end. The story is leading up to this part. Everything eventually makes sense, and you're left thinking, "OMG! How did I not see that?!". That's how 'twisty and turny' this book is.
I used to play the Violin, but I had not so much of a clue of what pieces and operas and various other musical things that were mentioned in this book. Sure, I occasionally understood some of them, such as Carmen and jumped for joy when I remembered what rosin was from my days of playing the violin. But don't worry, it's nothing too major. It's just a very 'informatic' touch to the novel, so give some amazing insight into the world of classical music.
Virtuosity left my jaw-dropping. You'll get sucked into the world of music and drama with this amazing debut novel. Beautifully crude, you won't stop reading when you start. Jessica Martinez has truly captured the not-so-dazzling world behind the glamour of performance and fame.
Now I feel like reading this novel (:
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