Well-written and engaging YA.
In this excellent YA novel, Russell’s (Across the Mekong River, 2012) teenage cellist heroine, Emily Lopez, uses music as her framework for dealing with the world.
Smarting from a recent breakup, Emily is excited to spend the summer after her junior year touring Europe with her orchestra-conductor father, who’s promised to help her learn Saint-Saen’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in preparation for her August audition for Juilliard’s pre-college program. It’s actually a re-audition, since her first tryout was “only marginally less disastrous than the sinking of the Titanic.” Emily has trouble with anxiety and OCD; her habits include tapping her music stand three times with her bow before she plays. She’s devastated when her father calls off the trip, citing a busy schedule—a recurring theme since her parents’ divorce. Instead, Emily is forced to spend her summer in Montana at a ranch owned by her stepfather Marty’s dad. But once she gets there—and meets a dreamy half-Crow ranch hand named Breck—she starts to realize that she can build a life around music without letting it take over. Russell does a fantastic job creating Emily’s world, and the young girl’s voice is charming and plausible right from the start, when she rattles off her to-do list: “4. Learn Saint-Saens concerto pronto. 5. Forget Jordon exists. Correction—forget ALL boys exist. 6. Buy DVD—Yoga for Stress Reduction.” The characters who surround her are fleshed out as well, all with their own problems and strengths: Her stepgrandfather, Jake, who hides his fears about getting older under a cantankerous facade, is a particular delight. The chapter titles are musical terms—subito forzando, capriccioso, dolce—that serve as descriptions of events and subtle ways to underscore Emily’s worldview, steeped in music. The ending comes too soon, though, and readers will wish they had more time to enjoy the characters.
Well-written and engaging YA.Pub Date: April 27, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
Plenty of heat but not enough substance to keep the fire burning.
A romantically entangled stepbrother and stepsister in Los Angeles navigate their tumultuous history and take their relationship to new levels in this translated title by an Argentinian author.
Nick and Noah are madly in love: Their mutual attraction is established as the book opens with Noah’s 18th birthday party, during which she and Nick have an explicitly described sexual encounter behind the pool house. This fiery scene sets the stage for twists and turns in the lovers’ journey, including a separation when Noah is forced to go on a monthlong mother-daughter European tour. But reminders of their pasts (chronicled in the 2023 series opener, My Fault) threaten to undermine their stability. Nick’s wealthy estranged mother makes an unfortunate appearance, while Noah is haunted by the trauma of her father’s violent death. The blend of everyday complications (jealousy, parental disapproval) with frothy visions of high-society life is at once lacking in subtlety and intimately irresistible. The series initially gained popularity on Wattpad, and the novel follows the episodic structure typical of works on that site; sensual encounters occur at reliable intervals. Still, the characters and their milieu feel formulaic, and the writing is stilted. The differences between the two—Nick is five years older and has an office job; Noah has just finished high school—makes their suffocatingly possessive relationship feel particularly squirm-worthy. Nick and Noah and their families read white.
Plenty of heat but not enough substance to keep the fire burning. (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781728290768
Page Count: 450
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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