Review: Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

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....

My Review:

Virtuosity is a great story of music, family, and love.  The characterization and plot are well done, and all of the music aspects are woven into the story well.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Carmen is a great character who is under much pressure to be successful.  She is a great violin player, and her mom expects her to win the Guarneri competition.  She takes anti-anxiety pills so she won't get nervous when she performs, but she thinks she might want to quit the pills.  She doesn't feel the joy of playing when she is onstage because the pills take her feelings away from her.  When she decides to perform without pills, she feels some withdrawal symptoms before her performance, but the performance itself is amazing.  She wants to no longer take the pills so she can prove to her mother that she is capable of performing without them.

Jeremy is a great character as well.  He enters the story seeming cocky and self-assured, but as the story continues, it is clear that there is more to him.  He has a competitive side to him, and the fact that he is Carmen's main competitor in the Guarneri causes some struggles between the two.  He really likes Carmen and is falling for her, but he also wants to win the Guarneri.  He believes that he needs to win for his younger brother, who is suffering from muscular dystrophy.  He knows that winning won't save his brother, but he is still determined to.  He asks Carmen to withdraw so he can win, making her become angry at him.  These two don't face an easy road in their relationship, but they manage to make it work.

Diana is Carmen's mother, a former opera singing soprano.  She damaged her vocal cords, and that ended her career.  She is now Carmen's stage manager, determined to make Carmen a winning violinist.  She does many things wrong in this book, especially something involved the judges and a large chunk of money.  Clark is Carmen's stepfather, but he is basically a father to her since her biological father isn't really a part of her life anymore.  He is supportive of Carmen, but he'd rather watch baseball than go to the symphony.  The family dynamic between the three is extremely well done.

If you like YA contemporary, read this book.

Katie 

Review: The Lighter Side of Life and Death by CK Kelly Martin

Acclaimed YA author C. K. Kelly Martin offers a sexy, soulful story of one confused boy, two girls, and all the complications that ensue in this romantic feel-good love story that celebrates friendship, first love, first lust, and second chances.

Sixteen-year-old Mason Rice is having the night of his life. He's just delivered an incredible performance in the school play, basked in celebratory afterglow vibes at the party of the year, and lost his virginity to one of his best friends—the gorgeous but previously unobtainable Kat Medina. His dreams are coming true, and the future looks golden.

Unfortunately, Kat sees things very differently. Crossing the friendship line was a big mistake, and all she wants is to forget it and move on, even if that means forgetting Mason altogether. What's a guy to do? Well, if you're Mason, you hang your hopes on the first attractive twenty-three-year-old you cross paths with. At first Mason wonders if he's imagining the chemistry . . . until Colette invites him over to her apartment. Suddenly Mason's living in a whole new world.

My Review:

The Lighter Side of Life and Death is a great book about a boy's life.  It touches on relationships between friends, family, and couples.  The male POV is well-written and the characterization is amazing too.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Mason is a good guy, easy to get along with, but still having some problems with people.  He is struggling with his feelings for his best friend, Kat Medina.  When they end up sleeping together after a party, he is happy because he thinks she might finally return his feelings.  Unfortunately for him, she decides to ignore him and she refuses to talk about that night.  Mason is really confused and doesn't know why she's acting this way.

Mason's relationship with Colette is well-written into the story.  She is friend's with his new stepmother's sister, and he meets her at the wedding shower.  He immediately feels attracted to her when he starts talking to her, so he makes an effort to meet her other times.  He has had his heart broken by Kat, so he is determined to make a relationship between him and Colette work.  When he first starts running into her at different places, she thinks he is stalking her, and she is reluctant to start any kind of relationship with him.  She is twenty-three, and he is sixteen, so she thinks that is too much of an age difference.  Six years isn't that big an age gap, but he is still in high school, and she is an adult.  Eventually, she gives in and they begin a relationship.  This relationship between them is very well-done.

The relationship between Mason and his family members is also well-done.  His dad sometimes gets mad at him for things Mason says to his stepsister, but they have a pretty good relationship.  They've been on their own together for many years.  His stepmother, Nina, seems like she cares about Mason and wants him to get along well with her kids.  Brianna is Mason's 13-year-old stepsister, and she doesn't seem to like Mason that much.  They have a few good moments, though.  Burke, Mason's younger stepbrother, is a sweet kid who gets along well with his new stepbrother, Mason.

If you like YA contemporary from the male POV, read this book.

Katie 

Waiting on Wednesday #28: Nobody But Us

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine.

 My pick for this week is:



Bonnie and Clyde meets Simone Elkeles in this addictively heart-wrenching story of two desperate teenagers on the run from their pasts.

They’re young. They’re in love. They’re on the run.

Zoe wants to save Will as much as Will wants to save Zoe. When Will turns eighteen, they decide to run away together. But they never expected their escape to be so fraught with danger....

When the whole world is after you, sometimes it seems like you can’t run fast enough.

Nobody But Us, told in alternating perspectives from Will and Zoe, is an unflinching novel, in turns heartbreaking and hopeful, about survival, choices, and love...and how having love doesn’t always mean that you get a happy ending. Described as “beautiful, heartbreaking, and exhilarating” by Kody Keplinger, author of The DUFF, Nobody But Us will prove irresistible to fans of Nina Lacour, Jenny Han, and Sara Zarr.
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This sounds like a great story.  I can't wait to read about Will and Zoe.  I love dual POV, and that's how this book is written.  I'll be reading this once it releases on January 29th.

What are you Waiting On this Wednesday?

Katie