Jessica Martinez

Carmen Bianchi has accomplished more in eighteen years than most teens her age do in a lifetime. She’s a Grammy award-winning, violin prodigy and in the fall she will attend Julliard. There’s just one more thing she has to do – win the prestigious Guarneri competition which will give her career a final boost. The only person standing in her way is Jeremy King, a British violin prodigy, and her biggest competition. When Carmen spies on Jeremy one day, she doesn’t expect to get caught, show more nor does she expect him to contact her afterward. As the competition draws closer, Carmen finds herself attracted to Jeremy, despite the warnings from her overbearing mother. Is Jeremy really into her, or is he just trying to throw her off before the competition? Should Carmen follow her mind, or her heart?

I was surprised by this book. Typically I’m weary of romance books, mainly because the main character falls in love too quickly. That wasn’t the case here. Ms. Martinez does a great job of pacing the romance aspect to make it feel believable. I also liked that the attraction between Carmen and Jeremy wasn’t the main focus. Ms. Martinez does a wonderful job of portraying the life of a competitive musician. I felt the pressure that Carmen’s mother and teacher put on her, and I sympathized with her and was able to understand her reluctance to take the anxiety medication her mother forced on her before performances. The writing is electric, and the story is engaging, my only problem was with the last couple of chapters. While I was happy with the outcome, I wasn’t sure I totally believed it. Still, this is a great read and one I would recommend.

(Review based on an Advanced Reader’s Copy courtesy of the publisher via Simon & Schuster’s GalleyGrab) show less

Carmen Bianchi is 17, but she isn’t a typical teen. Since age four, she has been groomed and cosseted and promoted as a child prodigy violinist. Unlike most other kids, her childhood was filled with music lessons, concerts, tours, recordings, and even a Grammy. Now, the most prestigious competition in classical music – the Guarneri – is coming up, and Carmen desperately wants to win. She even starts stalking her most likely rival, her 17-year-old British equivalent, Jeremy King. show more Jeremy, currently in Carmen’s hometown of Chicago to play at the finals before the Guarneri, turns out to be smug and flippant and – to Carmen’s embarrassment – even catches her “spying” on him. As much as he infuriates her and makes her want to wilt away from humiliation, he is also very cute, disarmingly vulnerable when he’s not preening over his talent, and utterly fantastic on the violin.

This has all the makings of a predictable romance, but that’s actually only a small part of a more interesting story. As readers discover in the prologue, Carmen’s life is not as halcyon as it seems. Carmen is addicted to the anti-anxiety drugs foisted upon her by her helicopter mom, Diana, who is also her manager. Diana’s own dreams of musical success were cut short by the development of polyps on her vocal chords, and she does not intend to lose out on this second chance to reach the pinnacle of success, albeit vicariously through her daughter. Her efforts to control her daughter’s life get more hysterical as the time shortens until the Guarneri Competition. The author adds some sympathetic notes to Diana’s song, but I found it hard to like her at all. Fortunately for Carmen, she also has a wonderful parent in the form of her stepdad, Clark. The only puzzle was what Clark saw in Diana.

As the big day approaches, there are several disasters just waiting to happen. Is Jeremy genuinely interested in the naïve and inexperienced Carmen, or is he just trying to sabotage her concentration and take up her practice time? Does Carmen’s illegitimate method to control her anxiety with drugs compromise her playing as well as give her an unfair advantage? Will the addiction destroy her in the long run? Just how far will her mother go to make sure Carmen wins?

Discussion: There are quite a few good discussion issues raised in this arresting story of a girl who is pressed to succeed so strongly that she loses track of who she really is or what she really wants. Similarly, Jeremy’s plight brings up questions of morality and identity as well. How they manage to cope with the strains upon them will keep readers riveted to the story.

In addition, this book provides an interesting twist on the usual triangle: we have a girl, we have a boy, and we have: the violin!

Finally, hooray for an author with the courage to portray the stepparent as the more loving caregiver!

Evaluation: This is not just a story about the desire for “Fame” in the arts. It’s much deeper than that: the hurts endured by both Carmen and Jeremy will tug at your heartstrings, even as they tug on their violin strings to create worlds of pure beauty instead of their real worlds full of heartache and pain. show less

Egalley thanks to Simon & Schuster

Absolutely beautiful book!

I usually stay away from contemporary romance be that adult or YA literature, but I always make exception for books about dancers or musicians. They fascinate me.

I read this book in one go. The writing sucks you right in, the pace is breathtaking and totally engrossing.

Carmen is a very likable character who is n the verge of breaking under her mother's demands and unbearable pressure of music competition. She is a child prodigy, who show more toured around the world playing as a solo violinist in the most prestigious venues for years.

She also started suffering from anxiety and panic attacks few years ago. And what did her ambitious mother do? Put her on Inderal instead of helping her with the therapy.

Now, off topic - I've worked in the pharmacy mainly dealing with psychiatric hospitals and rehabs, I also wrote quite a few articles on anxiety and depression. There are a lot of wonderful therapies, like cognitive-behavioral therapy which helps dealing with anxiety. Drugs just suppress it, but the causes of your problem stay until you learn to deal with them.

So whatever Carmen's mother was doing was destroying the girl's life. Until she met her adversary and main competitor, a brilliant violinist Jeremy.

These two were wonderful for each other, snarky and paranoid in the beginning, they got together on a dare, defying Carmen's mother and with the ulterior motives on Jeremy's side.
But what Jeremy did for Carmen is showed her that she forgot the joy music brought her without her drugs, how it used to make her feel alive.

Meeting Jeremy made Carmen re-evaluate what's important and take a step towards being independent, defy her mother and her teacher, and just live.

I loved her courage, her struggle to do what's right. Jeremy was just as complicated and multi-layered. He, um-m reminded me of Alex Pettyfer in Wild Child - cocky, but nice.

I loved that these two saw music in each other, but the romance wasn't the driving force in this book, - finding one's way was. show less

Amelia has always been overshadowed by her charismatic little sister Charly, but when Charly’s careless actions lands both sisters exiled to Canada, Amelia’s jealousy turns to anger. Anger that could make her regret everything, especially after Charly’s secret is revealed.
I loved this book, mostly because it surprised me. In the beginning Amelia has a very limited view of her sister’s teen pregnancy, even going so far as to insinuate that it is worse than her getting cancer. I was show more concerned that it would be a running theme throughout the book sending a very damaging message to young teens, but then Amelia begins to evolve from the influences of people she meets while exiled with her sister to Canada. While no clear cut right or wrong lines are drawn we are left with a sense of well developed characters with well developed motives. show less