Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
Release Date: October 18th 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 304
Overall: ♥♥♥½
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 Thoughts:
Let
me start off by saying that Martinez’s writing was amazing. She puts a
new spin on contemporary YA, based around music, which was very genuine
and alluring.
Carmen cuts right down to the core. She captures the ascents of main protag Mia, from If I Stay, a little bit. In a lot of ways Carmen and Mia are a like. Their love for music was so...real, inspiring, and passionate. I just wish that Martinez explored a little more of Carmen’s Ideral addiction, but I think that adds to her character. She discovers that she's strong, independent, vulnerable girl. I just took it as something she had to do on her own and by herself. All her life she been the best, then she “meets” Jeremy. He awakens her...he shares with her about how he feels alive when he’s onstage performing. Like he’s flying. Something Carmen hasn’t felt in while since she started taking Inderal(it numbs her.) Carmen realizes that her addiction is destroying her and her love for music...the heartbreaking part is that her mother is in on it too.
Jeremy, I have mixed feeling about him. His relationship with Carmen... it always felt a little guarded. Music and competition talk was a very touchy subject for them. They tried not spoil to let it everything, but it’s still there.
Martinez leaves a lot to be desired, like with Carmen’s relationship with her mother Diana, if she went on to Julliard. I just want an update, you know. I feel like their stories are not yet over. I’m hoping to see them again!(which would be awesome, because these characters a freakin haunting me! lol)
Carmen cuts right down to the core. She captures the ascents of main protag Mia, from If I Stay, a little bit. In a lot of ways Carmen and Mia are a like. Their love for music was so...real, inspiring, and passionate. I just wish that Martinez explored a little more of Carmen’s Ideral addiction, but I think that adds to her character. She discovers that she's strong, independent, vulnerable girl. I just took it as something she had to do on her own and by herself. All her life she been the best, then she “meets” Jeremy. He awakens her...he shares with her about how he feels alive when he’s onstage performing. Like he’s flying. Something Carmen hasn’t felt in while since she started taking Inderal(it numbs her.) Carmen realizes that her addiction is destroying her and her love for music...the heartbreaking part is that her mother is in on it too.
Jeremy, I have mixed feeling about him. His relationship with Carmen... it always felt a little guarded. Music and competition talk was a very touchy subject for them. They tried not spoil to let it everything, but it’s still there.
Martinez leaves a lot to be desired, like with Carmen’s relationship with her mother Diana, if she went on to Julliard. I just want an update, you know. I feel like their stories are not yet over. I’m hoping to see them again!(which would be awesome, because these characters a freakin haunting me! lol)
e-ARC/ARC copy courtesy of Publicist & Galley Grab for honest review.
Gorgeous paperback copy, it's EXACTLY how I picture Carmen to look like!
