Noteworthy is an amazing book with the best set of characters I've read about in a long time! The writing was both funny and emotional and the author managed to really get me invested in the characters and their lives. 
Great diversity and important themes are also present in the book. I absolutely loved Noteworthy and can't wait to see what Redgate comes up with next!

Jordan Sun is tired of getting nowhere in the acting program at her prestigious art school. There just aren't a lot of parts for an Asian Alto II. When a spot opens up in a men's a cappella group, she decides to audition, disguised as a boy. 

I was excited to read Noteworthy because it sounded so fun. A cappella, a girl disguised as a boy, what could be better? I found the book had depths I wasn't expecting and tackled weighty issues. It wasn't the light read I anticipated, but it was rich and reflective. Riley Redgate's Noteworthy has a little bit of everything and was well worth the read.

This book was amazing. I wish I had gotten around to reading it sooner. The whole book revolves around the different types of relationships you can have in your life. Riley's writing style was beautifully done as well as the issue of gender and identity.

Noteworthy by Riley Redgate is such a cute book. I found myself being completely immersed into the story.

I can only apologise for leaving it so long to review this book - I read it nearly four months ago but have only now come back to write something. As it's been such a long time I can't really give a full review but in short it was a fun read about music, friendships and relationships with a great diverse mix of characters. It'll be a great summer read for fans of Pitch Perfect in particular.

I was first attracted to Noteworthy for two reasons: 1) I heard somewhere that it was like a modern day Mulan retelling but with a cappella, and 2) the main character is a girl named Jordan. What I got out of Noteworthy was so much more than that.

Jordan Sun, a Chinese-American scholarship student at Kensington-Blaine Boarding School, needs to prove to her parents (and to herself) that sending her across the country to attend a performing arts school is worth the money her family doesn’t have. The book begins at the start of her junior with her failing her audition yet again due to her low voice. Desperate for a solution, Jordan takes a risk when an email lands in her inbox about auditions for the elite, all-male a cappella group on campus. She pulls together her best guy outfit, dons a wig, and tries out for the Sharpshooters. Much to her surprise, she actually makes it in. With nothing to lose (since she doesn’t have any friends due to dedicating the past two years to her now graduated ex-boyfriend), Jordan goes all in by cutting her long hair and spending all of her time outside of class as “Julian” with the other seven Sharpshooters.

I loved the relationships Jordan establishes with the other Sharpshooters. Each of the guys are well-developed, and the banter they share was so entertaining to read about. I loved how these guys who are very different from each other came together through music and a cappella. I loved how fun the book was and the humor with in it. I loved Jordan and the journey she goes on as she figures out who she is and proves her worth. I just really loved this book, okay?!

Diversity is incorporated into Noteworthy seamlessly, as it should be. Life is full of different types of people and backgrounds, and I loved how diverse the cast of characters was and how they made the novel stronger. The focus of the book isn’t about being bi or Chinese-American or poor, it’s about finding yourself. I appreciated the work Riley Redgate put into addressing the context of cross-dressing within the book, phrases like “man-up,” and sexuality.

Overall, I adored Noteworthy, and it is currently my favorite read of 2017. I highly recommend this one. Like, drop whatever you’re reading now and pick it up right away!

A fun, enjoyable read. A book to give to fans of music, acapella, and Pitch Perfect!

Today, I'm going to be reviewing Noteworthy by Riley Redgate, a book that I've been hearing a lot of buzz about in the bookish community. Yet, as always, my opinion seems to differ from the norm… I didn't like this book. I didn't like it, and I have a lot of thoughts on it, so let's cut the jabber and get straight into the review.

If I had to summarise this story in a word, I'd have to say 'cluttered'. Personally, I felt like this book tried to deal with a lot of different issues including bisexuality, cross-dressing and transgender, socio-economic difficulties, disability, marital problems, infidelity, gender roles and a host of other societal issues. Which meant that, because it tried to achieve so much, I just think overall the message and the narrative became messy. Ultimately, this was a story of self-discovery and acceptance, a simple but time-honoured concept. If Redgate had simply taken that idea, and modernised the discussion through focussing on Jordan's bisexuality it would have been enough substance for a book of this size. Yes, the brief discussion of cross-dressing and transgender fitted into the story, but I don't think it added anything to it, and it definitely didn't do the complexities of the issues regarding sexuality justice. It was a discussion for another time, another book perhaps.

On a much lighter note, I need to get something off my chest. Why did Jordan have a pseudonym? Her name was Jordan - a unisex name! When the book was essentially attempting to establish that both her role as a theatre student and her role as a Sharp were the same, why didn't she just keep her name? I don't understand!

Anyway, back to things that matter, let's talk about her love-interest, Isaac. Surprisingly, even as a huge romance junkie, I didn't get this relationship. I can't really put my finger on the problem, but it just felt strange to me, too… insta-lovey. I mean, Isaac finds out she's a girl and all of a sudden is kissing her? Please.

On a more positive note, as any Pitch Perfect fan will appreciate, acapella is the best, and I really liked the concept of the book (it's the reason I picked it up after all). However, I'm not entirely sure how well acapella was represented on paper. The discussion of the harmonies, even as a music student, didn't really paint a vivid picture, and seemed almost silly in my head. Like I said, it was an interesting idea, one that got me really interested, but I'm afraid it just didn't cut the mustard for me.

The final point I have to make is not entirely the book's fault, but it can't get away entirely without blame either. This book took me forever to read. Literally, like almost a month… an entire month! Usually, I read a book in about a week (maybe a week and a half) so you can imagine how sad I was that this consumed so much of my reading month. I will admit that some of this was due to my crazy schedule, but if the story had really hooked me, I would have made the time to read it - and I didn't.

Overall, I guess I just found this book vastly disappointing after all the hype I'd heard about it. I appreciate what Redgate was trying to achieve and I really enjoyed some aspects of the discussion she opened up in this book. However, I just needed her to streamline it a little. To pick one (or two) topics to really get into, and to save the rest for a later date. I ended up giving this book 2/5 stars, which is probably a little harsh, it's more like a 2.75, but I can't quite bring myself to round it up to a 3.

This novel snuck up on me and for the first few chapters I was seriously on the fence and considered putting it down. It's a premise that has been done before - Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and the movie She's The Man both come to mind - however it is cleverly done so it doesn't feel like something I've read before. I loved the diversity in this novel. The main character is Chinese- American, various socio-economic levels are represented, and there are LGBTQ characters. I also loved how mental health is touched upon. There is definitely so much more going on with this novel than the blurb suggests, which was a pleasant surprise.

This book was sold to me as “Pitch Perfect meets She’s the Man” and I KNEW I HAD TO HAVE IT! Pitch Perfect is hilarious and She’s the Man is one of those movies that made me feel empowered as a pre-teen haha. So yes, I had high expectations from this book. (Which sadly weren’t met in every way, but it was still enjoyable and fun.)

Jordan is a second generation immigrant going to a privileged boarding school for the performing arts. She is taller than most girls, she’s not very comfortable with her body, and she can’t get a role in any play because of her voice! She’s been trying to get into theater for a while, and every time she tries, she gets rejected. Jordan decides to use her voice in another way, and auditions as a guy, to get into an all-boys a Capella group!
To stay “undercover”, Jordan has to cross-dress. While doing so, she considers the differences between cross-dressing and being trans. At ALL TIMES, Jordan considers herself as a female. She never considers herself as trans, and the moments where these comparisons are brought up, it’s for Jordan to acknowledge her privilege as a cisgender girl, who struggles to fit into what is known as “feminine” but does not understand the struggles of being trans. In the process, Jordan discovers her bisexuality, and no matter the sex of whoever she ends up with,  it’s made clear that she is bisexual.

I loved that the book maintains itself as a light and funny read, while touching important topics like immigration, the problems with our messed up healthcare, living in poverty, and struggling with finding who you are and where you fit. The characters are fun and relateable. There’s even a religious gay character, which I’m VERY surprised to find, but I definitely love! (I made a friend pick up a copy just for this detail! He deserves to see himself in books.) 

I would have loved to see some trans representation, considering there are multiple times where trans people are mentioned, and considering how much Jordan thinks about the topic… it would have been amazing to actually see a character that could educate Jordan (and us) better! It’s a bit of a missed opportunity, but overall, the book is full of great characters and it’s entertaining!

I’m curious to see more from this author, so I’ll definitely have to do my homework about Riley Redgate.

Noteworthy snuck up on me. It is never a book I would have thought I would love, but I fell head over heals for it. I heard acapella and assumed it wouldn't be for me, but it wound up being one of the funniest and most charming contemporaries that I have read this entire year.

The narration of this book is stellar. It starts in the very first line, and keeps you hooked and laughing to the end. Jordan's voice is self-aware, honest, and so authentic. She has constant fears and anxieties, and she isolates herself but longs for connection. Everything I loved about this book can probably be traced directly back to the skill shown in Jordan's voice. 

Even though her exploration of her sexuality was pretty minor, I appreciated that this was a book where Jordan learning she is bisexual was a plot but it wasn't the central plot. So much of this story was about Jordan discovering herself and who she is, and being bisexual was a part of that, but it wasn't the main thing she was supposed to learn. I loved the really internal aspects of this, and of Jordan seeing a slow change within herself that she liked but that also sometimes scared and confused her. I thought her experiences with gender felt really nuanced and that was a huge relief after reading a bunch of books recently where the gender discussion was.... less than complex.

Also, I am not usually a huge fan of books about allocishet teenage boys. They are generally written in a particular way and I just have a hard time connecting to those characters. This was absolutely not a problem in Noteworthy. The boys (who were not all heterosexual, by the way) were a varied collection of likable assholes, which is exactly the kind of character I adore. They were funny and all super close friends who constantly supported one another and were central parts of one another's lives. They were smart and complex and all had lives that felt separate from Jordan's, which is so nice to find in side characters. 

As far as diversity, this seemed like a big win for me. The main character is Chinese-American, bisexual, and comes from a poor family and all of these are aspects of herself that Jordan reflects on pretty frequently. There are other side characters who are queer, and other side characters who are POC. As far as this being a cross-dressing story, I appreciated that there was an awareness on behalf of the main character that her experiences were very separate from that of trans folks. While I would have appreciated it more if there had been actual trans characters in the book for Jordan to interact with and to further the conversation on gender, I did really like the fact that this was the first book I've ever read where a character cross-dresses and also acknowledges the trans community and the particular set of challenges that they face. 

Overall, this was a joy. While the acapella stuff itself sometimes verged on feeling silly, I couldn't help but care because all of the characters were so likable and well-written. I have to give a special amount of love to books I read that can make me grin and can also make me tear up, and Noteworthy did both. This was a fabulous contemporary full of wit and character depth, and I will definitely be looking into more books by Riley Redgate.

I asked for this book from Netgalley just to try out because I never read any book talking about a Cappella before. But to be honest, for some reason, it wasn’t appealing to me. I had never heard of the author, and I didn’t expect to be anything special. But after some time of having it, I finally got to read it.

This book is freaking amazing. I love the characters, I love how interesting and unexpected it is. And I love the writing. And to make it even better, I loved the humor!

The story is about Jordan, a Chinese-American with a scholarship to an incredible fancy boarding school of arts. Even with the scholarship, the school is still very expensive since it equates to Harvard. And Jordan’s family is anything but rich. But if that wasn’t already a problem, she hasn’t had much luck in her course either. She faces rejection after rejection for musical parts because of her Alto 2 range. And that’s what makes her do an impulsive and complicated decision. She disguises herself as a boy and becomes a Tenor for the a capella group “Sharpshooters”.

This book explores sexuality, race, wealth, and injustice. The book makes mention to transgender, homosexuality, and bisexuality, in an incredibly interesting and unique way. However, Jordan is not transgender, she merely crossdressers to fit in a world that has too many “should be’s”. Jordan is an incredible character, that never stopped surprising me and I loved every bit of friendship in this book! The Sharpshooter 100% friendship goals. All the characters felt very realistic and warm. I loved them with all my heart and that was probably the thing I most loved about this book.

The book has a lot of humor, but in a way that is purely funny, not offensive, and it deals with a lot of important themes. The writing is incredibly captivating and genuinely beautiful, and I can’t wait to read more from the author!

This is a heartful book that I would recommend to everybody. It shows courage, commitment, and friendship in a unique way and it will make you want to be part of the book! Really, just go read it!

A really fun, diverse book focusing on typical issues of trying to fit in in school, but in a way I've never seen done before. plus, who doesn't love a Capella? 

A highly recommended contemporary!

Very diverse cast of characters and the authors manage to nail all those reps. Amazing plot, witty banter, and absolutely lovable acapella boys, what't not to love about this book? It's very rare we got bi rep in literature, and this book portrayed the confusion and feelings perfectly. One complaint though, for music people, this book will be a delight, but for me who knows nothing, the music references and terms really got me confused.

RATING = 4.25 STARS

 Let's all say it together: WE NEED MORE SINGING BOOKS. I feel like I've been chanting this since the dawn of time, and Riley Redgate's Noteworthy just reaffirmed this notion because this novel is EXCELLENT. Imbued with diversity, friendship, and freakin a cappella, Noteworthy is not only a fun novel, but a touching, exploratory one as well.

Our main character is Jordan Sun, who attends an elite performing arts boarding school that her family can hardly afford, even with her scholarships. Even worse, they begin to wonder if they should be breaking their bank to send her to this fancy school when she never gets any of the roles she auditions before. Except, it's not because she's not talented. It's because she sings loowwwwww and it's hard to find a place for that in a world of lovely feminine voices. Jordan was a fantastic character. She is considerate and compassionate on a level that you don't quite get very often in YA. I loved following along as she explored honesty and gender and sexuality, I was so pleased with the questions she asked, the conclusions she came to, and the way she grew throughout the novel. I think she will be a highly relatable character for many readers out there!

Something I really adored in this novel are the relationships that developed. Am I referring to the romance? Partially, but more than that--the camaraderie!! The dynamic between everyone in the a cappella group she joins is fascinating! I completely enjoyed reading about both the moments of revelry and the moments of tension and uncertainty. The friendships aren't perfect, but they're real--and they are a lot of fun!! Some of the bickering and random conversations made me smile so widely to myself.

And, okay, back to the romance. This just in: it's cute as heck. I loved how genuine and sweet it was...though I do wish we got to see a bit more of the romance. It was a mere sliver of the novel. But at the same time, the romance was not even remotely close to being the novel's focus so I'm also okay with just having a little bit.

I ate this book up, y'all. I thought it was marvelously written and developed. It navigates so many pertinent issues and it made me consider those issues in a way I'd never even thought of before. This is an absolute GEM in the world of YA and the world of books in general, and you do not want to sleep on it. This is an Asian & bisexual own voices novel, to be clear. It's a thoroughly entertaining read from the first word to the last, while also delving into important subjects and truths about our society. It really stands out among the smorgasbord of contemporary novels at our disposal.

Oh, and also, SINGING.

Guys guys guys, I finally finished Noteworthy!!! I have to say that I really enjoyed this book, even though it took me about one month to get over it.

I really liked the writing, it was funny and witty, and I really liked Jordan’s voice. But the pacing was a bit off at the beginning for me. The book moved just a tiny bit too slow in those first few chapters. But then the pacing got right, and I flew through the book, and it was immensely enjoyable.

I couldn’t completely connect with Jordan, but I appreciated how she thought about the issues she was involved in, and how her behaviour could affect some important things, and I thought she grew up a LOT during the story, and I loved that.

But my favorite part was the relationships between Jordan and the boys, and the boys between themselves. I kind of wanted more of that. I wanted to know a bit more about all of them and see how they ended up.

I thought it was commendable the way the author dealt with all the sexuality related questions within this book, and I loved the racial diversity.

I thought the plot would be a bit MORE, you know? Everything was going great, but I found the whole reveal a bit anticlimactic, and I kind of wish that a couple of elements weren’t there. But either way, I loved the love and support between the characters, and that’s what drove this book for me.

There is a slight romantic element on this book, and I loved that it didn’t overpower the story, and the relationship was just so cute and sweet. It was awesome.

OVERALL, I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK, AND I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

4.5/5

I absolutely loved this book. I was really in the mood for a great contemp and it was exactly what I wanted it to be. 

Jordan was such a fantastic main character. Words can’t express how much I loved her. I literally related to her in the very first line of the book – I pretty much have an existential crisis every Monday morning. As an Alto 2, Jordan kept getting rejected from parts in musicals for not having a conventional female vocal range. She also had a lot of other things going on; her mum and dad (who suffered from chronic pain) were having money troubles that were inevitably affecting her and making her feel guilty and she was still getting over her ex-boyfriend while also trying figure out whether she was attracted to girls as well as guys. She felt friendless at her school and didn’t really have anyone to turn to. Apart from the fact that I really appreciated being able to read about a Chinese-American bisexual character, Jordan was so likeable. Her narrative was hilarious, her voice was so believable and I really liked how dedicated she was to her craft. So determined was she to do something instead of mope around, miserable that she’d failed another audition, she dressed up as a boy and joined an all-male a cappella group. After all, what did she have to lose except her dignity? There was a bit of suspension of disbelief involved there, but honestly, it was so funny because even Jordan was questioning how everyone was buying her charade and it just made me smile. 

I can’t tell you how much I loved Jordan’s friendship with all the boys in the Sharpshooters. First we had Trav, the leader of the group, and most mysterious. I wish we had got to know him more, but he was the sort of quietly loyal type – prone to frustrated outbursts, but a good guy inside. Next we had Isaac who I adored. He was both adventurous and reckless and yet intensely shy and uncertain at times. I loved his relationship with Jordan the most and he was so sweet and understanding. I liked that things weren’t all cool and calm between them, there was awkwardness, but also an excitement on what could be. Thirdly, we had Nihal, who was another of my favourites. His and Jordan’s friendship was so natural and easy, and I really liked the side story about Nihal’s own relationship with a certain member of the Minuets, another a cappella group (whose character I was really hoping would develop, but alas, it did not. I would have liked more resolution on it). Then there was Jon Cox and Mama, who were both hilarious and loyal and kind of the backbone of the group, the reliable ones you know would always be there. Erik and Marcus were newbies to the team, too, freshman who had to acclimate to the group dynamic like Jordan did. Marcus’s rants about politics always made me laugh and essentially, I just really liked all these characters. I apologise because I have gone on far too long. 

Plot-wise, Noteworthy is quite slow-paced, with much of the story involving the Sharpshooters’ rivalry with the Minuets, preparing for a competition in December and Jordan coping with being a girl during the day and putting on her boy persona at night during rehearsals. But there were lots of other things going on too, and in my opinion, even though this wasn’t an action-packed fast paced book with tons of twists and turns, there was never a dull moment. It explored lots of different themes really well, including sexuality and gender, and I only wish it were a bit longer, because I would have loved to have seen what happened after the ending! (But this is what happens with all good books.) I loved all the performing arts parts of the book and learning about music and theatre (even if I wasn’t quite familiar with all the technical terms). There were a few things I think could have been developed or explained a bit more (the whole situation with Connor and his father, for one), but overall, this was a fantastic book with an amazing set of complex characters, and I am so happy that I got to read it. 

Overall, Noteworthy is a real stand-out contemp, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Jordan Sun has failed to get any parts in school musicals because of her deep voice. When she sees an advert for all-male a cappella group the Sharpshooters, she disguises herself as a boy and auditions as a tenor.

I'm generally not a big fan of books where someone pretends to be a different gender. It's not uncommon for such books to use trans themes in ways that are comfortable for cis readers, but not so great for trans readers. Which might raise the question of why I wanted to read this one. The answer is Jordan's deep voice. I wondered if she might be intersex, and therefore, if the book might tackles issues of binary sex. I was also interested because the musical world is very strict on the idea of sex binaries when it comes to voices, so it seemed like a good setting for such a story. The book didn't really do what I was hoping, but those were my thoughts behind why I wanted to read it.

The plot revolves around training for an a cappella competition, with the hopes of winning a place on a tour. I wouldn't say it's the primary focus though, as it has more of a character focus with Jordan getting to know the other members of the group. It's generally paced well, noting that it is the sort of story with a slow pace. Where it falls down is the pacing after the competition. It feels as though the book was intended to be longer, but ended up with just a few scenes trying to cover everything.

The two characters with the most development are Nihal and Isaac. Jordan becomes close friends with both. Nihal is a kind person who has a few similarities to Jordan, such as studying outside of the music school. He's a Sikh, Indian American, and gay. Isaac says things without thinking regardless of who it hurts, which I was supposed to find funny and endearing, but just found obnoxious. He's Japanese American. In both cases, Jordan discovers things about their lives and families. She describes what they look like clearly. I left feeling I had a good grasp of these characters.

Erik, Jon, Theodore (nicknamed Mama) and Marcus had a defining character trait but not a lot else. Erik's main feature is he's short and looks very young, whilst having a deep bass voice. Jon is very rich and turns out to be dyslexic, which is mainly noticed because he was held back a few years when he was younger. Jordan notes he's a slow reader, but it's not portrayed as meaning he can't read, which makes a change. Theodore is initially introduced as carrying wet wipes around and liking clean surfaces, but he didn't get enough development to judge if that connected to any non-neurotypicality or not. He's fat and the book mainly avoids shaming him for that, outside of someone outside the group being nasty. Marcus likes political stuff and I have no real image of what he looks like. In general, characters in this category were light on description, so I ended up trying to piece it together from odd comments. I'm unsure about things like race.

Trav is the musical director of the group and sits somewhere between the two in terms of development. Jordan doesn't get to know him that well, but I did remember him as a distinct character, whereas I was forever getting the vague characters mixed up. Trav has anxiety. He's described as having dark skin at one point. That's often used as a way to say a character is black without saying they're black, which I think may be the case here.

It's odd how the book has some characters who are described very clearly and some who are so very vague. Isaac and Nihal get described repeatedly, but I was left searching through for descriptions of the others. I may have missed something, as the references were spread out and infrequent.

I did like that the characters aren't perfect and there's pushback to imperfect things they say. For example, when one has this thing about women loving alpha men, it isn't just Jordan who thinks that's nonsense. Theodore is given a nickname he hates, which Jordan takes for granted, until realising Nihal won't use the nickname because he was asked not to use it. However, something that didn't get any pushback was using moron, which sticks out particularly when there's a dyslexic character who has a reasonably chance of having been on the receiving end of slurs like that.

The strongest area for me was the class representation. Jordan is from a poor family, who were made poorer after her dad was in an accident. It talks about some of the issues with being poor, such as benefit schemes not allowing people to save money, thus ensuring they stay poor. There's the intersection of her family being Chinese immigrants and the system being designed to make sure they never entirely manage to get things together. She also feels out of place in a wealthy school environment where most people come from middle to upper class backgrounds. It's something I can relate to, as going to university was a big struggle for me, because no one else in the family had ever done it. Things people took for granted about university culture were very alien to me.

Jordan is clear that she's cisgender from the start. She does question her gender and presentation, though decides she's a cis girl. Questioning gender isn't something restricted to trans people, so I liked the general idea of this. Though I'd note it's not necessary to do the whole girl-disguised-as-a-boy thing to do so.

There is an attempt to address potential appropriation of trans experiences in the text, but the way it's handled didn't work for me.  Jordan considers how trans people might feel about what she's doing, and whether there might be unintended consequences for trans people if she is found out. It could mean increased attempts to police people's gender, for example. That passage showed some thought about it, but the trans people she mentions as knowing (one trans girl and one genderqueer person) are minor references. Acknowledging that something might be erasing or appropriating trans experiences does fall rather flat in a story that doesn't have prominent trans characters. Acknowledging it is really only the start. It also felt that outside of that genderqueer reference, gender was mainly handled as a binary. Jordan has her real girl self and her fake boy self, with nothing between, so the mention of a non-binary person is a blink-and-miss-it moment.

I'd note this binary gender vibe also got into the book presentation. The pre-release version I was given had male and female symbols on the cover. These were mixed with notes that came out of two different singing mouths. I wasn't fond of the use of the binary symbols, but they were in all different colours, which suggested a spectrum. They were also mixed together, as each mouth had both symbols. The official release cover turned all the male symbols blue and the female symbols pink. It made one mouth have all the male symbols and one all the female. It also added extra copies of these symbols to the chapter headings. It's like between pre-release and final release, someone decided to up the binary to the max. Authors with large publishers don't control their cover or book design, but it doesn't stop these decisions potentially impacting people who pick up the book. It also makes it very clear how the publisher views the story.

Jordan is bisexual and had a long-term relationship that fell apart. I liked that it challenges the idea of a first partner being the one forever and touches on the problems of getting too focused on a romantic relationship. Her whole world revolved around her ex-partner, which meant when things fell apart, she didn't have any close friends and was left struggling alone. It was a more realistic portrayal of love than the idea that everyone meets their one true love as a teenager and friends are no longer required.

The new potential love interests weren't so great. They changed their level of interest depending on whether they thought she was a boy or not. In other words, the most important thing wasn't who she was as a person, but what they assumed about her body. I didn't relate to any of this. I'm sure this does match some people's experiences, but I just found it a bit freaky that someone would stop/start loving you because you're not the gender or sex they assumed. I couldn't really get behind a relationship that formed on that basis.

I wasn't fond of the way gay characters were handled, because it does veer into the unhappy gay thing. Given the references to how many queer people the school was supposed to have, I'm sure one of them could have had a happy ending.

On to what I was hoping to find, Jordan does has traits that could mean she's intersex. Her voice is deep enough that she puts on a higher voice at school, she's tall (and taller than other women in her family), has a small breast size, has facial features like her father, and started puberty early, which all together can be pointers to being intersex. But this isn't discussed. Not even at a level of considering that she doesn't fit in the sex binary very well or that such a binary exists.

The book does touch briefly on musical attitudes to vocalists, but this isn't taken all the way. It's not acknowledged that she wouldn't have felt the need to do something like that if she'd been recognised as a tenor in the first place. Rather than simply not casting her in anything, her teachers could have suggested she auditioned for the male roles. The focus is strongly on judging Jordan's reaction to the system, rather than the system. Even when someone makes a positive judgement, it's still missing why she ended up in that position. She still gets reclassified to a contralto, because women are contraltos and men are tenors. Which makes no sense as a position as she had been singing as a tenor with no one considering she was anything else for months, so it can't be argued she had a different tonal quality to a tenor. But even Jordan doesn't comment against this.

This book is a tricky one when it comes to recommending it or not, as it does some things well, and others not so well. The cast is diverse, including multiply marginalised characters, but there are odd holes. Like having a character who appears to tick off all the boxes for being intersex, but never mentioning it. Or mentioning a trans girl and a genderqueer person when there are themes about gender identity, but not actually having those characters appear. Or being vague about the black character being black when the Asian characters have their races clearly stated. It's one of the better books I've read dealing with the trope of a girl disguising herself as a boy, but I didn't feel it really rose above the common issues of that trope.

Jordan is a junior and Kensington-Blaine Boarding School for the Performing Arts but still hasn't gotten a role in any productions. When she finds out it is her voice that is keeping her from roles she takes a drastic measure. When the all male  a cappella group, The Sharpshooters, are looking for someone who fits Jordan's voice she decides to act as a boy to get in the group. Turns out she is exactly what they were looking for. While she is in the group she has to juggle being herself and Julian, her male a capella alter ego, her crush on a girl, her crush on a boy, how she is treated as a boy and as a girl and what she really thinks of herself.

Oh this was such a little gem of a book! I mean it sounded fun and the cover was great but there was actually a lot more to it then just a cute book. It looks at gender stereotypes and how Jordan was treated as both a guy and a girl. It also addressed sexuality in such a real and relatable way from not only Jordan but multiple characters. It looked at class differences and how it feels to not fit or think you don't fit in because of that. It was about finding your people (love this theme so much). It dealt with a lot as you can see and really pulled it off so well.

I loved Jordan so much. She really took her future into her own hands and went out on a limb to get what she wanted. Maybe it wasn't the best way to go about it but I loved that she tried. All the guys in the Sharpshooters were great. I definitely had some favorites but they were such a great group to get to know. I loved how Jordan really felt comfortable and part of the group.

There was also a romance and I kind of loved it. At first, I had it narrowed between two guys. Then there was a girl. Then I wasn't sure!! Still,  I wound up totally into Jordan and her eventual love interest.

There was also some suspense as to what would happen with the a cappella competition, the rivalry between the Sharpshooters and another group and if Jordan would be found out. There was a little twist if you want to call it that that happened that caught me off guard and I loved it.

My only, very small, complaint is that it felt a little long. I think it could have been condensed a bit. Overall I really enjoyed this one and can't wait for more from Riley Redgate.

Every so often, an avid reader will come across an author who they know that, no matter what the book or how long they have to wait, they will read because it will always be something they'll love. Riley Redgate, for me, is one of those authors. I fell in love with her debut 'Seven Ways We Lie' for it's relateable and diverse characters, masterful handling of seven POVs, and the fact that it managed to wow me so much despite being Contemporary YA (a genre which, up until this year, has been a little hit and miss for me). As soon as it was announced I knew I would love 'Noteworthy' even more and I couldn't wait to get into it her second book because the first had impressed me so much.

This book was EVEN BETTER than the first. First of all, I loved the setting of a Performing Arts college because I studied Performing Arts at University so I totally got what an Alto 2 is and the playful Theatre kids vs. Music students thing and references to the backstage help! I loved it, and while 'Seven Ways We Lie' made me picture my old school, 'Noteworthy' had me picturing my Uni campus! Another great thing about this book is that it's LAUGH OUT LOUD funny! I got so many strange stares on the tube as I tried hard to contain my hysterics every morning on the way to work. I adored the characters in this book too: Jordan/Julian was a great MC who I could really get behind and I am so thankful that she was Chinese because there are TOO many white girls in Contemporary YA. I loved the Sharps too - Isaac was hilarious, Trav's obsessive anxiety really spoke to me, Sikh student Nihal was like the best friend I have always wanted and Redgate did a great job at making them all likeable, even if they were a little testosterone fuelled at times! In fact, she took advantage of a lot of their 'banter' in order to make some serious points about feminism, sexuality and gender! 

Having come from a background of the musical/theatre kind I got the technical terms in this book. There weren't many considering how much they fill the blurb (maybe something to consider) but perhaps some readers who don't study that area won't get it. That being said, how is that any different to a crime thriller in which the police constantly speak in a code I will never relate to. I have to say, the mini romance plot didn't totally convince me either to BEGIN with. I found myself feeling that it wouldn't add to the plot in any way, but as time went on, I kind of loved it anyway! Sure it wasn't necessary for the story, but it was so ADORABLE and is a ship I'll sink with that's for sure. By the end of this story, I wanted more and would LOVE a sequel, though I'm not sure in which direction Redgate could take the story if she were to do something like that.