Hmm. This is a strange book – all about familial abuse and music and falling in love. The author is a well-known YA book blogger, so I was intrigued to see how this book would turn out. My reaction? It’s alright. Admittedly I’d seen people raving about it already, so I had expectations – but for me it didn’t meet those expectations.

The characters were a major problem for me. A lot of them felt very flat, and I couldn’t connect to Beck at all – besides him being abused by his mother and hating the piano while being forced to play it, I felt like we didn’t know that much about him. He seemed to be totally defined by the abuse, and how he played piano out of fear. August, the love interest, was a little better, but she came off quite manic-pixie-dream-girl-ish (she’s quirky and hippy and goes barefoot and gets Beck to do things against his mother’s wishes). She is also a white girl with dreadlocks – I saw the author is aware of the cultural appropriation and will remove it from the finished copy, so there’s that at least.

But the worst character for me had to be Beck’s mother, the Maestro. She felt like a cartoon villain, her dialogue peppered with random German and Beck referring to her as “the Maestro” constantly. I get she was meant to be intimidating and more obsessed with music than anything else but it just felt over the top and kind of ridiculous.

However, A THOUSAND PERFECT NOTES was a relatively fast read (despite the heavy subject matter), and I was intrigued to see how Beck would deal with his mother and I thought the relationship between him and August was sweet. But for a book that seemed to want to be deep and poignant, it didn’t really work – the characters just didn’t click. Not my thing, unfortunately.

I absolutely devoured this book, guys and gals - Cait’s writing is addictive. It’s compelling and witty and beautiful. There were a few metaphors that made me pause and actually - <I>gasp!</I> - <b>think</b> about what they meant. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this book, only that it was going to be one of <I>those</I> books - the kind that get talked about loads and splashed all over bookstagram, you know? And if you know anything about me, you’ll know that I can’t be left out of anything. If I see a fandom for a book on tumblr or bookstagram with more than five members, I’m totally on it. I’m nosy, can’t be left out of anything, and am a professional bandwagon jumper. It’s on my CV. 

I also have a terrible habit of being the very last person to read a book, so I jumped at the chance of reading an ARC of <I>A Thousand Perfect Notes</I>. 

And oh, I’m so pleased I did. 

Beck has music inside of him; the notes bounce around in his head, but he isn’t allowed to let them out, instead being forced into the piano player that his mother can no longer be. He lives music, can’t quiet the songs in his head, and can’t imagine life without it; but he hates it, hates the practice he needs to do for hours on end and the abuse he suffers for <I>never being enough</I>. He hates the piano, hates his abusive mother, hates his life; his only light is his little sister, Joey. And, eventually, August. 

I loved Beck, and I think there’s gonna be a whole lot of love for him coming up. I just wanted to cuddle him. He endures such abuse, both verbal and physical, and it beats him down until he has no self esteem. Cait did such a great job with Beck and his emotions, how conflicting and realistic they are. 

Because, yes, he hates his mother - but he also wants her praise.

Yes, he hates the piano - but he also can’t imagine not being able to play again.

And, yes, he wants to push August away - but he also desperately wants a friend. 

August was also very sweet, and her banter with Beck and Joey had me grinning like a complete fool. She’s free-spirited, doesn’t wear shoes, has dreadlocks, and kicks boys who harm frogs. And while I did like her, while I was hoping beyond hope that her and Beck would get their happy ending, she was probably my least favourite character out of Beck, Joey and her. I’m not even entirely sure why, she just...didn’t feel quite as realistic to me. Maybe it was because of the fact that Beck and Joey insulted her no end initially, and she still kept following them home. Maybe it’s because she didn’t wear shoes, and that’s just totally baffling to me. 

Don’t get me wrong, I liked her, and she did get better as she went on. She just...I just can’t imagine being as cheery as August was <I>all the time</I>. 

Now, let’s get to the real star of the show, shall we? 

<I>Joey</I>.

Joey, Beck’s five year old sister who dreamed of being a chef and a mermaid, and who bit her teacher on the nose and got excluded from school. Iconic. Legendary. Joey has blessed us all. She’s a total riot, and I can’t wait for you all to meet her. 

The ending of this book probably won’t be for everyone, because it is quite open. I, personally, found it perfect (albeit a little sad) and hopeful. I’m going to make my own ending for this story, an ending in which Beck and August and Joey all live happy, carefree lives. 

*thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book*

Beck's mother wants him to be a child prodigy on the piano, to live the life she believes she missed out on and make the family name famous. He spends his life practicing but it is never enough for the Maestro, he is never good enough. He feels like he hates the piano, even though music is his life. The only thing that keeps him going is protecting his little sister. Who knows what his mother might do to punish him if he can't make her proud. When he is paired with August for a school project, Beck tries to be cold and distant, like his mother, but August bashes through his defenses with barely any effort. Your heart breaks with feeling everything that Beck goes through and you can't help but wish for him to be strong and break the cycle before his mother causes irreparable damage to him or his sister.

A Thousand Perfect Notes is such a dark tale, where, at the beginning, there seems to be no hope. Then August enters Beck's life and shows him that there is more. And wanting more can be dangerous...

I read this book in one sitting - only a few hours. It’s the most unputdownable book I’ve read this year, full of thrills and feels, and this beautiful musical heart that mine is breaking for.

I’ll start off by saying that the plot of this book is very different to many of the contemporaries that I’ve read recently. Not in a bad way, not at all. This plot is subtle, and it’s fuelled by characters and desires and thoughts and feelings rather than events that occur to drive the story on. That means that all the characters are spectacularly and beautifully written. And I love the style in which the story is told – it has a very conversational tone that dragged me into the story from the very first page.

This book has some good family. Saying that is an interesting point as Beck deserves so much more than the mother he has, but his younger sister Joey is a delight and he is a loving older brother. I don’t think we get enough brother/sister relationships in contemporary, so this one made my heart feel all warm and soft on the inside. The only thing that keeps Beck going is protecting Joey. In contrast to Beck’s monster mother, August has an amazing family. They provided a moment of light and hope in what was otherwise a very dark moment, and that’s refreshing to read since so many books like to give all character’s family problems.

The friendship is a highlight. Beck is a grumpy cinnamon roll and August is a ray of sunshine and snark. They’re paired together for a school project, and Beck tries to be cold and distant, but August easily breaks him down and the purest friendship starts. This book has romance. A tiny bit of romance that doesn’t affect the story at all, but it’s there and it’s pure and it’s beautiful. It’s not InstaLove at all: it’s a mutual love that’s born out of one of my favourite friendships I’ve ever read in a contemporary. It was hardly noticeable but still absolutely stunning. And heartbreaking. Very heartbreaking.

I might have brushed on it briefly before, but I can’t stand when in films or books the characters are about to sit down for a meal then are suddenly like, “I gotta go.” But this book had so much food. And it was eaten. And I loved everything about it. Beck’s home diet is cereal and sandwiches, but August’s food is practically magical in comparison. It’s so refreshing to read a book that cherishes food so much – especially since I know the author is a foodie – and that I could feel myself salivating while reading the descriptions. They were delicious.

This book made me feel so much. Lots of it hurt me to the core, but the rest of it was so wonderfully real and made me welcome the pain. This is a book that makes me want to live and breathe, slightly ironic as I spent a majority of it holding my breath and just hurting for Beck,
This may only be C.G. Drew’s debut novel, but I can’t wait to see where she goes with her next book. I am already a lifelong fan.