Skip to main content

Review: Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
Published by Simon and Schuster


Now is not the time for Carmen to fall in love. Two weeks before the most important violin competition of her career, she has bigger things to worry about—like growing out of that suffocating “child prodigy” label, and not disappointing her mother. But it isn’t just the wrong time. It’s the wrong guy. Jeremy is Carmen’s most talented rival, and according to her mother, he’s only interested in one thing: winning.

He isn’t the only one.

Carmen is so desperate to win she takes anti-anxiety drugs to control performance nerves. But what started a year ago as an easy fix is now a hungry addiction. Her mother insists now is not the time to quit, but Carmen is sick of not feeling anything on stage and even more sick of doing what she’s told.

When the darker side of the classical music industry and her mother's ambition collide, Carmen must choose between her career and her love for music.


***
Virtuosity was a different read for me. It is told from the point of view of Carmen a brilliant young violinist who is preparing for the competition of her life. She is in the competition to win and the only person that stands in her way is the very talented, very British Jeremy King.

I found Carmen to be a very hard character to relate to. Her world view and entire existence is based around her musical career which is is both important to her but probably more important to her mother. Everything thing in her life revolves around her career and being the best she can be.

The relationship between Carmen and Jeremy is very odd. They should both hate each other because they are in direct competition but they also have so much in common with each other. The relationship between them builds really quickly and through it you can see how dysfunctional the relationship between Carmen and her mother really is.

The storyline itself was interesting but I felt it didn't really go anywhere as such which is something that I don't like in books. Granted there were some twists and turns that were interesting but not enough to keep me fully interested.

All in all a book with enough ideas to keep me interested enough to finish but not one I'll be worried about rereading

Comments

serendipity_viv said…
Not sure this one is for me, but to be honest I wasn't attracted to it in the first place.
This isn't my usual kind of thing, but I really, REALLY want to read it!

I think I just like the concept of the whole thing - I can't remember ever reading about a violinist, so it appeals as something a bit different.