Review: Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Apr 28, 2011 by shanyn

Title: Virtuosity
Hardcover, 304 pages
Author: Jessica Martinez
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: October 18, 2011
Source: Publisher
Buy: Amazon

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Book Summary:
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….

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Review:
I have been looking forward to reading Virtuosity from the moment my friend Katie (sophistikatied.com) told me about it. I really love the cover and music is a topic that I generally love to read about.

I had not read any violin/classical music based books, and did not know much about the topic in general, but Jessica Martinez does an excellent job of showing the passion and dedication of serious violin players. She even mentions the marks the players have on their necks from holding the violin, which I had never considered before (BEWARE: If you search Google images to see what this mark may look like you will see many pictures of spiders, as there is apparently one called the violin).

I had high expectations overall for this book, but I did not know how complicated and emotional it would be. It is not simply a story about a girl training for a violin competition – Martinez really gets deep into Carmen’s emotions and life. When there is such a huge focus on a competition, often a book will neglect other aspects of the main character’s life as they prepare – Virtuosity did an excellent job of balancing it all appropriately. Yes, Carmen did think about her violin playing and the competition quite a bit, but she also dealt with family and a relationship, and her thought processes were divided appropriately.

I read this book while on a plane, and it kept me riveted and passed the time quite well. I had a few ‘OH!’ moments while reading, which really amped up the book for me – when an author can write in a plot scene that catches me off guard (and flows well with the story), I am extra appreciative because it shows the depth of the author and their writing.

I feel I have a slightly better understanding of the classical music world after reading Virtuosity – of course, there is no way I can totally understand without being a violinist myself, but Carmen describes her thoughts in such a way that you can relate even if you have no knowledge of her world.

I really can’t wait for another book from Jessica Martinez. Virtuosity was beautiful, full of emotion, and heartbreaking. This is a must read for fans of music.

Buy: Amazon

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• Interview: Jessica Martinez
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• Waiting on Wednesday: Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
• Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Would Recommend
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