Synopsis:
An emotionally charged story of music, abuse and, ultimately, hope. Beck hates his life. He hates his violent mother. He hates his home. Most of all, he hates the piano that his mother forces him to play hour after hour, day after day. He will never play as she did before illness ended her career and left her bitter and broken. But Beck is too scared to stand up to his mother, and tell her his true passion, which is composing his own music – because the least suggestion of rebellion on his part ends in violence. When Beck meets August, a girl full of life, energy and laughter, love begins to awaken within him and he glimpses a way to escape his painful existence. But dare he reach for it?
Review:
A Thousand Perfect Notes is the delightful new release novel by Paper Fury aka C. G. Drews and WOW! My heart….
For those that don’t know who Paper Fury is then what rock have you been hiding under? No really??? Paper Fury is one of the most hilarious, vibrant and knowledgeable bookstagram accounts around. Truly amazing! If you are not following her then well you better… you have no idea what you are missing out on.
Which brings to me to my favourite thing about A Thousands Perfect Notes, there is a great deal of Paper Fury in this book. From the quirky one-liners to all the talk of cakes, sweets and food; it has Paper Fury all over it. Specially the cakes! You can tell the author put a piece of herself in this story as though it were her Horcruex. Can one split their soul into that many Horcreuxes?
Anyway… the book!!!!! Let’s start with a heads up that there is domestic abuse in this book and that it will take your heart from your chest and stick rusty needles in it. I’m not kidding.
A Thousand Perfect Notes is centred around Beck, a prodigy piano player, forced to play hour after hour by his abusive mother, Maestro. And the only thing that keeps our sweet guarded character from not running away is Joey, his younger, innocent and oh sooo funny sister! After all he couldn’t leave Joey in the destructive hands of the Maestro, if he left there would be no one to stand and protect Joey.
There were so many elements of this book that I loved. Loved! Firstly the sibling love, I mean its adorable! Beck while Beck is getting physically hurt his first and only instinct and thought is to protect his sister more than himself. Heart breaking right? Beck also walks her to school, looks after her, makes sure she is feed and well does everything a parent should do for their child, except he does it for his sister. True love.
The characters? YAS! I know I have talked a lot about Joey but I promise you the other characters are amazing as well. Beck is pure of heart with a whacky sense of humour and I just can’t. August is quirky, caring, determined and is an unstoppable force. She tried everything to include herself into Beck’s life and it is amazing! Truly cute romance… don’t get fooled though this isn’t a romance book, it just has cute romantic scenes where you root for the characters to succeed at life and take over the world!
The Maestro. Sorry kids I am a sucker for villains and well I liked her. Not that I condone what she did in any means or way. I loved just loved the character. The Maestro has come from everything, being a talented pianist who lived, breathed and loved the piano had her talent cut short. She now pushes her son to strive in that art and sacrifices everything for the chance for him to succeed. There is no food in the house, leaving the children to fend for themselves on what little food they can find. Their clothes are small, torn and held together by tape. There is no furniture, happy family photos on the mantel or any sign of love in that house. Except the piano. It shows the sacrifices that the Maestro has made and it also reminds us that this is happening in the world. The sacrifice that turns to anger is really happening in the world.
The opening few chapters of this book, really set up the dark life that Beck lives. You learn through his eyes how hated, abused and scared this child is and the fear that always builds in his heart. Beck lives a cautious life, not only in fear of the Maestro but in fear of what will happen when people find out. Beck tries to shield Joey. Beck jokes and hides from August. Beck protects what he cares about.
The ending is powerful. There is no other way to say it. It’s powerful. And I wish I could burst and tell you why but I will have to leave you to find out for yourself. I can’t spoil this ending for you.
Overall, A Thousand Perfect Notes is not an uplifting tale. It is a heart breaker and will leave you sitting in a bar, with a bottle of whiskey, wondering why. And you will love it all the same. I cannot wait to see what Paper Fury/ C. G. Drews comes up with next.
Rating: 4.5/5
ISBN: 9781408349908
Publisher: Orchard Books