A Darker Shade of Rosie's Review of A Thousand Perfect Notes

by C.G. Drews

An emotionally charged story about the power of dreams, and how passion can turn to obsession.

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?

Thrilling and powerfully written, this is an explosive debut for YA readers which tackles the dark topic of domestic abuse in an ultimately hopeful tale.

→ LIKED: Gah, the writing was incredible, but if you read Cait’s blog, Paper Fury, you’ll know what a great writer she is. I just love reading her blog, because her quirkiness explodes off the page, and you can just tell how much she likes what she does. • She compares Beck, the main character, to a burnt marshmallow. Love. • All of the characters were captivating and unique in their own, special way. I adored Beck’s little sister, even though she had underlying issues shaped by her mother’s behavior, and even though I despised Beck’s mom, she felt real. A real, albeit hateful, character who you really wanted to root for when it came to development, but just let you down every single time she took out her anger and frustration on her kids. • The pacing was perfect. It didn’t drag or go too fast for me.

→ DISLIKED: Is it fair to knock off a star because the length was unsatisfactory? Cait, make your books longer! • I’m kidding Cait, I appreciate you. • I wish the ending felt a little bit bigger. The climax didn’t feel earth-shattering, which is the only reason I couldn’t give it 5 glowing stars.

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A Thousand Perfect Notes

by C.G. Drews

Reviewed by A Darker Shade of Rosie on May 31, 2019

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