Scan barcode
a_jayne222's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
votesforwomen's review against another edition
4.0
This is Cait's book, and so OBVIOUSLY I've wanted to read it since I heard it was coming out (like a year ago? Wow it's been a long time). The positive reviews have been overwhelming, and I was almost nervous to read it since I tend to go against hype...but then I won it in a giveaway and decided to read it in one sitting once it arrived.
I read this book in TWO HOURS, people. No joke.
There is nothing easy about this book. It gets into the down and dirty of abuse and it's violent and bloody and heartbreaking and I had to look away from the page more than once. I felt such sorrow for Beck and Joey, and I love them both...and August and her unquenchable love for them and the way she never gave up on Beck even when he treated her horribly. He came around, which I appreciated. This book was not sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows in the least.
However, it did have some of the most beautiful scenes I can remember in any book for a while. Cait, as most of her followers know, is the Queen of Cake, and so there genuinely is a scene in this book where August and Beck cut school together to get cake. Which is such a Cait scene and I loved it so much. The band Twice Burgundy sounds amazing (and Cait confirmed that they are based on a combination of the Civil Wars and Imagine Dragons! So that's AWESOME because I love both of those bands).
Then there's the music. My goodness, the music.
I have never read a book that spoke to my musician heart like this before.
Cait is a pianist, and that much is very obvious just from reading this book. Song spills off the page, and I can HEAR the melody in every word. When Beck plays, his songs are real in my ears. His pain, his love-hate relationship with the piano, the fact that although he despises playing it he CANNOT STOP...I have never been FORCED to play the piano, but as someone who does play, I empathized SO MUCH. The love of music is clear in this book. And it's not the music that is the abuse...it's the way it's being used. I love it so so so much.
There were some minor content concerns (some cussing, most of it in German, as well as the inevitable violence of a book about abuse). But overall A Thousand Perfect Notes was a beautiful tribute to music, what family TRULY is, and the classical composers. Absolutely amazing. Well done, Cait.
I read this book in TWO HOURS, people. No joke.
There is nothing easy about this book. It gets into the down and dirty of abuse and it's violent and bloody and heartbreaking and I had to look away from the page more than once. I felt such sorrow for Beck and Joey, and I love them both...and August and her unquenchable love for them and the way she never gave up on Beck even when he treated her horribly. He came around, which I appreciated. This book was not sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows in the least.
However, it did have some of the most beautiful scenes I can remember in any book for a while. Cait, as most of her followers know, is the Queen of Cake, and so there genuinely is a scene in this book where August and Beck cut school together to get cake. Which is such a Cait scene and I loved it so much. The band Twice Burgundy sounds amazing (and Cait confirmed that they are based on a combination of the Civil Wars and Imagine Dragons! So that's AWESOME because I love both of those bands).
Then there's the music. My goodness, the music.
I have never read a book that spoke to my musician heart like this before.
Cait is a pianist, and that much is very obvious just from reading this book. Song spills off the page, and I can HEAR the melody in every word. When Beck plays, his songs are real in my ears. His pain, his love-hate relationship with the piano, the fact that although he despises playing it he CANNOT STOP...I have never been FORCED to play the piano, but as someone who does play, I empathized SO MUCH. The love of music is clear in this book. And it's not the music that is the abuse...it's the way it's being used. I love it so so so much.
There were some minor content concerns (some cussing, most of it in German, as well as the inevitable violence of a book about abuse). But overall A Thousand Perfect Notes was a beautiful tribute to music, what family TRULY is, and the classical composers. Absolutely amazing. Well done, Cait.
meyrathedreamer's review against another edition
5.0
This book made me cry, so it deserved five stars, it was emotional, different from what I usually read and I loved it
fairytalearista's review against another edition
4.0
https://aristasdirectory.blogspot.com/2019/10/a-thousand-perfect-notes-cg-drews.html
julie_reads15's review against another edition
3.0
Summary
A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews is a young adult contemporary novel about the power of music to create both darkness and light.
Fifteen-year-old Beck lives with his abusive mother, nicknamed the Maestro, and vibrant five-year-old sister Joey.
Ever since a stroke ended his mother's career as a famous pianist, Beck is forced to play the same etudes on the piano over and over again every day. The Maestro desperately wants her legacy to live through Beck. She will go to any extreme, including physical and emotional abuse, to make sure she's not forgotten.
Beck dreams of composing his own music and sharing it with the world. However, he's too scared to stand up to the Maestro.
When Beck meets August, she becomes a beacon of hope for him. She's full of happiness and energy. She shows him the importance of friendship.
A powerful story of domestic abuse with glimpses of hope.
Review
It was a heartbreaking and intense read.
The instances of detailed abuse were a little hard to read at times due to their intensity and recurrence.
I sympathised for Beck. His internal conflict was heartbreaking. However, he needed more character development, particularly near the end.
Beck and August's friendship was refreshing to read, and I liked their banter. However, I would've liked to see more depth in August. She's happy and bubbly all the time, and it made her seem a little one dimensional. I would've liked to learn more about her backstory.
I liked Beck and Joey's relationship and how he was protective of his younger sister and tried to remain positive around her. Joey's personality was vibrant and energetic.
The theme of music and its varying degrees of lightness and darkness was interesting. I liked how I could imagine the music in my head.
I liked how there was humour incorporated. It was a refreshing break from the darkness.
I liked the poetic writing style, but there were times when the writing seemed too flowery.
I recommend this book for anyone who's 14 years and older and is interested in a music-themed novel about domestic abuse with glimpses of hope.
A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews is a young adult contemporary novel about the power of music to create both darkness and light.
Fifteen-year-old Beck lives with his abusive mother, nicknamed the Maestro, and vibrant five-year-old sister Joey.
Ever since a stroke ended his mother's career as a famous pianist, Beck is forced to play the same etudes on the piano over and over again every day. The Maestro desperately wants her legacy to live through Beck. She will go to any extreme, including physical and emotional abuse, to make sure she's not forgotten.
Beck dreams of composing his own music and sharing it with the world. However, he's too scared to stand up to the Maestro.
When Beck meets August, she becomes a beacon of hope for him. She's full of happiness and energy. She shows him the importance of friendship.
A powerful story of domestic abuse with glimpses of hope.
Review
It was a heartbreaking and intense read.
The instances of detailed abuse were a little hard to read at times due to their intensity and recurrence.
I sympathised for Beck. His internal conflict was heartbreaking. However, he needed more character development, particularly near the end.
Beck and August's friendship was refreshing to read, and I liked their banter. However, I would've liked to see more depth in August. She's happy and bubbly all the time, and it made her seem a little one dimensional. I would've liked to learn more about her backstory.
I liked Beck and Joey's relationship and how he was protective of his younger sister and tried to remain positive around her. Joey's personality was vibrant and energetic.
The theme of music and its varying degrees of lightness and darkness was interesting. I liked how I could imagine the music in my head.
I liked how there was humour incorporated. It was a refreshing break from the darkness.
I liked the poetic writing style, but there were times when the writing seemed too flowery.
I recommend this book for anyone who's 14 years and older and is interested in a music-themed novel about domestic abuse with glimpses of hope.
nitzanschwarz's review against another edition
5.0
Well, excuse me while I continue sobbing over here.
-/-/-/
Warning: This is not going to be eloquent. I'll try to at least someone stylize it tomorrow but for now a raw stream of consciousness (aka me bubbling for hours)
Honestly, I came into this book FULL OF EXPECTATIONS. I try not to do that because that's a surefire way to get disappointed, but I also couldn't help it?? Cait wrote this book. Cait who makes me laugh and cry in a #relatable kind of way at the drop of a hat. How could I NOT expect greatness out of it?
So I was kind of nervous reading this because good god if I didn't like it I would have been DEVASTATED. But I also knew I would because all of the snippets she let us see on instagram told me I was going to love Beck, August, and the small terror.
And I did. Beck is a burnt marshmallow and I love love love him. He's a cinnamon roll that must be protected at all costs but also he is so bad at letting people protect him that he keeps getting hurt over and over and over again. I wanted to go into the book, adopt his ass and keep him in bubble wrap for the rest of his sweet existence. Granted, I can't do that.
Because who would take care of Joey then? the 5 year old is a constant joy in this novel and I swear to god if anyone lays a hand on her I'm defying all laws of physic and transporting myself into this book just to bite their hands off. So then I figured, I could just adopt BOTH of them! Sure, there is no way Joey would let me bubble wrap her, but I could probably bride her into (relative to Joey) tranquility with crayons and unlimited access to the kitchen and my stocked refrigerator. But I couldn't do that, either, because with the two Keverichs gone who would August entertain endlessly??Shut up, we do not talk about the ending of this book. There is an epilogue we never got to read where everything is SUNSHINE and RAINBOWS and they are all TOGETHER and there are HUGS and KISSES, Okay?!
August is like stevia cakes. You're really confused by them, you don't quite understand how they exist, and you're immensely shocked they taste good because they are made of Steve and just??? you're eating human cake??? (this joke will make sense once you read the book, I swear. Or maybe it won't. who knows, my brain is 100% gone). Anyways, I really liked this girl. I want to be as confused about the shoes as everyone else but I have a friend that will take off her shoes whenever and wherever and considering in Israel its heat wave after heat wave that also means literally scorched feet but somehow walking barefoot is worth it and idk why but honestly I don't ask too much. Anyways, August is funny and cheerful and in Beck's eyes she is basically sunshine and rainbows and dandelions and everything that is good and pure in this world. I'm not sure that's 100% true because she also knows to spot abuse when she sees it (and knows not to be TOO pushy about it) and she also values violence and practices in it on occasions. But to Beck she is absolutely perfect and it's like looking directly at the sun and GAH THEY MAKE ME EMOTIONAL.
And I know what you're thinking---just adopt all THREE of them, what's the problem? Well, August actually has parents who love her, so I can't just plunk her out of this fictional world and abscond with her, you dummy!
So I'm left with no choice but to leave Beck and Joey with their BITCH of a mother and let August warm their brittle souls a little bit.
And yes, I am using strong language her. That woman--the "Maestro"--is a waste of space. You know how everyone kind of loves to hate Voldermort but NO ONE loved to hate Umbridge because with just detest her with the passion of a thousand sons? Beck's sorry excuse for a mother is Umbridge. She is a miserable, jealous bitch who deserves to be hit back for the things she does to her children. Every time she called Beck "lazy"--the nerve of her!--I wanted to scratch her eyes out. Every time she dares lay a hand of him or threaten sweet Joey, I wanted to stab her in the heart. This CREATURE made me rage so freakin' hard. She is a monster, and I hate hate hate hate hate her. Thank godJan is pressing charges against this sorry excuse of a human being because god knows Beck is too sweet to do so because he still loves his mother even though she has done nothing to deserve it .
Seriously, I am a ball of FURY and ANGER and TEARS. so many tears. I cried for about the last 50 pages of this straight. My children. Cait, think of the children! And give me my epilogue pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeee
-/-/-/
Warning: This is not going to be eloquent. I'll try to at least someone stylize it tomorrow but for now a raw stream of consciousness (aka me bubbling for hours)
Honestly, I came into this book FULL OF EXPECTATIONS. I try not to do that because that's a surefire way to get disappointed, but I also couldn't help it?? Cait wrote this book. Cait who makes me laugh and cry in a #relatable kind of way at the drop of a hat. How could I NOT expect greatness out of it?
So I was kind of nervous reading this because good god if I didn't like it I would have been DEVASTATED. But I also knew I would because all of the snippets she let us see on instagram told me I was going to love Beck, August, and the small terror.
And I did. Beck is a burnt marshmallow and I love love love him. He's a cinnamon roll that must be protected at all costs but also he is so bad at letting people protect him that he keeps getting hurt over and over and over again. I wanted to go into the book, adopt his ass and keep him in bubble wrap for the rest of his sweet existence. Granted, I can't do that.
Because who would take care of Joey then? the 5 year old is a constant joy in this novel and I swear to god if anyone lays a hand on her I'm defying all laws of physic and transporting myself into this book just to bite their hands off. So then I figured, I could just adopt BOTH of them! Sure, there is no way Joey would let me bubble wrap her, but I could probably bride her into (relative to Joey) tranquility with crayons and unlimited access to the kitchen and my stocked refrigerator. But I couldn't do that, either, because with the two Keverichs gone who would August entertain endlessly??
August is like stevia cakes. You're really confused by them, you don't quite understand how they exist, and you're immensely shocked they taste good because they are made of Steve and just??? you're eating human cake??? (this joke will make sense once you read the book, I swear. Or maybe it won't. who knows, my brain is 100% gone). Anyways, I really liked this girl. I want to be as confused about the shoes as everyone else but I have a friend that will take off her shoes whenever and wherever and considering in Israel its heat wave after heat wave that also means literally scorched feet but somehow walking barefoot is worth it and idk why but honestly I don't ask too much. Anyways, August is funny and cheerful and in Beck's eyes she is basically sunshine and rainbows and dandelions and everything that is good and pure in this world. I'm not sure that's 100% true because she also knows to spot abuse when she sees it (and knows not to be TOO pushy about it) and she also values violence and practices in it on occasions. But to Beck she is absolutely perfect and it's like looking directly at the sun and GAH THEY MAKE ME EMOTIONAL.
And I know what you're thinking---just adopt all THREE of them, what's the problem? Well, August actually has parents who love her, so I can't just plunk her out of this fictional world and abscond with her, you dummy!
So I'm left with no choice but to leave Beck and Joey with their BITCH of a mother and let August warm their brittle souls a little bit.
And yes, I am using strong language her. That woman--the "Maestro"--is a waste of space. You know how everyone kind of loves to hate Voldermort but NO ONE loved to hate Umbridge because with just detest her with the passion of a thousand sons? Beck's sorry excuse for a mother is Umbridge. She is a miserable, jealous bitch who deserves to be hit back for the things she does to her children. Every time she called Beck "lazy"--the nerve of her!--I wanted to scratch her eyes out. Every time she dares lay a hand of him or threaten sweet Joey, I wanted to stab her in the heart. This CREATURE made me rage so freakin' hard. She is a monster, and I hate hate hate hate hate her. Thank god
Seriously, I am a ball of FURY and ANGER and TEARS. so many tears. I cried for about the last 50 pages of this straight. My children. Cait, think of the children! And give me my epilogue pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeee
fairy_internet's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
ominouslilraven's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! I’m kinda speechless. It took me a few chapters to really get into it but by the end, I was absolutely shredded and sobbing.
I’m a damn mess.
Let me just say, that I am typically all for happy ending in books like this, especially because I can relate to Beck and the abuse he suffers by the hands of his mother. However, I'm deeply satisfied that the ending was not all rainbows and unicorns. I think that a happy ending with a pretty little bow would have ruined the whole story and would have made it feel disingenuous.
This book was an emotional roller coaster and I loved it!
I’m a damn mess.
Let me just say, that I am typically all for happy ending in books like this, especially because I can relate to Beck and the abuse he suffers by the hands of his mother. However, I'm deeply satisfied that the ending was not all rainbows and unicorns. I think that a happy ending with a pretty little bow would have ruined the whole story and would have made it feel disingenuous.
This book was an emotional roller coaster and I loved it!
emtees's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was a brutal read. A Thousand Perfect Notes is a story of physical and emotional abuse and it doesn’t skimp at all on the difficult details. It is ultimately a hopeful story, but thanks to the close attention paid to the emotional state of the main character, even the ending is bittersweet.
Beck is the son of the Maestro, a once-brilliant pianist who lost her career to illness and has spent the years since forcing her son to follow in her wake, demanding that he spend every free minute practicing and refusing to allow anything else in his life to matter - not school, not friends, not even the basics of living like decent food or clothing. Beck knows he isn’t allowed things like that; if he takes a night off from practice or dares to bring anyone into his life, his mother will erupt into violence. Beck has the bruises and scars to prove it. Worse, she might turn on his little sister Joey, the one bright spot in Beck’s life. So Beck spends his days attempting to perfect his mother’s favorite classical pieces, all the while knowing he will never live up to her impossible standard not matter how much he longs for her praise. The irony is that Beck actually loves music - he has endless songs in his head and longs to compose them - but that’s not the music his mother cares about. Then Beck meets August, a quirky classmate who has a thing for rescuing those who need it, whether that’s stray dogs or sad boys. August pushes her way into Beck’s life despite his attempts to be as off-putting as possible, and Beck slowly begins to hope that she actually cares about him as more than a charity case. But right when it seems like life might have at least one small source of happiness, the Maestro tells Beck that she is going to make him play for his uncle Jan, the famed pianist and composer, and if he does well, he will be shipped off to Germany to study music. Which leaves Beck with two options, both terrible: fail, and risk his mother’s wrath, or succeed and lose the few things in life that matter.
Like I said, this book doesn’t skimp on the harsh details of Beck’s life, whether it’s the cruel insults his mother slings at him or her violent assaults. The book is told entirely from his perspective and it is an immersive one, with Drews using a broken-up prose style to convey Beck’s state of mind. Beck is a kid who has been thoroughly beaten down and it shows, which makes the moments when people show interest or care for him hit the reader as hard as they hit him. For a long time, I wasn’t sure Beck was even a good musician, so thoroughly had his mother convinced him that he was a failure, so the moments when people praised him felt powerful. And his relationship with August was something delicate and beautiful amid all the brutality. But ultimately this book was really about the twisted relationship between Beck and his mother. Drews did a good job of making the Maestro into a real person, with her own tragedy and sadness, without ever justifying her treatment of her children.
My only issues with this book came from the brief moments when it slipped into melodrama. For the most part, despite how horrible Beck’s life was, it felt realistic, from the way the adults around him ignored what was happening to him or felt helpless to do anything to the way something ordinary like a first kiss could loom so large even for someone with such an abnormal life. But there were occasional moments when the story lost track of that realism. Major spoilers for the ending:The biggest one for me was the bit about Beck’s name. For most of the story, Beck refuses to let anyone call him by his real name, which we eventually learn is Beethoven. That’s obviously a name most teenage boys would be embarrassed about, but Beck also feels like it’s a label he can never live up to, a way of emphasizing his mediocrity by comparing it to genius. Which is fine. But then at the end of the book, in her last attack on him, the Maestro ends up badly damaging Beck’s ears, leaving him seriously hearing impaired. Not only is there no time to let the seriousness of these consequences land - there is only one chapter of the story left after Beck loses his hearing - but if you know the story of the real Beethoven, you’re left with the sense that Drews kept Beck’s name a secret to avoid foreshadowing his fate. Which felt… silly, in a way that didn’t fit with the rest of the book.
Beck is the son of the Maestro, a once-brilliant pianist who lost her career to illness and has spent the years since forcing her son to follow in her wake, demanding that he spend every free minute practicing and refusing to allow anything else in his life to matter - not school, not friends, not even the basics of living like decent food or clothing. Beck knows he isn’t allowed things like that; if he takes a night off from practice or dares to bring anyone into his life, his mother will erupt into violence. Beck has the bruises and scars to prove it. Worse, she might turn on his little sister Joey, the one bright spot in Beck’s life. So Beck spends his days attempting to perfect his mother’s favorite classical pieces, all the while knowing he will never live up to her impossible standard not matter how much he longs for her praise. The irony is that Beck actually loves music - he has endless songs in his head and longs to compose them - but that’s not the music his mother cares about. Then Beck meets August, a quirky classmate who has a thing for rescuing those who need it, whether that’s stray dogs or sad boys. August pushes her way into Beck’s life despite his attempts to be as off-putting as possible, and Beck slowly begins to hope that she actually cares about him as more than a charity case. But right when it seems like life might have at least one small source of happiness, the Maestro tells Beck that she is going to make him play for his uncle Jan, the famed pianist and composer, and if he does well, he will be shipped off to Germany to study music. Which leaves Beck with two options, both terrible: fail, and risk his mother’s wrath, or succeed and lose the few things in life that matter.
Like I said, this book doesn’t skimp on the harsh details of Beck’s life, whether it’s the cruel insults his mother slings at him or her violent assaults. The book is told entirely from his perspective and it is an immersive one, with Drews using a broken-up prose style to convey Beck’s state of mind. Beck is a kid who has been thoroughly beaten down and it shows, which makes the moments when people show interest or care for him hit the reader as hard as they hit him. For a long time, I wasn’t sure Beck was even a good musician, so thoroughly had his mother convinced him that he was a failure, so the moments when people praised him felt powerful. And his relationship with August was something delicate and beautiful amid all the brutality. But ultimately this book was really about the twisted relationship between Beck and his mother. Drews did a good job of making the Maestro into a real person, with her own tragedy and sadness, without ever justifying her treatment of her children.
My only issues with this book came from the brief moments when it slipped into melodrama. For the most part, despite how horrible Beck’s life was, it felt realistic, from the way the adults around him ignored what was happening to him or felt helpless to do anything to the way something ordinary like a first kiss could loom so large even for someone with such an abnormal life. But there were occasional moments when the story lost track of that realism. Major spoilers for the ending:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Gaslighting
The main plot revolves around an abusive parent-child relationship that includes physical abuse, emotional abuse, and severe neglect. All the abuse is described in detail.