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A review by votesforwomen
A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews
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.