Passion turns to obsession in this raw and compelling contemporary YA standalone from the twice Carnegie-nominated and New York Times bestselling author of Don’t Let the Forest In. Perfect for fans of Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow.
Being a pianist is stitched on his skin, but his bones are tattooed with whispers of you fake. You fake.
Seventeen-year-old Beck hates his life. He hates his home. He hates his mum. Most of all, he hates the piano she forces him to play hour after hour, day after day, until his hands bleed. Because no matter how hard he practices, he will never play as she did before her shattered dreams left her bitter and broken.
Then Beck meets August, with her bare feet and doodled hands. As he opens up to her, he feels love awaken within him for the first time – love for this beautiful girl full of life and laughter.
But can August help Beck unlock the music inside himself and say all the things he’s never said?
Being a pianist is stitched on his skin, but his bones are tattooed with whispers of you fake. You fake.
Seventeen-year-old Beck hates his life. He hates his home. He hates his mum. Most of all, he hates the piano she forces him to play hour after hour, day after day, until his hands bleed. Because no matter how hard he practices, he will never play as she did before her shattered dreams left her bitter and broken.
Then Beck meets August, with her bare feet and doodled hands. As he opens up to her, he feels love awaken within him for the first time – love for this beautiful girl full of life and laughter.
But can August help Beck unlock the music inside himself and say all the things he’s never said?
Reviews
...it's heartbreaking and everything I never knew I needed.
Moving and hopeful and completely brilliant - this is a fantastic debut and I can't wait to see more from C. G. Drews.
A Thousand Perfect Notes can only be described as utterly disheartening and powerful. [...] I can't wait to read more of what C.G. Drews has up her sleeve.
...this was just flawless. It really outlined so many issues; physical and mental abuse, but the themes of hope balanced it perfectly.
I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone who wants a hard-hitting contemporary read...
Music and its transformative power. First love and its intense sweetness. Domestic violence and its pernicious enforcing of secrets. How does one create a magical and powerful story from such disparate ingredients? Well, read on. A Thousand Perfect Notes is a read of great intensity on multiple levels.
What an incredible book, truly magnificent - and it's fantastic to see YA discussing issues it seems to have shied away from in recent years.
Viscerally violent from the opening sentence, authentically raw, and painful to read at times, this is a superbly told, emotionally charged story of obsession, abuse and the wonderful, terrible power of music both to destroy and, ultimately, to redeem.
...a read that will make you think and leave you wanting more.
...it is hard-hitting at times,but it is also full of hope, possibility and determination and it will have you flinching, crying, holding your breath and rushing to turn the page.
A Thousand Perfect Notes takes a searingly powerful look at the theme of parental obsession... The book's final notes will linger in the air long after the last page has been turned.
A quick YA with plenty of punch.
...shocking, but ultimately hopeful, tale.
This is a gripping story [...] Please go out and buy this if you can. It is so heartbreakingly wonderful.