Review: Objective Review
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 6, 2012
When fifteen-year-old actress Lucy Carter loses her older sister in a car accident, her mother shuts down and her father can't hold the family together. Their only choice is to ship Lucy off to the Edmond School for Performing Arts. But boarding school is no cure for Lucy's grief. With failing grades, wooden stage performances, and curfew violations, Lucy is threatened with expulsion. For the once talented Lucy, it feels as though she has nowhere to turn.One night, Lucy hears mysterious music drifting through the school's old heating system. The music leads her to a troubled but passionate songwriter whose brilliance gives her the strength to perform like never before. Yet their intense relationship puts Lucy in a precarious position: if she follows her muse, will she lose herself? And if she breaks it off, can she stand on her own again?A Part to Play is a YA debut novel from Jennifer L. Fry. Jennifer asked me to read and review her book. This in no way affects my opinion on the book. Many thanks to her for the chance to read and review. I'm going to try to review this without giving too much away.At first, I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book. The beginning was a little slow, but once things picked up, I started to like it better. I liked the main character, Lucy, right away. The relationship between her and her parents was interesting and tragic. It was easy to feel for her. It helps that this story is set at a boarding school dedicated to the arts. I'm not sure what it is about settings like this, but I love them. The author did a great job at painting the setting to be what I imagine to be authentic.I was a little worried about the love interest (Chris) in this. Chris is handsome, can play beautiful, inspiring music, but has a quick temper and somewhat possessive personality. I was afraid that he would be romanticized like some bad boy love interests tend to be in other books, but this isn't the case.Lucy soon finds herself overwhelmed as she continues to deal with her sister's death, schoolwork, friends, theater roles, and a secret relationship with Chris by night. Lucy is one of those characters that you can't help but feel bad for. I really wanted to give that girl a hug. Lucy begins to have doubts about her intense relationship with Chris, fearing that if they aren't together, she will lose her inspiration and not be able to stand on her own two feet.The relationship is one thing that really makes the book shine. Most books don't focus on relationships like the one Lucy and Chris have. I believe while Lucy's relationship is unhealthy, it is very realistic and many people should be able to relate to her plight. The characters are also very fleshed out, from Lucy's wacky friend, Isa, to Lucy's very dramatic theater teacher, and even the girl with a huge grudge against Lucy and her talent, Nicole. Even when I didn't like a character (Chris, Nicole), they were still strong enough to evoke some kind of emotion in me.This didn't quite get five stars from me because I felt there were a lot of loose ends once the book was finished and although the writing didn't grab my heart, it was pretty good. Although there were some errors, there weren't enough to detract me from reading. I do like that Lucy tries to make amends with Chris and Nicole, and that Lucy's relationship between her parents is getting stronger by the end of the book. There were a few parts where I felt there was a little too much "telling", but overall this was a very enjoyable, unique, and interesting story. Recommended.