Review: Martin captures teenage voice perfectly- a cute, fun read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 1, 2013
"But that's okay because some nights are like a perfect song. The energy in the air lifts your spirits, and the chill drives you forward. The sound of a thousand buzzing insects fills in the gaps, and the touch of a hand makes you dance with joy."I was so excited to receive the invite for this tour/scavenger hunt from Harlequin! Not only do I have a passion for reading, but I am such a music lover! I really love books that revolve around and incorporate music into their storylines. Martin has done a remarkable job of capturing teenage voice and I love that this was a story I actually found to be realistic and could see happening.This story primarily revolves around Claire and her relationship with her ex-boyfriend-turned famous singer-songwriter, Jared. However, we also see a girl who is dealing with a lot of changes in her life as she graduates high school and looks ahead to the future. The plan was always simple: make music with the person she cared about the most- her boyfriend. However, Claire's plan didn't quite mesh with the plan her parents had for her. They want their daughter to follow in her father's footsteps and attend an ivy league school. They saw Jared as a boy with no ambition and therefore do not feel that he is good enough for their daughter. Her parents didn't care about the fact that Jared makes her happy. They are more concerned about their daughter making a good life for herself and finding a boy who will be successful and able to take care of her. Of course, forbidding their daughter to go out with Jared only leads to rebellion. However, after her mom becomes sick with cancer, Claire finds that she doesn't want her mother to be unhappy and needlessly stressed. An argument between Jared and Claire leads to a breakup of epic proportions and Jared walking out of Claire's life.Flash forward to present day. Jared is that successful musician he always wanted to be and he has used his heartbreak over losing Claire to his advantage. What does a musician do when they have their heart broken? Write breakup songs, of course! Now, Jared is famous and is singing nasty songs about Claire at her expense. Claire definitely didn't deserve that from Jared, but he was hurting and let his emotions take over. Claire spends most of the book convincing herself that she is over Jared and what he does doesn't matter to her. However, running into him over the summer she is staying in New Hampshire makes her realize how untrue that really is.I was pretty indifferent to Jared most of the book. His interactions with Claire are pretty limited until later on. He is uncomfortable around her and these two definitely have unspoken business to take care of. Claire is hurting over the fact that Jared would exploit her like he did in his music and in typical teenage fashion, she can't help but want to make him jealous and sling barbed insults his way. However, Jared is hurting too and he retaliates. Both handle their situation immaturely, but that's what teenagers do. They speak before they think and Claire and Jared both end up hurting the other. The two keep getting thrown into each other's paths throughout the book, which ultimately forces them to acknowledge the other. Lisa, Claire's older cousin, is good friends with Mike, Jared's good friend from high school who he is staying with for the summer. After a party at Mike's, Hannah, Claire's other cousin, becomes interested in Jared, even though she is not privy to Claire and Jared's past. Claire tries not to let this bother her, but it's evident it does. She tries to divert her attentions to Mike's other roommate, Zach, but there really is no connection between the two. Both are complete opposites, but Claire wants to give him a fair shot, thinking maybe they could have something between them. At least then, she could rest assured that Jared doesn't completely still own her heart.As I said earlier, while the book focuses on Claire and Jared's story, it also really sheds light on the fact that life is ever changing and not everything always goes according to plan. Claire's after high school plan is once again turned upside down and she is handling that the best she can. She doesn't intentionally try to butt heads with her father, but she isn't a child anymore either. She may seem egocentric, but some of her decisions that conflict with her father's are actually the right ones. She sticks to her ideals and I really respected her for that. She is also learning to be more confident in her music. She has played in her band for a while now and the thought of performing by herself scares her. She has her insecurities, but the reality is, she's very talented. Seeing her struggle to find the words for a song that won't leave her alone and then watch inspiration hit was very cool from an outsider's view. I like that Martin didn't stray from the musical aspect of this story.Overall, this was a cute, fun read and I flew through it. Contemporaries are my thing as of late, and this one did NOT disappoint.