Virtuosity

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez follows prodigy violinist Carmen who decides to take charge of her life at an important time in her life.  She stops taking her anxiety drugs and goes out with one of her fiercest competitors.  For the first time she questions how she's lived her life and defies her mother when she starts dating her toughest competition.

I enjoyed this book.  It did a fantastic job of putting the reader into this world of classical music.  The romance was sweet and felt natural with ups and downs and distrust.  Carmen is a great character who rebels by taking charge of her life.  Her addiction to anxiety drugs (encouraged by her mother) was believable and would be a nice starting point for a discussion of the many "enhancing" drugs that are taken to improve performance.

Appropriateness:  A main plot point in this book is Carmen's addiction to Anti-Anxiety drugs.  The romance is sweet and innocent while also interesting enough for older teens.  Carmen spends the night in her boyfriends room and wakes up with her dress on.  There is also a suicide attempt.  I would reccomend this book to teens 14+

Review Copy obtained by Amazon Vine