Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Summary

Violin. Violin. Violin. Carmen Bianchi practically eats, sleeps, and walks violin. 24/7 she practices violin to please others, but not really for herself. She has been playing violin her whole life and is one of the best violinists in the world. Carmen, a seventeen year old, is home-schooled and doesn't have the high school experience. She does what she is told. Although Carmen wishes she was a normal teenager, she is far from it. She won a Grammy for the best classical album, was on the cover of Time magazine, and was accepted into Julliard, to name only a few of her many achievements. Carmen lives in the realm of classical music and is obviously expected to win the Guarneri, one of the most prestigious competitions. When she is intimidated by Jeremy King, her biggest competitor, Carmen goes to do some research on him and falls in love with him. She leads a life of violin and has an addiction to an anti-anxiety pill that helps her perform but becomes a drug for her; she can't stop taking it. Although she can't afford to add a relationship on top of all this, Carmenn can't resist Jeremy's bright blue eyes and interesting personality. Diana, her mother and manager, has always been there for Carmen and expects her to win. Carmen loves her mother, but Diana puts way to much stress and pressure on her and always expects her to be perfect. Diana used to be a musician. She was the lead soprano vocalist of the New York Metropolitan Opera Company until she lost her voice and had to have several surgeries, marking the end of her blossoming career. Carmen was a living mistake of Diana and Jonathon Glenn, her extremely rich father. Before Carmen was born, her father left Diana. Only when she won a Grammy and became a famous, talented violinist, Jonathan claimed he was her father and took interest in her, seeing Carmen as profit and fame. The Glenns bought her the Strad violin, one of the best violins in the world. It was worth $1.2 million.Carmen secretly has a complicated relationship with Jeremy. Their love story has ups and downs, but Carmen didn't realize that  Jeremy was using her, but not in the way she thinks. What extent can Diana go to to ensure Carmen's winning?
My Review
I love, love, love, love, love, love, loved this book! It was absolutely marvelous. Just the first page will give you shivers. Phenomenal. I have no words to describe this book; it was just simply breath-taking. I would recommend this book to all tweens, teens, adults...everyone. It is to die for. I rate it 5/5! I <3 the cover, its so interesting! =) I learned a big lesson from this book: Be what you want to be, not what others want you to be. 
-Sneha