Virtuosity

I have just read a book called Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez. It is about this girl named Carmen who plays violin very well. She is entering a competition to go on tour as a violinist. She develops some romantic feelings for her competition (Jeremy) and her mom doesn't approve. And there is drug addiction to anti- anxiety pills. This changes her perspective on things and she has to decide: does she want to this competition like her mom has always wanted for her or does want to do something different? I think there are a lot of issues in this book but the two most important are family problems and romance.

Carmen takes drugs to calm her nerves down for any big event. However, this doesn't bother her mom. Her mom is more like her manager than a mom. Sure, Carmen gets into fights with her because she is controlling and over-protective. Her mom even bribed the judges with money to have her as a finalist in the competition. A lot of moms, in real life, don’t understand their daughters’ puberty years. When the girls have mood swings or are taking drugs. Moms think whatever they’re doing is the best for their daughter and they don’t even think to ask. Is this okay? Are you alright with the decision I’m making? Never heard those questions from my mom. I think Carmen’s issue is the fact that her mom does what she thinks best and I bet those are a girl’s top issue in life.

Carmen, throughout the book, had fallen for Jeremy King. He riles her up, making her mad, insulting her but he also understands her. He challenges her not on violin but on life. He is the reason she changes so much throughout the book. She starts out so determined to hate him she doesn't even know she loved him until the very end. It’s a wonder that yet she calls him names and he makes her spitting mad, he cares. He knows the pressure she is going through, and he has even worse situations back home. For many girls that is hard to find someone who can make them feel so much at once. It is hard find someone who challenges them yet understands them. It is like looking for your own Mr. Darcy but you have to go through so much to find him. That it is also one Carmen’s issues in life.

Carmen has another issue in between these two issues. Her mom doesn't like her crushing on competition and Jeremy doesn't like her controlling Carmen’s life. Things get so bad that’s she has to sneak out to see him and hide it from her mom. She even gets her tutor into trouble in the process. Her mom grounds her but something that really gets her angry is when her mom bribes the judges. They choose her instead of Jeremy and that really makes her leave the house. I think Carmen’s mom thought if Carmen made the finals she would loose her interest in him.

Carmen has big issues in her life, love and mommy. But I think even at the end of the book, she finds a way to balance things out. Especially her mom and Jeremy and all the drama that was going on in her life.