This is not going to be my usual gush-fest for books I like, but a little bit more of a review. I will say upfront though, that I really liked this book and I highly recommend it, especially if historical novels are your thing.
There are several things I really liked about this. The first is the setting. It is set in the 1700s. You don’t find a lot of YAs set then. At least I haven’t, so it was an intriguing time period that I don’t know a lot about. Also, it was set in Vienna, which really came to life in Dunlap’s writing. As a reader, I felt instantly sucked into the city and could smell it, see it, feel its vibration. Nicely done.
Another thing I liked about it was that it was about music. I often feel drawn to books about music, which if you’re in my critique group you already know, since my books always include music. That’s a personal thing, but in this book she really makes it part of the passion of the narrative.
And then there was the intrigue. The danger. The excitement. It is a mystery of sorts and I truly raced through this book, practically in one sitting. I could not put it down and I found myself really embroiled in the whole drama.
I do feel that I need to point out a few things that didn’t work for me. Usually, as you know if you read this blog, I don’t write critiques, but because I am recommending this so strongly, I also feel I must make a few notes about where it didn’t work for me. First of all, I never did figure out why her mother gave up everything to marry her father when she seemed to think music was frivolous. I believe the author intended us to think that she only believed it was frivolous for women, but that was a bit ambiguous to the point that I kept waiting for the mother to give in and admit that she loved music, but she never did and that bothered me. There was also one instant in the plot that was sort of big and dramatic that I never did figure out why it happened. I thought at the time that it would be revealed to me later, but I guess either I’m just slow or something got cut that explained it and no one noticed. That happens.
The last thing I didn’t understand is why it’s being marketed as a YA. I know the character is sixteen, but honestly, she’s a woman by then. And also, the story has already happened and she is recalling it, which is usually a device used in adult fiction when the hero is still a teen. I know these are not hard and fast rules, but while I think the drama could easily hook teens, I’m not sure how much the details and the topic will. I think it would make an excellent adult book. Although it does make a fine YA, I wouldn’t have thought of it as one if someone had just handed it to me and not told me who the intended market was. She does deal quite explicitly with topics that might be a little mature for twelve year olds (prostitution, punishment). In fact, some of it was a little gruesome for me!
However, I do think that if intrigue, mystery, and history are your cup of tea, you should definitely put this book on your list. And after you’ve read it, I’d love to hear what you think!
P.S. Isn’t that a GREAT cover! I love it.
P.P.S. I went to Amazon to see when in January this comes out and apparently it’s out already, so I’ll go ahead and post this. There were three reviews and two mentioned surprise that it was YA so I’m not alone!
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