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Grace Notes
, This song has a grace note
a tiny note that's there for embellishment
but can easily be ignored,
not played.
Tonight, I add it in -
just because.
We can all do with an extra note
of grace.
Grace Dalfinch is a talented violinist who longs to play contemporary music in bars but whose mother forbids her. James Crux is an aspiring street artist who promised his dad that he wouldn't paint in public until he's eighteen and legal. When Crux witnesses Grace's secret performance in a viral video, he's inspired to paint her and her violin on a not-so-legal wall, and when Grace stumbles across her portrait in a Melbourne alley by an anonymous street artist, she sets out to find its creator.
Grace Notes is a debut contemporary young adult verse novel, set in the most locked-down city in the world - Melbourne, 2020. It's a love story, at its heart, but it's also a book about young people using art to make sense of the world around them, and to shape it too. It's for fans of Cath Crowley's Graffiti Moon , and verse novels like Pip Harry's Are You There Buddha? ,
a tiny note that's there for embellishment
but can easily be ignored,
not played.
Tonight, I add it in -
just because.
We can all do with an extra note
of grace.
Grace Dalfinch is a talented violinist who longs to play contemporary music in bars but whose mother forbids her. James Crux is an aspiring street artist who promised his dad that he wouldn't paint in public until he's eighteen and legal. When Crux witnesses Grace's secret performance in a viral video, he's inspired to paint her and her violin on a not-so-legal wall, and when Grace stumbles across her portrait in a Melbourne alley by an anonymous street artist, she sets out to find its creator.
Grace Notes is a debut contemporary young adult verse novel, set in the most locked-down city in the world - Melbourne, 2020. It's a love story, at its heart, but it's also a book about young people using art to make sense of the world around them, and to shape it too. It's for fans of Cath Crowley's Graffiti Moon , and verse novels like Pip Harry's Are You There Buddha? ,
327 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2023
19 people are currently reading
247 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
July 18, 2024
Cute
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Day one of cram rereading all my schoolbooks, starting with the best one lol 😂😂
* 。 • ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • * 。 • ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 •
3.5 stars!!
I am generally so surprised that I actually really enjoyed this and that it didn't bore me to death.
Trigger warnings: COVID pandemic, lockdown, domestic violence,
* 。 • ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • * 。 • ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 •
Day one of cram rereading all my schoolbooks, starting with the best one lol 😂😂
* 。 • ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • * 。 • ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 •
3.5 stars!!
I am generally so surprised that I actually really enjoyed this and that it didn't bore me to death.
Trigger warnings: COVID pandemic, lockdown, domestic violence,
August 3, 2024
i genuinely believe this book is perfection.
GO READ IT.
GO READ IT.
June 3, 2024
Update: reread for readers cup question writing
Update: I wrote a review which is now up at Reading Time.
My first book for 2023 releases. And such a good one. Invested in to Crux and Grace's stories, their families and their lives during Melbourne's lockdown.
Great (verse) writing, strong emotions, and authentic teens.
Loved it.
Update: I wrote a review which is now up at Reading Time.
My first book for 2023 releases. And such a good one. Invested in to Crux and Grace's stories, their families and their lives during Melbourne's lockdown.
Great (verse) writing, strong emotions, and authentic teens.
Loved it.
November 16, 2022
Full-disclosure: Karen is an author I represent as literary agent. Still, here's my endorsement;
Karen Comer in Grace Notes has written something truly extraordinary. An honest and bruising mapping of Melbourne's pandemic year, that transcends and uplifts in verse form - like a symphonic crescendo - into an examination and rumination on the power of art. The creative outlet of two teenagers is beautifully celebrated here, as they persevere and hope through a gruelling year; daring to create and share their art, to let light in, and just connect - with themselves, each other, a ghost city, and a stopped world. A classic in the making; Grace Notes is a vital balm of a book, a story to press into everybody's hands.
Karen Comer in Grace Notes has written something truly extraordinary. An honest and bruising mapping of Melbourne's pandemic year, that transcends and uplifts in verse form - like a symphonic crescendo - into an examination and rumination on the power of art. The creative outlet of two teenagers is beautifully celebrated here, as they persevere and hope through a gruelling year; daring to create and share their art, to let light in, and just connect - with themselves, each other, a ghost city, and a stopped world. A classic in the making; Grace Notes is a vital balm of a book, a story to press into everybody's hands.
April 20, 2024
I needed a quiet day today after a very busy and social week, so I sat in the sun in my pyjamas and read Karen Comer’s Grace Notes. And what a pleasure it was. I don’t remember enjoying a verse novel this much in a very long time: often, they have very little relationship to anything I would qualify as poetry, but Comer’s use of recurring images and phrases and her appropriate and at times quite lovely use of imagery and metaphor certainly lifts it above the level of much of the scattered prose that constitutes too many so-called verse novels.
And much as I enjoyed the writing very much at a sentence and even word level, it was the characters and milieu that kept me deeply involved throughout. It might be the first COVID-era fiction I have read, and Comer evoked the period of lockdown so effectively, when I did lift my head out of the book during the course of the day, I found myself feeling/behaving,oddly, as if I were in lockdown. At one point, a noise from out the front of my house even had me momentarily disoriented, briefly thinking I was in the house I lived in in Sydney during COVID, not my new home in Launceston. Yet Comer’s depiction of life in lockdown is anything but heavy-handed, and is all the more authentic for it.
Melbourne YA writers also have an enormous capacity for bringing their city to life in their fiction, especially it seems to me its street culture and artistic sensibility. Grace Notes has this in abundance: its dual narrative first person voices belong respectively to Crux, a 15 year old painter whose great desire is to become a street artist, and Grace, who is equally passionate about music — she is a gifted violinist and singer. The two young artists meet when a video of Grace playing goes viral, and Crux paints her on a (legal) COVID-response street mural.
Of course, they fall in love, and their hesitant first romance is captured beautifully by Comer. There is conflict and separation, of course, but it comes primarily from their parents (and COVID!), who are present, loving, but with firm and clear expectations and boundaries. I particularly liked the depiction of Grace’s “daisy chain” feelings about her mother (“I love her, I love her not”), whose desire to see her daughter pursue an academic rather than an artistic career is very familiar to me from my own extended family, but is also well-balanced between Grace’s understandable adolescent fury and resentment, and an eventually sympathetic resolution that grants Grace her agency and her mother some, well, grace.
“Respect” is the refrain of Crux’s artist-mentor, and Comer’s novel affords respect to her characters, especially the young protagonists, and to her audience. Looking forward to recommending this to the young people I work with, and I recommend it to you.
And much as I enjoyed the writing very much at a sentence and even word level, it was the characters and milieu that kept me deeply involved throughout. It might be the first COVID-era fiction I have read, and Comer evoked the period of lockdown so effectively, when I did lift my head out of the book during the course of the day, I found myself feeling/behaving,oddly, as if I were in lockdown. At one point, a noise from out the front of my house even had me momentarily disoriented, briefly thinking I was in the house I lived in in Sydney during COVID, not my new home in Launceston. Yet Comer’s depiction of life in lockdown is anything but heavy-handed, and is all the more authentic for it.
Melbourne YA writers also have an enormous capacity for bringing their city to life in their fiction, especially it seems to me its street culture and artistic sensibility. Grace Notes has this in abundance: its dual narrative first person voices belong respectively to Crux, a 15 year old painter whose great desire is to become a street artist, and Grace, who is equally passionate about music — she is a gifted violinist and singer. The two young artists meet when a video of Grace playing goes viral, and Crux paints her on a (legal) COVID-response street mural.
Of course, they fall in love, and their hesitant first romance is captured beautifully by Comer. There is conflict and separation, of course, but it comes primarily from their parents (and COVID!), who are present, loving, but with firm and clear expectations and boundaries. I particularly liked the depiction of Grace’s “daisy chain” feelings about her mother (“I love her, I love her not”), whose desire to see her daughter pursue an academic rather than an artistic career is very familiar to me from my own extended family, but is also well-balanced between Grace’s understandable adolescent fury and resentment, and an eventually sympathetic resolution that grants Grace her agency and her mother some, well, grace.
“Respect” is the refrain of Crux’s artist-mentor, and Comer’s novel affords respect to her characters, especially the young protagonists, and to her audience. Looking forward to recommending this to the young people I work with, and I recommend it to you.
February 9, 2023
I still can’t stop thinking about this book!
This book was extremely relatable for anyone in Melbourne during the lockdowns. The job loss, the want to be outside with friends and family and most of all the constant thought that “this won’t last long only a few months” and the devastation that came with Dan turning up in a suit on the press conference.
I love Crux and Grace! I loved individually and their ability to fight for themselves as well as them together. I want…no need more of them!
Full review will be on https://www.instagram.com/maggie_andt... once I have a think about it :)
This book was extremely relatable for anyone in Melbourne during the lockdowns. The job loss, the want to be outside with friends and family and most of all the constant thought that “this won’t last long only a few months” and the devastation that came with Dan turning up in a suit on the press conference.
I love Crux and Grace! I loved individually and their ability to fight for themselves as well as them together. I want…no need more of them!
Full review will be on https://www.instagram.com/maggie_andt... once I have a think about it :)
February 18, 2023
All the feels reading this as someone who went through the covid pandemic in Melbourne. Beautiful verse novel of love, family and friendship for year 7 and up!
July 31, 2024
again it was contemporary and idk if i loved or hated the writing style. grace was annoying though but oh well gotta support my fellow musicians (it's a violinist thing)
September 28, 2023
I feel like there’s collective amnesia when it comes to COVID, most fiction (and most people in general) act like it never happened. Dan Andrews resigned this week and Karen Comer’s poignant COVID imagery of empty city streets and high school exams on zoom really hit home. Hopefully more authors follow suit because I think it’s time to revisit and reflect.
I don’t read much YA these days but ‘Grace Notes’ is truly exceptional. Creating such a sophisticated and layered plot within a narrative poem structure that never labours or wastes a word is out-of-this-world talented. Even the dialogue and texting sequences are seamless. And I’m a sucker for artsy characters! Crux’s graffiti and Grace’s violin (and the pushback from their parents) made for some beautiful scenes. How does this only have 150 ratings?
I don’t read much YA these days but ‘Grace Notes’ is truly exceptional. Creating such a sophisticated and layered plot within a narrative poem structure that never labours or wastes a word is out-of-this-world talented. Even the dialogue and texting sequences are seamless. And I’m a sucker for artsy characters! Crux’s graffiti and Grace’s violin (and the pushback from their parents) made for some beautiful scenes. How does this only have 150 ratings?
July 3, 2023
Trigger warnings: COVID pandemic, lockdown, domestic violence,
Oh, my heart. Comer has brilliantly captured the feel of Melbourne in lockdown through the eyes of two teenagers, both of whom are dealing with their own difficulties on top of the pandemic.
The verse storytelling worked brilliantly, and I adored both Grace and Crux's perspectives. Richmond was beautifully captured, and the way this captured exactly what Melbourne went through is perfection, from the social media posts to the sourdough to Dan Andrews' North Face jacket.
Also, I cried at the hairdresser reading this. So...yeah. There's that.
Oh, my heart. Comer has brilliantly captured the feel of Melbourne in lockdown through the eyes of two teenagers, both of whom are dealing with their own difficulties on top of the pandemic.
The verse storytelling worked brilliantly, and I adored both Grace and Crux's perspectives. Richmond was beautifully captured, and the way this captured exactly what Melbourne went through is perfection, from the social media posts to the sourdough to Dan Andrews' North Face jacket.
Also, I cried at the hairdresser reading this. So...yeah. There's that.
July 1, 2024
Don’t remember the last time I rooted for a couple more than I did with Grace and Crux
January 16, 2023
Exceptional. Such an enjoyable read. The voices of Crux and Grace rang true for me and I was fully drawn into their lives. I highly recommend this one.
The moment after I finished it, I passed it to my 14 year old son. I asked him to give it a go as he is a reluctant reader but I felt the fact it is verse format and the storyline of 2 teen artists (music and street art) meant it was more likely to engage him that many novels. So far so good - he is off his phone and has his nose in a book. Insert happy dance here.
Due to be published Feb 1st 2023.
The moment after I finished it, I passed it to my 14 year old son. I asked him to give it a go as he is a reluctant reader but I felt the fact it is verse format and the storyline of 2 teen artists (music and street art) meant it was more likely to engage him that many novels. So far so good - he is off his phone and has his nose in a book. Insert happy dance here.
Due to be published Feb 1st 2023.
January 8, 2023
This book soars - the beautifully clear and evocative language takes you on a journey with 2 teenage artists during Melbourne’s long lockdowns. A violinist and a street artist are both struggling to own and express their art as the city shuts down around them. This story weaves their art and journeys together during lockdown in the most spellbinding, big-hearted way. It’s about the importance of art, of finding your path and what matters in life. It’s truly special and I absolutely LOVED it.
July 2, 2024
3.75 Stars
That was probably the best out of the reader's cup books.
I don't like books about covid though so..
That was probably the best out of the reader's cup books.
I don't like books about covid though so..
February 1, 2023
Grace, violin virtuoso, wants to study music but her controlling mum wants her to follow the sciences. Crux, talented spray artist, just wants to make street art but his supportive dad doesn't want him getting in trouble. One day in 2020, amid rising COVID cases, Crux decides to paint Grace after she goes viral playing her violin and their worlds intersect...
I enjoyed this YA verse novel a whole lot more than I expected to. I admit I picked it up thinking I was just ticking off an obligation read after being gifted this one. When I realised it was heavily set in that weird twilight zone of the onset of the pandemic, I was nervous at first - I don't usually like to read about that time. But somehow this book managed to get through all my skepticism with its gentle, slice of life story that really hit the mark for me.
I know I'm not the only one who avoids the pandemic setting. But as I read, I realised that we do actually need books that capture the true nature of that surreal experience. And this book does do it very well. I kept thinking about someone reading this 20-30 years from now who didn't live through it, and thinking to themselves - "no, surely it wasn't quite like that, surely this is a bit exaggerated, surely people weren't forced to stay in their houses, surely the middle of vibrant Melbourne wasn't really a ghost town...". But of course it WAS like that and it is actually important that how that time FELT is captured for posterity and I really think this book does that.
This was the book that finally made verse novels click for me. Before now, I had expected verse to be poetry. I somehow had acquired the expectation that a verse novel should be a collection of standalone poems that together tell a story. I don't know where I got that idea. But this one made it click that verse novels are not poetry or prose but something in between. Once I realised that, I was able to fully enjoy this as much as it deserved.
I enjoyed the underlying message about following the thing that really calls to your soul, and also about the place of art and music in a society that became a little obsessed with who is or isn't "essential".
As mentioned, I would consider this a more gentle, slice of life type story than being plot heavy, but it's also very engaging and easy to read. Even with the setting, the story just gave me overall GoodVibes(tm) and I'm super impressed that it is a debut.
I enjoyed this YA verse novel a whole lot more than I expected to. I admit I picked it up thinking I was just ticking off an obligation read after being gifted this one. When I realised it was heavily set in that weird twilight zone of the onset of the pandemic, I was nervous at first - I don't usually like to read about that time. But somehow this book managed to get through all my skepticism with its gentle, slice of life story that really hit the mark for me.
I know I'm not the only one who avoids the pandemic setting. But as I read, I realised that we do actually need books that capture the true nature of that surreal experience. And this book does do it very well. I kept thinking about someone reading this 20-30 years from now who didn't live through it, and thinking to themselves - "no, surely it wasn't quite like that, surely this is a bit exaggerated, surely people weren't forced to stay in their houses, surely the middle of vibrant Melbourne wasn't really a ghost town...". But of course it WAS like that and it is actually important that how that time FELT is captured for posterity and I really think this book does that.
This was the book that finally made verse novels click for me. Before now, I had expected verse to be poetry. I somehow had acquired the expectation that a verse novel should be a collection of standalone poems that together tell a story. I don't know where I got that idea. But this one made it click that verse novels are not poetry or prose but something in between. Once I realised that, I was able to fully enjoy this as much as it deserved.
I enjoyed the underlying message about following the thing that really calls to your soul, and also about the place of art and music in a society that became a little obsessed with who is or isn't "essential".
As mentioned, I would consider this a more gentle, slice of life type story than being plot heavy, but it's also very engaging and easy to read. Even with the setting, the story just gave me overall GoodVibes(tm) and I'm super impressed that it is a debut.
March 13, 2023
This is a really beautiful book. The characters - and their dynamics with each other and especially their families - were written with so much depth and care. The story felt believable, and I really rooted for Grace and Crux to get everything they wanted!
The way themes like art and COVID were woven so seamlessly into the book was wonderful. I never felt overwhelmed, but instead felt like I was dropped into a story that felt incredibly raw. I did not think I'd be ready for a story set in pandemic 2020, but I actually really loved how the author used it in this book.
Admittedly I'm not very familiar with poetry, so the verse style threw me a little at first. It did feel like it could have been written in prose, but the author just started a new line in between sentences to give it a poetic look? I.e. if someone just removed the line breaks and wrote it as paragraphs, you wouldn't know it was originally verse. I did love when the spacing/font was used to show mood/vibes though. Again, poetry isn't my thing, so I'm only commenting on it to show my thoughts, not to criticise or praise how it was used here :)
Thanks so much to the publisher for my ARC. It took me a while to read it, but I'm glad I waited until I was in the right headspace to devour this lovely, unique story.
The way themes like art and COVID were woven so seamlessly into the book was wonderful. I never felt overwhelmed, but instead felt like I was dropped into a story that felt incredibly raw. I did not think I'd be ready for a story set in pandemic 2020, but I actually really loved how the author used it in this book.
Admittedly I'm not very familiar with poetry, so the verse style threw me a little at first. It did feel like it could have been written in prose, but the author just started a new line in between sentences to give it a poetic look? I.e. if someone just removed the line breaks and wrote it as paragraphs, you wouldn't know it was originally verse. I did love when the spacing/font was used to show mood/vibes though. Again, poetry isn't my thing, so I'm only commenting on it to show my thoughts, not to criticise or praise how it was used here :)
Thanks so much to the publisher for my ARC. It took me a while to read it, but I'm glad I waited until I was in the right headspace to devour this lovely, unique story.
August 10, 2025
This was an absolutely gorgeous novel that explores creativity, rules and relationships, all set against a backdrop of the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns in Victoria.
Despite 5 years having passed, and despite me living in NSW, which was nowhere near as restrictive as Victoria, I was surprised how evocative the Covid setting was. It took me straight back to that time and place. I particularly liked the recurring Corona chorus, with daily statistics and the online comments reflecting community attitudes at the time.
I really enjoyed the characters of Grace and Crux, particularly Crux. They seemed very realistic and genuine. I wondered how many of the street art gang were real, or their artworks based on real pieces we could track down in Melbourne's CBD. This book could have come packaged with a curated Spotify playlist and an Insta page full of Street Art!
Glad this won the 2024 CBCA award for older readers. Hope that brought it a bigger audience and I will check out Karen Comer's future work.
Despite 5 years having passed, and despite me living in NSW, which was nowhere near as restrictive as Victoria, I was surprised how evocative the Covid setting was. It took me straight back to that time and place. I particularly liked the recurring Corona chorus, with daily statistics and the online comments reflecting community attitudes at the time.
I really enjoyed the characters of Grace and Crux, particularly Crux. They seemed very realistic and genuine. I wondered how many of the street art gang were real, or their artworks based on real pieces we could track down in Melbourne's CBD. This book could have come packaged with a curated Spotify playlist and an Insta page full of Street Art!
Glad this won the 2024 CBCA award for older readers. Hope that brought it a bigger audience and I will check out Karen Comer's future work.
February 3, 2023
A novel in verse
“This song has a grace note,
a tiny note that’s there for embellishment
but can easily be ignored,
not played.
Tonight, I add it in –
just because.
We can all do with an extra note of grace.”
Set at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, as Melbourne (and the world) goes into lockdown.
Grace - a talented muscian
Crux - an aspiring street artist
When Crux sees a video of a young girl playing her violin in a deserted tram, he know he must paint her.
When Grace sees her portrait as part of a mural celebrating essential workers during the pandemic, she sets out to find the artist who painted it.
And so Grace and Crux meet, and through the isolation of lockdowns and the fear of the Pandemic, they forge a special bond that proves the value of playing the grace note and finding that something a little extra in our lives.
This is one of those books that I loved so much I struggle to find words to describe how much I think you shoudl read
So I'm just going to say - read this book!
You will feel all the feels... see the effects of lockdown from the eyes of teenagers... and celebrate art, music and first love.
This is the author's debut novel - and if this is a debut, then... WOW!
I can't wait to read many more books throughout what I am sure will be her amazing career.
Thanks to Hachette Australia for the review copy of this book
“This song has a grace note,
a tiny note that’s there for embellishment
but can easily be ignored,
not played.
Tonight, I add it in –
just because.
We can all do with an extra note of grace.”
Set at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, as Melbourne (and the world) goes into lockdown.
Grace - a talented muscian
Crux - an aspiring street artist
When Crux sees a video of a young girl playing her violin in a deserted tram, he know he must paint her.
When Grace sees her portrait as part of a mural celebrating essential workers during the pandemic, she sets out to find the artist who painted it.
And so Grace and Crux meet, and through the isolation of lockdowns and the fear of the Pandemic, they forge a special bond that proves the value of playing the grace note and finding that something a little extra in our lives.
This is one of those books that I loved so much I struggle to find words to describe how much I think you shoudl read
So I'm just going to say - read this book!
You will feel all the feels... see the effects of lockdown from the eyes of teenagers... and celebrate art, music and first love.
This is the author's debut novel - and if this is a debut, then... WOW!
I can't wait to read many more books throughout what I am sure will be her amazing career.
Thanks to Hachette Australia for the review copy of this book
June 3, 2024
Stunning verse novel. But it was quite triggering reading about Melbourne covid lockdowns.
February 14, 2023
A beautiful story of young love, family and following dreams, set in locked down Melbourne! This book captures so much of our shared experience from 2020 with references woven gently throughout the pages. Even Dan’s North Face jacket scored a mention!
An easy read with a lovely rhythm, highly recommended for teens … and anyone who lived in Melbourne during those “unprecedented” times! Get your tissues ready if you struggled at all during lockdowns … this book will bring all of the emotion flooding back! Oh, Ettie!
An easy read with a lovely rhythm, highly recommended for teens … and anyone who lived in Melbourne during those “unprecedented” times! Get your tissues ready if you struggled at all during lockdowns … this book will bring all of the emotion flooding back! Oh, Ettie!
January 2, 2024
Wonderful read, really enjoyed it
March 2, 2023
Sweet YA story about two young artists finding love as covid hits Melbourne. Lockdowns. Aged care, sourdough, North Face jacket all there.
3.5
3.5
August 30, 2023
This book had so much.
All the feels.
My review needs dot points because my brain is like gjsfgjsfjwaz and *heart eyes*
• Verse novel
• Dual perspective
• Grace- a hugely successful violinist facing challenges in pursuing her dream. (A new fave protagonist for me!! I haven’t felt like this about a character in a long time)
• Crux- a street artist whose passion isn’t always celebrated or condoned.
• These characters were brilliant. So much depth and so artfully created in verse.
• Set in Covid-19 lockdown Melbourne. What trip down memory lane! (Doesn’t it seem so surreal now when we look back???)
• This book is like a time capsule for the highs and lows of the crazy COVID times.
• Teenage romance
• Texting passages (I loveee)
• Jut straight up a heart punch of joy and hurt and feeling and beautiful writing.
How is this book this author’s debut? It is brilliant.
"This song has a grace note
a tiny note that's there for embellishment
but can easily be ignored,
not played.
Tonight, I add it in -
just because.
We can all do with an extra note
of grace."
All the feels.
My review needs dot points because my brain is like gjsfgjsfjwaz and *heart eyes*
• Verse novel
• Dual perspective
• Grace- a hugely successful violinist facing challenges in pursuing her dream. (A new fave protagonist for me!! I haven’t felt like this about a character in a long time)
• Crux- a street artist whose passion isn’t always celebrated or condoned.
• These characters were brilliant. So much depth and so artfully created in verse.
• Set in Covid-19 lockdown Melbourne. What trip down memory lane! (Doesn’t it seem so surreal now when we look back???)
• This book is like a time capsule for the highs and lows of the crazy COVID times.
• Teenage romance
• Texting passages (I loveee)
• Jut straight up a heart punch of joy and hurt and feeling and beautiful writing.
How is this book this author’s debut? It is brilliant.
"This song has a grace note
a tiny note that's there for embellishment
but can easily be ignored,
not played.
Tonight, I add it in -
just because.
We can all do with an extra note
of grace."
Read
June 29, 2024this was truly an understated novel- at times it almost felt a little mellow but overall this was a really wholesome read which attached itself to many different issues without becoming too overwhelming.
crux and graces's voices as young people were authentic and realistic. the differences and similarities in their characterisation bounced off each other extraordinarily well, and the development of their romance, while rushed at first soon became beautifullly underpinned by their connection as artists
i had mixed feelings about reading a novel set during COVID- it felt to me like not enough time had passed yet for the experience to have settled, but while I was reading I found it fine- there were even a few key aspects I had forgotten- probably due to the story being set in Victoria. I found the "corona chorus" a great way to separate the story but the comments did cheapen the effect slightly
nearly the entire book is written in such well-written free verse, which only amplified the message of the importance of art and more specifically music, it was presenting. The verse also allowed perspective changes to flow especially well.
the ending didn't really offer any sort of indications of in what way the story concluded- was the mother still mad? probably the biggest question left unanswered but the final scene was definitely strong enough to carry it over the line
anyways idk why i ultra-yapped so much but i enjoyed this book, somewhat unexpectedly
crux and graces's voices as young people were authentic and realistic. the differences and similarities in their characterisation bounced off each other extraordinarily well, and the development of their romance, while rushed at first soon became beautifullly underpinned by their connection as artists
i had mixed feelings about reading a novel set during COVID- it felt to me like not enough time had passed yet for the experience to have settled, but while I was reading I found it fine- there were even a few key aspects I had forgotten- probably due to the story being set in Victoria. I found the "corona chorus" a great way to separate the story but the comments did cheapen the effect slightly
nearly the entire book is written in such well-written free verse, which only amplified the message of the importance of art and more specifically music, it was presenting. The verse also allowed perspective changes to flow especially well.
the ending didn't really offer any sort of indications of in what way the story concluded- was the mother still mad? probably the biggest question left unanswered but the final scene was definitely strong enough to carry it over the line
anyways idk why i ultra-yapped so much but i enjoyed this book, somewhat unexpectedly
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 10, 2024
Set in Melbourne in 2020 this brilliant YA novel tells the story of two teenagers who are passionate about their art. Crux paints street art and Grace plays violin. Their studies, art and friendships are all disrupted by the arrival of Covid and the lockdowns that it necessitated. Cormer captures their thoughts in short, poetry like sentences and texts which reveal their family dynamics, their dreams and their growing relationship. A Covid Chorus provides us with updates on this world changing event through statistics and social media posts. I love the references to Melbourne's street art and I learnt a lot about crossover music as well. This book was a powerful reminder of how Covid changed lives. Covid’s impact on young people in particular was dramatic and is still ongoing.
March 21, 2024
I enjoyed this tightly-written artistic love story told in verse. It was punchy, and fluid.
I vowed to never read anything written about C19, or pandemics or that abominable period in Melbourne, and I did feel triggered by some of that in this book, but it wasn't the focus or over indulged (except for Grandma, I thought she deserved a better, less cliche narrative) but having said that I loved the story and characters enough to see it to the end and I'm glad I did.
Excellent debut. #CBCA2024
I vowed to never read anything written about C19, or pandemics or that abominable period in Melbourne, and I did feel triggered by some of that in this book, but it wasn't the focus or over indulged (except for Grandma, I thought she deserved a better, less cliche narrative) but having said that I loved the story and characters enough to see it to the end and I'm glad I did.
Excellent debut. #CBCA2024
July 9, 2025
This book really gave an insight into what it was like for Melbourners who were trapped in their homes during the middle of COVID. We follow two teenagers, Crux and Grace. Crux being a boy who loves to paint graffiti, and Grace being a girl who plays violin (just like me lol). We see their ups and downs as they try to hide things from their parents, we also see some people dying as a result of getting infected with COVID. Overall, a heartwarming story that gives insight.
September 14, 2023
hm, im not sure. I am not a big fan of the poetry layout, but I felt how personal this book was to me, as I lived through the Victoria lockdowns. It was slow at the start, but I got reasonably into it.
June 27, 2024
Okay ig
The lack of speech marks irritated me. Like, why? It's not artistic, it's just annoying.
Also the girl on the cover looks freakishly like my younger cousin. That's the reason I bought the book.
The lack of speech marks irritated me. Like, why? It's not artistic, it's just annoying.
Also the girl on the cover looks freakishly like my younger cousin. That's the reason I bought the book.
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