I’m literally the worst person I know please don’t kill me for disappearing again.

Okay now that that’s out of the way.
I actually finally read this book and IT WAS GLORIOUS. And I may or may not have begged Cait to answer some of my weird-ass questions and she kindly obliged. Now granted I read this book like 3 weeks ago so the review will be short but hopefully the glory of Cait will make up for that.
Anyways, without further ado, let’s get into it.

First of all, let me tell ya a teensy weensy bit about Cait. She runs the blog Paper Fury which you all probably know. And she wrote a book last year called A Thousand Perfect Notes.

Title: A Thousand Perfect Notes
Author: C.G. Drews
Page count: 282
Date published: 7 June 2018
Genre: Young Adult contemporary

Thank you to Pan MacMillan SA for sending a copy my way!

Rating: (4.5 out of 5 stars)

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS
Beck hates his life. He hates his violent mother. He hates his home. Most of all, he hates the piano that his mother forces him to play hour after hour, day after day. He will never play as she did before illness ended her career and left her bitter and broken. But Beck is too scared to stand up to his mother, and tell her his true passion, which is composing his own music – because the least suggestion of rebellion on his part ends in violence. When Beck meets August, a girl full of life, energy and laughter, love begins to awaken within him and he glimpses a way to escape his painful existence. But dare he reach for it?

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD READ ATPN:

• The writing.
  Wow. Just wow. Cait’s writing is just delicious. You could totally tell that she wrote this book, she writes like she writes online which sounds obvious but it was so cool. I loved her writing style. It was so lyrical and fun and choppy but flowed at the same time.
• The music.
  WAS SO COOL I CANNOT DEAL. I loved how the piano was incorporated into the story. It made me want to play again. It was sad and beautiful and I loved how it really worked with the story. Does Twice Burgundy actually exist? Because I need to listen to it pls.
• Joey.
  This little kid man. Is so freaking cool. I mean I felt as if I was Joey as a kid. She’s so quirky at the age of like 7 what?? The clothes!! And the banter!! The sasssss!! She’s so great.
• The romance.
  Was so smol and lovely and I just,, want to cry. I loved it. It’s so soft and pure and August and Beck are so sweet.
• CAKE.
  There was a cake in this book. And I am now of course hungry.
• Beck.
  This boy. OH MY GOD. My heart broke. He really just needed a hug. Ahh, I actually couldn’t. Beck is my fave and I just,, He was so precious. I loved how he always cared for his sister and how he really just wanted to live his life.
• The emotions and pain.
  There is a trigger warning for abuse in this book so be aware of that before going in. And it really is so hard to read. Wow. My heart cracked the entire time.

Again, a huge thanks to Cait for answering my absurd questions <3

This may be an odd question and I kind of have no idea what I’m even asking, but I could definitely tell that your writing style was you, could you just talk about how you write? How did you develop your style?

It’s really nice to know I have a distinctive style! I honestly think the key is just time and practise. I’ve been writing fiercely for the last ten years and my style has grown and changed over that time until it wove into a shape I’m really proud of.

I couldn’t make out where ATPN was set? I got the feeling it was London? Or is it a fictional place?

It was technically set in Australia, but I tried to make it a flexible setting so any reader could imagine it set in their own country. This probably backfired a little with some of my Australianisms and slang haha.

Now, ATPN deals with some serious issues but also some lighter ones, how much of those relationships did you draw from real life and how did you write the rest?

ATPN is inspired from a mixture of the classical composer Beethoven’s life x a bit of a gender-bent Cinderella retelling. So that’s where the “evil mother” inspiration came from. The only relationship I drew real-life inspiration from was Beck and his little sister Joey! I also have siblings and we squabble and love each other so it was fun to write a rambunctious little sister for Beck to care for.

What are some other writing projects that you’ve been worked on lately? Have you written any new books? (aka ones you’ve written in like 2 days)

Shhh shhh, I can’t tell Ruby!! But I am definitely always working on something!

What are some of the most random novels that you’ve written in the past?

A loooong long time ago I did write an apocalyptic romance between a girl and a robot…the details are fuzzy but I do believe I had a grandma knitting a tea-cosy-thing but for a gun??? Let’s just say, some stories from Younger-Cait are best left in the darkest corner of the cupboard.

You obviously cannot “write” a sound onto paper, so was it difficult to write the scenes where Beck was playing the piano and expressing how he was playing with words?

One of my most favourite compliments has been readers telling me they could “hear” Beck’s music from how I described it. I am all heart-eyes over this! I worked really hard to bring a sensory element to my words as he played, with lots of metaphors and colours to bring the sound across. 

What are some of Beck’s favourite classical pieces?

He is a definite fan of Grieg, because (here’s the secret)…I am too. His (my?!) favourites are Grieg’s Cello Sonatas in A Minor.

Could you describe TBWSH in 3 words?

Heartache. Searching. Home.

Which fictional characters would be best friends with Beck, August, Sam and Avery?

August = would get on amazingly with Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter!

Beck = look, we know he’s an antisocial lump, but I think he’d have a lot in common with Adam Parrish from The Raven Cycle

Sam = would relate a lot to Julian from Lady Midnight since they were both forced into “protector” positions when they were young.

Avery = literally laps up friendship from anyone who is nice to him haha…but I think he’d have a lot of fun with Lara Jean from To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before!

Which of your books the most difficult to write? And which was your favourite?

Ohhh this is a hard one to decide between! A Thousand Perfect Notes was hard in that it was my first foray into contemporary YA and it is very dark overall, which was hard to write. But The Boy Who Steals Houses, while super fun to write, also needed way way more rewriting. But I did have so much fun writing TBWSH’s banter scenes!

And lastly, how many rivers will we cry over TBWSH?

At least two, maybe three. I am putting out a blanket apology now.

THE BOY WHO STEALS HOUSES

Cait’s newest book is coming in just over a month on the 4th of April and I couldn’t be more excited about it. Click here for the Goodreads page!
Preorder:
Amazon UK
Book Depository
Wordery

Find Cait elsewhere:

• Blog
• Instagram
• Twitter

HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK? DID YOU LOVE IT? DO YOU READ CAIT’S BLOG? WHAT’S A BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE READ RECENTLY? I’D LOVE TO KNOW!