Daisy is s senior at a prestigious Manhattan musical performance school with dreams of going to Julliard. As second chair violin, she’s one of the best in the school. When she’s chosen to do a duet for the school’s Holiday concert alongside first chair Cellist and longtime crush Noah she’s excited and awed. She thought she’d never get this chance. As a disabled student and musician she’s had to work extra hard to prove herself and she can’t let this opportunity pass her by, so she’s more than a bit miffed when Noah insists they stick to classical music while she wants to do something contemporary arranged for classical instruments. They decide to strike a compromise, allowing his talented older brothers who play for Broadway and Scotland National Orchestra respectively arrange a piece for them. When their recorded performance goes viral, the two are suddenly put in the spotlight just as their budding attraction turns to romance. Then the trolls start, who she’s so lucky to have found a boyfriend with her disability. How they must of chosen her to play just because she’s disabled. When Noah’s well meaning, but misguided attempt at helping leads to hurt feelings and misunderstandings between the two it’s up to some help from their friends and family to not only bring them back together, but prove to the world that they are more than an initial performance.
This has some great disabled rep in it. Daisy has CP that effects her left hand, so she plays her violin in reverse, which leas to a troll comment that she holds and plays wrong. The author also has CP so it’s got a lot of authenticity to it. Through his chapters, Noah is revealed to have been dealing with undiagnosed anxiety since he was 11 and first played at Carnegie Hall. Coming from a family where both his parents and older brothers are classically trained musicians who play for orchestras, he thinks he has to live up to and surpass his older brothers in talent. He spends all his free time obsessively practicing and has no friends. Which is why he insists on playing a classical piece for their performance, it’s what they did and is what “expected”. Through Daisy and her friends (an adorable Turkish Muslim couple, at least the boy is Turkish) he gets the help he needs, as well as his first friends.
The romance between them is sweet and cute. Noah does say something ableist, with the best intentions of taking the focus off Daisy’s disability. Daisy is rightfully pissed, but doesn’t do a good job of explaining why, leading to a break up and misunderstanding. But Noah is a smart guy, he figures it out on his own and apologizes and promises to keep learning. He, and their friends, vow to then flip the script and show the world just who Daisy and Noah really are and how talented the are.
One of the trolls is revealed to be a classmate, the jealous and lazy type that thinks the disabled chic is getting special treatment. Ugh. He gets his commupence though.
However, Daisy’s issues with her parents are not fully addressed or resolved. They are heavily Catholic, old world style. Maternal Grandma was an Italian immigrant, and the mom was a girl when they emigrated (I think that’s what they said). So they still have that “the church is everything” mentality you see in immigrant religious communities. They get mad when she stands up to the ableist priest, during mass no less, even though at least the mom seems to understand why she’s mad in the moment. I also found it odd the Catholic church had a fellowship class, I’ve never seen that at Catholic churches, at least not the ones I went to growing up, and the priest talked more like an evangelical minister with his “let’s pray Daisy’s disability away” sermon at the beginning of mass.
Daisy also brings up the fact they seems to care more about the toddler little sister, who isn’t disabled. They haven’t been to a performance of her since her freshman Holiday concert, and don’t stay for the whole performance with Noah. They cite they are busy running the florist shop, etc. and working hard to support the family and refuse to address how all this has effected Daisy mentally. It’s stated in the end she too now attends a therapist and is working through their emotional neglect, but I don’t like it’s not better addressed with Daisy telling them how she feels once she’s calmed down and them trying to understand and address it. She also begins attending a different church they sell flowers too that has a wheelchair using priest that always made her feel welcome on her deliveries.
Even with the lack of resolution with the parents I still give this one Four Lightsabers for the story and representation and can’t wait to read the authors next book about a disabled asexual girl.
The Ramblings of a Jedi Librarian 