As a teen, I remember reading many books that I couldn’t necessarily relate to, but that were entertaining and felt like a peek into a teen’s glamorous and exciting life. I think I always loved these books the most, because they took me to places I knew I’d never go in real life. New York City for example- never been there, but I love to read about it in novels. So, when I started reading Night Music and the main character, Ruby, lives in a huge house in New York with her genius dad, I was hooked.
Ruby lives a pretty normal life by some standards; however, she also has a credit card and a trust fund, and her house has a separate apartment just for guests. The book starts out with somewhat of a mystery, as we experience a scene with Ruby discovering someone playing a piano that she hasn’t touched in a long time. We don’t know why she is avoiding the piano; however, it’s clear that whatever reason is close to her heart and somewhat of a sore subject. The fact that her piano is being played by a good-looking boy is a distraction, and thus begins the story of Ruby and Oscar.
Throughout the book, it seems like Ruby and Oscar are fated to be together. They’re both musical prodigies and are dedicated to the world of music. Music is their entire life–well, until they fall in love–with each other. Ruby seems a bit more stubborn and mature than Oscar, but with a little encouragement they fall for each other and soon they are hanging out all the time. Oscar is a student of Ruby’s father though, and has a schedule and a deadline to meet and their relationship begins to toe the line of being an appropriate one.
If all of this doesn’t pull in a teen girl looking for a fun, romance-y novel, I don’t know what will. I was pleasantly reminded of Sarah Dessen and Deb Caletti by this book, and I think teens that have enjoyed those authors and gone through all of their books will be happy to find another author that has a similar writing style. I know I will be on the lookout for more books by Jenn Marie Thorne and I’m 25 years old!
Review of an Advance Reader’s Copy
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Dial Books for Young Readers
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 19 religious exclamations; 11 mild obscenities; 2 religious profanities; 2 derogatory names; 10 scatological words; 5 anatomical terms; 2 F-word derivatives.
Violence/Gore: An adult suffers symptoms of a heart attack; a man is mentioned to have died from a heart attack.
Sex/Nudity: A teen is referred to as “hot”; a teen girl sees a boy in what are referred to as a pair of “tight” boxer underwear; a teen girl is kissed on the cheek by a teen boy; a teen couple kisses on the lips and dances in a club; teens are reminded to “use protection” if they have sex; a teen couple is mentioned to be “screwing”; a teen couple touch areas normally covered by a bathing suit; a teen couple have a mature discussion about sex and decide not to have sex; a teen mentions that she and her boyfriend have reached “third base”; teens undress and sexual innuendo occurs, leading to sex in one brief scene; teens kiss multiple times; several adult couples are mentioned to be having affairs.
Mature Subject Matter:
Extramarital affairs; abandonment; fraud and deceit; embezzlement; major health problems; racism.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Teens go to club where alcohol is served to minors with fake ID. Adults drink wine. Minors drink mixed drinks at a party. Cocktails are served to minors. An adult is mentioned to be a drug addict.
