Read of the Week: Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

From the fantastic author of The Lonely Hearts Club and Prom & Prejudice comes a story of all the drama and comedy of four friends who grow into themselves at a performing arts high school.

Emme, Sophie, Ethan, and Carter are seniors at a performing arts school, getting ready for their Senior Showcase recital, where the pressure is on to appeal to colleges, dance academies, and professionals in show business. For Sophie, a singer, it’s been great to be friends with Emme, who composes songs for her, and to date Carter, soap opera heartthrob who gets plenty of press coverage. Emme and Ethan have been in a band together through all four years of school, but wonder if they could be more than just friends and bandmates. Carter has been acting since he was a baby, and isn’t sure how to admit that he’d rather paint than perform. The Senior Showcase is going to make or break each of the four, in a funny, touching, spectacular finale that only Elizabeth Eulberg could perform.

Never having read a book by Elizabeth Eulberg prior to this one, I didn’t have many expectations when it came to Take a Bow.

The novel follows four musically talented students their senior year at CPA, a preforming arts high school in New York. College applications are to be filled out, auditions to be had, banquets to be attended, and final impressions left to be made.

Now, four POV’s sounds just about crazy, right? I mean, how are you supposed to follow all of that? Two girls, two boys, there’s no way you aren’t going to get things mixed up and voices are going to stand out.

Or at least, that’s what you think. Much to my delight, all four POV’s were lively and enjoyable, and yes, easy to keep track of. This is one of the book’s best qualities, and I feel it’s important to keep that noted. There aren’t a lot of authors, or readers, that can handle four POV’s, but Elizabeth manages to do just that, almost seamlessly.

Lovers of music will come running, as this novel is chalk full of it. Get ready to experience the highs and lows of booking gigs and keeping a band together, feisty competition, and maybe some Michael Jackson. Anyone who enjoyed Amplified by Tara Kelly, I feel the need to point out, will drool over this one.

Something I really loved about Take a Bow was how true to teenage life, it happened to be. While our four main characters are living in New York going to a performing arts school some of us can only dream of, the situations they come across are still raw and realistic. Crushes, heartbreak, rejection and more are all featured, and make it all too easy to connect with every one of the characters in one way or another. Take a Bow sheds light on those who have yet to find their place in the world, others that have yet to fully embrace their true passion and not just what they’ve been told to want to do, and all the other drama-filled situations we all went through in high school.

The romance in TAB plays a minor part but still lingers throughout the book in small hints and causalities for anyone who’s wondering. The relationship between Ethan and Emme, best friends since the beginning of high school, is both beautiful and heart wrenching at the same time. Besides them, there is little mention of Carter and Sophie’s short-lived relationship.

I wanted to live in Emme, Sophie, Carter, and Ethan’s world all throughout the novel. Another great read this week.

Rating: 10/10

Hardcover, 278 pages
Published April 1st 2012 by Point