5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
High School Rivalry Meets Its Match, February 18, 2011
This review is from: Rival (Hardcover)
High school is where memories are made, be they good or bad. Whether you're popular or an outcast, you remember that time of your life. Sara Bennett Wealer's debut novel, Rival, recaptures high school through the eyes of two girls who couldn't be more different...or more alike. Kathryn and Brooke are two seniors competing for the same prestigious music scholarship. Kathryn is a soprano with a light, airy voice, while Brooke is an alto, her sound rich and deep. Brooke is rich and one of the most popular girls at school while Kathryn is poor and a social outcast. Their love of music should bring these two girls together in the ultimate friendship, but instead, they're bitter rivals.
The novel flips between "current day" (senior year) and flashbacks of junior year when everything went wrong. This isn't done in an annoying way, however. Each year is focused on from both points of view for quite a few chapters before flipping back again. Rival is so tightly written that readers want to know what happened junior year to make Kathryn and Brooke such bitter rivals. They keep alluding to something, so by the time you find out, you're just dying to know. Wealer did a spectacular job building suspense and keeping the story feeling natural.
Rivals focuses on relationships, but not the romantic kind. While there's a brush of romance thrown in, it's very blink-and-you-miss-it. While boy drama is involved, the male species is not the focal point of this novel: The relationship between the two rivals is. It's refreshing to read a book with this type of outlook. There's so much more to life than boys, but you'd never know it perusing today's YA market. Friendship and rivalry is very much a part of our daily life, especially in high school. At one point, Kathryn and Brooke were on the point of being friends. If what went down junior year hadn't gotten in the way, they would have most likely been best friends. They're so obsessed with music and have so much in common, but it's all overlooked due to their intense dislike of one another.
The relationship between the girls is another place where Wealer got it right. Because she chose to write from the POV of both characters, readers get a multi-faceted look at them as human beings. If we had read the book from just one perspective, we'd be looking through the flawed eyes of that one character. The remaining girl would automatically be a villain. It's amazing to see the same situation through two pairs of eyes. For example, at one point, Kathryn gets complimented on her singing and smiles at one of her choir friends, but Brooke thinks she's being smug and going, "So there!" at her to rub it in. In another instance, Kathryn thinks Brooke's homecoming platform revolves around her and the fact that her family is poor, but Kathryn's circumstances never crossed Brooke's mind when putting everything together. It's just amazing to see the way both girls become flawed, individual characters, neither right nor wrong. There are times when I really detest Brooke's character, but others when Kathryn is out of line as well. Ultimately, I cared for them both and wanted to know how everything ultimately turns out for them.
Harper's art department also got it right: Rival's design will make all the other books on the shelf jealous. I love the bright, eye-catching red. That is one gorgeous flower. I also love the significance of the one petal pulled away from the rest, alluding to the fractured relationship between two girls. Even better, the piano on the cover hints at the fact that the novel revolves around the world of music. I also love the fonts used on both the cover and inside chapter headers. In addition, each chapter details what girl's POV we're reading, with a curl at the end that reminds me strongly of a music note. There's a beautiful curl at the bottom of each page where the number is as well.
The last thing I want to point out that I love about Rival is the fact that it's centered around the arts. With so many programs being cut these days, it's refreshing to see an author focus on such students. Not only that, the high school choir is really good and constantly in competitions. Singers are regularly nominated for prestigious prizes such as the prestigious Blackmore scholarship Kathryn and Brooke are competing for. In addition, they don't focus on modern-day pop hits the way the students in Glee do. Instead, they listen to musicals, study Stephen Sondheim, and sing hard opera songs. These are some truly talented students and, music lover that I am, I adore the way Wealer gave us a glimpse into the world of pre-professional singers.
I'm so happy with how much music is in the media right now. Love it or hate it, Glee is a phenomenon in and of itself that has paved the road for more music-centered TV shows. Rival will hopefully be popular with teens as well. Fellow 2011 debut author Jessica Martinez will release Virtuosity, focused on rivalry in the world of orchestra students, this time a boy and girl competing in the prestigious Guarneri competition. If you enjoyed Rival, I think you'll want to read this as well. I know I do! In fact, Martinez released cover art this week and it is hot, hot, HOT!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous!, February 16, 2011
This review is from: Rival (Hardcover)
I echo all the sentiments of the previous review (Tara Gonzalez)! I also didn't expect to like this as much as I did...but I stayed up reading half the night because I couldn't put it down until it was over. I thought it would be a tale of popular girl vs. not-so popular girl and non-popular girl triumphs (as has been done so many ways before), but it wasn't like that at all. Actually, it was so much deeper than that, and now that I think about it, none of the characters/relationships were cliche at all. I also wasn't sure if I would like it because I am not really into Glee, or singing, or choirs etc., but that subplot was woven so effortlessly with high school life that I loved it. I highly recommend, and can't wait for this author's next book!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A bittersweet story of friends-turned-enemies, February 25, 2011
This review is from: Rival (Hardcover)
No matter which side of the fence you're on, the grass always appears greener on the other side.
For Kathryn Pease, her one-time best friend Brooke Dempsey has everything. She's popular, confident and stylish. She has money. She lived in New York. She's been to the Met. She wouldn't be stuck in Minnesota after high school. For someone like Brooke there are endless possibilities. Brooke isn't hanging all her hopes on winning the Blackmore competition like she is.
For Brooke, Kathryn is the lucky one. She is beautiful and petite. Her voice is flawless. She has a father who loves her and a family who acts like a family should. She doesn't have two brothers who put her down. There is no way Kathryn could want out of Minnesota as badly as she does. And most of all she doesn't have to disguise who she is or justify her passion for music to anyone. Kathryn doesn't need to win the Blackmore competition like she does.
As these two former best-friends get ready for the biggest competition of their lives will they let their personal rivalry get in the way of their success?
***
Rival is a beautifully written, bittersweet story about two girls who are friends-turned-enemies, both with the same appreciation for and love of music, and each who envies something the other has.
Their friendship is doomed from the start as each girl, for very different reasons, cannot be honest with the other, which leads to some rather unfortunate misunderstandings and ultimately to its collapse.
Each chapter alternates between Brooke's and Kathryn's perspective and also between the present and the events that led up to the breakdown of their friendship. Readers get the opportunity to see both sides and may find that assigning blame isn't quite so easy.
Rival is quite a surprise and so much more than just a "mean girls" story. It is far more richly developed than it would seem based on the title and description.
This is not merely a snarky, one-upmanship that escalates into a showdown with one man standing. Author Sara Bennett Wealer has given her characters much more depth and complexity than is typical in this type of story, allowing readers to feel compassion for both the underdog and the bully.
But, it is still in keeping with other stories in this genre and tremendously entertaining. It's got jealousy, diabolical pranks, a complete social freeze-out, a herd of A-Lister followers ready, willing and able to do whatever the Queen B says, and the requisite lovable geeky friend waiting in the wings ready to pick up the pieces.
Even in a month with so many great releases, Rival is a debut that you will not want to miss. Author Sara Bennett Wealer is an exceptional writer and one to keep on your watch list!
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