Diva Audible – Unabridged

DIVA tells the story of Caitlin McCourt, a sixteen-year-old opera fan and singer, as she attempts to break out of her old life by transferring to a performing arts school. Among the things Caitlin is escaping are an abusive ex-boyfriend, vacuous "friends" who don't understand her interests, and the advice of her overbearing and superficial mother. However, her new school comes with its own share of difficulties. She has to learn to dance and act as well as sing, and she's afraid she's too "normal" to fit in with the artsy students.

Caitlin is an incredibly sympathetic character. Despite being burdened with a mother who's more interested in flirting with Caitlin's guy friends than supporting her daughter, and a father who's started a new family that rarely includes her, she manages to believe in and look after herself. Her voice is realistic and open, letting the readers in on all of her insecurities (which many teens will share). Her decisions make sense for her, even if readers don't always agree with them, and throughout the story she comes more and more into her own.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Caitlin's story is how her relationship with her mother evolves. Much of Caitlin's personality appears to be a product of her mother's hot-and-cold attitude toward her daughter. As Caitlin steps out from her mother's shadow, she sees not only her own needs and desires more clearly, but also her mother's. Caitlin's discovery that there's more to her mother than she realized is poignant and believable.

DIVA will be enjoyed by any teen, especially girls, struggling with the pressures of friends and family. With its colorful and well-developed characters, it's an easy story to get drawn into. The only criticism I could make is that the novel doesn't offer a great deal more than other good titles with similar subject matter, but what it does offer is so involving that it's hard to complain.

Reviewed by: Lynn Crow

Caitlin McCourt knew what she wants and she intended to get it – even if her mom didn't agree to it. Caitlin loved singing, especially the Opera and she promised to do everything to enter Miami High School of the Arts.

She actually used to be fat – really fat – but she went on a Fat Camp (is there really such a thing??) and shed at least 35 pounds. Then she became a pretty blond girl and eventually got a boyfriend. Too late when she realized, his boyfriend was from Hell.

Nick may have been wickedly hot, with a nice car, brought flowers occasionally and even wrote poetry. But beneath those façade, Nick actually hit Caitlin, he even said her singing was stupid and no one ever wanted to be friends with her except him.

Caitlin met new friends, Sean & Gigi and they were supportive of her because they believed in her. But her mom didn't think she was good enough. Her mom is a little eccentric - an oddball – she chose to dress like a teen-ager, way slicker and shorter than Caitlin’s clothes, much to her daughter’s dismay. Next thing she knew, her mom started dating another man, who was not only balding, he was also married to another woman. Caitlin didn't know anymore how to deal with her life.

I admire Caitlin for her perseverance to go for that something that she aspires to be. True, a lot of girls prefer to call themselves Diva but they do not know the extent of the word. As much as possible, Caitlin, a product of broken family – doesn’t want to ask for anyone’s help if she can manage herself.Read more ›

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The synopsis sets it up to be another catty teen novel, but it had a surprising amount of substance. The character is first introduced in one of Flinn's earlier novels, but this book stands alone. The character is very real, and the issues and fears she deals with on a daily basis mirror those of every teenager. While it addresses many issues modern teens face, it thankfully turns down the opportunity to become overly dramatic.

The musical aspect of this was just another plus side for me :-). From what I have heard from my many friends at arts schools, the depiction seems accurate, although I would like to point out that Phantom of the Opera is a musical and not an opera. In any case the music is only a small detail in the big picture of Diva. My only big complaint is the occasional use of text/im speech, while used for a purpose, still annoys me personally.

Originally reviewed on my blog.

This book is a realistic high school coming of age story. I love seeing how the main character Caitlin grows through the novel. There are touchy subjects, abuse and adultery but they are pretty brief overviews and not too detailed. No language. She really obsesses about her weight for a large portion in the beginning and thankfully she lets it go toward the end, part of the growing. There's a lot of musical and operatic references. Her online journal sections use letters and text abbreviations, (2day, U, No thx) which kind of made her more realistic for me as a high schooler, but I know some people have serious issues with that. The romance ended up not being a romance and focused more on her growing by herself. I had a really hard time liking her mom, even toward the end. It was a smooth, easy read and I got through it quickly. There's another one by Alex Finn, Breathing Underwater, about Caitlin during her time with Nick during the abuse. I'm considering reading that one, once my TO-READ list is much smaller