The Lucy Variations

by Sara Zarr

Lucy Beck-Moreau once had a promising future as a concert pianist. The right people knew her name, her performances were booked months in advance, and her future seemed certain.

That was all before she turned fourteen.

Now, at sixteen, it's over. A death, and a betrayal, led her to walk away. That leaves her talented ten-year-old brother, Gus, to shoulder the full weight of the Beck-Moreau family expectations. Then Gus gets a new piano teacher who is young, kind, and interested in helping Lucy rekindle her love of piano -- on her own terms. But when you're used to performing for sold-out audiences and world-famous critics, can you ever learn to play just for yourself?

The Lucy Variations is a story of one girl's struggle to reclaim her love of music and herself. It's about finding joy again, even when things don't go according to plan. Because life isn't a performance, and everyone deserves the chance to make a few mistakes along the way.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Music, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Coming Of Age, Teen

309 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 2013

About the author

Sara Zarr is the acclaimed author of ten books, most recently Goodbye from Nowhere, and Courageous Creativity: Advice and Encouragement for the Creative Life--a book on creativity for the young and young-at-heart. She’s a National Book Award finalist and two-time Utah Book Award winner, and is the host and producer of the This Creative Life podcast. Her first book, Story of a Girl, was made into a 2017 television movie directed by Kyra Sedgwick. She lives with her husband and cat, Mr. Donut, in CA and UT.

How I use goodreads: To log books I read in a year, books I want to read, and books by authors who were on my podcast, This Creative Life. (Those also turn up on my read shelf though I haven't necessarily read them!) I don't use the rating system but I will jot some notes about the books if I remember!

Reviews

[Neil Franz · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Yes, the world was beautiful. But music made that beauty personal. Nothing else could do that. Nothing."

What I love about Sara Zarr is how she can manage to fully reveal her characters emotionally. I mean I can feel with my heart the genuine emotions these characters carry with them, either it's joy or grief. It's contagious, too, that made me get attached or connected with them in any way possible.

Sara Zarr wrote about life issues and she was really good at it. Her novels I've read were moving, uplifting and very much realistic. Lucy Variations is not an exemption.

Lucy Variations is a great read. Heartfelt, hopeful and complicated. Reading this book is like being surrounded by different emotions. I can't describe the complexity of it. But, all I know is I can feel it all.

This book has family drama, the elements of dreams being shattered into pieces, disappointments, jealousy, exploitation and the joy of getting on the right but different track. Which were accumulated and delivered very well by the author. It's not confusing. It also has an almost forbidden romance that has been treated and handled properly. And of course, it has classical music.

I may not be fully connected to the classical music on this book but I am sure I knew the feeling of being stucked in doing a specific thing for your family; because they wanted it for you. That, it feels like they are grabbing away your right to be normal, to do normal things. I also knew the feeling of missing these things you did in the past and now, after some time, you want to do it again for yourself alone and not for the others.

[Tatiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It appears the three of us (Catie, Flannery and I) are pretty much on the same page as to why this new Sara Zarr novel didn't work for us. Pardon me for repeating what has already been said.

Generally, it's a good thing when authors try to experiment and explore new points of view and styles of writing. But sometimes when they try something new, it just doesn't work as well as the old. This is the case with The Lucy Variations I think. The thing I disliked the most about this novel is its POV, specifically its 3rd person POV instead of Zarr's signature 1st. It was a challenge for the author herself (she talked about this in her blog post), and the challenge, in my opinion, not well met in this case. I am still scratching my head in an effort to understand why Zarr chose to write this new novel this way. 3rd person POV added nothing to the narrative (it is a very close 3rd person, with only Lucy's perspective used, we never get insight into any other character's mind) and added unnecessary feeling of detachment to the story.

As for everything else, while the book was still enjoyable to a degree, the plot felt a bit stale. I never finished Virtuosity, but these two novels sound fairly similar - artistic girls in creative and personal crisis and all that . Whatever new and interesting Zarr had in her version - mainly Lucy's inappropriate relationships with older men - never materialized into anything tangible and punchy. Lucy's friends were a waste and underutilized in the plot, and so were many other plot lines which started out promising but ended wit.

All in all, The Lucy Variations is just an average read and by far Zarr's weakest. Fingers crossed, her next effort is better.

[Rachel Maniacup · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is my first book of Sara Zarr,and I think reading this novel made me fully understand now, why my friend NEIL had fallen in love with this author.^^

This is a story of a 16 year old pianist sensation,who struggles to reclaim her love of music and herself.

Lucy Beck-Moreau came from a musically inclined,well-known family,so Lucy at a very young age is already a star and became famous at the age of 15,until she quit on stage one day before an important performance. And this had cause a big issue in their family,and had been one of the central points of this story aside from music.

And while Lucy no longer plays after walking off the stage 8 months ago,her younger brother Gus is now kind of taking her place which somehow gave her a relief because the pressure won't be on her anymore.No more "play this piece Lucy, wear this dress, and try harder Lucy" from her mother and from her controlling grandfather. She only hopes her little brother won't end up like her.

What I loved about this book is how Lucy adjusted herself to a normal life,finding her own place in the world. I saw how she grew and matured a lot to figure out how to stand up for herself.

I also admire the kind of love she has for her little brother. That when Gus became bratty with his jealousy over Lucy's sudden love of playing again('cause her brother thought he won't be able to carry on their family's heirloom anymore),she only cared more of him and did the right thing for him at the end.Oh yes, I did love the ending of this story.

So to those of you who love music, I highly recommend this! It's a different kind of young adult contemporary. I would have enjoyed reading this more if the author didn't use the third person as a narrator. But overall,Zarr did an excellent job!^^

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who has ever created something or pursued a passion knows that sometimes you hit that flow and nothing else in the world exists because what you're doing is the best thing there is and it fills you with everything you need. And anyone who has ever created something or pursued a passion also knows that it can be the MOST SOUL CRUSHING THING IN THE WORLD. That you're never good enough, that you'll never be good enough, that it's all just a fleeting sort of thing that you get lucky at doing well once in a while. You struggle with being true and honest to yourself, while you're putting something out there to be consumed by others in some capacity.

Zarr's novel is about that.

Lucy is a champion pianist and has been her entire life. It runs in her family's blood. She's talented, she's made the rounds of the world performing, and people know who she is. Her grandpa and her mother have given her every single opportunity to pursue this talent and they helped groom her so that she has a world-class reputation.

Up until eight months ago, she went along with the game. She was happy -- or at least thought she was. But when she's in Prague on a big stage, and she learns that her family has been keeping her sick grandmother's condition from her she leaves. She gets up, doesn't perform, and walks onto the streets of Prague. Her grandmother, who had given her the kind of unconditional love and confidence she needed, was dying and her family kept this from her because to them, her performance was more important. It's then that her grandfather, the patriarch of the family and of the performance gene all together, says she's done. That Lucy can never perform again.

She'd disgraced them, and she could come back.

Lucy accepts this fate until the long-time piano teacher she and her brother Gus shared dies in their home. Lucy tried to save her, but the teacher was gone before she could. And when grandpa and mother come back to their home to a dead teacher, it's no big deal. They have her sent away, and they immediately look for a new teacher for Gus, so that he can continue on his track to be the next big performer himself. The death of the long-time teacher can't get in the way of him being at his best. Will enters their lives and while he's a good teacher to Gus, he's really interested in helping Lucy come back around to playing. He doesn't pressure her, but he simply asks if she'd ever consider playing again. It's that simple question of whether or not she'd consider playing again -- whether or not LUCY would consider playing again -- that sets the entire story into motion.

This is a question Lucy never considers for herself. Because she was told she couldn't. Her grandfather said it was over for her and there was no going back. But Lucy does consider it, and she does decide she wants to play again. Except rather than play for an audience and rather than play for the praise and glory that she did in the past, Lucy wants to play for herself. She wants to relearn what it's like to love the thing she does and the thing that she has mad talent for. As simple as it sounds, though, to reignite that passion, it is anything but. Will's question forces Lucy to realize that playing should be something SHE chooses to do, a passion to which she dedicates HER time because it matters to HER. For her life up until then, she never realized the power of ownership of talent, of skill, and how she can chose the course of the future for herself. Her grandpa and her mother had been owning it for her.

Complicating this are Lucy's feelings toward other people. Whereas it's easy to see how much she dislikes and even fears both her mother and her grandfather, what's less clear is why she's attached and attracted to Lit teacher and then Will. As the story progresses though, and we start to understand the complicated feelings Lucy has toward performance, we understand her feelings toward these two older men are simply projection of her desire to love and believe her art for herself in the way that these two mentors have done for her. In other words, both have offered her the sort of support and confidence to go in the direction of her own interests and passions and desires in a way that no one else ever has. It's not that easy to understand though because Will's belief in Lucy is too much for her to take. He's pulled strings, and he's broken her trust when she opens up to him about wanting to play again. Will used his own connections in the industry to make sure that Lucy's interest in piano again can be accommodated. That she can jump right back in where she left off. This is, she realizes, the last thing in the world she wants. She doesn't want to be someone's prodigy or someone else's creation or prize. She wants to perform and play because SHE loves to do it and because it brings HER joy. Not because someone else simply believes she has the ability to go far with it.

Zarr excels at making her characters dynamic, and I appreciate how unashamed she is in making it clear that Lucy comes from privilege. Because rather than make it a way for the reader to dislike and resent Lucy, her inability to fully trust and love her own skills and talents at their own level makes her utterly relatable. No amount of money or resources can change how human the creative struggle is. This is balances so well with the grandfather, who is unlikable and sees art as nothing but a way to get ahead and make a name for oneself. It's, of course, how his family came to have their reputation. It's furthered through what seem like much tinier plot points, including Lucy's regular lateness to class, which causes her Lit teacher to treat her not as a special snowflake, but as a student who is being disruptive and, well, privileged. And when Lucy has to confront this because she's copied bits and pieces of her own teacher's scholarship on Alice Munro for her class project, she has a huge awakening and ah ha moment about how MUCH privilege she really has had. No one just gets what they get; they have to work for it. Of course, that working for it is precisely the struggle and the purpose of the story.

While there's no question Zarr can write, the structure of the book is brilliant. It's not entirely linear, but rather, it's built like a symphony. It's layered and complex, building to a high, then drawing back to a scene from the past. It mimics not just the way a song sounds and the way a song plays, but it precisely mimics the creative process and the struggle therein. It's good when it's good, and it's ugly when it is ugly. This book is also written in third person, which removes the reader from the characters. But rather than be distancing, this choice is the right one. It makes the reader better understand Lucy's struggle because it's being explored almost objectively. And, of course, since creativity is anything BUT objective, it hits even harder. It's up and down. It's good and it's bad. And there is nothing objective about feelings and passions and desires. They're dynamic.

The hardest thing to learn is to pursue something because YOU love it and not because someone else tells you you're good at it. And even during those times you know you're good at it and you know you like it, there are periods when you question why and whether or not it's all simply luck. Zarr nails these ups and downs and these challenges and rewards through Lucy. This is a book I don't think I'll be forgetting any time soon because it spoke to my own heart. I think it'll speak to the heart of anyone who has ever questioned why they're doing something. Is it for yourself or is it for an audience? When do you push forward and when do you step back and say it's time to move on.

Even though nothing particularly sad happens in the story -- despite there being some sad moments -- I welled up a couple of times because of how raw and tender the emotional and mental honesty is. What Lucy struggles with is something that never goes away, but it's something you come to accept and honor as part of creating and living. Zarr cuts to the core of what it means to BE.

The Lucy Variations is DAMN good.

Longer review to come.

[The Candid Cover (Olivia & Lori) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Review on The Candid Cover

4.5 Stars

The Lucy Variations is such an emotional rollercoaster. This book about grief and self-discovery has so many layers. The main character is a piano prodigy who quits and struggles to figure out who she is. I found the writing absolutely beautiful and recommend this book to everyone.

This is such a complex and emotional book! It tells the story of a piano prodigy who quits piano and tries to figure out who she is and what she wants. I loved the piano aspects in the book, and I feel like it is an accurate portrayal of what competitive piano playing is like. Reading about Lucy gaining more confidence and discovering her true identity was also so inspiring and touching.

I really enjoyed Lucy’s character. I was able to relate to her a bit as a fellow piano player, but I am far from her level. Lucy is such a caring older sister and so protective of her little brother, which I loved. She deals with many family issues and drama, which made me sympathize with her. However, there are many moments in the book where Lucy is selfish and a terrible friend, which bothered me. It would have been so much better if she didn’t act so spoiled.

The writing in The Lucy Variations is so beautiful. I have never read anything by Sara Zarr in the past, but I definitely feel like I should pick up more of her books since I loved this one so much. The characters are all developed so well and the reader can really feel an emotional connection with each one. I also found the descriptions of Lucy overcoming grief so raw and believable. Her writing kind of reminds me of Sarah Dessen’s, in a way, and this is something that I found enjoyable while reading.

The Lucy Variations is the emotional story of a piano prodigy struggling with her identity. I enjoyed the main character, even if she is snobby at times, and found the writing so mesmerizing. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to music fans.

[Nafiza · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was cautiously optimistic about this novel; my very first Sara Zarr book. My friends had read her previous book and loved it immensely so I decided to request this one because I cannot resist books about music prodigies. Especially ones who are mistaken and full of angst and feelings. It’s a thing.

And for the most part, The Lucy Variations delivers. The writing is crisp and infused with sharp wit. The friendships portrayed are varied and interesting and the family dynamics are complicated enough to provide a rich source of tension and drama which makes for good reading. My problem was Lucy herself. For the most part, she’s a sympathetic protagonist and it is easy enough to empathize with her, especially since her mother and grandfather are difficult characters. So the first half of the novel was fine where Lucy is concerned. It is in the second half that things began to gradually fall apart.

The way Lucy treats her best friend is atrocious. I understand that she’s an adolescent going through puberty but I think she went beyond what I would accept in a protagonist. Especially during the party at Will’s house. The romance in this is another thing that makes me queasy. There are no obvious love interests in this novel, not in the traditional sense of the word and that would have been fine had the dude who was offered not a married man.

If Zarr was going to make that the topic or theme of the novel, the adultery-like relationship between Lucy and Will, it should have been properly discussed with all its conflicts and confrontations and emotions. Instead, all we get is a hint of it, some too close and inappropriate hugs and no resolution to it. The ending was anticlimactic and even though I enjoyed the relationship Lucy had with her brother, her actions are beyond creepy (she steals Will’s nail clippers) and very gross. The bits that Lucy spends playing the piano or thinking about music were nice and I wish this story had taken another twist and left the whole romance bit on the side. I would have liked the friendship between Will and Lucy to be just that – a friendship. However, Lucy ends up sounding entitled, spoiled and entirely without a conscience when she displays no consideration at all for Will’s wife (who is implied to be some sort of drunk, to soften Lucy’s feelings for the man, I suppose?). Apart from the problematic romance and Lucy’s less than appetizing character, the novel is easy to read and the pacing fluid enough. If you are not bothered by the same things I am, I dare say you will enjoy the novel a lot more than I did.

[caren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perhaps I'm not the proper audience for this book, but, being who I am...I can say that it didn't sit well with me. Not only because Lucy had an unhealthy obsession with older men, but because of Will's unhealthy attraction to a teenage girl. The relationship dynamic between these two turned my stomach, and the reason I kept reading because I wanted to see just how far the author would take things. And now that I've finished, I'm still not sure if it was intended for them to appear as more than friends--or for Will to come off as a pedophile--but that's certainly how I interpreted it. And that's just...not okay with me. Who knows, maybe I was looking for things that weren't there, and it was completely innocent between them, but like I said, that's not at all how it reads. And that's sad, because this could have been a lovely book. Zarr's writing is nice, and the subject--a girl coming of age and finding out what she wants--could have been really, really good. Sadly, I never connected with Lucy as a character, therefore nothing that happened (besides her weird relationships with older dudes) affected me. I was just...meh about it overall.

[Antony John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not going to give a synopsis of THE LUCY VARIATIONS because the publisher's cover copy at the top of the page does a pretty darn good job of bringing us up to speed. Instead, I'm going to give three reasons why everyone should read this book:

1. It's by Sara Zarr:

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Sara Zarr. Enough of a fan that I begged Little, Brown to send me an ARC of THE LUCY VARIATIONS. Which they did, because they're nice like that.

Lucky me. Very, VERY lucky me.

My two favorite authors are Meg Rosoff and Sara Zarr, and they have something in common that I treasure: Every new book is a departure from what has come before, but is also still recognizably their own. In Sara Zarr's case, a major thread that runs through her books is that she cares about her characters. Deeply. It seems like an obvious and essential thing, but it's not as common as it ought to be. Caring means acknowledging a character's flaws and trying to find the root cause of them. Caring means working especially hard with lower-tier ("smaller") characters because they only have a few lines of dialogue with which to distinguish themselves. It means putting characters in difficult situations and trusting them to work their way out organically, not through an authorial sleight-of-hand.

Love--between friends, families, and boyfriends and girlfriends--is most often the catalyst for personal growth and narrative resolution in her books. But that doesn't mean love is found easily. In THE LUCY VARIATIONS, Sara Zarr makes her characters work for it, chipping away at the issues that divide them through small, intimate scenes. And sometimes, as in real life, good relationships are compromised, and trust has to be earned back. Her characters are never less than one hundred percent real.

2. It's not like any Sara Zarr book you've read:

There are a couple of reasons for this. One is technical: it's the first time she has written in third person. First person tends to foster an immediate connection between narrator and reader, and that's something Sara Zarr specializes in. But don't worry - third person narration doesn't stop her from peeling back the layers of each character, and revealing their hidden thoughts and flaws.

A more notable reason this book feels different, though, is because it seems to dial back a little on the Sara Zarr Intensity Meter. (If you've read STORY OF A GIRL, which has a SZIM score of 10, or HOW TO SAVE A LIFE, also a SZIM score of 10 . . . or heck, ANY of her novels, all of which have a SZIM score of 10 . . . you'll know what I'm talking about.) THE LUCY VARIATIONS doesn't go all the way to Stephanie Perkins territory (I also love Ms. Perkins' books, by the way), but you might say we've taken one small step in that direction. In other words, if you prefer your SZIM score around the 8 mark, you'll adore this book. If you prefer a SZIM score of 10, well . . . it's by Sara Zarr, folks. You can't go wrong (see #1, above).

3. It's about music:

My background is in music, and while I was never in danger of pursuing a career in performance, I certainly know that world. I have several friends who have made a living as soloists or members of top symphony orchestras. Like any small and highly selective field, the world of the virtuoso performer is an odd one. Especially when you're young. That's the world that Lucy, the main character, knows. It has given her a slightly warped sense of self. She longs to find herself in music again, away from adoring audiences, but as her best friend Reyna notes, in a sense she still craves an audience for everything she does in life. It's an interesting (and profound) metaphor for what it means to be a teen, and the way Lucy deals with it is as floundering as it would be for any of us.

Lucy's identity has been shaped by her accomplishments as a pianist. As music is important to her family, it naturally causes her to wonder if their love for her is conditional on her continued success in that world. The answer to that question is extremely complicated, and varies depending on the family member. More important, though, is what Lucy needs to do to take ownership of her performing. Again, this will resonate with teens whose interests intersect with those of their parents, and who discover, belatedly, that they're no longer sure whether their love for that thing is genuine, or if they're simply trying to please their parents. For that reason, this book won't just resonate with musical teens, but with anyone who has aspired to be great at almost anything.

Before this review becomes a thesis, I'll sign off with one instruction: READ THIS BOOK.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Zarr treasure, unafraid and unashamed to make readers uncomfortable by inviting us -- simply -- to look at real life through the lens of fiction.

Life and relationships *are* often uncomfortable, messy, and full of misunderstandings. Main character Lucy's feelings of confusion, shame, hope, burnout, regret, pride, and rekindled passion in the wake of a possibly career-ending decision at a prestigious piano competition are authentically tangled and explored. As an author, I especially connected with Lucy's often painful journey to discover whether it's even possible -- once you turn your passions into a career -- to find joy in your art again just for you, just for the pure love of it, without fearing external judgement or fretting about the expectations of the "industry" or even one's own family.

Zarr never relies on melodrama or manufactured angst to convey tension and turmoil in her narratives -- just real people confronting difficult life situations -- and this story is no different. THE LUCY VARIATIONS will find a comfortable spot on the favorites list for Zarr's existing fans, and new readers will easily connect with Lucy's struggles to rediscover her lost creativity, her passions, and the small yet special moments that make life worth living.

[Arlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating Clarification: 3.5 Stars

It could be a depressing thing to believe, at sixteen, that your best years were behind you.

The Lucy Variations is Sara Zarr’s newest YA contemporary novel that gives her readers a glimpse into the life of the musical elite. We get to witness firsthand how musical prodigies practice and compete, as well as how they struggle with the everyday pressure of perfecting their craft. Through Lucy’s perspective, it’s evident that it’s not all glitz and glamour when faced with performing for prestige and applause.

Lucy is a child musical prodigy who had a successful career as a pianist. She packed concert halls, performed and excelled competitively, as well as traveled the world with the musical circuit. All of this was accomplished before she even turned fourteen. Then, one day, she abruptly walks off stage and refuses to play. After the death of someone she loves and her family’s refusal to trust her to make the right choice, she decides to take back her ability to choose her own path.

Gus, her younger brother, is now bearing the weight of her decision. He becomes the family’s star performer and when he is assigned a new music instructor, Lucy finally finds someone she can connect with and confide in to help her self-correct her path. For the first time, since her abrupt decision to quit, she considered the possibility of playing the piano once again.

I truly enjoyed this newest novel by Zarr. From her, I’ve come to expect some worthy concepts to consider such as trust, self-discovery, growing up and being confident in your decisions. Sara never fails to deliver when it comes to formulating a story that touches on very real and topical considerations that teens face. In addition, I always enjoy Sara Zarr’s books because she has a keen ability to develop her main characters so vividly that by the end of the novel you feel like you really got to know them and that makes it so much easier to appreciate their decisions and accept their mistakes.

Lucy was an easy character to come to like. She immediately gained my sympathy as I witnessed her struggle with her grandpa’s disapproval and her mom’s judgment and fear. Despite the struggles she faced, she showed moments of courage and an ability to imagine and plan her future despite the fear of reproach. Lucy was clear and consistent about not wanting to plan out her future to precise detail and flawless execution. She had decisions to make about her life, but she was adamant about one thing… it was HER life and she was okay with being uncertain and making mistakes. There were other struggles she faced, including learning to adjust from a private tutor to classroom setting. She handled her transition with clumsy steps, but she never failed to show remorse for her mistakes.

Overall, I applaud Lucy’s choices throughout especially when she confronted her grandfather and family about where she saw her path leading and what she wanted to do with her craft. Her choices, albeit not being what her family wanted, were responsible and sensible. She was mature and steadfast in disagreeing with her grandfather’s opinion of don’t play if you don’t plan to compete and don’t compete unless you’re the best. She knew how she wanted to manage her craft, and she made choices that were responsible yet right for her.

I appreciated the relationship with her mom and how they overcame their challenges. Often times, teen novels portray the parents as adversaries, but in this instance there was evident growth in the relationship as well as the characters. Very well laid out and executed.

I anticipate Zarr fans will be extremely pleased with her newest novel The Lucy Variations. I enjoyed it much and it proved once again that Sara Zarr has a good grasp of what a realistic YA Contemporary novel should look and feel like. Worthy read!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lucy Variations is a raw, powerful portrayal of the life of a teen girl after she walks away from the thing that defined her.

As with all of Zarr’s novels, I loved the way she navigated complex family relationships in this novel. All of the characters had a different dynamic with each other, and it was interesting to see their relationships evolve–or maybe not so much the relationships themselves, but Lucy’s perspective on them. I was particularly moved by Lucy’s relationship with her grandfather. And her mother. And her father. Okay, pretty much all of the characters. This is one thing that Zarr gets right every single time, and a big reason why I will keep reading her books.

Lucy comes across as quite selfish at times, which I found grating, but…sometimes people are selfish, right? I appreciated that Lucy wasn’t a perfect MC who said and did all the right things. She was mean to her friends; she had a weird thing for older guys. But she was also loving and caring and intelligent. I don’t feel like her character ended when the book ended. She feels so real, like she could be out there right now at music school, or having coffee with Reyna.

I think anyone who has been passionate about a craft and at some point lost that passion will relate to Lucy’s story. You don’t have to be a musician to get it. Sometimes you get burnt out, even about the things you live for. The Lucy Variations also explores the flip side of that – how amazing it feels to be passionate about something, those moments when it feels so right. There were lots of interesting thoughts about the creative process and having an audience that I appreciated from a writer’s perspective.

One part of this novel I found hard to digest was Lucy’s relationship with her brother’s piano teacher. It’s never quite defined, but it verges into an uncomfortable grey area. I think the thing that will turn off some readers is that Zarr never says the relationship is wrong. She doesn’t pass judgement, she just lays it all out and lets you decide. This might be difficult for some readers who want to hear that it’s wrong. And I totally get that, because I wanted that very thing. But in the end, I realised that wouldn’t be right for this story.

When I finished The Lucy Variations, I had no idea how I felt about it. Did I hate it? Did I love it? But after a few days thinking about it, I decided I fall firmly in the love category. It’s not the kind of book that I will beg people to read, because I know everyone is going to have a very different, very personal reaction to it. It’s messy, it’s uncomfortable, but it’s also beautiful.

This review was first posted at Daisy Chain Book Reviews: http://bit.ly/19DmD0U

[Shoshana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have the overwhelming sense that this is a book I was supposed to love. That everyone in the book world community will love it; it will have a blurb in the NYT book review, and it'll be one of the spring It books for realistic fiction. But the truth is, reading it gave me this icky, slimy sensation, like tolerating a slug on my leg for an extended period of time.

I can't say what it was specifically. The relationship between Lucy and Will was definitely part of it: not only was it inappropriate, but the inappropriateness is never addressed. A lot of the relationships in the book are well built up - Lucy and Reyna, Lucy and Gus, Lucy and her grandfather and her mother - but it felt like Zarr sort of dropped the ball toward the end, in terms of emotional depth.

I can't articulate it in whole, but my feeling, overall, after reading this book was a big fat "blerg."

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novel about first world problems: Lucy is a highly-regarded pianist who stopped playing when her grandmother died last year. Her family is in the 1% in San Francisco: mom, dad, grandfather, all manage the careers and the money, her little brother is now competing and performing. Lucy's best friend's parents are going through a nasty divorce.

Zarr has some lovely things to say about art and music, but the plot, the characters (there's an Asian male friend, too), the angst all feel predictable. The writing is good, but I was hard pressed to care about Lucy's problems. I'd read Zarr again.

Library copy

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published at Book Harbinger.

Sixteen-year-old Lucy Beck-Moreau isn’t concerned … yet. It is true that her ten-year-old brother Gus has taken over as the budding concert pianist in the family, but he doesn’t seem to be practicing his life away. He hasn’t even had a messy boy phase, so she figures hers may be enough for the both of them. As far as she knows, as soon as she quit the stage at the prestigious piano festival in Prague – which only accepts fifteen pianists from her age group in the world each year – her life was over. Lucy and her family will not overcome the massive let down of her certain future being crushed so suddenly. Lucy would’ve been happy to coast along, continue to be late to school everyday and never see another note or piece of music again until she meets Will, Gus’s new teacher. As he questions her resignation from music, Lucy begins to lower her guard. Maybe what her family and the elite music world thinks of her doesn’t matter? Maybe Lucy can find enough love within herself to rekindle her passion for the piano and life again after all.

I’m a relatively new fan of Sara Zarr, who won me over with her last novel, How to Save a Life. It’s raw, nuanced portrayal of pregnant teenager Mandy and grief-stricken Jill coming to terms with their lives stamped a lasting impression on me. Regardless of the subject matter, I was set on reading her next book, but when I learned it would be about a teenage piano virtuoso, nothing would stop me. Lucy’s story sounded like Jessica Martinez’s Virtuosity but for the piano. And while Martinez’s Carmen can’t imagine leaving music behind, she experiences the same intense pressure of competing, finds small ways to defy her mother, and eventually lets the cracks in her armor show. I like how Zarr shows a possible next chapter for the child prodigy who chooses to quit in a conscious defiance of her family and her peers. Beyond the guts of starting out a novel with a character in that position, Zarr certainly has the chops to dig Lucy out of that situation, and I think she accomplished that with aplomb.

What I think I love most about The Lucy Variations as that I didn’t realize how flawed Lucy is until after I was done reading. That says something about the complexity of her emotions, the realism of her interactions with others and how deep the reader is able to delve into her shoes. I related strongly to an over-pushed passion becoming a dreaded task – in my case it was also playing the piano, but on a much smaller scale. I was also completely surprised by Lucy’s complicated relationship with Will, who becomes not only a mentor but a friend, and how true to life it was. In this respect it felt like Sara wrote The Lucy Variations just for me. The author walks a dangerous line between Lucy and the reader’s affections that she never crossed. Is Lucy privileged and self-centered? Yes. Doe she make some bad decisions? Yes. But she has also been robbed of her childhood and her grandmother, the only person in her family who loved her for her and not her music. And I saw all of Lucy clearly enough that I could never hate her, even in her most questionable moments. Instead I both sympathized and empathized with her, wishing her happiness in her life as she knows it now, without the attention, the acclaim, and the pleased family. Along the way the reader is rewarded with philosophical gems like this one, spurred on the joy Lucy feels when she listens to the allegro of Vivaldi’s “Winter” concerto:

The world was full of beauty.

She wanted to grab hold of it and take it down into her bones. Yet always it seemed beyond her grasp. Sometimes only by a little, like now. The thinnest membrane.

Usually, though, by miles.

She couldn’t expect to be that kind of happy all the time. She knew that.

But sometimes you could. Sometimes you should be allowed a tiny bit of joy that should stay with you for more than five minutes. That wasn’t too much to ask. To have a moment like this, and be able to hold on to it.

To cross that membrane, and feel alive.

While Lucy’s family may be the stereotypical high-strung concert pianist family and it becomes difficult to forgive Will’s actions, Lucy’s painful and freeing journey to discover what she loves and do it made me feel more alive. The Lucy Variations is a thoughtful and unexpected character-driven novel that will resonate with not only musicians but anyone who has aspired to be great in anything. Recommended for fans of Virtuosity and This Gorgeous Game.

[BookNightOwl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time getting into this book. It was such a short book and I just couldn't get through the pages so I picked up the audio book which made it a little easier to get through. Overall the characters and the story very bland and boring. 😔

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

One word: Perfection.

There's just no other way to go about describing a Sara Zarr book. Every one has been different. Every one has been beautiful. I don't know what else to say about this. I sometimes like to picture Sara, with a cup of coffee in one hand, sitting down at the computer and saying, "Well, it's time to start my next work of PURE FRAKKING GENIUS." And then she starts typing . . .


PS - It's not available yet, I managed to score an ARC because I'm lucky, lucky, lucky!

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I liked

1. The writing was excellent. Zarr has a way of making things flow. Even though I didn't love the story, I can appreciate the talent behind it.

2. The side characters - Reyna, Cameron, Lucy's Dad - they created a great cast of extras. I enjoyed them more than the main characters.


What I didn't Like

1. Lucy. So annoying. She was a whiny-pants the entire time. Rude, selfish and obsessed with older men.

2. Will. Uh...taking advantage of a 16 year-old girl is NOT okay. I thought Lucy and Will were both to blame, but Will was the adult so he should've controlled himself better. (Note: They didn't ever sleep together, but there was definitely a lot of tension. It was creepy, gross and I hated it.)

3. The plot. Boring. Dumb. I suppose the author was trying to create a story about a teen who is finding her own path and standing up for herself. Instead it's a story about whiny Lucy and the piano. It's doubtful very many people will relate to Lucy. She is very stubborn and honestly, by the end I couldn't stand her. Spoiled brat was what I got from her.

4. No real character growth. There wasn't much change in the perceptions and attitudes of the characters by the end of the book, at least in my mind.


Here is the plot in a nutshell: Lucy used to play the piano, then her grandpa didn't tell her that her grandma was dying and Lucy walked out in the middle of a performance because she was so mad. Now 8 long months later she has completely given up on piano and refuses to play at all. Then her brother, Gus, gets a new piano teacher. The piano teacher is Will. He convinces Lucy to play and they start up a friend relationship. (Instantly. Even before they started "liking" each other, they were sending each other inappropriate texts. Lucy even mentions that she thinks it's wrong, but she NEEDS his friendship. He's HELPING her get back to what she loves.)

Anyway. The book started out well but then the whole thing with Will left me rolling me eyes and vowing to never read another Zarr book.

The End.

[Jeff Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once upon the time, I was somewhat serious about music. Went to college for it, the whole nine yards. I was never as serious as Lucy or Lucy's family in The Lucy Variations, but I did see a lot here that I recognized from others, and this story was both wonderful and heartbreaking because of that.

Lucy quit music months earlier due to how she felt her priorities were being governed following the death of her grandmother. Worse for her family, she quit right before she was going to take part in a major international competition in a rather spectacular fashion. With the aftermath of this and how it has impacted her family, as well as how it's changed things for her younger brother, the story is really about Lucy's growth and redemption as well as the complicated relationship many of us have with art.

It works because you don't have to be a musician to appreciate the struggle here, both in terms of identity and familial expectations. It definitely doesn't hurt that Lucy is likable and her issues entirely valid. The issues she deals with, some of the problems she runs into during the course of the book, I've seen it first-hand. It's real, and I can see this being just as valid for sports jocks as it would be for the more arts-oriented.

Read this. Read it whether you relate or not, give it to people in your life who are struggling with their issues of personal identity and such. It's a great read that I shouldn't have waited so long to pick up.

[Laura's Book Addiction]

I don't like this cover at all.

[Brianna C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this well over a decade ago and really loving it which is why I held onto my copy for so long. Upon re-read, loved it less. Will was kind of a creep and hard pass. I do like the overall message I got from this book, but that's about it. I'll rate it a 3 to average what I currently think of it but what I remember rating it when I first read it.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

*1.5 star rating*

"Climb on the stage stairs. Go to the piano. Sit on the bench; adjust the pedals. Because you're on the program. Momentum. Decisions made for her, performances planned a year in advance. I don't want to go, she'd told her grandmother. You have to, her mother said."

My expectations of reading something by Sara Zarr go lower and lower each time, mainly because I'm disappointed every single time. The Lucy Variations was a book that was like a piano—mellow, and soft. But at the same time, it was very disappointing, and boring whereas nothing was happening for more than half of the novel.



And I surprisingly was surprised with the outcome. 1.5 stars? That's pretty horrible if you ask me. The only reason that I didn't DNF this book was because it was short. I already read half of the book when I realized that it wasn't going anywhere, so I rather would just go on out and finish it and see the outcome. There were some good parts of the book, but I must say the main deal in this review will be negativity.

What this was mainly about was Lucy's regeneration of loving music again. She's sixteen, and her love of music has faded away. She feels like it's a job. Playing the piano is a chore, a job. When she meets her brother's new piano teacher, she finds that she might be able to find what she once lost.

Throughout the whole book, I felt like I was waiting for something to happen, but then it never did.



As soon as I began this book, I had a feeling that it wouldn't end up so amazing as some other people have found it to be. In fact, I'm still sitting here, clueless, wondering what people saw in this.

The plot and concept were both a catastrophe. #SorryNotSorry Something major was missing, and there really was NOTHING HAPPENING! So you may be asking, what was the positive stuff? Characters.

Lucy—basically. She made me feel sympathy and all, but at the same time, she was such a strong person, but her overall impact didn't make me adore the book, either. She made it worthwhile for a lot of the time, because of her experiences and way she dealt with things. I give her the Oscar and the thumbs up. The rest of the book was a fracture.



I realize that I was in a good mood, and I didn't let this book ruin it, so I went on with finishing it. I didn't like the ending, especially since the rest of the novel wasn't all detailed either. We were just left with knowing nothing, just like we knew nothing about what was going on during the rest of the book. So there, voila. Here you have a disappointing novel that shattered my feelings for this author's books. I wanted something satisfying and fresh.

This review can also be found at A Thousand Lives Lived! Check it out for more reviews!

[Isamlq · Rating 3 out of 5]

We don’t see ourselves as others do… it’s certainly true for Lucy and her family. And that’s the point, yes? That perspective is what they all needed some more of. First there’s her not wanting what they want and then there’s them wanting more for her. And then there’s her focusing on what she’d lost out on and them seeing things passing her by. In the mean time, there’s me not loving any of them. At. All. It’s a difficult read at points because they each made valid points:

How she could be spoiled and bratty as well as how they’re overbearing and one track about everything. But here’s the thing: I felt they all could have been more, the father positioned as he was especially: on the inside but not completely, knowing all of them as he did and failing in so many respects to set things right. The mother and the grandfather and how she’d put stock in everything they said, till she didn’t anymore. And the inevitable outcome of that: growing friction, more dissatisfaction. All heavy stuff, I know except for me feeling a lack of something to have me want more for her, for them… whatever.

The only time she’s truly enjoyable to read of is her with her little brother, who’s not as perfect as she made him out to be. Why though? When he’s the good kid towing the line and doing what she used to do? And where she’s trying (struggling) to be her own person? And where her father’s there and knows and understands but falls short? Maybe that’s it... it’s that they all fall short of ‘real’ for me. I mean Gus couldn’t just have been little brother perfect, she couldn’t just be daughter rebelling, and their father couldn’t just have been perfectly clueless, right? They weren’t, we see all that in the end, but for much of the book that’s sure what they seemed like to me. They’re each all aiming for perfect when it’s so obviously impossible. It’s in trying to be that that friction between her and her mother, resentment for her grandfather, then a sadder wanting to get back what she didn’t quite have the first time around that comes out.

Then there’s the added complication of her as Girl and her feelings as such for so and so that had me worried… but also wondering what her damage was. She had me, shouting: NOOOO! Don’t do it! (Side note: it seems to me almost every lead I’ve read of Zarr’s has had me screaming thus at one point or another.) She’s young and figuring things out and while some things are clear to her, it’s clear to me that MOST other things, important things aren’t. What that thing about things being too good to be true? The very same thing applies here; it’s her learning that truth that had her feeling more than spoiled bratty girl not quite brave enough to go after what she wanted for me.

This had interesting moments this one… but I still love her other books more.

[Reagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great coming of age story that I would recommend for all fans of Sarah Zarr and Music.

[Aisyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read about a talented girl who loved to play the piano but stopped because of the burden and pressure that comes with it.

[Lewerentz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un très bon roman "jeunes adultes". Evidemment, le rapport à la musique m'a plu mais j'ai surtout aimé les personnages, les thèmes tels que "trouver sa voie", le lycée, rapport parents/enfants. Un peu faible au niveau des descriptions du décor et j'ai regretté le côté amourette qui est vraiment de trop - heureusement, elle n'arrive que vers la fin et elle aurait pu être plus lourde (mais de trop quand même !). Une auteur que je retiens.

[Jenny Sawyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

See more at: http://www.60secondrecap.com/potw/luc...

Even occasional visitors to www.60secondrecap.com may be aware of the fact that I am a bit of a Sara Zarr fangirl. So when I heard–was it eight, nine months ago?–that she had a new title coming out this spring, I put in a request for a review copy IMMEDIATELY.

Unfortunately, due to the timing of the book’s arrival, I didn’t get to read it right away, and by the time I began, there was already a significant amount of chatter on Goodreads about how The Lucy Variations wasn’t living up to expectations, wasn’t as good as Zarr’s previous novels, etc. So while I started the novel with some trepidation, now that I’ve read it, I must begin with a resounding: I beg to differ.

I’ll say up front that The Lucy Variations is a difficult book to discuss without resorting to spoilers. In fact, my only real issue with this book is that I wasn’t totally sure how I felt about a particular relationship that develops toward the end of the story–one which had some questionable subtext, and which I felt ended up being a bit of a distraction from Lucy’s emotional journey.

But rather than talk around what I can’t really talk about–and what was the weakest aspect of the book anyway–let me focus on what I loved, I mean absolutely loved, about this story.

First, the POV. This was Zarr’s first time writing in third person, and though others have criticized this decision, in my opinion, third person was the perfect choice for Lucy’s story. Lucy is a 16-year-old former piano prodigy. When the book opens, she’s eight months past a decision to walk away from a competition (and her piano career)–a choice she initially attributes to her grandmother’s death, but which she comes to realize over the course of the story is something she actually did for herself. For Lucy, being in the constant thick of competition–with all the attendant pressure, expectations, and notoriety–had resulted in the loss of an essential element of her music-making: the joy. This book is really about her journey back to that joy. Which is to say that more so than all of Zarr’s other novels, The Lucy Variations is more about an existential journey than a literal one. In first person, such soul-searching (and, at times, navel-gazing) could have felt claustrophobic. Third person gave the story just enough room to breathe–just enough distance from Lucy that I could empathize with her without getting sucked into that typical pratfall of most YA lit written in the first person: the vortex of angst.

So The Lucy Variations is a book about reclaiming one’s joy as an artist, but it’s also a book about overcoming fear. Sara Zarr wrote a wonderful blog post on this topic, and it didn’t surprise me to discover that part of the writing of The Lucy Variations was Zarr’s own process of working through some personal and professional fears. When it comes to art, audience members and fans see only the freedom of creative expression–the end product, in all its glorious transcendence. But the flip side of transcendence and freedom is angst and mortal terror and fear-induced inertia. I loved that Lucy’s character had to work through this fear of failure, and the way the various people in her life, especially her domineering grandfather, acted as metaphors for the voices (both in our own heads, and in the crowd of critics) that would try to make us believe that it’s not even worth trying, that we’re better off giving up. Being female, and also having achieved success at a young age, Lucy is somewhat of a “good girl”–someone who wants to please, to get it right, to make the people she looks up to happy. Her realization that she can shut out all these voices, that she can turn off this need to please, that she can stand up to fear in any of its forms, is one of the well-earned payoffs of this story, and an exquisite moment.

The Lucy Variations may not be for everyone. Of all Zarr's novels, it's the lightest on plot, though as I've no doubt made clear multiple times over in this review, there is definitely a clear character arc for our main character, and Lucy's emotional journey was more than enough to keep me engaged. Readers who are looking for a Zarr book with more action should probably start with How to Save a Life. But anyone who appreciates a nuanced, deftly-crafted story about figuring out what you love, and then having the courage to go after it, will appreciate--no, love--this book.

[Jen Ryland (jenrylandreviews & yaallday)]

Full review appears on my blog, YA Romantics


I've read and enjoyed all of Sara Zarr's books, but this one might just be my favorite. The Lucy Variations is a beautifully crafted coming of age story, but also a deeply moving exploration of joy and its connection to the creative process.

Lucy Beck-Moreau is definitely very different from the characters Sara Zarr usually writes about. The protagonists I remember from her earlier books -- Jennifer in Sweethearts, Sam in Once Was Lost, Deanna from Story of a Girl -- were underdogs and small town outcasts. In contrast, Lucy is a girl who seems to have it all: a musical prodigy who's also (as Jane Austen described Emma) "handsome, clever and rich." But Lucy is also guilty, confused and miserable about the circumstances that led her to walk away from her promising future as a concert pianist.

Those circumstances are slowly revealed over the course of the story, and I don't want to say exactly what they were, but it becomes clear that Lucy has lost someone who offered her something that the rest of her impressive family doesn't: unconditional love. That loss, combined with her fallout over her decision to quit playing, has left her completely adrift.

With subtlety and sometimes even humor, The Lucy Variations explores so many fascinating themes -- families and the way they both support and undermine us, grief and loss, success and failure, trust and betrayal. I thought that one of the most interesting parts of The Lucy Variations was the way that it raised the issue of happiness and its relation to achievement and the creative process. Do we do something that we love only in the hopes of achieving public acclaim and recognition? What do we do when we lose faith in our abilities, or when others have lost faith in us?

Lucy is trying to answer all these questions, and she's feeling lost. She's not used to feeling ordinary rather than special. Her unusual childhood has rendered her somewhat unfit to live as a regular sixteen year-old. She's spent much more time among adults than kids her own age, and mostly keeps to herself at school. This aspect of Lucy's life led to a plot development that had me worried that the story was going to veer in a direction that struck me as both predictable and disappointing. I put the book down. I fretted. I almost peeked at the ending. I shouldn't have been worried. My experience with Sara Zarr's writing is that she always chooses the subtle over the obvious, the unexpected over the predictable, and she did not let me down.

As a piece of writing, The Lucy Variations is very impressive. Every scene, every character, every subplot worked to enhance the whole. Even though I am the most un-musical person on earth, I found Lucy's struggles to reclaim her life and her sense of joy about the world incredibly moving.

*Thanks to Little, Brown BFYR for allowing me to read an e-ARC from NetGalley*

[Natsu · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a lover of classical Music and a piano player myself, I enjoyed the plot wholeheartedly. It was a pleasure to see famous music pieces scattered here and there within the narrative. Lucy's playlist at the end of the book was a beautiful accompaniment to the story.

The story centers in San Francisco, a favorite city of mine, so it was fun to revisit places like Pier 39, Embarcadero, Haight Ashbury, through reading.

All the characters were very realistic, and somewhat resemble people I know or have known in the past; A domineering grandfather who intended to protect the musical talent that runs in the family, a mother who failed to live up to her father's expectations, a father who had little to say about the world he doesn't know ( music ), a little brother who was jealous of the bond between his piano teacher and his older sister.

Most of all, the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-like character of the piano teacher, Will, was so well thought out and intricately woven into the story, that the relationship between him and Lucy made an immense and profound impact on the whole scenario. A part of me wished that their relationship didn't end up the way it did, but another part of me was convinced that that's life, it was a believable outcome.

Personally, the mother figure-ish character of Martin was a comfort to me when things got a little rough and uptight, since he was depicted as the most stable, unwavering, and warm person that would always be there to support the family through difficult times.

I really liked the idea of how the author generated characters with various ethnic backgrounds. It reflects how diverse San Francisco / the world is in reality, and adds more depth to the story.

Meanwhile, I would like to explain why I deducted one star from a book I enjoyed so much.

Until I read this book, I never really was particular about the POV of a story; whether it was in first or third person didn't really bug me at all.

Now I completely changed my mind. I think I would've enjoyed this book so much more if it was written in the first person POV. I would've felt so much closer to Lucy, walking alongside her during her moments of soul-searching, and listening to her soliloquies just like a best friend would.

That said, I'd like to finish off by writing that I'd definitely come back to this book again when I begin to lose interest in playing the piano, in the hope to rekindle my love for something that I was once so passionate about.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy Beck-Moreau was considered one of the top concert pianists. Now at age 16, she has abruptly left the concert circuit and doesn’t play the piano at all. Instead she is attending school just like any other teenager, doing homework, and listening to her younger brother Gus practice his piano pieces. When Gus’ aging piano teacher dies, she is replaced by Will, a young teacher who was once himself a child pianist and recommends plenty of time away from the piano for Gus, including once forbidden video games and TV. As Will balances out Gus’ life, Lucy is drawn to him. Will is older and sophisticated and interested in Lucy herself as both a pianist and a person. This is the story of Lucy’s triumph over grief and loss and her struggle to play music on her own terms and for her own reasons.

Zarr has beautifully captured a family of wealth and talent without lingering overlong on those details. It is Lucy who is the center of the novel, which is told in third person but specifically from Lucy’s view. This gives the book a necessary distance so that readers can view Lucy from a small space and recognize the mistakes that she is making and repeating. Lucy is a wonder of a flawed protagonist, filled with talent yet drawn into destructive situations of her own making, one feels an affinity to her and yet pushed away as well.

It is this strength of the central character that lifts this novel above others covering similar subjects. The writing here is strong and clear, and the story flows with a natural feel that allows Lucy to veer dangerously close to disasters that make the reading that much more exciting. Along the way, a dysfunctional family is on display, showing readers how Lucy came to be the way that she is, and also showing hope for what is possible.

A true mix of hope, music and tenacity, this book is beautifully composed and harmonious with lingering crescendos. Appropriate for ages 14-17.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to think about this book for a few weeks before I rated it. It pains me to give something by Sara Zarr two stars. As a novelist, I adore her. As a person (who used to be one of my few female colleagues in a very boys-clubby arts discussion forum), I admire and respect her. But Lucy just didn't do it for me. The writing is as evocative as ever, modern without dating itself. The characters are fully realized, fully human. I couldn't stop turning pages. But the plot, and the way it resolved (or didn't), was so unsatisfying. On the one hand, it was everything I admire about Zarr's stories - morally complex, refusing to wrap things up with a tidy bow. On the other hand... I just couldn't go there. The whole thing with Will was TOO undefined for me. I was glad Lucy didn't get slapped on the wrist by Fate or God or whatever for overstepping boundaries, but I spent the last third of the book going, "UH... IS ANYONE GOING TO SAY HOW INAPPROPRIATE THIS RELATIONSHIP HAS BECOME?! ANYONE?!?!" I was so grossed out by Will. I loathed him. Yet I never got the sense I was SUPPOSED to loathe him. Maybe I was supposed to feel sorry for him, even, the way he was written? He was pathetic and predatory, but that was never made explicit. I needed it to be just a little more so to be comfortable with how the book wrapped up. So bummed that I didn't like this as much as some of Zarr's others. Still worth a read because the writing and characterization is awesome.