Girl, Unstrung by Claire Handscombe Review – A Book for Violists!

I had the great honor to read an advanced copy of Girl, Unstrung by Claire Handscombe before its release on November 23, 2021. I’m so excited to share my thoughts with you!

WATCH ME TALK ABOUT THE BOOK

Girl, Unstrung Cover

First of all, I love the cover of this book! The background is purple, which is a color that’s widely associated with the viola. There are a bunch of pieces for viola written by Joan Tower.

The main character is drawn on the cover, wearing red, which is her favorite color in the book. I love the attention to detail and how it really ties in with the story and vibe of the whole book!

Overview of Girl, Unstrung

Here’s what the back of the book says:

Comparison to other Young Adult Books

While I thought this book and story was totally original, some of Clara’s inner dialogue reminded me of Mia from The Princess Diaries, which is one of my favorite YA series. The two characters have a ton of differences, but it was just a bit reminiscent of Princess Diaries, which I loved.

The only other YA book I’ve read that focused on a young musician was If I Stay, which I really enjoyed as a teen. This book is very different, but the characters’ passion for their music is equally matched.

Viola and Classical Music References in Girl, Unstrung

There were tons of references to viola repertoire, styles of playing, and classical music in general throughout the book. I could tell the author really did her research! Everything made sense.

One thing I didn’t like about the references was that a lot of words were italicized, which felt a bit textbook-y to me. I think it was mostly for the word etude, so it was probably just the way that word is supposed to be formatted in books.

Something I really loved about the music references was that there’s a nice Glossary at the end of the book written from Clara’s perspective. I firmly believe anyone could read this book and enjoy it, but the Glossary makes it a lot more accessible! Plus it’s really cute.

Story Pacing

One aspect I pick up while reading any book is the story’s pacing. I’ve read a lot of books recently that took a long time to really get started, and then everything interesting happened right towards the end. Girl, Unstrung somewhat fell into that trap.

There were Taylor Swift, Gilmore Girls, and Hamilton references within the first couple chapters of the book, which I loved, but it took me a while to really enjoy the story and want to know more.

I instantly felt connected to Clara’s character and her interests, but some of the other characters fell a little flat in the beginning. It took until around halfway through the book for me to become more interested in all of the characters, and want to learn the rest of the story.

Once I got to that point though, I really loved and enjoyed the story.

Portrayal of the Classical Music World

Without giving away too many spoilers, I want to discuss how the classical music world/community was portrayed in Girl, Unstrung.

I had a really long, good rant about this in my Youtube video, so if you don’t mind a bit of a spoiler about Clara’s character progression, I highly recommend watching starting at around the 8 minute mark!

The classical music world was shown as a career that is hard to attain. At the start, Clara really wanted that, and worked towards it in a way many musicians with big dreams do. That’s one way to create a music career, and it’s the way that is traditionally taught in school.

By the end, there’s a shift in perspective, and I found myself highly relating to a lot of thoughts Clara had about the viola/music world.

It’s hard to have a career in music, especially if you want to have the “traditional” orchestral career. You can spend years auditioning, only to be rejected from every orchestra. Other people get a job on the first try. It’s luck that requires hard, hard work, and many sacrifices.

Through the story, Clara realizes and sees the sacrifices she could need to make (or has made) to try to achieve her dreams, and I think showing teenagers this aspect of the music world is very important.

Many of us want to live “relatively normal” lives, where we can have social lives, enjoy other hobbies, make a living and have a home…

But often trying to achieve a “top” career in music means we have to sacrifice some or all of those “normalities.” For some people, that’s totally fine. For others, it’s not, and it comes as a shock.

I think the more the music world is portrayed in this light, the better, especially in young adult novels that are geared towards teenaged musicians who might want to pursue music.

Trust me, I don’t regret my decisions, and I love what I do: teaching music and creating musical content. But to get here, I had to realize that I didn’t want to sacrifice different aspects of my life to try to become one of the best violists or win a huge orchestra job.

Medical Shock

There was a big health moment that happened in Chapter 48, that I’d never really read about in a Young Adult novel before. (I won’t say what it was, just to avoid spoilers!) This happened to a character that was not Clara.

Personally, I think it’s good that it was included, since the more we talk about this specific thing, the better prepared we might be able to feel if we or someone in our life experiences it.

It did pop up quickly, and I think it would’ve been helpful to have more of a build up (more clues) surrounding what was about to happen for younger readers who might not pick up on it as easily.

Portrayal of Performance-Related Injuries

At the beginning of the book, Clara is struggling with a repetitive use injury from practicing the viola so much.

These types of injuries face a bit of a stigma in the music world, and often aren’t talked about until it’s too late. Just like the other medical thing I mentioned, I think it’s great that playing-related pain was mentioned in the book. It wasn’t resolved, but even bringing awareness to this concept is really important for teen musicians.

Overall Thoughts on Girl, Unstrung

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Girl, Unstrung, and I’ll likely reread it someday! It was really fun to read a book about a violist that wasn’t non-fiction.

This book hit a lot of great points that we should be making about the music world, and I’m absolutely here for that! It was a fun, mostly lighthearted read, even with all of the heavy drama that occurred.

My favorite part of the book happened about 2/3 of the way through, when Clara visited a friend in London. I loved seeing all the sights with her, and now I really want to travel there and experience everything for myself!

I also really enjoyed the end. It reminded me a bit of the ending of Mean Girls. But that probably won’t make any sense to you unless you’ve read the book!

Where to Purchase Girl, Unstrung

Follow the link below to purchase a paper or digital copy of Girl, Unstrung! You can also submit a screenshot of your receipt for a chance to win a gift card to Alto Clef Gifts, a small shop that makes the coolest viola/alto clef merch!

Girl, Unstrung Links

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