Take a Bow - Elizabeth Eulberg

Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg
Publisher: Point
Publication Date: April 1, 2012
Source: Bought || Hardcover

Emme, Sophie, Ethan and Carter are seniors at a performing arts school, getting ready to tackle this last hurdle before they graduate - the Senior Showcase. Each one of them has a gift: Sophie sings, Emme composes songs, Ethan is a singer/songwriter and Carter is an actor. But as the showcase approaches, each one of them discovers that maybe there's more to them than what they already know - and that these things can either make them or break them.

Take a Bow is certainly a cute novel, and it already earns extra brownie points with me because it's set  in New York. As a fan of creative arts - like writing, musical composition and the like - it was wonderful to see the arts featured in a story! There has definitely been a rise in YA novels that feature characters with particularly creative talents, and I am loving that new trend. It was definitely fun to read this story, and to meet this interesting (and very talented, obviously) group of characters!

Even though I loved most of them, my hesitations about this novel came with the characters. This does not apply at all, mind you, to Emme and Carter, who I thought had such interesting stories within the bigger framework story. Their real friendship, their individual talents and plots were just addictive and I was definitely rooting for them from beginning to end. Emme is a totally me character, while Carter is a guy I could (and probably would) fall for in real life.

No, this hesitant feeling is only applicable to Ethan and to Sophie, the two other characters we encounter in the novel. I felt detached from Ethan for most of the novel. He did manage to win me over eventually, but I was sad that it took me a while to warm up to his character. Sophie, on the other hand, is a girl I just could not like AT ALL. I had hope that she would "redeem" herself, but she never did.

Story-wise, one of the things that I was expecting to encounter was the pressure and difficulty that come hand in hand with pursuing the arts as a future, especially since this was set in a competitive arts high school. Though there were certain moments when that feeling would ghost over me, I never truly felt it, which is why the book was a little bit lacking to me.

It was fun to tag along with these characters (except Sophie, of course) as they experienced their senior year in high school. The paths they chose were definitely unconventional (to me anyway, since I grew up with friends who wanted more "practical" careers), but that's what made this story so special and so hopeful. These characters lived and breathed and wanted and strived to achieve their lifelong passions, and I thought that was a very inspiring thing to read about. Everyone got what they deserved in the end, and that left me with a warm, satisfied feeling when I turned the last page.