Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

Title: Take a Bow
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Publisher:  Point
Release Date: April 1, 2012
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Pages: 278


From the fantastic author of The Lonely Hearts Club and Prom & Prejudice comes a story of all the drama and comedy of four friends who grow into themselves at a performing arts high school.

Emme, Sophie, Ethan, and Carter are seniors at a performing arts school, getting ready for their Senior Showcase recital, where the pressure is on to appeal to colleges, dance academies, and professionals in show business. For Sophie, a singer, it's been great to be friends with Emme, who composes songs for her, and to date Carter, soap opera heartthrob who gets plenty of press coverage. Emme and Ethan have been in a band together through all four years of school, but wonder if they could be more than just friends and bandmates. Carter has been acting since he was a baby, and isn't sure how to admit that he'd rather paint than perform. The Senior Showcase is going to make or break each of the four, in a funny, touching, spectacular finale that only Elizabeth Eulberg could perform.

I had Take a Bow for two weeks before I started reading it. It just seemed like so much drama. And it was. But to my surprise it was a good story. One that I tiptoed into like cold water  before it became a whirlpool that pulled me in.

When I found out it was written in four povs, I was a little unsure of how that was going to come across. I've read books before with several povs where the characters start to blend into each other and take on the same personalities. I have a hard time differing between characters like this. That was so not the case. The characters were each unique and had their own voices.

The writing was fantastic. It was written in such a way that I really felt for each of the characters and their passions. I wanted them all to succeed, which wasn't always possible. Everything was described well and I had no problems understanding the story. I loved the descriptions of the band and the high school. The high school especially because it was an elite academy of privileged yet talented students.

Each character had their own subplot, but their was one main plot. This was for them to find themselves and their passion. There was drama that thoroughly entertained me throughout the story and left me hanging. My only complaint was that some of the story could get predictable.

I felt the story had another thing missing. It was missing that "wow" factor. The thing that makes you gasp with emotion. However, it was a good story. I would recommend it to fans of contemporary novels and to people who think they can't succeed at their passion. This book shows that, even if it's hard, reaching for your dreams is a good thing that leads to possibilities of success and, most importantly, happiness.

Memorable Quotes

 

• “I don't want to ruin our friendship and what we have but I cannot for another minute stand in front of you without you knowing exactly how I feel. Because I can't see past you. You are everything to me.”  
• “We’ve been focusing so much on getting there that we haven’t been enjoying the ride”  
• “I look at the hundreds of algebra problems facing me in the next three days.
  And here I thought I’d figured out the equation to my happiness.”