Review of Overture by Yael Goldstein

I went through alternating appraisals of Overture. At first I thought it was boring, then sweet, then sickeningly romantic (if I ever hear the words "torrid but virginal liaison" again, I will snap, I swear), and finally, musical.

I can't say I like the main character. She is one of those people who feels a constant, almost pathological, need to sabotage her own happiness. And I just can't accept that philosophy--even in the name of art. I couldn't help but yell at Tasha throughout the entire book, telling her what a fool she was being.

It wasn't a waste of time, though. As someone who enjoys classical music, I liked hearing Goldstein's descriptions of it through Tasha and her emotions. Some of those passages in which Tash explains how playing the music makes her feel ... those are the best parts of the book, the most real. I don't play an instrument (I took piano lessons, but lack the technical skill to ever be really good). But I appreciate music, and I enjoyed being able to understand music from the point of view of a musician.

As a novel, Overture isn't that good. As a character study, it is slightly better, if you can avoid the urge to hunt down this "Tasha Darsky" and try to talk some sense into her. But if you plan to read this, you must first have a stomach for plot-twisting romance and, of course, music.