Perfect Harmony

I loved this light hearted read a lot! I wasn’t sure if I would like it not being very musically inclined personally. However, this is the type of book I needed to read at this moment.

I do love the enemies to love trope and when I read that on the description on Netgalley I was intrigued to say the least. I loved Pippa’s development of a character with her relationship with Declan, although knowing that going to college for cello was still her main goal above a boy.

I can't wait to get my hands on a hard copy of this book!

This book is a sweet romantic story involving one girl and her love interests as she navigates the way through achieving her dream of entering the college of her choice. Although the characters were not very versatile in terms of round/flat characters and the plot line's ending was predictable, the story was enjoyable from the beginning. I enjoyed the moments of tension created between certain characters, especially during kiss scenes. I also enjoyed the fact that this author chose to paint the main character as a cellist. The fact that Pippa is a cellist means that there is some terminology and there are some scenes in the book around the theme of music. I especially liked the touch of quotes in every chapter about music.

I loved this book! Music and angst and the push and pull of a YA romance woven together seamlessly through the author's lush writing style. Things get complicated and emotional and I enjoyed it very much. I love a good romance but more I love strong writing and storytelling and this author was quite the find. I look forward to reading more of her work.

I totally loved this :) Pippa was a super fun character and I found her very interesting to read about.
The start was super fun with Declan always getting on her nerves, you just know he's going to wear her down eventually ;)

Oh but she was a bit silly at times!

Spoiler

Yes Quinn did come good in the end and apologise and that was all happily ever after, but honestly? She was NASTY. Who's to say she's actually mended her ways and won't turn into a spiteful little snake again? And seriously, Declan, believing the email Lexi had sent him? He knows how awful Lexi is... dude, wtf. And then his parent shifting him at the start of his senior year, and then again three quarters of the way through it?! The latter I didn't understand... surely that close to the end of the year you'd find a family to board him with? I know it's just a fictional character but such an upheaval to his education surely can't be great.

Also I love that the show they saw was Wicked... such beautiful memories of the Gershwin came flooding back to me upon reading that!

Perfect Harmony is not only a very fitting title for the story, it's also a very accurate phrase to describe my experience reading this book.

The reading experience as just so perfectly harmonizing, because it's so comfortable. It was cute, enjoyable, and a very fun read when you're just...looking for a fun read. It's nice, welcoming, calm, and doesn't give you too much emotional stress. Declan and Pip are adorable, the story-line makes me want to go practice my piano and violin, and the kiss scenes were definitely not disappointing (thank god). Everything about this book is just ADORABLE (awwww).

It followed the pretty standard YA contemporary hate-love formula, which is something I'm not complaining about because this made the story really safe for my already-too-fragile heart. It was heartwarming, soft, entertaining, swoon-worthy, what more can I ask for?

This book was everything I needed! This is a sweet, romantic YA contemporary that has a great hate to love type relationship. Both characters were well developed for me, great pacing and such great messages about love, finding out who you are, accepting love and chasing your dreams. Libraries need to purchase this great contemporary for their collection due to its great messages, genuine teen POV in the writing style and memorable characters. This book kinda reminded me of Sarah Dessen's books with how genuine it is, great family dynamics and female character. Highly recommended :)

Fans of Rainbow Rowell will love this book which is a perfect blend of music, friendships, and love.

Pippa Wyndham is a top cellist, first chair at her school. She has her life planned out – get into Goddards – the top music school in the country, graduate and find her way to the New York Philharmonic. She has had a crush on Noah, her twin brother’s best friend, since forever. When he starts noticing her, she thinks her life is perfect.
Declan is a cellist, just like Pippa. He moved from New York in his final year and has got on Pippa’s nerves ever since she found out he might be her competition. When their music teacher pairs them together to practice for a duet, falling for Declan is the last thing on her mind. But soon, she is unable to deny her growing feelings towards Declan, her sworn enemy. And there’s a possibility that Declan likes her back.. But she can’t fall for him or her dreams would all come crashing down.

Each chapter begins with a quote on music which was absolutely amazing and I loved such warm-up reminders of how awesome music is.

Albright’s writing is amazing. I don’t know what I expected, but this was perfect. Her tone is smooth and straight forward and touching at the right places. And frankly, even if the plot felt dragged out a bit at places, it was what kept me reading. I’d certainly check out more of her books.

The focus on music was an enchanting experience. But I wish it focused more on describing the feel of the music rather than just about how Pippa felt. I know it wasn’t songs and there weren’t lyrics, but I wanted more.
I love Pippa and Declan, though not necessarily together. Pippa’s voice was immature at times, but her character growth is undeniable. It had a certain nostalgic feeling in it, which made me reminisce my school days. Few high school books have achieved that level of impact, and this one is certainly one among them. And the way this book tackled the stereotypes of girls always vying for attention from boys is worth a mention.

The romance was one of the best I’ve encountered in YA, but only in the beginning. It wasn’t insta-love by any means, but rather r the enemies-to-lovers kinda romance. There is a big love pentagon which was actually executed well. The only thing I felt lacking was, the communication between Pippa and Declan. Every single time they are together, they’re either kissing or she’s thinking of kissing him. It didn’t feel right. You can only read so much about fireworks exploding in your stomach each time the love interests look at you.

Overall, this was a great read. If you’re looking for some nostalgic, light read with mild friendship and family dynamics, then this book is for you.

I received an ARC copy from netgalley for my honest review,  so thank you netgalley and publishers for offering me this book! ♡
The cover is what originally drew me to this book.
This was my first book by this author, It was cute!. If you like morgan matson or kasie west I think you will enjoy this book. It was alltogether an easy read. ♡ I give this book a
4.5 star rating!

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view

When I first saw this book on NetGalley, initially it was the synopsis that drew me in, and I hadn't even noticed who the author was, but when I realised this was by Emily Albright, whose debut, The Heir and the Spare, remains one of my favourite books, I knew it was for me. Perfect Harmony follows Pippa, who is preparing for her auditions to get into the top music college in the country, and everything is thrown for a loop when another cellist arrives at her school, and is her competition in anything and everything. Wanting nothing to do with Declan, she finds her music teacher is working against her, and they are having to work together on a duet for their final exam, and for a prestigious competition, that could open more doors for her than she'd ever hoped. However, Declan is cocky, and seems to know just how to push Pippa's buttons, and she finds herself torn between hating him, and falling for him.

I'm going to admit it now, I'm not musical, at all. I mean, when I was in primary school, and we had a 'music week', I was the girl who asked if she could do extra maths or something, rather than play an instrument. That's not to say I don't appreciate how hard musicians work, especially classical musicians, and this book helped me to see just how much work musicians put into being the best, and making themselves proud, if not anyone else. Pippa's life seemed to revolve around her cello, but it was her passion, and it was good to see when she struggled, but also when she simply adored the art and all the hard work paid off.

If you hadn't guessed from the synopsis, this book has the classic 'enemies to lovers' trope, and I adore that trope more than any others, I think. As soon as Pippa and Declan met, you could just see the chemistry and sparks jump off the page, and I was rooting for them from the get go. One problem for them was Pippa's long time crush, and her twin brother's best friend, Noah, who suddenly decided that he'd liked Pippa all along, and wanted to be with her. Yeah, we hate Noah. He'd never seen Pippa as anything other than his friend's sister, and his friend too, until there was some competition there, and he'd known about her crush all along. Whenever Pippa and Noah were together, I just couldn't see anything between them, and wanted nothing more than for him to go away.

That love triangle wasn't the only one, it ended up more like a love square, or even pentagon, at one point, and that's what made me only give the book 4 stars. Pippa's friend Quinn decides she likes Declan, and then Pippa's brother Philip decides he likes Quinn. Honestly, it got a bit too complicated at one point, and if I hadn't been invested in Pippa and Declan's journey, I might've DNFed, but I didn't. That all being said, Pippa and Declan's relationship, once it got past the ups and downs of other prospective beaus, and the drama of being in competition with each other, was really sweet. Declan had a troubled home life, with divorced parents, and an estranged relationship with his father, and we slowly saw him open up to Pippa, and open himself up to working with his dad on rebuilding their relationship after a trip to New York.

All in all, Perfect Harmony was a perfect (pun intended) contemporary book for the summer autumn, especially if you're a fan of the enemy to lovers trope, or even if you aren't. I look forward to more from Emily in the future.

Pippa thought she had her life down: first chair cellist in her school's orchestra that no one could take away from her and crush hard enough on her twin brother's best friend Noah until he finally realizes they are meant to be forever and ever, amen.

But she never saw Declan coming.

And now Noah is suddenly changing his tune.

Challenging not only her first chair, Declan counters everything she thought she wanted in Noah and Pippa soon realizes that her life plan isn't as solid as she once envisioned.

What first starts out as dislike and competitive rivalry with Declan soon turns into affection and understanding. No longer pushing against each other, Pippa and Declan sync up like beautifully harmonized instruments on and off stage, but - of course - not without its complications.

Light and sweet with a dash of angst, Perfect Harmony hits all the right notes!

Thanks to NG for the ARC. This was a super cute summer romance, quick read high school love story set against competitive cell players. Pippa is first chair cello in her HS orchestra and is planning her future and a prestigious music school in NYC. She has been in love with her twin brother's best friend for years. New student Declan, ironically also a cello player and from NYC, shows up and starts wreaking havoc on Pippa's best laid plans. Very predictable plot as soon as Declan is on the the scene for the most part, but well-written and I love the orchestra competitions and the cello playing. Lots of friend drama and teenage angst with a healthy dose of sweetness. Short cute summer read!

Perfect Harmony is a very sweet, fast-paced book. Even if you don't like it, I doubt you won't get to the end, as it's very easy to read.

All the characters in this book are good, real people with flaws and personalities, but real, instead of just stereotyped personalities without any personal qualities.

Also, thank you Emily Albright for not falling to the easy "let's use misunderstandings as the only plot creation device". Because this book does contain scenes where misunderstandings leave to complicated situations, but every single time something can be solved talking it out or being clear somehow, the characters end up being reasonable enough to do so.

If I were to point out a negative it would be that some of her relationships, like the one with her brother, should have been more developed, so we know her better.

Also her feeling for Noah, so either her feelings for Declan don't feel so sudden or so we see how they fade and comprehend it better.