A Thousand Perfect Notes, by C.G.Drews

I came to this YA book from Twitter, where author C.G.Drews is something of a phenomenon; with 38k+ followers and a modest, quirky charm that makes you want her to succeed.

The story follows teenager Beck, a gifted pianist with a violent and abusive mother, in a love story with a hippy, love-filled, funny girl, August, who you can’t help feeling is a version of the author herself.

Parts of the book are quite cliched, but Drews portrays Beck with all the aching tenderness August is supposed to feel for him. It’s a very sweet portrait of a boy damaged by domestic abuse.