ARC Review: Noteworthy

Title: Noteworthy

Author: Riley Redgate

Genre & Age Group: Contemporary, LGBTQ+, young adult

Goodreads Synopsis:

It’s the start of Jordan Sun’s junior year at the Kensington-Blaine Boarding School for the Performing Arts. Unfortunately, she’s an Alto 2, which—in the musical theatre world—is sort of like being a vulture in the wild: She has a spot in the ecosystem, but nobody’s falling over themselves to express their appreciation. So it’s no surprise when she gets shut out of the fall musical for the third year straight.

Then the school gets a mass email: A spot has opened up in the Sharpshooters, Kensington’s elite a cappella octet. Worshiped … revered … all male. Desperate to prove herself, Jordan auditions in her most convincing drag, and it turns out that Jordan Sun, Tenor 1, is exactly what the Sharps are looking for.

Source: Thanks so much to Amulet Books/ABRAMS Kids for providing me with an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley!

How I Found Out About It: Netgalley

At first glance when skimming my Netgalley options, Noteworthy didn’t really seem like the kind of book I would really enjoy, but as fantastic reviews trickled in begging others to pick it up, I eagerly went back onto Netgalley and requested it, hoping for a fun ride.

Noteworthy turned out to be a great story full of important messages. I know how much we all say that we should trust our gut feelings, but in this case, I was better off trusting others’ opinions of this book upon deciding to read it myself.

To briefly summarize the novel, it is basically about a girl named Jordan, who attends an arts school under a singing major. Her voice is a bit deeper than most other girls’, so she is declined spots in the school musical over and over again. But when she sees an opportunity to join the Sharpshooters, Jordan is eager to join. One thing, though- it’s only for males. So, disguised as a male named Julian, she auditions. But will she be able to make it out so far?

As a character, I really liked Jordan. I found her to be extremely brave and eager to explore the unknown (like seriously- it takes GUTS to do what she did!), and her development was extravagant by the end of the story. She ended up becoming much prouder of who she was and what her passions were ~~(which was slightly ironic as she wasn’t herself for most of the book, haha!)~~. Oh- and she was questioning herself about being bisexual and she was also of mixed race- what’s better than seeing that much diversity in a protagonist?

The guys in Jordan’s singing group were very inclusive and welcoming, and I have to say that they were truly nice people. I just loved them! They were also very diversely crafted, with there being one with a learning disability as well as other racially diverse ones. I think anyone who picks up this book is bound to find a guy that they are able to identify with.☺️

Aside from the strong characters, the plot was executed greatly as well. I rarely found myself bored, though I do have to admit that sometimes the musical references went over my head. Haha, I’m not a singer, what else can I say?! I found the story to be a bit slow at first, but in this circumstance, the build-up was fine with me!

Overall, I would strongly recommend Noteworthy for all YA fans, whether they prefer contemporary, fantasy, or science fiction. This story was diverse in so many ways and had so many significant messages to send. When I say that 2017 is the year for diverse novels, I MEAN it. Anyway, be sure to mark May 2nd on your calendars- this one is a keeper!