Book Talk Review; Staccato

 

I am in tears over this book 

“Two men from two different worlds, with hearts aligned in a staccato beat.”

Blind from childhood Yanik experiences life though taste, touch, feel, sound. And his passion for music was the heart all of those things, leaving room for nothing else. But his dreams of making it in the classical world didn’t last after his brother calls him home to take care of their dying father.

It’s easy for Nik to resign himself to watching his career crumble—now relegated to an elementary school music teacher where the parents see blind musicians as side-show acts. He can even resign himself to being alone the rest of his life, because he’s long-since accepted he’s an impossible man to love.

But he’s not sure he can live with the sudden rush of desire that crashes through him the moment he meets Adam—a bright spark in his sea of turmoil.

Adam is the sort of man Nik has never allowed himself to want—a guitarist in a punk band working at the local tattoo shop, with no real direction in life. And it doesn’t take long for Adam to get under his skin.

But just as Nik is finally is starting to feel settled, one of his idols shows up at his door and offers him the chance to leave everything behind and work with one of the most prestigious composers in Rome—Nicolas Michaud.

With the most talented modern composers at his disposal, Nik will be able to compose his Magnum Opus for the world to hear. But will it mean anything at all without Adam by his side?

*

I cannot begin to express how long I've waited for this book. Verismo is one of my all-time favorite books and to be back in that world, it's like coming home. That being said, Staccato is very different from Verismo in terms of feel, the characters are broken in a different way, but the heart of it is still there. 

One thing I love most about these books is the prose. The writing just flows and after a few pages, I forget that I'm reading about two fictional characters, but I'm immersed into their world with them. It's beautiful and flowery in some parts, but not overdone. EM Lindsey has a talent to make their words rise and fall like the music her characters create. 

Both Adam and Nik are lovely, lonely people. Neither of them fits into the world around them. They drift and accept the meager offerings in front of them because they feel like they have no choice. It's heartbreaking to see so much potential in them and knowing that they don't feel like they're worth it. 

When they meet they don't expect anything. They can sense, in a way, that the other person is a kindred soul, but both of them are locked in their own bubbles and don't know how to breach them, or if they even want to. Neither Adam nor Nik want to be hurt, but they can't see their tentative friendship going anywhere until their feelings begin to spill over into their every interaction. 

Nik is so sure that he is a hard man to love he pushes Adam away every chance he gets. There's a bit of a communication problem that got to me. I have a thing for communication in books and so I was equally heartbroken and frustrated with him at one point. 

Adam is used to being listless, he wants more in life but doesn't see his full-worth and doesn't believe he deserves anything, not when he doesn't have a clear-cut path. I resonated with him so much as I understand how hard it is to watch everyone around you seem to have their life together while you're just stagnant. I wanted to tell him that he didn't have to have his whole life figured out, that it was okay to be who and what he was. That looking forward to a future where he has roots is enough of a dream and he shouldn't push himself just because he thinks he should. 

Staccato was everything I wanted from a Verismo sequel and more. We got to see some old favorites. Not going to lie, I squealed when Cedric and Nicolas showed up on-page. Nik and Adam had their own journey to make and it was painful in such a beautiful way. I was in tears the last few chapters as they were bittersweet words that tugged at every single feel I've ever had. 

Staccato is more than the next book in the Magnum Opus series, it's Nik and Adam and the love they fight for every messy step of the way. 

*Quote- 

"I was in the bad place again...Then you showed up." 

"You don't have to be like everyone else to be a person." 

"I have always been yours, even when I didn't know it." 

"The only thing that scares me is the way I feel about you, but...it's good. It's...it's like a piece of me that was missing for my entire life. I just hadn't realized it wasn't there until I met you."