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The Lucy Variations

3.63 of 5 stars 3.63 · rating details · 470 ratings · 129 reviews

Lucy Beck-Moreau once had a promising future as a concert pianist. The right people knew her name, her performances were booked months in advance, and her future seemed certain.

That was all before she turned fourteen.

Now, at sixteen, it's over. A death, and a betrayal, led her to walk away. That leaves her talented ten-year-old brother, Gus, to shoulder the full weight of...more

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published May 7th 2013 by Little, Brown BFYR (first published May 1st 2013)

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Apr 05, 2013 Tatiana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, 2013

It appears the three of us (Catie, Flannery and I) are pretty much on the same page as to why this new Sara Zarr novel didn't work for us. Pardon me for repeating what has already been said.

Generally, it's a good thing when authors try to experiment and explore new points of view and styles of writing. But sometimes when they try something new, it just doesn't work as well as the old. This is the case with The Lucy Variations I think. The thing I disliked the most about this novel is its POV, sp...more

13 likes · like · see review

Jun 16, 2013 Prathusha rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm loved this book- as a former, amateur pianist, and as a reader. Well, let me tell you, Sara Zarr is kinda, sorta brilliant. I really like Realistic Fiction, but only if it's well written, there's some serious crap out there in the RF genre. Also in the Paranornal Romance genre, but that sorta beside the point.
Anyways, you will just come to love the characters in this book. Even though Lucy can be kind of stuck-up, you know she's got the heart inside. I guess it's just kinda the way she in...more

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Jun 03, 2013 Yue [Wonder of living] rated it 2 of 5 stars

Although this was an engaging read, I'm disappointed to say I was bored when I finished it.

To summarize, this book was your Average YA Novel. It blended and meshed with all of the other formulaic writings that I have encountered. Sure, it's well written, but as far as the plot and the characters go? Dull. It's just another average girl having "big" problems. Lucy didn't stand out to me as a character; none of them did. The entire drama that takes place in this book felt like it was fished from...more

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May 31, 2013 Cindy Hudson rated it 4 of 5 stars

All her life sixteen-year-old Lucy has been told she has a gift, a special talent for the piano. Yet she no longer plays after walking off the stage at a competition the year before. Now her younger brother Gus seemed poised to take her place, both in the world of music and with her family, as her mom and grandfather put their time and effort into pursuing recognition for him.

Lucy’s conflicted about how she feels. On the one hand, she’s glad to have the pressure of always achieving, always compe...more

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May 20, 2013 Tiff rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed-sym, 2013

I really didn't like this book. The writing was good but I didn't care for the premise, the way the story played out or any of the characters. I didn't even really feel that the scenario was plausible or that the reactions of anyone in the story were the least bit realistic. (view spoiler)...more

1 like · like · see review

May 17, 2013 Elena rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sara Zarr's newest book, The Lucy Variations, takes the reader into the world of concert piano. Lucy is a 16-year-old pianist who has abruptly quit the profession at the height of her fame. She's something of a displaced person without the steady companionship and reassurance of the piano. And yet she hangs back - not sure if she wants her old, regimented, somewhat joyless life of performing and playing.

This is a wonderful novel for anyone who is questioning a previously unquestioned choice in v...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bullies, death, families, friendship, gifted, identity, music, romance, school, self-esteem, teachers

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Having a new Sara Zarr book to read is always a treat since she seems to try different writing techniques and because her characters are often so flawed. This makes her books and characters realistic since all of us are imperfect or make choices that aren't smart or leave us vulnerable. In the case of this book, told from the third person point of view, Lucy Beck-Moreau once had it all: a promising musical career, travel abroad, acclaim, fame, and attention. But after the death of her grandmothe...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Antony John rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm not going to give a synopsis of THE LUCY VARIATIONS because the publisher's cover copy at the top of the page does a pretty darn good job of bringing us up to speed. Instead, I'm going to give three reasons why everyone should read this book:

1. It's by Sara Zarr:

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Sara Zarr. Enough of a fan that I begged Little, Brown to send me an ARC of THE LUCY VARIATIONS. Which they did, because they're nice like that.

Lucky me. Very, VERY lucky me.

My two favorite authors a...more

8 likes · like · see review

Jun 06, 2013 Caroline rated it 2 of 5 stars

I picked up The Lucy Variations from the YA Quick Pick section at my local library. The summary of the book was what really caught my attention. I have always been in awe of people who possess some type of musical talent since I have none.

Lucy has been playing the piano and preforming since a young age then in a moment of grief and rebellion she walks out during one of his performances. Now a sixteen year-old just trying to figure out how to make it to school on time she is constantly reminded...more

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Jun 15, 2013 Jenni French rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: age-4-grades-6-8, genre-contemporary-fiction

Lucy used to be a semi-famous child prodigy in piano, with her grandfather and her mother controlling her career. However, when she was forced to go to Prague for a competition and did not get a chance to say goodbye to her dying grandmother, Lucy gave up on piano and let her younger brother Gus take her place. 8 months later, Lucy is trying to decide whether she still wants to play, or if she wants to redefine herself as something else.

I was intrigued by the concept and enjoyed the mystery sur...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Natalie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, childrens-lit, young-adult, contemporary, coming-of-age

What I liked

1. The writing was excellent. Zarr has a way of making things flow. Even though I didn't love the story, I can appreciate the talent behind it.

2. The side characters - Reyna, Cameron, Lucy's Dad - they created a great cast of extras. I enjoyed them more than the main characters.

What I didn't Like

1. Lucy. So annoying. She was a whiny-pants the entire time. Rude, selfish and obsessed with older men.

2. Will. Uh...taking advantage of a 16 year-old girl is NOT okay. I thought Lucy and W...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 05, 2013 Lynne rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book for me. I LOVED the first third, but then hated hated hated the middle. By the end I was back to loving the book and I could see why the author had done what she did through the middle, but man, it took a lot out of me to go on that ride.

(view spoiler)...more

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May 31, 2013 Julie (Manga Maniac Cafe) rated it 4 of 5 stars

3.5 to 4 stars

This dragged after the 70% mark, but was an overall compelling read.
full review -

Review:

I love books set in highly competitive settings, and musical competitions are a favorite. Lucy’s competitive days are over, though. At the start of The Lucy Variations, she’s been in retirement for eight months. Eight months since she quit, since she walked out of a concert hall in Prague. She has been lost to herself for all of this time; longer, actually, because she lost her love for music an...more 3.5 to 4 stars

This dragged after the 70% mark, but was an overall compelling read.
full review -

Review:

I love books set in highly competitive settings, and musical competitions are a favorite. Lucy’s competitive days are over, though. At the start of The Lucy Variations, she’s been in retirement for eight months. Eight months since she quit, since she walked out of a concert hall in Prague. She has been lost to herself for all of this time; longer, actually, because she lost her love for music and for her piano well before then. Her journey to find herself is not without mistakes and heartbreak, but when she does find herself again, will she have the courage to stand up to her family and take herself back?

After destructing in Prague, Lucy is happy with her new, stress free life. That’s what she keeps telling herself, anyway. After her grandmother’s death, nothing mattered anymore; not her music, not her family, not her schoolwork. Walking off the stage in Prague was intended as a protest to her grandfather, a message that she didn’t appreciate how he had made the decision that she would be competing instead of with her dying grandmother. Betrayed, Lucy still hasn’t forgiven her family for lying to her, and she hasn’t forgiven herself for not standing up to her grandfather. When she walked off the stage, he took her protest to be permanent. He called her a quitter, and told her her career was over. Now, the attention is on her talented younger brother, also a gifted pianist. Now, without the pressure of competition and practice, Lucy can be a teenager. She can have crushes and make friends and be a normal kid. Only, truthfully, she will never be a normal kid because she misses being someone, though she can’t even admit that to herself.

Lucy is a compelling character. She’s confused and angry. She can’t get past that day in Prague, when she gave everything up, only she didn’t realize at the time that her actions would last forever. She never thought that her grandfather, a harsh taskmaster, would be so uncompromising, and that he would deny her the chance to apologize and get back on with her piano practice. Instead, he dumped her faster than a garbage truck emptying a load at the local landfill. Lucy has no one to stand up for her against her grandfather, and as the months go by, she is more and more resentful of how she has been judged and left wanting.

When her brother, Gus, needs a new piano instructor, Will and his beautiful wife enter their lives. Will is so alive and so passionate about music. He makes Lucy remember all of the things she loved about it. He makes her want to try new things and play just for herself. As she gets to know him better and work through her issues with her family, Lucy develops a monumental crush on Will. This is the part of the story that I liked the least. Lucy jumps from an inappropriate crush on her English teacher to a crush on Will, but none of the moral dilemmas were adequately explored. There are no consequences explored, no significant examination of how their friendship is hurting Will’s wife. I was very disappointed with this aspect of the story.

Overall, I did enjoy The Lucy Variations. It’s an engaging story about a girl longing to find herself again, and to reestablish her voice in her demanding, controlling family.

Grade: B/B-(less)

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May 04, 2013 Jen Ryland added it

Shelves: netgalley

Full review appears on my blog, YA Romantics

I've read and enjoyed all of Sara Zarr's books, but this one might just be my favorite. The Lucy Variations is a beautifully crafted coming of age story, but also a deeply moving exploration of joy and its connection to the creative process.

Lucy Beck-Moreau is definitely very different from the characters Sara Zarr usually writes about. The protagonists I remember from her earlier books -- Jennifer in Sweethearts, Sam in Once Was Lost, Deanna from Stor...more Full review appears on my blog, YA Romantics

I've read and enjoyed all of Sara Zarr's books, but this one might just be my favorite. The Lucy Variations is a beautifully crafted coming of age story, but also a deeply moving exploration of joy and its connection to the creative process.

Lucy Beck-Moreau is definitely very different from the characters Sara Zarr usually writes about. The protagonists I remember from her earlier books -- Jennifer in Sweethearts, Sam in Once Was Lost, Deanna from Story of a Girl -- were underdogs and small town outcasts. In contrast, Lucy is a girl who seems to have it all: a musical prodigy who's also (as Jane Austen described Emma) "handsome, clever and rich." But Lucy is also guilty, confused and miserable about the circumstances that led her to walk away from her promising future as a concert pianist.

Those circumstances are slowly revealed over the course of the story, and I don't want to say exactly what they were, but it becomes clear that Lucy has lost someone who offered her something that the rest of her impressive family doesn't: unconditional love. That loss, combined with her fallout over her decision to quit playing, has left her completely adrift.

With subtlety and sometimes even humor, The Lucy Variations explores so many fascinating themes -- families and the way they both support and undermine us, grief and loss, success and failure, trust and betrayal. I thought that one of the most interesting parts of The Lucy Variations was the way that it raised the issue of happiness and its relation to achievement and the creative process. Do we do something that we love only in the hopes of achieving public acclaim and recognition? What do we do when we lose faith in our abilities, or when others have lost faith in us?

Lucy is trying to answer all these questions, and she's feeling lost. She's not used to feeling ordinary rather than special. Her unusual childhood has rendered her somewhat unfit to live as a regular sixteen year-old. She's spent much more time among adults than kids her own age, and mostly keeps to herself at school. This aspect of Lucy's life led to a plot development that had me worried that the story was going to veer in a direction that struck me as both predictable and disappointing. I put the book down. I fretted. I almost peeked at the ending. I shouldn't have been worried. My experience with Sara Zarr's writing is that she always chooses the subtle over the obvious, the unexpected over the predictable, and she did not let me down.

As a piece of writing, The Lucy Variations is very impressive. Every scene, every character, every subplot worked to enhance the whole. Even though I am the most un-musical person on earth, I found Lucy's struggles to reclaim her life and her sense of joy about the world incredibly moving.

*Thanks to Little, Brown BFYR for allowing me to read an e-ARC from NetGalley*(less)

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May 21, 2013 Christine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, the-meh-shelf

My first Sara Zarr novel, The Lucy Variations is a messy coming-of-age story, one that seemed to be just my kind of read. And sometimes it was. At parts, The Lucy Variations was beautifully written, deeply moving, and heartbreakingly realistic. Although we're not all music prodigies like the main character, Lucy, was, I think we can all relate to her story in some way or another, the loss and confusion and uncertainty.

However, for the most part I found the third person POV to be disjointed, the...more

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Jun 03, 2013 Hannah Cobb rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lucy had that rare combination of childhood genius and a chance at continued fame. For years she competed at the highest level in the world of classical music. And then she quit. Walked off the stage and never went back--never even sat down in front of a piano. That was two years ago; now she's sixteen, and she doesn't think her family will ever forgive her for abandoning her incredible talent. They seem determined to push her little brother into the vacuum of stardom Lucy left in her wake.
But w...more

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Jun 11, 2013 Milly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, feel-good, young-adult, tear-jerker, companion-book

This is the second book from Sara Zarr that I picked not as an audible and oh what a difference that made!!! I never did enjoy her audible versions but the hard bound ones have been so wonderful! This one was no exception!

I love how Sara's characters are so real and so conflicted! There's always raw pain and confusion just evoking such intense emotions from their readers! They make mistakes and are so flawed but have such redeeming qualities that you just want to give them another chance and ro...more

1 like · like · see review

May 12, 2013 Carissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5/5
The writing itself is really good. It took me a while to warm up to Lucy because at the beginning, she was so... whiny and never did anything and passive and I just wanted her to DO SOMETHING. And then she started taking some initiative, even if they were poor choices! It made her more interesting. I loved her friends (Reyna and Connor) from the start; they were perfect. The family dynamic is really great too. But I cannot stand Will. He is so creepy, and the "friendship" between him and Lu...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Shoshana rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, young-adult

I have the overwhelming sense that this is a book I was supposed to love. That everyone in the book world community will love it; it will have a blurb in the NYT book review, and it'll be one of the spring It books for realistic fiction. But the truth is, reading it gave me this icky, slimy sensation, like tolerating a slug on my leg for an extended period of time.

I can't say what it was specifically. The relationship between Lucy and Will was definitely part of it: not only was it inappropriat...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 15, 2013 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

In the book we have Lucy who is a child prodigy for the piano. She was molded in her grandfathers image of what a successful musician should be, even though she was a small child. She loved the music, but when that became the only world she saw, she became tired of the whole competition scene. She missed so much and after a family betrayal, she walked away. However, can you put that much pressure on a child and expect them to decide what they will or won't do for the rest of their life at the ag...more

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Jun 04, 2013 Robbins Library rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: jenny-recommends

How many reviews of this book are going to start, "Sara Zarr does it again," I wonder? Anyway, she does; though Lucy has a higher socioeconomic status than most of Zarr's previous protagonists, she too deals with realistic problems and emotions in her situation. Lucy is a world-class pianist who quit playing piano; in her music-obsessed family, this moves her from center stage to the background. Lucy tries to acclimate to normal life, but when her little brother Gus gets a new music teacher, Wil...more

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May 17, 2013 stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, realistic-fiction-ya, young-adult

i liked this. i liked lucy and her ambivalence and her passion. perhaps because i just lost my grandmother i could feel a little more for her and therefore appreciated the third person. because lucy wasn't telling me how she felt or talking directly to me, that element of removal allowed me to feel my own feelings and insert myself in the story in a way i think first person would have dragged me out of. especially because lucy isn't that great of a person most of the time.

lucy was a famous conc...more i liked this. i liked lucy and her ambivalence and her passion. perhaps because i just lost my grandmother i could feel a little more for her and therefore appreciated the third person. because lucy wasn't telling me how she felt or talking directly to me, that element of removal allowed me to feel my own feelings and insert myself in the story in a way i think first person would have dragged me out of. especially because lucy isn't that great of a person most of the time.

lucy was a famous concert pianist before she decided to quit. and quit she did. it's been 8 months and she hasn't so much as touched the keys on a piano. but then her equally talented brother, gus, gets a new teacher, and suddenly lucy is a bit unmoored.

i must admit i didn't like will from the beginning, exactly, nor did i like mr. charles, so lucy affections for older men didn't bother me the way i noticed they bothered other reviewers. i think this is also in part because lucy was touring the world at such a young age, she was forced to mature in certain ways. she is incredibly immature in some ways, but at the same time, having a very difficult time connecting to her peers. she isn't like them, not really. anyway, i just wanted to mention that her attraction to older men made perfect sense to me. besides, she spent her life trying to please people.

by the end, i really liked lucy. i loved the touches about music, even as a non-musician i know how certain sounds can make you feel, and the idea of getting lost in something so much that you aren't even thinking is such a gift. it's a story about coming to terms with your own talent, with your own dreams, and with yourself, without putting the blame on everyone else. to be sure, at 16, you don't have total independence. but you don't have to be locked in a cage either.

i just wish it were set somewhere other than san francisco - seemed like a waste of a setting. it didn't feel honest and really there, and that's why it gets three stars instead of four. hah. (less)

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May 06, 2013 Anne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: coming-of-age, family, realistic-fiction, music

The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

Sixteen year old, Lucy is an incredibly talented musician, who was well on her way to becoming a professional concert pianist. That is, until she walked away from the piano and never looked back. To say her family was disappointed is definitely an understatement, but Lucy’s little brother, Gus, is an equally talented pianist and can uphold the family’s expectations. When Gus’ piano teacher suffers a fatal stroke, the family must find a new teacher in order to get...more

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Jun 04, 2013 Kelly Hager rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've been a huge Sara Zarr fan ever since I read my first one, and I have absolutely loved all of them. As a result, my bar for her books is probably unreasonably high.

Like all of her books, this one is incredibly compelling and hard to put down. I wasn't as drawn in as I was by some of her other books (especially Story of a Girl) but I am of the opinion that even the weakest Sara Zarr book is still so much stronger than almost any other YA novel out there.

I did empathize with Lucy almost immed...more

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Jun 14, 2013 Harman rated it 4 of 5 stars

So this book wasn't initially what I thought it would be about. I thought that Lucy would fall in love with her little brother's new piano teacher and there would be some problem and eventually they would live happily ever after. BOY was I wrong! This book is different, yet I still loved it so very much. The ending kind of disappointed me but I thoroughly LOVED this book and highly recommend it.

Originally I thought that this book was just going to be about a girl falling in love with her brother...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Lexi Lovely rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: advance-copies

It was amazing! This book was fantastically written and the plot was riveting throughout. Its written in three parts and each part is titled with a different music marking (tempos I believe. I got this book in December from a friend and it happened to be an advanced copy, she knew that I loved Sara Zarr and so she let me borrow it. Oh my gosh, it was phenomenal. Lets just say that I hope to somehow persuade the publisher to put me on the advanced copy distribution list because this feeling I hav...more

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Jun 17, 2013 Laura Crossett added it

Every time I read a YA book, I think, "Oh, that's why I love YA--the problems are so simple!" That's a tremendous insult to teenagers, and it's not even always true, but I think that part of the appeal of YA books for adult readers must lie in this sense that whatever the problems of teenagerhood may be, they seem, if not simple, then over, or if not over, then relatively simpler than whatever it is we have to deal with now.

In this novel, Sara Zarr (one of my favorites) brings us a portrait of a...more

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Jun 08, 2013 Annie Oosterwyk rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: coming-of-age

Lucy has been a concert pianist for years at the highest levels. She quits it all at 15 when her family hides the fact that her grandmother is dying so she'll perform at Prague. She goes back to high school and tries to live life as a normal teenager, but something is missing from her life. Music.
When a new teacher is hired for her younger brother, Lucy finds that he has a few lessons to teach her as well.
This is a fantastic story of an incredibly strong and gifted young woman, discovering what...more

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Jun 17, 2013 Serina Benge rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. I really struggled between giving this book either a two or three stars and finally decided on three. I have to say I liked the whole idea of this book, but the book itself just didn't work for me. The worst part of the whole thing was what the heck was going on between Lucy and Will (Lucy's brother's piano teacher). Will is 30 and married and Lucy is only 16. I just hated her whole obsession with older men (like with her english teacher too). I wish that...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Caitlin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

GAH I would give this 3 and 1/2 stars if I could! I quite enjoyed reading this, mostly because I am a musician. I'm not a pianist but I still understood the main character's feelings/emotions concerning music. I liked the plot but the characters were a bit...I don't know, predictable? Like you had the typical pushy family member who won't accept failure, etc., you had the chill family member who is just like "they love you, they just don't know how to show it!" and you had the typical asshole gu...more

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About Sara Zarr

Sara Zarr is the acclaimed author of four novels for young adults: Story of a Girl (National Book Award Finalist), Sweethearts (Cybil Award Finalist), Once Was Lost (a Kirkus Best Book of 2009) and How to Save a Life. Her short fiction and essays have also appeared in Image, Hunger Mountain, and several anthologies. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband, and online at www.sarazarr.co ...more

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