Maybe love too is beautiful because it has a wildness that cannot be tamed. I don’t know... All I know is that passion can take you up like a house of cards in a tornado leaving destruction in its wake. Or, it can let you alone because you have built a stone wall against it... set out the armed guards to keep it from touching you. The real trick is to let it in, but to hold on. To understand that the heart is as vast and as wide as the universe. But that we come to know it from here. This place of gravity and stability.I feel like I’ve just gotten off the Ghost Rider equivalent roll-a-coaster of emotions. You know that feeling, when you get off of that wild ride at the amusement park, and that first moment your feet touch the ground, you sway a bit, look around to grab your bearings, and have that small moment of indecision wondering what possessed you to go on it, elated that you made it through, and wondering if you should take the ride again. All very intense and emotionally gripping to say the least as this book crash collides themes around genius passion, madness, love and self destruction.I will warn you upfront, this book has highly mixed reviews, but after a string of no hits between me and the author Deb Caletti, I can say with conviction that Wild Roses really moved me and stood out as a book that will hold top rank in my YA shelf.Cassie Morgan is one of the best narrators I’ve come across in YA in quite a while. She’s honest, snarky, emotional, yet strong and extremely grounded. She lives with her mother and step father, Dino Cavalli, and periodically stays with her dad and grandma, all according to the divorce decree. Life with her mom and Dino is anything but perfect. As a matter of fact, Dino is like a b0mb about to detonate. He is this genius violin player and composer who to the public eye is a grand perfection of brilliance, but behind closed doors is making Cassie’s life a living nightmare. He’s a mentally disturbed, paranoid, depressed, arrogant, self-serving, bully that is on the verge of self destruction. Then, along comes Ian Waters who becomes Dino’s student and Cassie’s love interest and things begin to unravel fast and not in a good way.This book really took me for a crazy ride. I have so many raw emotions for just about every character in this story. I’m angry at some, sad for others and resolved for the remaining few.My heart went out to Cassie. She’s extremely loyal to her mom and will stand by her no matter what. I loved her moments of honest revelations, especially when she’d recite a hidden fantasy, mainly about how she’d like to see Dino take a hike. I was so angry with her mother through most of the novel. I felt her primary responsibility was to her daughter and nothing else. For her to stand back and let that arseholian Dino talk to Cassie the way he did was unforgiveable in my eyes. I couldn’t come to forgive the mom or Dino for the hurt they put Cassie through. Man I disliked them both!!Cassie’s father wasn’t much better IMO either. He knew Dino was a big phat fraud and he did nothing about it but continued to obsess over finding contradicting facts about Dino. I wanted to shake him and yell “Do something you big dummy! She’s your daughter! You have every right to pull her from that home and protect her! Dumb arse!” Oh and don’t even get me started when Cassie’s mom said the dad had no right intervening. Ummm hell to the yeah he did! Both parents should have realized that their daughter was their main priority, above a step-father, above whatever the divorce decree states, above it all!! I was so mad. GRRR!Not sure I felt much compassion for Ian, and I don’t know why. Maybe his moments in the book were too brief for me to develop any real emotional stance for the guy. I am glad though that he was there for Cassie as much as he could be and their final moments were a real tear jerker.I’m still perplexed about this whole Itallian village and their willingness to stand behind one man’s lies to such a fervent level that they actually come to believe the lies. Does that really happen? Crazy! Just crazy!Overall, despite the rocky relationship I’ve had with Deb Caletti’s books, I’m glad I’ve finally found one that hit a home run and moved me. All very well done and highly emotional as it touches on weighty subjects such as divorce, depression, paranoia, insanity, love and loss. Loved it!Favorite quotesIf your life truths have to be protected like some people keep their couches in plastic then ciao… have a nice life... if we bump into each other at Target, I’m the one buying the sour gummy worms and that’s all you need to know about me.We don't want you convicted for condiment theft. You go to that prison, you'll meet big-time operators. Maple syrup stealers.Love seems to be something to approach with caution, as if you'd come across a wrapped box in the middle of the street and have no idea what it contains.Supposedly there's an actual, researched link between extreme creativity and mental illness, and I believe it because I've seen it with my own eyes.Song choice: Cassie and IanPlaylist song: Best is Yet to Come – Red
I thought this would be a cute, fluffy, light read between two heavy adult fiction novels. This novel was anything but that. While Wild Roses is a realistic YAL novel, the plot does deal with some serious issues. Cassie is a daughter caught between two dueling families. Her father wants her mother back. Her mother has moved on to famed violinist Dino Cavelli. Dino wants to finish his new compositions and tutor his protege into the Curtis Institute. Cassie wants her family to stay out of her new-found love with Ian Waters. As deadlines grow closer, the already stressed family unit nears the breaking point. Dino becomes obsessed with this compositions, like many creative geniuses, ignoring the effects his art has on the household. I was furious at Daniella, Cassie's mother, for choosing her crazed, grumpy husband over her daughter. I understand that Daniella has become caught up in her husband's talent, but she erroneously thinks that time will help. Cassie throws up warning flares about Dino's erratic behavior and its effects, but her mother chalks it up to stress and depression. She doesn't seem that concerned when Dino stops receiving medical treatment from his psychiatrist and ceases taking his medication, which, at least, seemed to keep a reign on things. Cassie, and her relationship with her mother, suffers the most for Dino. Even her ability to seek a normal teenage love-life is questioned because Ian is Dino's student and she could distract him from his art. I appreciated that this story spoke about subjects which some authors are afraid to broach. Mental illness, even under the guise of creative genius, is a real thing. It effects more than the patient, but everyone in his or her life. Like Dino, the patient does not notice the effects the illness has on those around him or her. I worried that Cassie would have to take the same road with Ian, also a violinist, but at the start of his career. Happily, Cassie does have sane people around her, namely a parent, outside the situation. Her father, though engrossed with discovering the truth about Dino's past and saving his ex-wife and daughter from the destruction, provides Cassie with a safe haven outside her mother's home. I don't know if the story ended with a "happy ending" for the characters, but moreso, a greater understanding of themselves, which is most important for readers to reflect upon.
What do You think about Wild Roses (2005)?
Before this I've only read another book by Deb Caletti (The Nature of Jade), and it was just okay. Thankfully, I liked this one much much better. This book was about Cassie Morgan, who has divorced parents, and a step-father who is a famous violinst. To the outside world, Dino may seem like a genius musician and composer from a small town in Italy, but Cassie knows the truth. Dino is a terrifying, selfish, insane bully, who just gets crazier and more paranoid every day. Cassie can't imagine why her mom fell for him, and doesn't want anything to do with love....that is, until she meets Ian Waters, Dino's new protege. I really liked this book. I found Cassie to be a wonderful narrator. She was both funny and insightful. There were many parts where I was nodding in agreement or stifling laughter. Denifite quotable material. Initally though, I didn't quite like the style. It seemed a little too informal for my taste, but I quickly got over it. I found the characters lively and three-dimensional. Except for Ian. I did not like him. He was hardly in the book, which made the romance seem improbable. I liked this book, but I wouldn't consider it a romance. In fact, it would have been fine without any romantic aspects at all. Just the family dynamic seemed enough. I was also surprised with how everything turned out. It's not a suspenseful edge-of-your-seat book, but is certainly absorbing. I will definitely be checking out more of Deb Caletti's books in the future.
—Morgan F
This is a YA author that writes with surprising depth. Each one of her novels surprises me with the theme and characters. when I was first told of her work, it was with a number of other authors whose work I enjoy, but who are a little more prosaic. At first Ms Caletti surprised by by how good her books were. Now she surprises me because I cannot believe that all her books are that good. she is on my must buy/must read list. This book is all about the fine edge between genius and madness, love and hate, family and enemy. Great stuff.
—Michael Burhans
Cassie's stepfather, Dino, is world-renowned violinist, who is also mean, arrogant, and on the brink of insanity. As he is working to compose three new pieces for an upcoming concert, Cassie and her mother are fighting a losing battle as they try to keep his depression and paranoia from spiraling out of control. When Cassie and Dino's student violinist, Ian, fall for each other, Dino is adamant that they cannot be together and that Cassie will ruin Ian's opportunities. As Dino's behavior gets worse, Cassie wonders what it will take for life to be safe and normal again and learns more about the relationship between genius and madness than she ever wanted to know.There were a few times when the book seemed to drag for me, as there is a lot of reflection on how extremely gifted people often wind up killing themselves, and whether the creativity fueled the madness or the madness fueled the creativity, and so on. There were points worth considering, but I occasionally wished there were fewer of them. Overall, though, it's thought-provoking, insightful and emotionally honest.
—Adrienne
