Reviews with content warning for Racism - Symphony of Secrets

4.5* Even if you didn't like The Violin Conspiracy (which I loved), you might still like this one. It's not technically noir, but has that vibe. While it is about a composer and music academia, it didn't feel as music heavy as the first one. I didn't understand a lot of the musical references in the first book, but I didn't have that problem here. I highly recommend this one (also The Violin Conspiracy if you haven't read it yet).

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sierrajhansen's review

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

this book was sooooooooo sloooooowwwwww and for most of my time reading, i just didn't have the urge to pick it up. my dopamine-craving brain had no business reading at this snail pace, but it i guess it was ~enriching~. HOWEVER, when i forced myself to read as much as possible of this book in one sitting, i was able to get past the first two sections of the book (~150 pages) and THEN it started picking up a bit. by the end i was having a pretty good time, but it took me so long to want to read this book that it really docked my opinion of it.

that being said, i did really enjoy the story line and the way that the author switched back and forth between the past and the present. while i wouldn't call this a thriller (and i'm not really sure why anyone would...), i was definitely eager to find out what happened to josephine once we got in the thick of her storyline.

i found the ending to be a little sickeningly sweet.

like, we go from getting tased and humiliated by the cops to coming out on top of these extremely rich white people? and then kurt delaney gets shushed by his younger family members? it felt kind of like when you watch an excessively happy movie at the movie theater and you leave and walk in the parking lot and you kind of want to pump your fist in the air because you're so giddy, but it's also really fucking embarrassing.

it felt unrealistic, which was out of place for a book that felt less thriller and more slice-of-life.

anyways. this was pretty good when everything was said and done, but i can't give this one a higher rating considering that it might have put me in a lowkey book slump and it's unclear if i would have read it as fast as ended up reading it had it not been for a book club and an anniversary gift. i'm super conflicted because the writing was amazing and i felt like i was there and that the characters were real people, but my brain just could not get the mojo to pick this one up without being threatened by a deadline. it's a mixed bag but if you enjoy things that are slow-paced and pretty long then you will like this. i'd read it again if i was old and didn't feel the constant pressure to be doing something more fun and exciting and better with my time.

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ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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sicemsinger's review

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I really enjoyed Brendan Slocomb's first novel and was excited to read this one as well. As a musician myself, I love reading books with musician protagonists, particularly when the author himself is a musician, as Slocomb is. This book was just as much of a thrill as his first, with a fast-paced literary style, revealing piece by piece in multiple POVs and timelines the full, complex story. I loved the idea of a Black professor having done his life's work on a composer, not at all predisposed to suspect him of any wrongdoing, thrilled to find himself analyzing a long-lost work of said composer, but discovering an entirely different story. I love the way Slocomb depicted Josephine, an autistic-coded character with synesthesia, as the genius behind Delaney's work. Fred Delaney is a typical "white savior," but Slocomb writes him in a way that makes it clear just how cringe-worthy that is. His possessiveness of Josephine grows as with his success on her stolen music until a full-fledged cycle of abuse begins. As all the pieces of the story come together from both timelines, each receives a satisfying conclusion with the white abusers of power are served their just desserts.

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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This had a little bit of everything for me, and I loved the ending. I’m always rooting for the underdog, so for me, while the historical events were awful, I loved how Josephine got all that she wanted, even if that wasn’t how she wanted to get it.

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d_nice_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book would have more compelling if it had been shorter. Bern was not a sympathetic protagonist and the contemporary part of the novel was too drawn out. Also, Eboni’s Bronx accent in the audiobook lacked authenticity.

Conversely, the black male protagonist doubting the sharp instincts of the black female supporting character was all too authentic.

I loved Josephine

and I’m glad she eventually asserted herself with Freddy

. But even the historical chapters could have been trimmed.

We get it, Freddy/Fred/Fredric was a dick and either didn’t believe or didn’t care that he exploited Josephine.

But how many chapters of proof did we need?

I stayed through the end but just to hear the conclusion. This easily could have been a DNF, and the book’s editor would have been just as if not more responsible for the abandonment than the author.

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jupytwo's review

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informative tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I’m so glad I decided to pick up this book on a whim from the library. It’s a tribute to all artists whose works were erased in history and is inspiring me to play my piano more! I love an interwoven story.

my main ick was the romance plot…. not well written i would say.

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