Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
This book moved easily from today to 1920s NYC and back again. I was enthralled and read it in one day! You can tell that Solcumb is a musician and a lover of the process of composing. Josephine's visualization of sounds and her Transcribing are hard to grasp at first, but then it clicks. And Freddy is just a greedy, evil bastard.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As someone who works in archives, I absolutely loved this book. So many stories are buried because we don’t know to look for them. This was a beautiful fiction that could all too easily be true in the world we live in. Museums, archives, libraries are not neutral spaces. They do a ton of good, but they also perpetuate systems of power that existed far beyond our time of trying to be more equitable. Slocumb has beautiful afterward I encourage you to read as well.
The story and the mystery made it hard to put down, but I didn't love the writing: The dialogue, in particular, was a weak point.
4.5 stars rounded up
I have not read Slocumb's first novel so I have no idea how this compares, but I found myself hooked fairly early on. The story takes place in two timelines, but I like that the author presents the current timeline and allows it to develop a fair bit before introducing the past timeline. He then takes some time to develop the past timeline, which allows us to get to know the characters in both timelines fairly well. Often with duo timelines, one timeline is much more interesting or the timelines jump back and forth so quickly you get confused about what is happening with each timeline and I get characters mixed up, especially if I'm listening to the book. But I had no problems with this one and really loved both timelines and when he switched, I looked forward to finding out another piece of the puzzle.
The book focuses on themes of racism, ownership of ideas, power and control. I thought I was going to hate Delaney, end of story, but as the author revealed everything that happened, I could sort of see how he ended up doing what he did. I still hated him, but not nearly as much as I thought I would. I absolutely loved Josephine and I loved how the author revealed parallels between the past and present and make me excited to find out more in both timelines. I also loved how he created this "master of music" out of thin air and made him seem like a real historical figure, with Josephine being that shadowy figure who was the real story behind the scenes.
I loved this story and will be checking out his past and future works!
I have not read Slocumb's first novel so I have no idea how this compares, but I found myself hooked fairly early on. The story takes place in two timelines, but I like that the author presents the current timeline and allows it to develop a fair bit before introducing the past timeline. He then takes some time to develop the past timeline, which allows us to get to know the characters in both timelines fairly well. Often with duo timelines, one timeline is much more interesting or the timelines jump back and forth so quickly you get confused about what is happening with each timeline and I get characters mixed up, especially if I'm listening to the book. But I had no problems with this one and really loved both timelines and when he switched, I looked forward to finding out another piece of the puzzle.
The book focuses on themes of racism, ownership of ideas, power and control. I thought I was going to hate Delaney, end of story, but as the author revealed everything that happened, I could sort of see how he ended up doing what he did. I still hated him, but not nearly as much as I thought I would. I absolutely loved Josephine and I loved how the author revealed parallels between the past and present and make me excited to find out more in both timelines. I also loved how he created this "master of music" out of thin air and made him seem like a real historical figure, with Josephine being that shadowy figure who was the real story behind the scenes.
I loved this story and will be checking out his past and future works!
This book was really enjoyable. The way that Slocumb describes the impact of music and the importance it has on the characters—it’s what kept me drawn in. It’s was like I could also feel the rhythms in the story. There were some good twist to the story and I would have liked a little bit more discovery/ or a deeper dive behind the motives of some of the folks as to a why —or perhaps I would have liked to have it spelled out rather than insinuated.
A great read for me✨
A great read for me✨
One of the best reads of the year. It started slow as the story builds, but then the story took off and was always in my mind so I just had to finish it. Fell in love with JoR, Bern and Eboni. They are a force to protect their integrity with determination and righting wrongs.
Another outstanding read by Brendan Slocumb! I absolutely loved this story- I was hooked in the first 10 minutes and finished it in 2 days.