Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - The Violin Conspiracy

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Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

135 reviews

a_b_hall's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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caittothelin's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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mekilouise's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.25

I liked the plot but the execution missed for me.

“Musicians of color are severely underrepresented in the classical music world.” This, according to the author, was one of his motivations for writing the book. But the racism and the violin conspiracy plot were disjointed. There were two books here and neither was done a service - the mystery was boiled down to a theft and then a realization that led to the solution. The racism experience was a relentless series of events, unmoored from any other experiences with the violin or the mystery.

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adrienneleigh's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I really enjoyed reading about Ray and his connection to music and his connection to his family through the music. My favorite scenes were his performances, especially the Tchaikovsky competition. The instances of racism were hard to read, and I’m glad that the author included in the author’s note that these were real things that had happened to him.

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honeywaffles's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

An intriguing story. Sometimes the characterization of the foibles the protagonist encountered seemed cartoonishly villain. The racism was quite overt. I think it would have been interesting to unpack more of the micro aggressions he experienced, but I also admire his perseverance to overcome them and defy expectations. The protagonist’s dedication to his craft and effort to open doors for other musicians, especially POC, was inspiring. The mystery about who stole the violin seemed pretty obvious throughout the book, to the point of distraction about why that wasn’t investigated.

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passionatereader78's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

This book is an emotional read. It's so sad. Ray is a great violinist! His mother hates that he plays and wants money. He faces racism at every turn. The only light is his grandmother. She tells a story about her grandfather playing a fiddle like Ray plays the Violin. She loves hearing Ray play. She gives Ray the fiddle and asks him to use that as his instrument. When Ray has the instrument cleaned and appraised he finds out it is a rare Violin worth millions. Ray wants to honor his grandmother and great grandfather and play the instrument. Everyone else has other ideas.

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sfunk's review against another edition

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5.0

This was one of the best books I've read in a while!

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disguisedposer's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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dominiq_ec's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I LOVED this book, despite how re-traumatizing it is to read as a Black person. On that front, i strongly recommend readers be careful with that book.

Also, the only reason it’s not getting 5 stars is because it uses the term/slur “g*psy” a handful of times. I’m unsure if this is an acceptable term to use when describing classical music and/or its methods, but because it was never explained in-depth, it reflected poorly on the author and publishing company

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xoxo__adr's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

Great book, excellent writing! I really enjoyed the story. I did, however, have to deduct a star for describing a woman’s body as “violin-shaped.” I just…absolutely hated that. Thanks!

⚠️‼️SPOILER AHEAD‼️⚠️

It was so obvious that Nicole was the one who stole his violin. Like painfully obvious from the moment she was introduced. The story is still enjoyable though.

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