Reviews

The Ensemble by Aja Gabel

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razzle97's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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

3.0

I did not enjoy the first half of the book, but Gabel really stuck the landing - the last two hours of the audiobook were very strong.

3.5 stars from me for this one. The writing was incredibly beautiful at times, and the idea of a "chosen family" was described so eloquently throughout the book. I loved the focus on music, too. I generally like stories where you grow old with the characters, but I found for this one I wanted a little more to happen. Even though I guess the point wasn't necessarily shocking plot points, but rather the relationships between the quartet members that grew over the years.

lc_allen's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

alyssajcori's review against another edition

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2.0

I really wanted to like this book, and I was enjoying it about halfway through, but it just never seemed to go anywhere. The story is about a string quartet and the relationships and growth of the musicians through the years. There’s love and longing and anger and dreams, but I literally had to skim through the last 10% of the book because I couldn’t wait for it to be done.

brittscheer's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

dekhs4r4h's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

hollydyer328's review against another edition

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hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

As a classical musician and string player, I enjoyed exploring this character study of a string quartet. Aja Gabel got 95% of the details spot-on with string player life and the piece selections. While it seems like a lot of people don’t like the characters, I felt like they were pretty accurate with how classical musicians can be IRL but going under the hood. I kept wondering what my quartet-cellist former-professor would think of this book.

I wish that there was more going on in the plot; the progress of the story heavily depends on how the characters and the quartet develop. Overall, this book is very niche, and while I could appreciate those qualities, I don’t think this book is for everyone. If you don’t care for classical music or character-driven novels, this book is not for you.