Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

33 reviews

alisonfaith426's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Slavery, Racism, Classism, Cursing, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, and Grief

Minor: Sexual assault, Infidelity, and Rape

pershie13's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

It took me a long time to finally finish this book while completing my last semester of undergrad, but this book turned out fantastic! The book follows the story of violinist Ray McMillan, who received no formal training on his instrument until he reached college. Mentored by his violin professor Dr. Janice Stevens, Ray becomes one of the best at his craft. Along with following his journey as a violinist, the story also places an emphasis on the instrument he plays, a Stradivarius violin passed down to him by his grandmother. The story turns into a sort of mystery/thriller as we find out in the opening pages that this violin has been stolen and requires a multi-million dollar ransom for its return. This story covers many of the issues that Black people often face in the field of classical music, as well as the themes of hard work, family, and mentorship. The story definitely took unexpected turns, and I questioned to the very end what was going to happen to Ray, his violin, and his musical career. The book was fantastic, and I enjoyed every twist and turn!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racial slurs, Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Slavery, and Torture

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Hate crime, and Cursing

Minor: Classism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, and Grief

narbine's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

in the audiobook they would have an orchestra play a bit in between sections which was cool 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Death, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Racism, and Slavery

tome's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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? No

4.75

It is truly rare that one finds a book that floors the reader. In spite of that, this review is being written lying on my apartment floor. Riveting from start to finish, what was meant to be a light hour of afternoon reading became the whole afternoon to finish the novel. Slocumb masterfully weaves the plot together, easily transitioning between past struggles, current anguish, and the ever looming worries of the Tchaikovsky competition. Even between the deeply emotional aspects of Ray's journey, details about the mystery are well interspersed throughout the novel, though the ending reveal still shocked me. This was truly an amazing read that I cannot recommend enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Grief, Racial slurs, and Slavery

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

jpitts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death, and Violence

andloveistoolong's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Classism, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Grief, Alcohol, Cancer, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Child abuse

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Deportation

msennflinn's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Racism

bonniejpg's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Racial slurs, Slavery, and Racism

Minor: Death, Grief, and Rape

pamshenanigans's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

“When you begin to hate them just because they hate you, you turn into them. And then they win.”

If you’re looking for a book to chill with, stay away from this book. This book is so maddening and frustrating in a REAAAAALLY good way. I got so worked up because of the racism, bigotry, and emotional abuse present in this novel. 

I’ve been eyeing this book for quite a while now and finally picked it up when I saw it got nominated at the Goodreads Choice Awards this year for Mystery & Thriller. It did have some mysterious aspects to it, but it’s not your typical action-packed mystery/thriller book. The mystery does get solved around the last 2 chapters of the book, but my hunch was also right on who the suspect was. This focused mostly on Ray’s journey and struggle to be a full-time musician/violinist despite seeming like the whole world is against him. This novel may be fiction but the racism, police brutality, and emotional abuse from family is real life. Our MC, Ray is, no doubt, extremely talented. And the higher he flies, the harder people tend to push him down just because he’s black and he has “no place” in the classical music world. I’m glad that there are very few people around him that genuinely believed and supported him vs everyone else hellbent on watching him fail. 

The writing was really good and I was absolutely engrossed even though I only have a faint knowledge of classical music. Highly recommend this! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death

krys_kilz's review against another edition

mysterious 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

3.5

This book was engaging and interesting, but I wouldn't really classify it as a thriller. It's more of a character study with some elements of a whodunnit mystery. The ending was a little predictable and the story was a bit repetitive at times. I feel like the repetitiveness speaks more to how most white folks completely deny the impacts of racism and anti-Blackness in the present than it does to Slocumb's writing. He was clearly trying to get his point across and he was definitely successful in that.

There was an underlying theme of respectability politics woven throughout the novel that I struggled with, but it's not really my place to weigh in on that. There also was a lot of thinly veiled fatphobia particularly the trope of associating fatness with the villain, which I wish the author had left out.

Overall, I thought it was a good book and I can see how it might be an eye opening reading experience for a lot of folks.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Fatphobia

Minor: Death