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kevinmccarrick's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.5
colorfulleo92's review
3.0
3.5 stars. I have to admit I don't know Scott Joplin was but I enjoyed the story anyway. It was a decent ghost story with a romance
nyatheralounge's review
It felt drawn out slow and character building didn’t get my attention
shelfaddiction's review
4.0
I enjoyed Ms. Due's writing style. I always enjoy third person writing. Personally, it seems that I get a lot more details when it's written in this style. Ms.Due had tons of historical information written in an entertaining way. There must have been tons of research that went into this book.
The story was a pretty even mix of historical fiction and a urban ghost story all rolled up into one. I'd almost say this could even be considered speculative fiction. The story splits it time in the early 1900's and the present. The story was both detailed and entertaining. This book is a little longer than what I'm used to. It's been a long while since I've read a book over 450 pages, and it was worth every page. I picked up this book on a close out sale $4! Score! It's been sitting on my shelf for the last 3-4 years, I'm not sure why it took me so long to finally read it, but I'm glad that I finally did. I ended up suggesting it for one of the book clubs that I'm in, and go figure, they wanted to read it!
There was a lot going on in this book, so I won't be able to address everything. I'll try to keep it short and sweet. Basically, be warned, if you have any aversion to ghost stories or ghost in general, this book may creep you out just a bit. This book also had psychics, paranormal activity, and other odd things going on.
I hadn't heard of Scott Joplin before, but maybe that's because I'm not really into music. When I mentioned this book to my sister (whose in music education), she knew immediatly who he was. Joplin was very talented and was a famous in rag time composer. He died a horrible, slow death thanks to syphilis in 1917. I learned alot about him and his two wives and one common law wife. I thought it was interesting that I look up his most popular piece, Maple Leaf Ragon YouTube. In case you're curious too, I've posted one of the videos below of a a musician playing the song. Joplin was clearly a talented composer.
Phoenix, young, smart, talented musician and totally held hostage by Scott Joplins ghost. It's like Scott terrorized this poor girl almost to death! Along with the history on Joplin, it was interesting to get a peak into the music industry of the past and present. There were tons of secondary characters and they all for the most part, they all had their purpose. I liked reading about Phoenix and her family and how they all had gotten to where they were. It was a little strange that several of her family members and her boyfriend, Carlos, all had past interactions with ghosts. There were some interesting subplots going on as well. Between Phoenix's father/manager, Sarge, hating her boyfriend and her ex-boyfriend Ronn's hip hop label that has questionable and dangerous interactions with another hip hop artist, she had tons to deal with on top of the ghost. There was even reference of Biggie and Tupac, and the east coast/west coast friction that was going on back in the day relieving itself with her new label.
When all was said and done and Phoenix made it to the other side of this haunting, and suffered great tragedy getting there. I didn't really care for how the story ended with Phoenix explaining to Carlos that she believed that she was Freddie and he was Scott reincarnated. I was just hoping that she would take that experience as it was and move on. I didn't expect her to suggest that it was reincarnation that led Joplin to haunt her...that was odd. While I did question the shift at the very end, I did like that there was resolution.
If you're up for something a little out of the box, check this one out for sure.
The story was a pretty even mix of historical fiction and a urban ghost story all rolled up into one. I'd almost say this could even be considered speculative fiction. The story splits it time in the early 1900's and the present. The story was both detailed and entertaining. This book is a little longer than what I'm used to. It's been a long while since I've read a book over 450 pages, and it was worth every page. I picked up this book on a close out sale $4! Score! It's been sitting on my shelf for the last 3-4 years, I'm not sure why it took me so long to finally read it, but I'm glad that I finally did. I ended up suggesting it for one of the book clubs that I'm in, and go figure, they wanted to read it!
There was a lot going on in this book, so I won't be able to address everything. I'll try to keep it short and sweet. Basically, be warned, if you have any aversion to ghost stories or ghost in general, this book may creep you out just a bit. This book also had psychics, paranormal activity, and other odd things going on.
I hadn't heard of Scott Joplin before, but maybe that's because I'm not really into music. When I mentioned this book to my sister (whose in music education), she knew immediatly who he was. Joplin was very talented and was a famous in rag time composer. He died a horrible, slow death thanks to syphilis in 1917. I learned alot about him and his two wives and one common law wife. I thought it was interesting that I look up his most popular piece, Maple Leaf Ragon YouTube. In case you're curious too, I've posted one of the videos below of a a musician playing the song. Joplin was clearly a talented composer.
Phoenix, young, smart, talented musician and totally held hostage by Scott Joplins ghost. It's like Scott terrorized this poor girl almost to death! Along with the history on Joplin, it was interesting to get a peak into the music industry of the past and present. There were tons of secondary characters and they all for the most part, they all had their purpose. I liked reading about Phoenix and her family and how they all had gotten to where they were. It was a little strange that several of her family members and her boyfriend, Carlos, all had past interactions with ghosts. There were some interesting subplots going on as well. Between Phoenix's father/manager, Sarge, hating her boyfriend and her ex-boyfriend Ronn's hip hop label that has questionable and dangerous interactions with another hip hop artist, she had tons to deal with on top of the ghost. There was even reference of Biggie and Tupac, and the east coast/west coast friction that was going on back in the day relieving itself with her new label.
When all was said and done and Phoenix made it to the other side of this haunting, and suffered great tragedy getting there. I didn't really care for how the story ended with Phoenix explaining to Carlos that she believed that she was Freddie and he was Scott reincarnated. I was just hoping that she would take that experience as it was and move on. I didn't expect her to suggest that it was reincarnation that led Joplin to haunt her...that was odd. While I did question the shift at the very end, I did like that there was resolution.
If you're up for something a little out of the box, check this one out for sure.
zoya_neela's review
3.0
Tananarive Due can do little, to no wrong in my eyes. I have thoroughly enjoyed the stories that I have consumed by this author. There was a disturbing incident, around consent, that was never addressed that still makes me uneasy when I remember this story.
Phoenix, the main character of this story, turns up in the Immortals Series. I wonder whether there will be other books by this author set in the same universe.
This was another book that I managed to get a physical copy of. Maybe I'll try a combination of listening and reading to see how I enjoy the experience.
Phoenix, the main character of this story, turns up in the Immortals Series. I wonder whether there will be other books by this author set in the same universe.
This was another book that I managed to get a physical copy of. Maybe I'll try a combination of listening and reading to see how I enjoy the experience.
alex_wordweaver's review
3.0
I liked 90% of the book. There were some parts where I was very...confused on how I should be feeling. SPOILERS FOR LATE IN THE BOOK.
The part where Carlos essentially bones Phoenix back into her current body/life was...touching, hilarious, and--as Carlos himself admits--squicky as all hell. Their relationship was squickier (a smidge so) than Freddie and Scott's. Scott, at least, wtfed and back way off when Freddie (then sixteen) came on to him. Carlos went straight to dick-thinking with perhaps an afterthought of "maybe we should wait two years." And yes, there's plot reasons (Phoenix and Carlos are reincarnations of Freddie and Scott respectively), but still.
Other than than that, I give the channeling/living-your-best-and-worst-past-life-moments sex scenes an 8/10. The wording in the two main sex scenes (between Scott/Carlos and Phoenix-as-Freddie and Carlos and Freddie) were just strange in places. Thus the ((probably) unintended) hilarity of what's supposed to be a dramatic scene. "Her nipples answered for her." lol.
Overall, the book's depictions of ghosts and how they do the things they do gets a 9/10. For not believing in ghosts, Tananarive Due gets a lot of what they do pretty right as far as I've seen from my own amateur ghost hunting. Cannot grade on the cursed-so-hard-it's-a-demon? piano, but would love to include it as a weird mimic in a session of D&D.
The part where Carlos essentially bones Phoenix back into her current body/life was...touching, hilarious, and--as Carlos himself admits--squicky as all hell. Their relationship was squickier (a smidge so) than Freddie and Scott's. Scott, at least, wtfed and back way off when Freddie (then sixteen) came on to him. Carlos went straight to dick-thinking with perhaps an afterthought of "maybe we should wait two years." And yes, there's plot reasons (Phoenix and Carlos are reincarnations of Freddie and Scott respectively), but still.
Other than than that, I give the channeling/living-your-best-and-worst-past-life-moments sex scenes an 8/10. The wording in the two main sex scenes (between Scott/Carlos and Phoenix-as-Freddie and Carlos and Freddie) were just strange in places. Thus the ((probably) unintended) hilarity of what's supposed to be a dramatic scene. "Her nipples answered for her." lol.
Overall, the book's depictions of ghosts and how they do the things they do gets a 9/10. For not believing in ghosts, Tananarive Due gets a lot of what they do pretty right as far as I've seen from my own amateur ghost hunting. Cannot grade on the cursed-so-hard-it's-a-demon? piano, but would love to include it as a weird mimic in a session of D&D.
lucifer_morningstar13's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Tananarive Due is a masterful storyteller. I'm always amazed how she manages to write such lengthy stories that all weave together well. Unfortunately, for me, the pacing of this one - as was the first book I read by her - was incredibly slow and that made it difficult for me to get through. Personally I prefer fast-paced or at least medium-paced reads most of the time.
The story itself was interesting, but not incredibly so in my opinion - this may have been due to the pacing of the book and the cutting in of the past on the present and not completely due to the storyline itself. By the end of the book, I was ready for the story to be resolved and I wasn't enjoying the book all that much. Overall a good listen, it was just too slow and too much reflection for my own tastes.
The story itself was interesting, but not incredibly so in my opinion - this may have been due to the pacing of the book and the cutting in of the past on the present and not completely due to the storyline itself. By the end of the book, I was ready for the story to be resolved and I wasn't enjoying the book all that much. Overall a good listen, it was just too slow and too much reflection for my own tastes.
siria's review
2.0
Joplin's Ghost had the potential to be a fun, pulpy read, but it never worked for me—it felt like it needed a good editing session at the hands of a ruthless editor who'd be able to speed up the novel's pacing, deepen the characterisation and smooth out some of the clunkier passages of descriptive prose. The historical elements of the novel make for an interesting read, but they're at odds with the much more wooden scenes set in the present day (numerous references to Outkast and Beyoncé alone do not effectively conjure up the modern American musical scene), and the device linking past and present just... didn't work for me. As things moved towards the denouement, I was less and less able to suspend my disbelief. There may be a way to make an evil, possessed piano (yes, I know) work as the antagonist of a novel, but I don't think Due managed it here.