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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
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:
No
The story follows a poor black kid, defying all odds, facing racism thrown towards him, becoming a music prodigy. His violin, a family heirloom with a deep history was stolen. He must solve the mystery to get it back.
I love the concept. It highlights heavy social issues like racial injustice, slavery. But the story's weakest point is its unengaging story telling. The pacing is too slow. It took me more than 2 months to finish it! Slocumb's inability to hold the hype around the mystery which was promised in the summary put me off.
Ray's experiences with racism are weakly executed and repetitive, almost downplaying the issue. Ray is probably the only moderately well-structured character. Other than that, almost every character lacks depth and seems unrealistic. Especially his family.
Mystery in this story is near to non-existent. Despite having a good concept, the book fails to deliver a mystery plotline.
This book is a really good read. The story is a page-turner and the characters are very well drawn. I could tell that the author was a musician because there are so many tasty insider tidbits about the concert life. Although I suspected the violin thief early on in the book the story still pulled me in and I wanted to find out for myself. My favorite character is the protagonist's loving grandmother. The only comment that might be deemed as negative is that I felt the injustices he experienced as a black performer ran on the trite, predictable, side. I guess some of those experiences are so normal in the life of a black male and that's the point. It's never common-day to be reminded of the disparity that still exists on our culture.
I recommend this book!
I recommend this book!
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I think this is very successful as a coming-of-age story set in the world of classical music, but not so much as a mystery. Ray and his family were fascinating characters, and I loved following him, but the “villains” were a little two-dimensional and the “conspiracy” fell flat. 3.5 stars!
challenging
hopeful
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
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
Wow — my favorite thing was the passages describing the music as it flows and hangs and whatever else. 🤩 This is what music can do to a musician. And the racism? Makes me feel icky. Why do people think that’s okay? It’s never okay to treat someone that way 😬
Also…this man (Brendan Slocumb) is an author AND musician? That’s talent.
Also…this man (Brendan Slocumb) is an author AND musician? That’s talent.
emotional
inspiring
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:
Complicated
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes