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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
This is a book I will return to, I'm sure. I listened on audio book and my interest never waned. There are many non-fiction books that approach white supremacy from several angles, but this mystery novel does so in ways that are heart-wrenching and convicting. As a musician, I was absorbed by the many beautiful descriptions of the artist and his craft. Highly recommend!!
racism + violin + mystery = must read for a kid who had 10 years of violin lessons
Clearly written by an author who knows a lot about the world of professional classical music. I enjoyed the mystery, the characterization, and the illumination of how racism and elitism factor into this system. Ray was a character to root for!
I was quite eager to read this - a mystery novel featuring a black classical musician? Sounds intriguing! However, this is much less mystery & primarily backstory - a story of how a young black man from a lower income household in Charlotte, NC came to be a participant in the famed Tchaikovsky Classical Music competition. Oh, & he happens to own a Strad that was a gift from his grandmother, passed down through the generations. It was originally given to his great great grandfather as sort of compensation for being a good, musically talented slave by his master once the horrible man died.
So yeah - readers be warned. If you're looking for a mystery novel, this is NOT it - the whole mystery thing takes like 20 pages max & the rest is all back story & about the competition.
I think I would have enjoyed it better if it wasn't such a bait & switch, genre wise, since the story itself isn't that bad - kind of generic, but as it is, I found it to be a disappointing read.
TLDRL: This is 85% backstory, 15% mystery when it should have been the other way around. Interesting as a peek into the world of classical music & the racism one faces if you don't fit into the "typical" mold, but disappointing as a mystery.
So yeah - readers be warned. If you're looking for a mystery novel, this is NOT it - the whole mystery thing takes like 20 pages max & the rest is all back story & about the competition.
I think I would have enjoyed it better if it wasn't such a bait & switch, genre wise, since the story itself isn't that bad - kind of generic, but as it is, I found it to be a disappointing read.
TLDRL: This is 85% backstory, 15% mystery when it should have been the other way around. Interesting as a peek into the world of classical music & the racism one faces if you don't fit into the "typical" mold, but disappointing as a mystery.
Have to admit I was gripped by this whodunnit, despite the protagonist being the most badly drawn character ever. Zero consistency to his personality or lack thereof. Structurally this seemed strangely put together at first but I guess the author realising he’d had to slam right to the action to keep interest. The way he did this was by a series of flashbacks that leap frogged a month at a time back to the present day
medium-paced
i overall enjoyed the story of this and even though i predicted who stole the violin pretty early on, i still enjoyed the mystery ! but oh my gosh the writing was so corny
I figured out who did it in the first chapter so it was a long slog till the resolution. Slocumb does use the novel to expose much of the current racism as well as the roots in the South during the Civil War and after. The writing was just too ordinary. I would love to hear him play as I am sure I would enjoy his talents there more.
