A review by hippolyta_vi
The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom

I feel like giving this book a star rating would do it a disservice. Not because it's the best thing I've ever read, but because, even though I didn't 100% love it, I have to admit that it was expertly crafted.

This book is about hope and love and fate and despair and humanity and perseverance and music. It is a love letter to music so I highly recommend it to any musicians.

My critiques lie in how Frankie managed to meet like...every famous musician ever by coincidence, happenstance, fate, or otherwise. I don't understand what being a celebrity is like, but the way he met people seemed a bit farfetched. I definitely had to suspend my disbelief...a lot. This extended to all of the fated aspects of Frankie's own life, though this becomes clearer at the end of the novel. I can overlook this though.

The one thing I can't overlook is the characterization of Aurora and Josefa. They exist to serve Frankie - not in a blatant servitude way, but to serve his character. Aurora was just the love of his life. Just the woman he often mistreated but always came back to. She was just his guiding light. And Josefa,

well her entire life was dedicated to Frankie. Almost every fortuitous thing that happens to him is by her hand. She literally follows him across the globe because of her guilt. She is his guardian angel which I guess is supposed to be beautiful but I just thought was sad.