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emelinelee 's review for:
The Violin Conspiracy
by Brendan Slocumb
I selected this book for my book club. I loved the story and the author's chosen niche. I felt like I was vicariously living through someone else's dream because I also dreamt of being a classical musician when I was young.
The story is entertaining and I loved watching Ray succeed throughout his life which required a lot of perseverance. His family isn't exactly pleasant to be around and society doesn't see "his kind" as successful. But I loved watching a person of color break societal expectations to achieve his dreams. The racism he experiences is sad and unfortunately, reality for millions of people. I'm happy this book received recognition because stories like these need to be told more often.
I have a few critiques:
1) The story was entertaining but the writing was not creative. There was a lack of symbolism and metaphors felt very forced. The writing is also extremely direct not leaving things up for interpretation or critical thinking.
2) I wish there was more backstory to Ray's family because the family was frustrating to read. There was no backstory to understand why his mother acts the way she does. Did she grow up poor? Is she thousands of dollars or debt? Or was she just plain greedy?
3) The dialogue was very repetitive at times and very plain to read. There were probably a million too many "...okay?" in the book.
4) The objectification of a woman's ass was so random I was very confused. It felt like it did not flow well with the story and came out of nowhere.
5) It was so incredibly unrealistic that Janice took out a second mortgage to give Ray $245,000 for the ransom fund.
The story is entertaining and I loved watching Ray succeed throughout his life which required a lot of perseverance. His family isn't exactly pleasant to be around and society doesn't see "his kind" as successful. But I loved watching a person of color break societal expectations to achieve his dreams. The racism he experiences is sad and unfortunately, reality for millions of people. I'm happy this book received recognition because stories like these need to be told more often.
I have a few critiques:
1) The story was entertaining but the writing was not creative. There was a lack of symbolism and metaphors felt very forced. The writing is also extremely direct not leaving things up for interpretation or critical thinking.
2) I wish there was more backstory to Ray's family because the family was frustrating to read. There was no backstory to understand why his mother acts the way she does. Did she grow up poor? Is she thousands of dollars or debt? Or was she just plain greedy?
3) The dialogue was very repetitive at times and very plain to read. There were probably a million too many "...okay?" in the book.
4) The objectification of a woman's ass was so random I was very confused. It felt like it did not flow well with the story and came out of nowhere.
5) It was so incredibly unrealistic that Janice took out a second mortgage to give Ray $245,000 for the ransom fund.