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A review by sierrajhansen
Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
this book was sooooooooo sloooooowwwwww and for most of my time reading, i just didn't have the urge to pick it up. my dopamine-craving brain had no business reading at this snail pace, but it i guess it was ~enriching~. HOWEVER, when i forced myself to read as much as possible of this book in one sitting, i was able to get past the first two sections of the book (~150 pages) and THEN it started picking up a bit. by the end i was having a pretty good time, but it took me so long to want to read this book that it really docked my opinion of it.
that being said, i did really enjoy the story line and the way that the author switched back and forth between the past and the present. while i wouldn't call this a thriller (and i'm not really sure why anyone would...), i was definitely eager to find out what happened to josephine once we got in the thick of her storyline.
i found the ending to be a little sickeningly sweet.like, we go from getting tased and humiliated by the cops to coming out on top of these extremely rich white people? and then kurt delaney gets shushed by his younger family members? it felt kind of like when you watch an excessively happy movie at the movie theater and you leave and walk in the parking lot and you kind of want to pump your fist in the air because you're so giddy, but it's also really fucking embarrassing. it felt unrealistic, which was out of place for a book that felt less thriller and more slice-of-life.
anyways. this was pretty good when everything was said and done, but i can't give this one a higher rating considering that it might have put me in a lowkey book slump and it's unclear if i would have read it as fast as ended up reading it had it not been for a book club and an anniversary gift. i'm super conflicted because the writing was amazing and i felt like i was there and that the characters were real people, but my brain just could not get the mojo to pick this one up without being threatened by a deadline. it's a mixed bag but if you enjoy things that are slow-paced and pretty long then you will like this. i'd read it again if i was old and didn't feel the constant pressure to be doing something more fun and exciting and better with my time.
that being said, i did really enjoy the story line and the way that the author switched back and forth between the past and the present. while i wouldn't call this a thriller (and i'm not really sure why anyone would...), i was definitely eager to find out what happened to josephine once we got in the thick of her storyline.
i found the ending to be a little sickeningly sweet.
anyways. this was pretty good when everything was said and done, but i can't give this one a higher rating considering that it might have put me in a lowkey book slump and it's unclear if i would have read it as fast as ended up reading it had it not been for a book club and an anniversary gift. i'm super conflicted because the writing was amazing and i felt like i was there and that the characters were real people, but my brain just could not get the mojo to pick this one up without being threatened by a deadline. it's a mixed bag but if you enjoy things that are slow-paced and pretty long then you will like this. i'd read it again if i was old and didn't feel the constant pressure to be doing something more fun and exciting and better with my time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Murder