From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

The Violin Conspiracy

Brendan Slocumb

Start date: November 1, 2023

Finish date: November 30, 2023

Discussion: BOM /Series Nominations

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BOM /Series Nominations

Nominate our November Adult / Non-Fiction BOM
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last updated Sep 12, 2025 03:57PM

Nominate our November Themed BOM - South America
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What Members Thought

Oct 26, 2022 Avigail rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, borrowed, library, mytbr-co, 2022, kindle, audible, ebook, podcast-rec, 5-stars

Ray loves playing the violin more than anything else in the world. His mother thinks he should get a real job, but nothing deters Ray from pursuing his dream and passion. A couple of months before his prestigious Tchaikovsky classical tournament (the Oscars of the classical music world), his violin gets stolen. Yes, the violin for Ray is essential because it is an heirloom, a present he gets from his grandmother. It is a unique Stradivarius that is in Ray's family since his great-grandfather got ...more

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Jul 02, 2022 Karen D rated it it was amazing

Shelves: literary-fiction, mystery, 5-stars, audiobook, crime, surprise-twist, destructive-friendships, domestic-problems, race, zzliteraryfiction

I loved this so much, and the audio is absolutely phenomenal. I think this is my favorite book of the year so far!
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Synopsis: Ray McMillan has to overcome a lot to fulfill his dream of being a professional musician. His family wants him to get a "real" job, he faces racism at all levels who believe a Black man can't play classical music, and he has no money to afford to proper instrument and instruction. Until he realizes that the fiddle his grandmother gave him for Christmas is actually a $10 m ...more

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Jan 16, 2024 Jamie rated it liked it

Shelves: library-audio, read-in-2024

This book wasn’t quite what I expected. While I enjoyed the musical aspects of the story, I didn’t care much for the characters and wished Ray was a bit more endearing. I was hoping for more of a mystery, and I found the book easily putdownable. The racism was very heavy-handed, which brought me down at a time when I really just needed something lighter. Due to all of the racism and the horrible characters, I felt angry while reading a large portion of this book, which made it hard to pick up at ...more

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