Violin by Anne Rice

First impression

I bought this book one day when I found myself without a book (I know, the horror) but it took me a while to re start it. I have only read 5 books from the Vampire Chronicles (the first 4 and then Merrick without knowing it made part of the same series) but in general I've liked Rice's style so I figure, why not. The truth is, as I finished this book I was left with a disappointing feeling. I enjoyed the idea of using music (such beautiful music) but I never managed to really get into this story.

Final thoughts

It is the first time I read a book by Anne Rice that does not involve vampires. In here the supernatural is represented by the tortured ghost of a violinist, Stefan. He has come to the main protagonist, Triana, when she is in great pain due to the lost of her husband; pain that awaken other loses in her head and heart.

The description of the book talks about Triana as "a uniquely fascinating woman" but she felt rather bland to me as a character and so did her sisters. And Stefan...besides being mean, supposedly due to the fact of him being a tortured soul, for me he didn't feel that much interesting either.

The best parts of the book, for me at any rate, were the several references to beautiful pieces of music as well as the moment where the ghost of Beethoven was present. That said, I don't know if someone with less love for classical music would have the same reflex I had to look for each piece and listen to them while reading. I feel that if it is not the case, the references and momentum of certain scenes are completely lost.

While The Vampire Chronicles are not terrifying I certainly agree with them being considered as part of the horror genre. In this case, if you remove the fact that Stefan is an angry ghost, it doesn't really feel scary at all. It has a good pace and at no point did it feel like a heavy read, I would say it was mostly entertaining.

Unless you are very adept to Rice's style I wouldn't be able to recommend this book to you.