This book just didn't grab me as much as I was hoping. I ended up needing three tries to make my way through. I acknowledge that this was a story focused around highly talented people but truthfully they struck me as a bunch of selfish brats.

I may be influenced by the memory of J who I went to high school with. Their parent's did everything to support them to become a musician, the whole family seemed to circle her like she was their sun. Then at 18 she decided she didn't 'feel' like doing it any longer and to the best of my knowledge has not played a note since. Maybe it shows that she didn't have the fortitude needed for such a career.

And I must confess that each of the protagonists did have the oomph to carry through (unless their bodies betrayed them) but it just seemed as though the secondary characters were a bit 'thin', perhaps this was a purpose to focus the spotlight on the members of the quartet but it was one of the reasons this book went into an extended hiatus.

Did I enjoy reading it? I suppose so.

Would I read it again? Very unlikely

Will I gift it to my mother regardless? Yep. ( )

I stopped reading about 20% in.

As a cellist who loved playing in string quartets, I enjoyed the detailed discussion of music in the book, but that was all I enjoyed. The characters weren't at all likeable or even very relatable. The book is mostly just descriptions of what the characters think as they navigate relationships and potential careers, and I found it tedious and uninteresting. Clearly this book is not for everyone. ( )

I didn’t like or connect with any of the characters: a kiss of death in a book meant to be driven by the internal lives of its characters. Henry was cluelessly privileged, Brit too mewling, Jana a stereotype of ambition gone wrong in a woman, and Daniel an insufferable grump who couldn’t get rid of that chip on his shoulder. I didn’t really care about their lives but read on because I was trapped on a 13 hour flight. The writing style was also so reminiscent of Yanagihara’s that I experienced A Little Life PTSD. ( )

I was surprised to see the average rating on this book, but I suppose it just shows that not every book is right for every person. This book was perfect for me at this moment. This isn't a book full of drama. It's more a quiet study of four quite different people whose lives intersect when they form a string quartet. As we check in with them at different points in their lives together and apart, they change and grow in the way that people do. I felt for each of them. They felt real to me, with faults and flaws and strengths as well. ( )

You've all read the plot from the jacket blurb. A deceptively simple plot - it's about a quartet of musicians - you follow their personal lives and musical career and how they intertwine. And the writing. My goodness, the writing. Relationships in books are often described in such cliches - it's hard to find new ways to describe emotions and how people relate. This author does it convincingly and with great insight. I found myself rereading passages to internalize her words. In the end this book is all about relationships (and music) and I couldn't put it down.

at a wedding: “Love is inexact, Henry said. It is not a science. It is barely a noun. It means one thing to one person, and one thing to another. It means one thing to one person at one point and then something else at another point. It doesn’t make sense. We are gathered here today to not make sense. We are gathered here today o listen to the ineffable. I’m supposed to be explaining it, but I can’t explain it. I love you, it’s a mystery. Because it’s a mystery, we have to take care of it. Feed it. It can go missing, but we can’t tie it up. We can only tie it to someone else. Other people. Then the world is like this: full of the geometry of my rope tied to you, and to you, and yours tied to him, and to her, and hers to someone else. I love you, it’s a mystery.”

Highly recommended. ( )