A review by findyourgoldenhour
The Ensemble by Aja Gabel
3.0
I saw this one all over social media before it was published, which means one of two things: it's either a fantastic book that is getting legitimate buzz from people who got advanced copies, or the publisher chose it to be The Book They Are Promoting This Season. I can't tell which category this one falls into. I thought it was just okay, but maybe people genuinely loved it?
This is a debut novel by a young author, and I could tell. I think this writer has potential; I could feel the potential as I read this, but there was an overall feeling of wanting more, while simultaneously feeling like some parts could've been shorter. The narrative follows four young musicians at the start of their professional careers, and tracks how their lives intertwine as they grow both professionally and personally. The portrait of their early years felt true to life. The chapters as they grew into middle age? Not so much. I can only assume it's because this author hasn't had that experience yet. I have read other young authors who do have the gift of writing outside of their own experience (Fatima Farheen Mirza [b:A Place For Us|36840397|A Place for Us|Fatima Farheen Mirza|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1517006183s/36840397.jpg|56945150]) comes to mind. This author isn't there yet. Reading the synopsis on the book jacket, I thought it would be similar to Meg Wolitizer's [b:The Interestings|15815333|The Interestings|Meg Wolitzer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1451446889s/15815333.jpg|21541829]. It was, kind of. But not nearly as, for lack of better word, interesting.
Having said that, if this author writes another book, I’ll likely read it. As I said, you can see she has great potential as a writer, and parts of this book were truly good. It just never grabbed me at any point and made me feel like it was that great.
This is a debut novel by a young author, and I could tell. I think this writer has potential; I could feel the potential as I read this, but there was an overall feeling of wanting more, while simultaneously feeling like some parts could've been shorter. The narrative follows four young musicians at the start of their professional careers, and tracks how their lives intertwine as they grow both professionally and personally. The portrait of their early years felt true to life. The chapters as they grew into middle age? Not so much. I can only assume it's because this author hasn't had that experience yet. I have read other young authors who do have the gift of writing outside of their own experience (Fatima Farheen Mirza [b:A Place For Us|36840397|A Place for Us|Fatima Farheen Mirza|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1517006183s/36840397.jpg|56945150]) comes to mind. This author isn't there yet. Reading the synopsis on the book jacket, I thought it would be similar to Meg Wolitizer's [b:The Interestings|15815333|The Interestings|Meg Wolitzer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1451446889s/15815333.jpg|21541829]. It was, kind of. But not nearly as, for lack of better word, interesting.
Having said that, if this author writes another book, I’ll likely read it. As I said, you can see she has great potential as a writer, and parts of this book were truly good. It just never grabbed me at any point and made me feel like it was that great.