I'm really sorry as I was unable to finish the book. I found it really rambled on and I just lost interest.

"Gone: A Girl, A Violin, A Life Unstrung," is a brilliant read, offering insight into the world of a child violin prodigy, the special relationship between a musician and her instrument, and the devastation wrought when that instrument gets stolen.

I was fascinated to read about the life of a child violin prodigy and how the world of classical music works. Min Kym explains both well. Where she really shines, however, is describing the relationships she's had with the violins she's used over the years and why her Stradivarius was so special. When it gets stolen from Euston Station in London, you can really understand her devastation.

The book recommends that you listen to the accompanying soundtrack, where Min Kym plays the music pieces she's writing about (in fact, I'm listening to it right now, as I type this review). I very much appreciated this, because even though I enjoy classical music, I wouldn't be able to immediately know what "Brahams: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77: II. Adagio" was, so I could listen to it here. Having the soundtrack certainly gave the book another dimension.

However, I felt one of the shortcomings of the book was how Min Kym recounted the time after the theft, which is why I didn't award it five stars. I wasn't sure how much time had elapsed when she described certain events. Also, I would have liked to have known more about how she could-- or if she could-- build as good a relationship with another violin after her Stradivarius was stolen.

This memoir/mystery is highly recommended to anyone who is interested in the world of classical music, child prodigies or just loves a good tale.

I wanted to like this book, tried really hard! Unfortunately as fascinating as Min's story is, I found the writing too tedious. To enjoy this book you probably need to be extremely interested in violins and classical music, as she goes into great lengths discussing these two. I felt more like reading pages from the author's journal set in a reality distant from mine.