This was not what I wanted to read. I DNF-ed pretty early as I knew it would not be for me. I am usually okay with the topics at hand, but the way it was written...I couldn't get into it and I kept putting it aside until I finally gave up

Dark Violin is a haunting, lyrical descent into the kind of nightmare that doesn't wait for sleep to find you—it greets you in daylight and follows you through every shadow. Nyx Solis has composed something deeply atmospheric, where reality folds in on itself and beauty dances right next to horror.

The prose is both poetic and sharp, weaving dread through every line like the bow of its namesake. Solis doesn’t just tell a story—she summons it. You can feel the music. You can smell the old wood of the violin. You can hear the notes that echo long after the page is turned.

The central figure—whether antagonist, victim, or both—is rendered with heartbreaking clarity. Solis explores trauma, transformation, and performance in a way that’s deeply human yet almost mythic. What begins as a psychological unraveling becomes something operatic in its emotion and unforgettable in its final act.

Perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson, Caitlín R. Kiernan, or anyone who loves their horror dressed in velvet and threaded with obsession. You won’t look at a string instrument the same way again.

Dark Violin is not an easy book to read—nor does it try to be. It’s the kind of story that claws at you from the inside, daring you to keep going even when every instinct screams to look away.

At its core, this is a novel about trauma, repression, and the monstrous legacies passed down in families. We meet Celine, a girl whose love of music—particularly the violin—is one of the only bright lights in a life marked by horror. A discovery in her parents’ room sends her spiraling into a twisted, surreal descent where memory, madness, and malevolence blur together. The devil, as the book reminds us again and again, is not horns and pitchforks. The devil is domestic. And he's already sitting at the dinner table.

Solis takes huge creative swings here. The prose leans heavily on vivid, often overwhelming imagery, and while that sometimes deepens the nightmarish tone, it can also drown the pacing and clarity. There's beauty in the chaos—but it's often buried under repetitive metaphors and dialogue that doesn’t always ring true.

This is a book built on extremes. The violence—emotional, physical, and sexual—is graphic and persistent. Readers are rightly urged to check content warnings before opening the first page. But for all its darkness, Dark Violin is also a revenge narrative. It’s a meditation on what happens when the soul can no longer bear the weight of silence. And while some of its twists (particularly toward the end) will land as genuinely shocking, others veer into exploitative or poorly framed territory—especially with how identity, gender, and trauma are handled in the final act.

There’s ambition here, no doubt. Solis aims to explore generational abuse, power, and the limits of justice—but the delivery is uneven. Some readers will be shaken and moved. Others, frustrated or disturbed. Most will probably feel a bit of both.

Ultimately, Dark Violin is not for everyone, nor does it pretend to be. It’s a grim, grotesque piece of horror fiction that risks alienation in order to say something raw and unfiltered. Whether it succeeds will depend on how much discomfort you’re willing to hold.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book. I’m glad I stuck it out and finished it though for that WILD ending! At the beginning, I wasn’t sure about the writing style and didn’t realize there was a small twist right outta the gate and only a few pages in. Overall, this book was a decent read. However, it is very dark and has a lot of dark and triggering themes so please read the warnings!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be part of this adventure!

Goodness me, this was such a good book. Highly entertaining. Would definitely recommend to others, that's for sure!

This book had some really dark themes, but I didn’t mind them at all. I found the book to be insane, in the best way possible. I don’t think it’s for everyone, but it was definitely for me. I would definitely recommend to anyone that likes books that are dark, twisty and don’t mind certain triggers/themes.

I struggled with this. It's not an easy read. The writing style was difficult to get into, and honestly, I never fully got into it. This story has a lot of triggers, so be sure you're well informed before picking this up. There's A lot of purple prose and unnecessarily long descriptions that give nothing to the plot or the story as a whole. This book's redeeming piece is the ending. The most delicious revenge.

"Dark Violin" is a gripping, emotionally charged novel that blends mystery, romance, and psychological depth. The story follows a talented yet tormented violinist who becomes entangled in a web of secrets, betrayal, and personal demons. The author masterfully weaves a narrative full of tension and unexpected twists, with rich character development that keeps readers engaged until the very end. The atmospheric setting, combined with the haunting power of music, elevates the novel into a deeply immersive experience. Though some plot elements feel familiar, the compelling characters and their inner struggles make Dark Violin a captivating read for those who enjoy complex, character-driven stories.

I really struggled with this one. I am sure that it will resonate with its target audience but I am definitely not in the group

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 things: (1) If you choose to read this book, please check trigger warnings… seriously, they are on every third page, (2) The Author is obsessed with cigarette smoke… if you read the story you will totally get that, and (3) The ending of this revenge story is completely OUTRAGEOUS in the best possible way! 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!

Unfortunately I was unable to finish this book. I may try to read it later, but I wasn’t in the right headspace for the things mentioned. It was very descriptive and I liked the atmosphere.

I did struggle throughout to stay interested. This is not the type of book that I usually read and I think that made it hard to read. It took me a bit to finish the book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley.

This book ended up being really hard to read and I had a really tough time with it. The writing style was terrible. After the dream-like beginning, we are lead into super disjointed dialogue. The storytelling is confusing and chaotic. I could not get through this one and DNF. I am surprised this book is getting published.

date published: 01.15.25

0 stars / No Rating / DNF

thank you to netgalley and victory editing for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 30%, this book just wasn’t for me. when I first started it, it sucked me in right away until I got a few chapters into it. there are so many different things happening and the chapters are very long, so I ended up losing interest.

I don’t usually rate a book unless I finish it but this was not the case. To submit my review I have to rate it.

While I found the writing style of this book good enough to finish, I did struggle throughout to stay interested. The first few chapters are almost dream-like, which some may find interesting, but for me the storyline felt very disjointed. Avoiding spoilers, I would like to say I did not like the way certain topics were handled, as many of the scenes felt like exploitation of real, life-altering, and defining events, without delving into the complexities of these such subjects, and I did not feel like these topics were handled in a respectful manner. Overall, I would recommend other novels over this one.

very uncomfortable with the views on trans women in this one, and some of the violence felt like trauma porn. what message are we suppose to get here?

Do not read this book!

This book is a paradox—I hated it, yet I couldn’t put it down. Given an ARC for review, I found myself trapped in a mental tug-of-war. Did I like it? Did I despise it? Who knows! But one thing’s for sure: this book sucks. That’s it. That’s the review.

Okay, fine, I’ll elaborate.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It dives headfirst into the kind of dark, disturbing themes that most authors wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole—incest, murder, and enough graphic content to make your stomach turn. It doesn’t just push boundaries; it torches them and dances in the ashes like a gleeful pyromaniac.

Now, do I like what I read? Absolutely not. Some parts made me uncomfortable. But I also can’t deny that it’s bold—so bold that it basically dares readers to get offended. And trust me, they will. If you’re someone who gets worked up over the slightest detail, this book is like a personalized invitation to rage.

Honestly, I don’t know whether to applaud the author for the audacity or send my condolences in advance. In today’s world, where people gets easily offended over anything, this book is asking for trouble.

Now, let’s talk about triggers. If you ignore the warnings and dive in anyway, that’s on you. Reading a book with heavy themes and then complaining about them is like being allergic to shrimp, eating shrimp anyway, and then blaming the chef when you break out in hives. If you’re gonna read something this dark, you better own that choice.

That being said, some of the conversations in this book were actually pretty deep—not weird. If you don’t talk to enough people, you might find it weird. But if you’re not stuck on some moral high ground, looking down at the rest like a self-righteous sage, then guess what? It’s just called talking. People talk normally with depth. That’s how it is. If you find it weird then that’s on you.

So yes, this book sucks—but only because it’s so dark and gruesome that it made me physically uncomfortable. And isn’t that the point?

Would I recommend it? Only if you’re ready. If not, maybe stick to shrimp-free books.

So yeah, this book sucks. And I begrudgingly respect it. LOL.

It is rare for me to DNF a book. I am more likely to suffer through it so that I can leave a thoughtful review about why the book didn’t work for me. But after several days reading this book and only getting 30% in, I have to just admit to myself that I’m done.

For a book with socking themes of incest and murder, the way this book is written is incredibly boring. Pacing is punishingly slow, the layered storytelling is confusing and ineffective, but the characters are what bothered me the most. Dialogue and even some characters choices are so unnatural that it makes me suspect it was written by AI.

I desperately tried to get into this book but it was not happening for me.

Thank you to Victory Editing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Nyx Solis delivers a haunting, deeply unsettling psychological thriller with Dark Violin, a novel that lingers in your mind long after the final page. This is not just a story about trauma—it’s a chilling descent into the blurred lines between victim and villain, survival and destruction.

Celine begins as an innocent girl with simple dreams: to master the violin and mend her fractured family. But a single, horrifying discovery in her parents’ room changes everything. What follows is a nightmarish spiral into abuse, madness, and a suffocating sense of isolation. Her father’s monstrous presence looms over her life, while her mother’s sanity disintegrates, leaving only a cryptic warning: “Don’t let him in.” But evil doesn’t need permission—it’s already inside.

Solis masterfully crafts a psychological landscape filled with tension, pain, and a terrifying sense of inevitability. The novel explores the harrowing effects of generational trauma, the darkness that festers in the shadows of family secrets, and the chilling question: what happens when the abused becomes something just as terrifying? The prose is sharp and evocative, immersing the reader in Celine’s fractured reality, where safety is an illusion and escape feels impossible.

For fans of dark psychological thrillers like those by Gillian Flynn and Caroline Kepnes, Dark Violin is a gripping, nerve-wracking read that forces you to question everything. It’s a story of survival, vengeance, and the terrifying truth that sometimes, the worst monsters are the ones who say goodnight. If you’re looking for a novel that will disturb, captivate, and leave you breathless, Dark Violin is an unforgettable journey into the darkest corners of the human psyche.

Dark Violin
Intense, utterly compelling thriller with some horror thrown in.
It was a very tense and unsettling ride for me.