Wow. What an amazingly fun story to read! Taylor Jenkins Reid has us dive into the 1970’s scene of rock n roll with this historical fiction. We follow the rise and fall of one of the most influential artists of rock in this documentary-interview style story. And even though the band is all made up, they’re giving us a backstage look into the very real world of music in the 70s. 

Before starting this book I wasn’t so sure about the format Taylor Jenkins Reid chose to write in. She really gave herself a big challenge by choosing this interview-style storytelling where characters share their views on their past one by one, but it worked out great in my opinion. We got to know all the angles to the story, even if the characters sometimes contradicted each other in retelling what exactly happened.

This book was such an easy read. I went through it so fast because the story flowed really nicely and the pacing was pretty fast. The dynamics between the characters were part of what made it so interesting to read. It was the  disagreements and conversations that made for the twists and turns in their careers. 

Fun fact: this was the first book I ever annotated (well, I put sticky’s in it, I didn’t actually write in it). Never before did I feel the need to, but with this book, I just had so many of those moments where I was like: “omg that’s such a great quote, I gotta remember it”. This book contains many good views on life and love. I still think a lot about Camilla and the way she talks about love and relationships. Billy has some great quotes too. The following paragraph quoted from him is one of my favorites in the book because I think it applies to real life so much: 

“You have these lines you won’t cross. But then you cross them. And suddenly you possess the very dangerous information that you can break the rule and the world won’t instantly come to an end. You’ve taken a big black, bold line and you’ve made it a little bit gray. And now every time you cross it again, it just gets grayer and grayer until one day you look around and think, there was a line here once I think.”

Reid had taken the subject of addiction and showed it from multiple sides, the destruction, the glamorization, the suffering, the culture and most beautifully, the life after recovery. 

If there’s one thing I absolutely love in books is passionate artists. The way they talk about their creative process and urge to tell stories is just really inspiring to me. This book is so full of passion and also great quotes about artistry. One thing Billy said that stuck with me was: “[…] Which is what we all want from art, isn’t it? When someone pins down something that feels like it lives inside of us? Takes a piece of your heart and shows it to you?”

Of course it wouldn’t be a Taylor Jenkins Reid book without strong-willed female characters and lots of feminism. I love how her books aren’t necessarily screaming feminism or making it a big part of the plot. It’s just inherently there like it’s supposed to be. Karen is such a powerhouse and Camilla is a whole other level of confident. Daisy does what she wants and won’t be told no. Her desire for self-expression reflects in her iconic quote: “I am not a muse. I am the somebody.”

I’m gonna be honest. There is one thing I struggled with a bit in this book, which was the amount of characters. There were so many side characters that kept coming back that I lost track of who everyone was at some point. Even within the band I kept confusing half of the boys with each other. Maybe that’s just my own memory though,  because I’m not the best with names.

To conclude this review, I’d like to say: GET THIS BOOK. I feel like this is one of those stories you just have to have read. It shines a little light on part of the world you haven’t seen yet and it stays with you for a long time. Apart from that, it’s also just super fun!!

If you’re inspired, and can’t wait to get started: I got you. Click this quick link to get your copy as soon as possible!

And then when you’re done, there’s the Amazon prime series you can watch. I started it and the vibes are so good. Can’t wait to finish it and talk about it some more. Stay tuned and as always, share your thoughts in the comment!