Thank you so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this book as a whole, but it didn’t quite reach my expectations as I hoped it would.
I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. It was engaging and entertaining as it alternated between Zach and Reuben’s point of view, and both of them had distinct and likeable voices. I also had a great time learning about their bandmates, Angel and Jon, although I definitely would have liked the opportunity to get to know them even more. The dynamic between the four bandmates was fun to read about, but there wasn’t enough of it. I wish we had gotten a clearer picture of the band’s history and even their style of music.
I must admit that I enjoyed the first half of this book more than the second half. From the first couple of chapters, I was so sure that I was going to love this book! However, the focus began to shift from the romance to other plot points. I liked the romance, but I found it to be a little bit underdeveloped. I felt that the story was beginning to drag on in the second half. It became very repetitive with miscommunication between Zach and Reuben, which is my least favourite trope ever, and discussion about how Chorus was controlling the band. I think the book could have been cut down a little bit, or even better, we could have gotten a few more fun/cute scenes between Rebeun and Zach, or all four of the bandmates.
I was expecting this story to have light-hearted and fluffy vibes, but it had a more serious tone. There were some subplots about really serious issues that I feel could have been handled better. It seemed that Zach was struggling with an eating disorder, or at least had some symptoms of one, but this was not really delved into the way that I hoped it would be. Because it was never addressed properly, I honestly feel like Zach’s disordered eating was somewhat normalized, and it could potentially be very harmful to the reader. There was also a character struggling with addiction, which ended up being kind of glossed over.
This book provided some interesting commentary on the music industry. I am curious to know how much of it is accurate to the experiences of members of real boy bands in terms of management controlling their every move. If it’s true, it’s very sad. This aspect of the story reminded me a little bit of the book Bootleg Stardust by Glenn Dixon, but I much, much, much preferred this book and the way the the subject was handled in If This Gets Out compared to that one. On that, I think I’m coming to learn that I’m just not a huge fan of most books I’ve read about musicians. With the expectation of Kill the Boy Band, a satirical comedy about fandom culture and boy bands, as well as Daisy Jones and the Six, an utter masterpiece, I have been really disappointed by books heavily revolving around music.
If you’re looking for a story about the pressures of the music industry or a decent romance between two boys, this one may be for you! ...more
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Bootleg Stardust was extremely disappointing. When I saw this book on NetGalley, I was instantly intrigued. I honestly didn’t expect to receive an ARC, but I requested it anyway. I was beyond thrilled when I was accepted. But it only went downhill from there.
I was most excited for this book for the promising backdrop of the rock and roll music scene in the 1970’s. As a big fan of ‘70s music, and also because this book was compared to Daisy Jones and the Six which I adored, I was so looking forward to this story. I did not at all get what I had been anticipating in terms of setting (or anything really). Sure, I was TOLD that we were in 1974, but I didn’t FEEL it. It was very much lacking in atmosphere.
The writing style was extremely immature. I am still struggling to decipher what the target age group for this book is supposed to be. Based on the synopsis, I had assumed that it was an adult novel, and that is how it is advertised on both Netgalley and Godreads. It sure doesn’t feel that way. The protagonist was 20 years old, so perhaps it was supposed to be YA? But at the same time, the writing style is often so juvenile that it almost reads like a middle grade novel. Here are a few examples: I took my guitar and Rudy had his bass. Katrina had her sticks but we left the rest of the gear, and peeled out of there, out through the back door, out into the cold, our breaths huffing out in cloudy blasts. The writing style in passages like this reminded me of the way that I wrote in elementary school (I'm sorry that sounds harsh). It's very choppy and full of straight across descriptions. Rudy’s dad, but he died a few years ago. It was cancer, one of the really bad ones. Lines like this made me question if this was really intended to be for adults. This is a weird statement to find in an adult novel, in my opinion. I always liked their band name. I liked the letter X in it. I always thought X was the coolest letter in the alphabet. You’ve got to be kidding me.
The writing was also extremely bland. The author seemed dependent on the frequent use of statements like “if you didn’t know”, and “if you ask me”, which I found to be repetitive, irritating, and, again, juvenile. Here are a couple of examples: Evelyn was amazing on the piano. She’d gone to Julliard – which if you don’t know, is about the most important music school in the world. It was that pirate thing again which was pretty cool if you ask me. I wrote a great big L for Levi then squiggled out my last name. My handwriting was pretty messy if you really want to know the truth. It seriously never ended!
All of the characters are lifeless. From main characters, to background characters, to everyone in between, they were underdeveloped and uninteresting. I did not feel an ounce of attachment to a single character in the story. Levi was honestly a very unlikeable protagonist. Outside of his narration being painfully immature and boring, I did not like his arrogance and the manner in which he treated others. I thought that he was unnecessarily mean to his friend, Rudy. ”Rudy,” I said. “Please. Don’t wreck this for me.” [...] It’s not that I didn’t want to help Rudy. It’s just that he didn’t really belong here. This wasn’t his world at all. “I need to go,” I said. “There’s nothing for me here.”“No,” he said. “You can’t go yet.”“Please,” I managed. “I have to be a musician. I’m going to be famous.” “You can live in my mom’s basement. She said so.” “Evelyn said that?” He considered me. His lower lip was trembling just a bit. “I’m going to be famous,” I said again, like that counted for anything.
The romance was painfully underdeveloped. There was very little connection before Levi was all of a sudden professing his love to a full audience at a concert, might I add. If I were Adriane, I think that I would have been running in the other direction from this guy after that.
I disliked the plot. I found that it was filled with many ridiculous plot twists that honestly just made for a whole lot of unnecessary drama that did not seem to serve any actual purpose to the plot, setting, or character development. The overarching story got lost in the muddle of superfluous drama.
If you’re looking for a fun, atmospheric read that set in the 1970’s Rock’n’Roll scene, this ain’t it....more
A brooding love interest is my weakness, enemies-to-lovers in the best romance trope to ever grace this earth, and this synopsis had me sold! And that's not even to mention all of the praise that I've seen for it. To say that I'm disappointed doesn't even cover it.
The narration in this book disgusted me. Less than 20 pages into the book and the guy refers to wanting to bang a girl harder than the bottom of a ketchup bottle, and also implies that he can't stand being around a woman who's not attractive enough to make them "tolerable" She looked…fine. Not my taste. Jenna went for the ones who weren’t quite so pretty as to make me want to bang them harder than the bottom of a ketchup bottle, but still pretty enough for me to tolerate.
I'm sorry, but the things he said were just so awful, I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to make it through the rest of this book without throwing up. New Girl was standing by the window overlooking the harbor, her back to me. I tried to remember the last time I’d been in a room with a bird who wasn’t my mum or sister without having my cock shoved so deep down her throat she had to heave, and couldn’t. I scowled some more.
Also, our leading lady is quite the bore.
There is nothing redeeming about the first third of this book and I can't imagine it getting any better. Good riddance....more
I cannot even begin to explain how much of a disappointment this was. I saw countless raving reviews for this book, most of them discussing the wonderful romance and swoony love interest as well as the complex, realistic characters, and deep, heartbreaking plot. Needless to say, I was just about dying to get my hands on a copy of the book. When I finally did, I greedily dove right in, but it simply was not what I was expecting.
First off, the main characters lacked depth. They were little more than their tragic backstories. I wanted to see more of how their past impacted them presently, but I don't think it was shown enough in depth. We know that Clay is an addict, but I feel like we didn't really see. I was waiting for it to be dark and emotional, but I was always left longing for more. He also manages to quit drinking very easily and out of the blue, pretty much without any help, which I felt was extremely unrealistic. I didn't really see the connection between them. Their relationship felt shallow, despite their similar sad pasts full of loss that they could have connected over. They discussed these things and comforted each other at times, but the scenes never packed the punch that I was expecting. They were often cut short and somehow lacked the emotion and chemistry that I was craving. Instead, Annie was constantly commenting on how good Clay looked in his Levi's and what a great voice that he had. Seriously, all she cared about was his stupid jeans! I swear a solid 25% of her point of view was made up of her ogling his Levi's or appearance in some other way. By the time I got to the end of the story, I knew that I never, ever wanted to hear about somebody's Levi's ever again. I seriously just couldn't take it anymore. [image]
The whole plot point in which Clay decided that he wanted to be Jefferson for Annie, and then be Jefferson for the rest of the world too was flat-out stupid. He only allowed his deceased family members to call him by his real name and then insisted that Annie did as well. When he decided to drop his stage name and go back to Jefferson, I think it was supposed to be big deal, but I really didn't think that it was. It seemed like the author was trying the build so much of the plot around his name, which I honestly found to be comical. The plot in general was rather unexciting, as it's mostly a will they, won't they between Clay and Annie, except we obviously all know that they will. I could easily put down the book for days at a time and I even considered DNFing it because I wasn't invested in the characters and there wasn't enough going on in the story to keep me interested.
I also wasn't a big fan of the writing style. It felt choppy and the dialogue and even actions of the characters often made me cringe. The way that Annie spoke and acted around Clay often was comically awful. Here is a prime example: He smirks. "Or be angry and show the world how Cora's daughter is even better than she was." I bite my lip, but I know my smile is flat-out moony. I fan my face. "Dang. boy, you're all charm." He tilts his head to the side and sinks back into my couch. "Only for you." [image] This scene was so bad it was painful. I cannot imagine anybody actually speaking and acting this way in an unironic manner. And to top it off, Clay isn't even charming! He made the most basic statement, which was hardly romantic and she's falling over herself. I really don't get it.
I'm not a fan of country music, so all of the references to country music icons and songs didn't do anything for me. However, I could definitely see how those details could make the story extra enjoyable and special for a country music fan. The original song lyrics dispersed throughout the novel usually bored me. I honestly don't really like reading song lyrics without knowing what the tune of the song is supposed to be.
I really wish that I could have enjoyed this as much as so many other people did, but it just didn't click. I don't think I would recommend it unless you are a country music fan, in which case you may appreciate the setting and references, and therefore, the overall story much more than I did....more
Pro tip: This novel is best experienced by blasting your favourite ‘70s music between reading. It will transport you into that time period and make everything in the story seem even more real. I would also recommend throwing yourself mini dance parties to said music in the late hours of the night. I am still blasting Queen, Billy Joel, ABBA, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac (the band that apparently inspired this story), and many others as I write this review. (and I am having the absolute time of my life)
To put it simply, this book was a masterpiece.
I honestly find it bizarre how much I adored this book because the premise is something that, quite frankly, I would expect to be boring. Why would I want to read a novel filled with interviews with fictional celebrities in a fictional band… when I could be reading an actual memoir type book about a real band that I love. Honestly, I still don’t have a good answer to this question, but what I do know is that this book was an absolute work of art that I could not tear my eyes away from.
The format of this book was unlike anything that I’ve ever read before, but I loved it and it was an exceptional way to tell this story. It’s essentially a transcript of an oral history of the band given by the band members in addition to their families and other people in the music industry at the time. These characters are all telling their own versions of the series of events that shaped the band, but since they are recounting this information decades later and they all have different perspectives, their stories often don’t line up. This added such a fascinating and unique layer to the narrative, almost comparable to having an unreliable narrator, except this was even more intriguing. Do the characters genuinely forget what really happened? Are they intentionally altering the truth to make themselves look better? Is it all just a matter of perspective? Who knows?!?
As a big fan of ‘70s music, I was obsessed with the setting of this book! I adored the scenes when they were recording their music, as well as the look into the nightlife and such in this era. It desperately makes me wish that I could experience it for myself!
The song writing in this book was actually quite impressive in my opinion! There are so many lyrics that I rushed to jot down because they were so well-written (just like the entirety of this novel). I am absolutely ecstatic to hear the songs come to life when the television adaptation is released! Speaking of which, I cannot even begin to express my excitement for the series. I just looked at the casting yesterday and I think it’s looking good. I’m looking forward to seeing Sam Claflin’s portrayal of Billy! I’m also very curious as to how the show will be formatted. Will it be a compilation of interviews with members of the band with clips of them recording the music and performing, similar to the format of a real documentary, or will it just be the story acted out chronologically? I can’t wait to find out!
There were so many lovely quotes that I stumbled across in the book. Here are just a few examples:
“She had written something that felt like I could have written it, except I knew I couldn't have. I wouldn't have come up with something like that. Which is what we all want from art, isn’t it? When someone pins down something that feels like it lives inside us? Takes a piece of your heart out and shows it to you? It’s like they are introducing you to a part of yourself.”
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 you think, There was a line here once."
Passion is…it’s fire. And fire is great, man. But we’re made of water. Water is how we keep living. Water is what we need to survive. My family was my water. I picked water. I’ll pick water every time. And I wanted Daisy to find her water. Because I couldn’t be it.
And I really think Billy loved her the same way she loved him. I really do. When they were in the same place at the same time, you could tell he was just so taken with her. He’d stay quiet and let her be the one to talk. And I always noticed that he used to squeeze the lime into her drink before he handed it to her whenever we were all out somewhere. He’d take his own lime and squeeze it into her glass, too. He’d squeeze the two wedges in and then throw them in with the ice. It seemed like a beautiful thing to have, somebody giving you their lime wedge. I mean, I hate lime, actually. But you get the point. (I thought that this was the sweetest thing ever.)
DAISY: It’s an album about needing someone and having them love someone else. BILLY: It’s an album about the push and pull of stability and instability. It’s about the struggle that I live almost every day to not do something stupid. Is it about love? Yeah, of course it is. But that’s because it’s easy to disguise almost anything as a love song.
Pieces like the following two quotes made it so easy to forget that this is not a real band - it’s all just a work of fiction. But it is so incredibly realistic that it’s easy to get entirely swept away in the story until you reach for your phone to look up more details about one of the songs… and then you remember that (unfortunately) they don’t actually exist. Reading this book feels exactly like reading a biography about a real band. By the time I had reached the end of the novel, I was so invested in the characters and their lives and their music, that it’s honestly devastating that it isn't real.
“Just One More” was written and recorded in one day when somebody sent over a batch of grass baked into cookies. The whole song, written mostly by Billy with my help, seems like it’s about wanting to sleep with a girl one time before you hit the road. But it was about how we’d eaten all the grass and just wanted one more cookie.
Let me sum up that early tour for you: I was getting laid, Graham was getting high, Eddie was getting drunk, Karen was getting fed up, Pete was getting on the phone to his girl back home, and Billy was all five, at once.
I LOVED the feminism in this story. It’s true that the music industry was dominated by men in the 1970’s, and I loved the numerous strong women in this novel that refused to let men tell them what to do. They were unapologetically themselves and made the choices that they wanted to make, despite the opposing opinions of the men around them. Here are a few quotes relating to that, which I just loved:
"It was a man’s world. The whole world was a man’s world but the recording industry…it wasn’t easy. You had to get some guy’s approval to do just about anything and it seemed like there were two ways to go about it. You either acted like one of the boys, which is the way I had found. Or you acted real girlie and flirty and batted your eyelashes. They liked that."
“I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else's muse. I am not a muse. I am the somebody. End of fucking story.”
“I am not going to sit around sweating my ass off just so men can feel more comfortable. It’s not my responsibility to not turn them on. It’s their responsibility to not be an asshole.”
I used to care when men called me difficult. I really did. Then I stopped. This way is better.
I read more into how Taylor Jenkins Reid was inspired by Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, and I am so fascinated. I’ve never been a fan of the band, but I was so intrigued to hear about how they provided inspiration for this story.
The one and only complaint that I have about this whole entire book is the ending and the weird little plot twist that was thrown in. (view spoiler)[ The concept that the person conducting the interviews was actually Billy’s daughter, Julia, was fantastic! It added yet another layer of complexity to the story and it certainly took me by surprise. However, when they started referring to Camila as “your mother” and Julia as “you” and that kind of thing, it really irritated me and I can’t even really tell you why. It just broke the formatting that the entire novel had been following all of a sudden and it annoyed me so much. I know it probably sounds silly, but I was just so irritated by this that I knocked .5 stars off of the book. (hide spoiler)]
I absolutely cannot wait to read more of Taylor Jenkin Reid’s work in the near future. She is one gifted writer. Do not let the hype surrounding this novel intimidate you. Blast your favourite ‘70s music and let this masterpiece of a story utterly consume you....more
May 2016: This was so perfect! I was in the mood for a really fun read, and this book most definitely satisfied that craving. I loved the very dark humor to it, though I felt extremely guilty for laughing at some of the things in the story. If these things actually happened, they would not be something to laugh at. But in the story.... well, I found them to be incredibly funny.
But even better than the twisted humor of it was, quite unexpectedly, all of the lines about being a fangirl and what it truly means. Being a fangirl of numerous fandoms myself, it was very relatable and meaningful to me. The countless books and series, the bands, and more, I just... fandoms are such a big part of my life. It's where I kind of found myself - in this community of people that understood, that felt the same way. So as ridiculous as this may sound to some people, fandoms are really important to me. And while this book sort of poked fun at crazy, obsessed fangirls, (like me) it also held a lot of truth to it. A truth that I could connect with.
(view spoiler)[ On a side note, Apple was awesome! For example, I assumed that all four had snuck into the Ruperts' hotel room and kidnapped Rupert P. I did NOT expect Apple to tackle him in the hallway and accidentally knock him unconscious. And then DRAG HIM BY THE ANKLE to the hotel room! But it had me laughing my head off. I also liked the part when Apple was going to hit Michelle over the head with the lamp. Apple was a fantastic character! She was my favourite of the four girls, though they were all great, and so very different! I also loved the part where Rupert L. and Rupert X. faked Rupert P's suicide note on Twitter (with countless errors I might add) and then threw him off of the roof of the building. It really shouldn't have been funny, but it was. (hide spoiler)]
Now, I could go on and on about how wonderful this was and all the reasons I adored it, but for now, I think I'll leave it. I'll let you read it for yourself. And hopefully, you'll find just as much importance within it as I did, as well as find it to be an insane but highly enjoyable and humorous ride.
I recommend this for anyone looking for a darker humor with a mystery aspect. And most importantly, for any fangirls (or fanboys) out there that hold their fandoms near and dear to their heart. It's definitely something that I'm going to buy and reread in the future. Many, many times over. So thank you to Goldy Moldavsky for creating something that I will forever love and treasure, because as much of a joke this book kind of was, it was also very special to me. I would give this book 1000000000000000000/5 stars if I could, because it is just THAT good. <3
December 2019: This book is still completely unlike anything I have ever read before, and when I say that, I mean it in the very best way possible. I reread this via audio-book, and it was fantastic! The narrator honestly deserves an Oscar for the phenomenal job that she did. She did range of different voices and accents, and she even sang. Her voice acting brought this fun story even more life and made reading an even more immersive, hilarious, and exciting experience. If you enjoy audio-books, I could not recommend this one highly enough. I absolutely cannot wait to reread this for a third time someday!!...more
I was so incredibly excited to read this book. It seemed to be the perfect setup! I absolutley adore a book (whether it's contempory, fantasy, or s2.5
I was so incredibly excited to read this book. It seemed to be the perfect setup! I absolutley adore a book (whether it's contempory, fantasy, or somewhere in between) in which one or both of the main characters are kind of broken, but they help to piece each other back together and fall in love in the process. It's always so beautiful and makes for a fantastic read, which is why I had such high hopes for this one. The plot sounded very interesting and I was intrigued to learn more about being deaf by reading from the P.O.V. of a character who is. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a let down. The story line ended up being a little too unrealistic for me, and some parts of the story were a bit rushed, especially the romance!
It wasn't a bad book; it had a great premise. It just wasn't executed the best. At times, I really felt like I was just reading a decent Wattpad story. Overall, it was enjoyable, just not as great as I'd hoped it to be. I'm glad I finally got to read it though....more
Daniella (Reading With Daniella)
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