Cover Reveal: Summers at The Saint by Mary Kay Andrews

 

Drumroll, please! I'm thrilled to help @Mary Kay Andrews reveal the cover for next summer's book! Behold SUMMERS AT THE SAINT! I'm so excited for this one, especially since she did not have a new summer book this year. The book will be out everywhere from @St. Martin's Press on May 7, 2024, but is officially available for pre-order now. Find more info about the book and pre-order links here: https://static.macmillan.com/static/smp/summers-at-the-saint/

#summersatthesaint #summerbeginswithmka

Review: All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

Published: August 9, 2016

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis

As the daughter of a meth dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. Struggling to raise her little brother, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible "adult" around. She finds peace in the starry Midwestern night sky above the fields behind her house. One night everything changes when she witnesses one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold, wreck his motorcycle. What follows is a powerful and shocking love story between two unlikely people that asks tough questions, reminding us of all the ugly and wonderful things that life has to offer.

My Thoughts

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is the heartbreaking tale of Wavy who for all her life has had it rough. Her mother has mental issues and her father sells drugs, so when one of her father's associates takes an interest in her who would've thought it would have taken the turn that it did.

Kellen is an ex-con who isn't at all what he looks like. He is a big guy but he is nice and kind when he wants and he feels bad for Wavy, so he takes it upon himself to care for her and be there for her since no one else does. He makes sure she goes to school and that she has what she needs but slowly over the years he falls in love with her and this is where things get...uncomfortable. Especially since he’s known Wavy since she was young and he is older than her. Kellen’s intentions were never to fall in love with Wavy like that but over time his feelings for her become real. 

This is where things get iffy in this book. I see how people can be uncomfortable with this book since they met when Wavy is a child, but in my mind, I never got the feeling that Kellen went into this situation having any ill intentions with Wavy. I honestly felt he felt sorry for her and felt like someone had to look out for this kid and someone had to be there for her since no one was there for him. He saw her life and how it could end up and he didn't want that for her. While I know some see their relationship later seemed icky I didn't see it as him being a pervert from the start.

This novel can be controversial without a doubt but I really did enjoy this storyline. I see two lost people who are brought together for a reason. While this relationship is the main focus of the book I also enjoyed the storyline with Wavy’s aunt and cousin and how they all have issues in the family that they dealing with. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is a great novel with a storyline that might make you uncomfortable but one that will have you thinking about this novel way after the last page is turned.

Review: Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood

Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood

Published: August 6, 2019

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

Dover, Massachusetts, 1969. Ginny Richardson's heart was torn open when her baby girl, Lucy, born with Down Syndrome, was taken from her. Under pressure from his powerful family, her husband, Ab, sent Lucy away to Willowridge, a special school for the “feeble-minded." Ab tried to convince Ginny it was for the best. That they should grieve for their daughter as though she were dead. That they should try to move on. 

But two years later, when Ginny's best friend, Marsha, shows her a series of articles exposing Willowridge as a hell-on-earth--its squalid hallways filled with neglected children--she knows she can't leave her daughter there. With Ginny's six-year-old son in tow, Ginny and Marsha drive to the school to see Lucy for themselves. What they find sets their course on a heart-racing journey across state lines—turning Ginny into a fugitive.

For the first time, Ginny must test her own strength and face the world head-on as she fights Ab and his domineering father for the right to keep Lucy. Racing from Massachusetts to the beaches of Atlantic City, through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to a roadside mermaid show in Florida, Keeping Lucy is a searing portrait of just how far a mother’s love can take her.

My Thoughts

Keeping Lucy is the touching tale of Ginny who goes to lengths to try to get her daughter Lucy back. It’s the late 60’s and Ginny is giving birth when she wakes up she finds out her daughter Lucy has been taken away from her. She later finds out that Lucy has Down Syndrome and given the time there was no other option but to put children who they consider “different” away in orphanages. Ginny was also told Lucy had other problems health wise and this was the best for everyone involved.

A couple of years pass and Ginny finds out that Lucy isn't in the type of place she thought she was. The place isn't fit for anyone and Ginny and her best friend decide to visit Lucy and take her for the weekend but once she is there and sees things for herself she decides Lucy will never go back and from there on it's Ginny and Lucy against the world.

They go on a road trip and Lucy soon begins to open up but only after Ginny sees how Lucy has suffered in that place. She begs her husband and his family, who are very powerful back home, to help but Ginny soon sees she might have to do this alone. Since she didn't have a choice, in the beginning, she takes a stand now and chooses the love for her child over everything and everyone.

Keeping Lucy made me an emotional wreck. The storyline is amazing and touching about a mother whose child was literally taken from her without her permission. She worries if Lucy will even know who she is. However, once they lock eyes Ginny’s heart is complete and Lucy knows this is her mama. This shows us the lengths a mother will go for her child and no matter what others think about Lucy, Ginny cares and will fight for her. If you want a heartwarming read look no further than Keeping Lucy.

Review: Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

Published: July 30, 2019

Publisher: William Morrow

Format: via Edelweiss

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

Amy Whey is proud of her ordinary life and the simple pleasures that come with it--teaching diving lessons, baking cookies for new neighbors, helping her best friend, Charlotte, run their local book club. Her greatest joy is her family: her devoted professor husband, her spirited fifteen-year-old stepdaughter, her adorable infant son. And, of course, the steadfast and supportive Charlotte. But Amy's sweet, uncomplicated life begins to unravel when the mysterious and alluring Angelica Roux arrives on her doorstep one book club night.

Sultry and magnetic, Roux beguiles the group with her feral charm. She keeps the wine flowing and lures them into a game of spilling secrets. Everyone thinks it's naughty, harmless fun. Only Amy knows better. Something wicked has come her way--a she-devil in a pricey red sports car who seems to know the terrible truth about who she is and what she once did.

When they're alone, Roux tells her that if she doesn't give her what she asks for, what she deserves, she's going to make Amy pay for her sins. One way or another.

To protect herself and her family and save the life she's built, Amy must beat the devil at her own clever game, matching wits with Roux in an escalating war of hidden pasts and unearthed secrets. Amy knows the consequences if she can't beat Roux. What terrifies her is everything she could lose if she wins.

My Thoughts

In Never Have I Ever we met Amy who lives a pretty ideal life, she married a man who loves her, stepmom to a teen and new mother of a baby boy. She has a good circle of friends and one night during book club the new neighbor makes her presence known. Roux is unlike any of the other moms on the block, but she came to play and Amy is her target. Unknown to anyone else Roux has a secret about Amy that could truly blow up Amy’s life but little does Roux know that Amy isn't one just to lay down and be exposed.

Amy has made a new life for herself after years of running from her past. She did something in her teens she isn't proud about and someone else took the blame for it and she hasn't gotten over it. She has made it her mission to help and protect the ones she hurt and although she wants to do right she doesn't want her past to claim her present.

Roux has come to town with the sole purpose to ruin Amy’s life. She has something that Amy has and she wants it now. However, Roux has no idea that Amy is doing a little background check of her own and soon she discovers who Roux really is and the devastating secret(s) Roux has. Roux is sick, twisted and a master manipulator but she has met her match with Amy who isn't backing down and wants Roux to pay for all her wrongdoings.

Never Have I Ever is pure genius, this book had me on my toes from the first page. I love the banter between Roux and Amy and how they always one-upped each other. Just when one thought they were winning the other comes back with something stronger. This is a game that at the end no one really wins, but the reveals are masterpieces. Joshilyn Jackson has outdone herself with this novel of twist and turns and with each revelation, you are bound to be amazed. If you want an honest to god amazing read look no further than this jaw-dropping story.

Review: The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess

The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess

Published: July 9, 2019

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co

Format: via NetGalley

Rating:4/5

Synopsis

In the summer of 1987, 25-year-old Eve Rosen is an aspiring writer languishing in a low-level assistant job, unable to shake the shadow of growing up with her brilliant brother. With her professional ambitions floundering, Eve jumps at the chance to attend an early summer gathering at the Cape Cod home of famed New Yorker writer Henry Grey and his poet wife, Tillie. Dazzled by the guests and her burgeoning crush on the hosts’ artistic son, Eve lands a new job as Henry Grey’s research assistant and an invitation to Henry and Tillie’s exclusive and famed "Book Party"— where attendees dress as literary characters. But by the night of the party, Eve discovers uncomfortable truths about her summer entanglements and understands that the literary world she so desperately wanted to be a part of is not at all what it seems.

My Thoughts

The Last Book Party centers around Eve and her summer on Cape Cod working under famous writer Henry Grey and his his wife, poet Tilly. Eve is an aspiring writer but hasn't written anything worthwhile. Eve is drawn into this literary world with its intellectual elite and talented writers that she finds herself in a situation that she never thought she would be in. She falls for Henry and Tilly’s son but soon finds her sights on someone else, someone she never imagined but the situation is one that will change things. 

The spotlight of the summer is the “Book Party” hosted by Henry and Tilly that has the who's who in the literary world invited. This is the place when all of the secrets that have been ongoing finally come to the surface and not only will Eve’s secret come out but all of those around her. She finally realizes that this world she has been wanting for as long as she can remember isn't what’s it's cracked up to be.

The Last Book Party drew me in with the promise of all things literary and it didn't disappoint. We get a glimpse of this world but also so much more, Eve is a young woman who just wants to do what she loves, which is writing and being around all these great writers is something she could only dream of. However, this life she thought she wanted isn't so wonderful as she had imagined and realizes there has to be a better way. She is simply learning to come into her own and finding her path to being able to do what she loves. This read is a great coming of age novel that has a great storyline and characters that give us reasons to hate but also love them. This is an easy and quick read that is perfect for these last days of Summer.

Review: Gone Too Long by Lori Roy

Gone Too Long by Lori Roy

Published: June 25, 2019

Publisher: Dutton Books

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

On the day a black truck rattles past her house and a Klan flyer lands in her front yard, ten-year-old Beth disappears from her Simmonsville, Georgia, home. Armed with skills honed while caring for an alcoholic mother, she must battle to survive the days and months ahead.

Seven years later, Imogene Coulter is burying her father--a Klan leader she has spent her life distancing herself from--and trying to escape the memories his funeral evokes. But Imogene is forced to confront secrets long held by Simmonsville and her own family when, while clearing out her father's apparent hideout on the day of his funeral, she finds a child. Young and alive, in an abandoned basement, and behind a door that only locks from the outside.

As Imogene begins to uncover the truth of what happened to young Beth all those years ago, her father's heir apparent to the Klan's leadership threatens her and her family. Driven by a love that extends beyond the ties of blood, Imogene struggles to save a girl she never knew but will now be bound to forever and to save herself and those dearest to her. Tightly coiled and chilling, Gone Too Long ensnares, twists, and exposes the high price we are willing to pay for the ones we love. 

My Thoughts

Gone too Long is the story of how the Ku Klux Klan still has a very strong hold in the South.  It focuses on Imogene and her family after the death of her father. There is a mystery about a ten-year girl who went missing after the death of a teenager years ago, but Imogene has no idea how much her family is involved in this event.

Imogene is trying to get over a very hard tragedy in her life, the death of her husband and child. After the funeral of her father, she realizes there is someone in the basement of an old shack on the family property and when she discovers its a young boy her mind races as to who he is and more importantly who had him down there. She first thinks her father had something to do with it, but as she slowly unravels the truth she finds out there is way more to the story than she ever thought possible. Once the truth is revealed she must decide to do the right thing, which might hurt her family or make sure justice is served no matter the price it might mean to her life. Gone too Long is a story that shows us that the mean and sick dealings of the Ku Klux Klan are still very much alive and how these teachings are still going on. Imogene was raised with these teachings but knows that they are wrong and these are very bad individuals. She knows what is right and what is wrong and she knows she must do everything she can to make sure the past doesn't repeat itself.

This story is about survival and for standing up for what's right. Imogene is a survivor in all forms, she overcomes the death of her husband and child and learns that the person she thought was her father really wasn't, meaning she could escape her past and help her family live a new life. This is a page-turner one that has you wondering what will happen next. I love how most of this novel is told through Imogene and we can see how she sees her family and their connection to the Klan from the inside. This is an interesting story with a few storylines that all tie in at the end, with an ending that was surprising. This is one read that had me from page one and kept my attention until the very end.

Review: Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

Published: June 11, 2019

Publisher: Atria Books

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

Do we change or does the world change us?

Jo and Bethie Kaufman were born into a world full of promise.

Growing up in 1950s Detroit, they live in a perfect “Dick and Jane” house, where their roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life.

But the truth ends up looking different from what the girls imagined. Jo and Bethie survive traumas and tragedies. As their lives unfold against the background of free love and Vietnam, Woodstock and women’s lib, Bethie becomes an adventure-loving wild child who dives headlong into the counterculture and is up for anything (except settling down). Meanwhile, Jo becomes a proper young mother in Connecticut, a witness to the changing world instead of a participant. Neither woman inhabits the world she dreams of, nor has a life that feels authentic or brings her joy. Is it too late for the women to finally stake a claim on happily ever after?

In her most ambitious novel yet, Jennifer Weiner tells a story of two sisters who, with their different dreams and different paths, offer answers to the question: How should a woman be in the world? 

My Thoughts

Jo and Bethie are sisters but their lives followed different paths. Bethie is the wild child, growing up in the free lovin' 60s she enjoyed and partook in all that the decade offered. She was the one who always gave her mother trouble but no one really knew why. What was it in Bethie that made her this way? We see why later in the story, how she experienced some pain and tragedy in her childhood. 

Jo, on the other hand, had her secret knowing very early on she was gay and in love with her best friend but decided to never let anyone know. She went on to get married and have children, never letting her true self be happy and living the life she wanted and deserved until later on in life.

We see both these sisters lives evolve and how they each went from kids to adults and trying to find their niche in this world. Neither one had an easy life, both having hard lives and never really coming into their own until they were grown. This book was rich in storylines, the way we see these sisters go through decades is amazing and seeing them struggle at times pulls at your heartstrings.

Mrs. Everything is a well-written story with its focus on family, love and coming into your own with elements of feminism. I loved that it has strong female characters that many of us can relate to, and while some of the topics touched upon in this book can be tough to some, I believe its things that can help some people also. This is one book that I highly recommend for anyone who wants an honest to god amazing read.

Review: Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

Expected Publication: May 7, 2019

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Format: via Publisher

Rating: 4/5    

Synopsis

Drue Campbell’s life is adrift. Out of a job and down on her luck, life doesn’t seem to be getting any better when her estranged father, Brice Campbell, a flamboyant personal injury attorney, shows up at her mother’s funeral after a twenty-year absence. Worse, he’s remarried – to Drue’s eighth-grade frenemy, Wendy, now his office manager. And they’re offering her a job.

It seems like the job from hell, but the offer is sweetened by the news of her inheritance – her grandparents’ beach bungalow in the sleepy town of Sunset Beach, a charming but storm-damaged eyesore now surrounded by waterfront McMansions.

With no other prospects, Drue begrudgingly joins the firm, spending her days screening out the grifters whose phone calls flood the law office. Working with Wendy is no picnic either. But when a suspicious death at an exclusive beach resort nearby exposes possible corruption at her father’s firm, she goes from unwilling cubicle rat to unwitting investigator and is drawn into a case that may – or may not – involve her father. With an office romance building, a decades-old missing person case re-opened, and a cottage in rehab, one thing is for sure at Sunset Beach: there’s a storm on the horizon.

My Thoughts

In Sunset Beach the newest novel by Mary Kay Andrews we met Drue who is basically down on her luck and estranged from her father ever since her mother’s death. She is working at a bar to make ends meet but she soon reconnects with her father who offers her a job and gives her the house that belonged to her grandparents. As much as she doesn't want anything from him she does need a job so she accepts and as soon as she gets there she realizes he has remarried [again] to her ex-best friend from childhood.

Brice is a lawyer and takes up all kinds of lawsuits so when a woman comes in wanting more money from the death of her daughter Drue realizes that there is something there to check out. She feels like someone tried to cover up something and this poor woman deserves justice for her daughter so she makes it her mission to uncover the truth. In time Drue discovers not only this truth but also another that she will regret finding out. We get dual storylines in Sunset Beach, we also get a mystery of sorts that took place decades before and the players in this one hit closer to Drue than she ever expected.

I really enjoyed this novel I loved how we got two storylines and how they slowly came together in a nice way. The pace was perfect and you definitely got caught up in all the mystery that this book had to offer. I went into thinking this was a light fluffy beach read but this one had a lot of depth to it and as a fan of mystery, I really liked that she played this element to perfection here. This is one Summer read that will have you hooked from the very beginning and will leave you completely satisfied.

Review: Sugar by Bernice L. McFadden

Sugar by Bernice L. McFadden

Published: January 2, 2001

Publisher: Plume

Format: via paperback

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

The novel opens when a young prostitute comes to Bigelow, Arkansas, to start over, far from her haunting past. Sugar moves next door to Pearl, who is still grieving for the daughter who was murdered fifteen years before. Over sweet-potato pie, an unlikely friendship begins, transforming both women's lives--and the life of an entire town.

Sugar brings a Southern African-American town vividly to life, with its flowering magnolia trees, lingering scents of jasmine and honeysuckle, and white picket fences that keep strangers out--but ignorance and superstition in. To read this novel is to take a journey through loss and suffering to a place of forgiveness, understanding, and grace.

My Thoughts

When Sugar rolls into town the whole place is turned upside down, she is a known prostitute but she moved to Bigelow to try to start over. She moves next door to Pearl who has suffered a lot in her life, to say the least. She is still mourning over the death of her daughter who was killed in the most vicious way and once she was gone Pearl just gave up. Her marriage suffered a bit but the love of her husband helped her slowly move on. With the town talking rumors about Sugar, Pearl has decided to not let that sway her opinions about her. Sugar, on the other hand, doesn't like people in her business so she isn't too keen on Pearl trying to be neighborly thinking she is just like the rest of them, judging Sugar on who she is.

With time Pearl and Sugar become friends and this friendship brings Pearl out of her shell. She is laughing and having fun again, enjoying life like she hasn't done since her daughter died. Both of them are an odd pair to the naked eye but I feel like they balance each other out. Both have experienced pain that no one could understand and I think they find comfort in that. When both are together no one is judging them and they get to be who they truly are without the thoughts of what others are thinking about them.

Both are just women who are searching for that something in life. Sugar just wants a place where she feels loved and belongs and Pearl just wants that closure and justice for her daughter. Sugar just might find that love with someone but her past is soon to rear its ugly head and that love she has for that someone is so strong she will do the unthinkable to protect him. Ironically the past is the key to her future when secrets are uncovered and we find out the missing pieces to Sugar’s life.

This is a powerful and emotional read one that will make you laugh and make you cry. Sugar’s story of how she grew up and was raised is heartbreaking. Her struggle to survive is something that only a strong person could handle and despite what others think of her Sugar is a true survivor. The fact that Sugar and Pearl were placed in each other's lives is something that only could happen on purpose. They were brought together to help each other heal and to become family. Bernice McFadden gives us characters that are raw, broken, flawed but at the same time incredibly strong. The world has given up on these women but they haven't given up on themselves and nothing is stronger than a woman who still believes she can. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who wants a great story with impactful characters.

Review: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Published: June 1, 1970

Publisher: First Vintage

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for normalcy, for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in. Yet as her dream grows more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity, Toni Morrison's virtuosic first novel asks powerful questions about race, class, and gender with the subtlety and grace that have always characterized her writing.

My Thoughts

In The Bluest Eye, we met Pecola who is sent to live with some neighbors after her house was ravaged by a fire. During this time we slowly see her life unfold, she has lived a hard life, to say the least, told through multiple POV’s we get to know Pecola and how she sees herself. Pecola is raped by her father and her mother doesn't give much thought to anything or anyone else. However, Pecola sees herself as ugly and unwanted thinking that if she was another race these things wouldn't happen to her. The topics and themes of this novel are heartbreaking but at the same time very real. Race plays a great part in the world and society has this image of beauty that is so untamable that many of us think if we don't look a certain way then we aren't beautiful. This is a sad novel all about a girl who didn't have a chance in this world. She has so much stacked against her from the beginning that it just got worse as life went on. Toni Morrison is a brilliant writer who gives us tough subjects that stir up conversations that we have to have.

Review: If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

Published: 1974

Publisher: Vintage

Format: via Overdrive

Rating: 5/5    

Synopsis

In this honest and stunning novel, James Baldwin has given America a moving story of love in the face of injustice. Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions-affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche.

My Thoughts

In this beautifully written novel, we get the story of Fonny and Tish, two young people in love who have to fight to be reunited. Tish has grown up in a loving family who will support her no matter what. Fonny is a guy who only has his art and Tish, his family especially his mom don't’ want anything to do with him they think he is trouble and worthless and has found a new family in Tish and her family. We see he is in jail but we don't know why until almost the end of the novel. We see what all happened that led up to his incarceration, the accusations and the fight that Tish and her family will do to bring Fonny home to Tish and their baby, she found out she was pregnant when he was first sent to jail. They try to get help from Fonny’s family but they basically disowned him so Tish’s family makes it their mission to seek out justice for him.

This novel is very short but so powerful and heartbreaking, we see the hurt and tragedy in Tish and Fonny’s story. Despite the world, they are living in Tish and Fonny believe in themselves and their love no matter how high the odds are against them. While this novel was written decades ago it is still so irrelevant to today. How racial injustice is still happening and the way James Baldwin gives us this gritty look at life is poignant yet thought-provoking. This is one novel that has stood the test of time and sadly still speaks to today.

Review: Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Published: March 5, 2019

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Format: via NetGalley

Rating: 5 /5

Synopsis

Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now. Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

My Thoughts

Growing up music has always been an important part of my life. I remember listening to music with my mom and aunt so Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, and all those '70s rock groups have always had a place in my heart. So when I heard Taylor Jenkins Reid was coming out with a new book about a rock group in the ’70s my heart was happy and I couldn't wait to read it.

We meet Daisy Jones who was known to hang out within the rock scene. She was the IT girl when it came to that, she was a rich girl who didn't matter to her parents so she found her family with the rock stars who gave her attention if it was only for one night or to party. She soon discovers she wants more and thinks she has a gift when it came to singing and writing songs and in time she puts her energy in that.

The Six is a band on the rise lead by Billy who is the Six, he writes all the music and decides everything when it comes to them. He soon meets the love of his life in Camilla a headstrong girl who sees Billy’s potential and will do anything for Billy to make it there. She wants him to do what she knows he can and when she ends up pregnant and he turns into an alcoholic she makes him chose...it’s either her or the booze...he chooses her. She knows life on the road is hard and temptations are everywhere but Billy keeps his word and stays clear of the alcohol and the women but his biggest test is when he meets Daisy.

Its a thing of fate that brings Daisy and Billy together their hatred of each is so strong you know there is definitely something more there. While they fight and bicker when they come together and make music it's... magical. Daisy is soon asked to be a part of The Six and that's when the real story begins, while Daisy and Billy fight more the songs that come out of them makes the best album of that era. You see this passion between them but Billy made a promise to his wife and he is determined to keep it and that just makes Daisy fall deeper into her vices. Billy sees her potential but steers clear of her because he knows if he doesn't Daisy will be his downfall in more ways than one.

I loved how this story was told in an interview formed. You get everyone’s side of the story and as the saying goes there are three sides to every story, yours mines, and the truth. So to hear how everyone could see things entirely differently is interesting, to say the least. I especially enjoyed the chemistry between Billy and Daisy, they have this love/hate relationship but you know there are so many more layers to them. You see this push and pull between them that you want them together but you also want Billy to stay true to his wife but at the same time, you also want to cheer for Daisy. Daisy is someone you root for you want her to be happy and get help because all she wants is love. A true love, someone who wants her simply for her and not for who she is and Billy could be that guy. Plus Daisy gave me serious Stevie Nicks vibes whom I LOVE! This is another winner from TJR who constantly give us great characters and storylines we get consumed by. She hits a high note with this one, and the fact she made me believe this was an actual group blows my mind. Plus the little twist in the end as to who was the interviewer is was a great touch. So do yourself a favor and dive into the musical journey of Daisy Jones and The Six where the real story starts when the music ends.