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loonieslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mari1532's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I would like to thank Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
Brief Summary: Mia Peters is stuck. She can feel the pull of a bigger life as she writes songs in secret, but she is also the daughter of Tori Rose, a famous country singer tragically taken at the height of her fame. As Mia prepares to start her life after graduation she looks around the town that has raised her and immortalized her mother wondering what her next move should be. Luckily she has a rainbow of clues pointing her in the right direction.
Thoughts: This book is a slow burn. It took at least five chapters before this book really hooked me.
How Holford was able to not only write a book, but all of the songs included in this book is impressive. Although it was a bit of a slow start, the way that Holford was able to integrate two coming-of-age stories, two love stories, and two musical worlds ended up bringing me to tears.
This is a love story, but I would not call it a romance novel. Mia and Britt do have friends to maybe lovers vibe throughout the endearing book, but the real focus of this book is Mia and Tori and their relationship as mother and daughter. The way that Holford writes Mia as a confused teenager trying to grapple with her grief is breathtaking. So many times throughout the book I just wanted to hug Mia and tell her it would be okay and I felt joy at her every success and sadness at every failure.
Tori was a little more difficult to read throughout the book. We only catch glimpses of her from the stories people share with Mia and letters, but I could never really say I understood her...at least the younger version of her. Tori chases her dreams and finds herself in a love triangle. The mystery surrounding her drives the narrative of the story. I did wish that there was a little more explanation of Tori's relationships with the women she was friends with throughout her life. I feel like with her bandmates and classmates we just see snippets of Tori's relationships with her friends. The love triangle had me hooked and I had a favourite, but her friends made such big sacrifices for her and it was a little hard to understand why.
Holford's writing made me feel and I truly did cry at the end of the book. I found Mia to be such a dynamic character even though she was a teenager. I read somewhere that this book is similar to Mamma Mia. In many ways, I agree with that description, but it feels more like the sequel rather than the original because Mia is just surrounded by a shrine of her mother. I do wish that we had been able to see any part of the town that was not some roadside attraction to draw fans of Tori Rose. It felt a little weird that this was all the town offered, but maybe that is supposed to make us feel the oppressive weight that Mia must feel having grown up there.
I would recommend this book, but I do think that you should go into it understanding two things. First, this is a book about a mother-daughter relationship. Other relationships are described in its pages, but this is the central focus of the book. Second, the music is going to guide you through the book. If you are a fan of puzzles and how song lyrics help you answer those puzzles this is the perfect book for you. I would also recommend having a tissue handy for the tears at the end.
Brief Summary: Mia Peters is stuck. She can feel the pull of a bigger life as she writes songs in secret, but she is also the daughter of Tori Rose, a famous country singer tragically taken at the height of her fame. As Mia prepares to start her life after graduation she looks around the town that has raised her and immortalized her mother wondering what her next move should be. Luckily she has a rainbow of clues pointing her in the right direction.
Thoughts: This book is a slow burn. It took at least five chapters before this book really hooked me.
How Holford was able to not only write a book, but all of the songs included in this book is impressive. Although it was a bit of a slow start, the way that Holford was able to integrate two coming-of-age stories, two love stories, and two musical worlds ended up bringing me to tears.
This is a love story, but I would not call it a romance novel. Mia and Britt do have friends to maybe lovers vibe throughout the endearing book, but the real focus of this book is Mia and Tori and their relationship as mother and daughter. The way that Holford writes Mia as a confused teenager trying to grapple with her grief is breathtaking. So many times throughout the book I just wanted to hug Mia and tell her it would be okay and I felt joy at her every success and sadness at every failure.
Tori was a little more difficult to read throughout the book. We only catch glimpses of her from the stories people share with Mia and letters, but I could never really say I understood her...at least the younger version of her. Tori chases her dreams and finds herself in a love triangle. The mystery surrounding her drives the narrative of the story. I did wish that there was a little more explanation of Tori's relationships with the women she was friends with throughout her life. I feel like with her bandmates and classmates we just see snippets of Tori's relationships with her friends. The love triangle had me hooked and I had a favourite, but her friends made such big sacrifices for her and it was a little hard to understand why.
Holford's writing made me feel and I truly did cry at the end of the book. I found Mia to be such a dynamic character even though she was a teenager. I read somewhere that this book is similar to Mamma Mia. In many ways, I agree with that description, but it feels more like the sequel rather than the original because Mia is just surrounded by a shrine of her mother. I do wish that we had been able to see any part of the town that was not some roadside attraction to draw fans of Tori Rose. It felt a little weird that this was all the town offered, but maybe that is supposed to make us feel the oppressive weight that Mia must feel having grown up there.
I would recommend this book, but I do think that you should go into it understanding two things. First, this is a book about a mother-daughter relationship. Other relationships are described in its pages, but this is the central focus of the book. Second, the music is going to guide you through the book. If you are a fan of puzzles and how song lyrics help you answer those puzzles this is the perfect book for you. I would also recommend having a tissue handy for the tears at the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Cursing and Gaslighting
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
ascher3's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
libraryofthieves's review
DNF @46%
This book had potential but unfortunately had so many things that could have been better.
Firstly, the entire plot was just so contrived. The town is basically a memorial to Mia’s mother and yet nobody can, or will, tell her anything of substance about her mother. Instead her mother leaves her a scavenger hunt to find pages of her old diary when she graduates high school. Why her grandmothers would refuse to tell her anything about her mother, who knows.
The emotional turmoil of Mia’s relationship to music and performing also felt very artificial. At almost halfway through the book, I still have no idea what was holding her back aside from some mysterious incident the last time she performed.
The entire book just lacked emotional depth. I couldn’t connect to any of the characters because everything was just so overdramatic and unrealistic. The plot of discovering who her mother was on a personal level should have been really heartfelt and instead I was just frustrated the entire time by how little sense anything made. Oh, she also doesn’t know who her dad is for some reason.
Aside from the plot, the writing was just bad. Repetitive descriptions, overly dramatic dialogue and purple prose really pulled me out of the story. And if I have to read about ‘the music’ one more time…
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
a_pocalypse's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bernluvsbooks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
murchison's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
alysenann's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mellamaron's review against another edition
DNF at about one hour on the audiobook.
This one isn’t for me. I was distracted by the gorgeous cover but it’s basically a letter-based “learning more about your dead parent” plot and that’s kind of boring to me. I listened to one of the past chapters and even that was not super interesting.
So I’m out.
This one isn’t for me. I was distracted by the gorgeous cover but it’s basically a letter-based “learning more about your dead parent” plot and that’s kind of boring to me. I listened to one of the past chapters and even that was not super interesting.
So I’m out.
_travelingpages's review
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5