Reviews with content warning for Schizophrenia/Psychosis - Songs in Ursa Major

I wish I liked this more, but Jane can do LITERALLYYYY no wrong and I found it SO grating. The story had potential but I was too annoyed with Jane to care much about her journey.

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alylentz's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Everything goes more or less how you expect it to in this book for like 75% of the way through, and then there's a reveal which pulled me in more, but I still don't know if that was enough for me. I wish it had either committed to completely real world musicians beyond our main characters or completely made up bands--the mix between the two felt like it was pulling me out of the story. I also wish the affair element had more of a slow burn to it... they were about to kiss on like page 40 and they'd been in like a handful of scenes together. I'd read more from this author, but this didn't do it for me.

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cosmicsapphic's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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jessy_reads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed the experience of reading this book a lot, but I believe the author has more growing to do in their writing. Important events were not described in action but only after the fact, and some events were vague and only became clear later. This made the themes not come across as clearly as they could have. That is a shame, as I really liked the message this book wanted to bring across, about women in music and how much a womans reputation depends on her relationship, as well as dealing with mental health, describing schizophrenia and addiction. On top of that a healthy dose of music that i could feel vibrating through the pages, and this book came alive before my eyes.

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mommarex1221's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Perfect for those riding the 70s fictional rock roller coaster that is Daisy Jones and perfect for those who wanted to like Daisy but struggled with the interview format. But it's so much more than that! Ursa Major branches off in unexpected ways and ended most in a satisfying manner. I truly enjoyed this debut and look forward to her next book, whatever it may be.

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lilianmelanie's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.5

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lhodgson26's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

<spoiler > This was described for fans of Daisy Jones and the Six and A Star is Born which really was the perfect description. It was exciting yet heartbreaking the love between Jesse and Jane but each others deamons would never let it work. They were each others strength when it was required especially after Jesse overdosed near the end. The book gave hope as I thought Jesse would have died years before but in 2022 they are both alive and happy. Even though they never ended up together they had families of their own and still shared the friendship. This book echoes the issues with the music industry especially wealthy white men who take what they want with no consequences. I loved Willy for trying his hardest to protect Jane and for Jane to know her own mind and not take any BS no matter the impact on her career. All the characters in the book were great even Maggie and Morgan towards the end showcasing the power of family and friends.

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sophiao's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Personally not a favorite of mine because it moved into the story super fast. Marketed as a romance story when that really isn't the main focus of the book and the romance seems forced and unrealistic. Would like to see the story lean into its historical context a bit more.

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