Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
lik på daisy jones men mangla alt som gjer daisy så spanande. unødvendig med journalist/forteljardelane. altfor lange, særleg ettersom "editor's note" heilt i byrjinga er på sju sider. det at jimmy er far til journalisten verkar aldri så relevant eller viktig. desse notata frå journalisten verkar også berre som ein måte for forfattaren (walton) å seia si meining, om indirekte. når ein karakter handlar negativt har journalisten ein reaksjon, men dette verkar som forfattarens måte å orsaka handlinga på; "det er meininga at dette skjer".
stundom berre ikkje så kjekk å lese. ei bok som denne kan vere både kommenterande om samfunn og kjekke, med kjærleiks- og venskapsdrama som dryp av lit, mistru og svik. trur i grunn at problemet er journalisten sine notat, hade føretrekt om forfattaren let intervjua snakke for seg sjølve, sjølv om intervjua ikkje alltid var så interessante, heller.
etter høgdepunktet i midten, som i grunn var forrykande, bleikna andre halvdel, og på trass av at sluttscena var interessant og verka passande til forteljinga, rett og slett ikkje så spanande.
ein stad mellom to og tre stjerner, trur eg.
stundom berre ikkje så kjekk å lese. ei bok som denne kan vere både kommenterande om samfunn og kjekke, med kjærleiks- og venskapsdrama som dryp av lit, mistru og svik. trur i grunn at problemet er journalisten sine notat, hade føretrekt om forfattaren let intervjua snakke for seg sjølve, sjølv om intervjua ikkje alltid var så interessante, heller.
etter høgdepunktet i midten, som i grunn var forrykande, bleikna andre halvdel, og på trass av at sluttscena var interessant og verka passande til forteljinga, rett og slett ikkje så spanande.
ein stad mellom to og tre stjerner, trur eg.
dark
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
Idk, it kinda bored me mostly.
People say it has a similar vibe to Daisy Jones & The Six, (one of my favorites ever) I understand why but it's much less interesting to me.
It's similar in the way that both are set in the 70's, about musicians, and the book format is set like an interview, other than that, the level is different.
The ending was sort of interesting, but that's it.
People say it has a similar vibe to Daisy Jones & The Six, (one of my favorites ever) I understand why but it's much less interesting to me.
It's similar in the way that both are set in the 70's, about musicians, and the book format is set like an interview, other than that, the level is different.
The ending was sort of interesting, but that's it.
This book took me a really long time to get into. It's set up like a set of interviews for a book manuscript, and each time the voice changed, there is a header explaining who's talking now. As it happens, it is a MMD Summer Reading List recommendation, and Anne Bogel recommended this as an audiobook because the different voices fit the conceit. I had an extra audio credit and so gave it a whirl.
The book is akin to Daisy Jones and the Six, in that it recalls the origins and salad days of a 70s band that hit big. In this case, Detroit Black girl Opal starts as a backup singer for Nev, a British Traveling Wilburys sort of singer-songwriter who's trying to make it in New York. Nev is signed by a small label and he and Opal cut an album together that doesn't go very far but hooks them up with session musicians who stay with them during a live showcase, at which a race riot breaks out and their drummer ends up dead. The sensationalism puts Opal and Nev on the map; they make one more album and have a nationwide tour, but the stress of touring with racial issues hanging over the band and with Nev's drug problem growing worse leads to a long hiatus.
Opal has her own sidekick, a Black, gay cross-dressing man who takes her under his designer wing and transforms her from a patchy-maned, gawky girl into a shaven-headed Grace Jones. Her outré clothing supports onstage personas and serves as armor against constant aggression.
The person writing the book for which the interviews take place is the daughter of the drummer who died saving Opal's life when a group of southern racist bikers try to intimidate her during her act and she in turn desecrates a Confederate flag left backstage by a good-ol'-boy band they've come to see. And Opal had been having an affair with the drummer. And his wife is already pregnant with Saralena, the editor of an audiophile magazine who is writing a "where have they been" book to coincide with the 45-year reunion. And one of those good ol' boys provides information suggesting that Nev, who carried Opal out of the theater during the riot, might not be such a hero after all.
So it is a convoluted tale about thwarted love, ambition, the coldness of the music business, the coldness of those who want fame, and race. It gets better and better as it goes, and does a great job of portraying the creative and boundary breaking intentions of the musicians, the way that simple, driving lyrics and musical lines can evanesce into something far greater during a performance, and so on.
The book is akin to Daisy Jones and the Six, in that it recalls the origins and salad days of a 70s band that hit big. In this case, Detroit Black girl Opal starts as a backup singer for Nev, a British Traveling Wilburys sort of singer-songwriter who's trying to make it in New York. Nev is signed by a small label and he and Opal cut an album together that doesn't go very far but hooks them up with session musicians who stay with them during a live showcase, at which a race riot breaks out and their drummer ends up dead. The sensationalism puts Opal and Nev on the map; they make one more album and have a nationwide tour, but the stress of touring with racial issues hanging over the band and with Nev's drug problem growing worse leads to a long hiatus.
Opal has her own sidekick, a Black, gay cross-dressing man who takes her under his designer wing and transforms her from a patchy-maned, gawky girl into a shaven-headed Grace Jones. Her outré clothing supports onstage personas and serves as armor against constant aggression.
The person writing the book for which the interviews take place is the daughter of the drummer who died saving Opal's life when a group of southern racist bikers try to intimidate her during her act and she in turn desecrates a Confederate flag left backstage by a good-ol'-boy band they've come to see. And Opal had been having an affair with the drummer. And his wife is already pregnant with Saralena, the editor of an audiophile magazine who is writing a "where have they been" book to coincide with the 45-year reunion. And one of those good ol' boys provides information suggesting that Nev, who carried Opal out of the theater during the riot, might not be such a hero after all.
So it is a convoluted tale about thwarted love, ambition, the coldness of the music business, the coldness of those who want fame, and race. It gets better and better as it goes, and does a great job of portraying the creative and boundary breaking intentions of the musicians, the way that simple, driving lyrics and musical lines can evanesce into something far greater during a performance, and so on.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a fictional historical novel following a journalist as the chronicles the history of rock duo Opal Jewel and Neville Charles as their reunion show sparks interest in the controversies from when they were popular in the 60s’ and the one grand show that lead to their breakup.
This was such a beautiful and immersive story. Told in a series of interviews, each and every character, no matter how big or small, has their own unique voice. You can hear their voices in your head, the way they speak, how their body movement accompanies their language. You hear a hundred different perspectives on one night and you know how each character’s experiences colored their perception. It doesn’t shy away from the ugliness, the racism, the misogyny of the 60s’, 70s’, and 80s’.
If you find yourself with this book, I highly highly recommend it.
This was such a beautiful and immersive story. Told in a series of interviews, each and every character, no matter how big or small, has their own unique voice. You can hear their voices in your head, the way they speak, how their body movement accompanies their language. You hear a hundred different perspectives on one night and you know how each character’s experiences colored their perception. It doesn’t shy away from the ugliness, the racism, the misogyny of the 60s’, 70s’, and 80s’.
If you find yourself with this book, I highly highly recommend it.
The second half flagged a bit for me, but overall I enjoyed it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
You can definitely see the comparisons to Daisy Jones here. A novel about a band that broke up from the various perspectives. So in the beginning it kind of didn't grab me, as I was caught up thinking it was just like that. But it did differ in many ways. It was more angling for a political narrative propelling the drama. It didn't have as many full on song lyrics written throughout, which I'm interested to see how those come to the screen in Daisy Jones. And then there was the personal angle of the 'Editor'. While it was generally a good story, I felt the author was working on all the different perspectives more that the story which at times fell flat. It picked up at the end of Part I and again at the end of Part II, but overall the pacing didn't keep me thoroughly engaged.