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canaanmerchant's review
2.0
No one is able to get into punk rock as easily as this girl. It's so obvious at each step that it became annoying and I rushed through just to get to the stock parts of her forming a band, playing shoes, selling out, burning out and then learning something about herself.
rleibrock's review
3.0
I liked the premise of this story and all its literary accoutrements --rock'n'roll, the '90s, etc--but I did have trouble with the how much stuff is packed into this story and, resultingly, how quickly the main character has to zoom through the action Much is rushed through when it felt like it should have been slowed down. Still, I cared about Emily and I read through to the end, which I found pretty satisfying.
karenleagermain's review
3.0
I picked this book based on the cover and the title, as I occasionally do. It just sort of jumped out at me and I bought it on a gut feeling.
A very fast read, I plowed through it in two days and found it hard to put down. It's a drama for sure, but it also has a somewhat pulpy/summer read feel to it. The main character and her best friend are filled with teen angst, but they never get whining or irritating. They are both sincere and likable characters. I felt I could relate to Emily, with how she searches for information about her absentee mother. I liked all of the punk rock references. Most of all, I appreciated how the booked ended. Kuehnert could have ended on a sappy or fake ending...but it really closed on a perfect note.
A very fast read, I plowed through it in two days and found it hard to put down. It's a drama for sure, but it also has a somewhat pulpy/summer read feel to it. The main character and her best friend are filled with teen angst, but they never get whining or irritating. They are both sincere and likable characters. I felt I could relate to Emily, with how she searches for information about her absentee mother. I liked all of the punk rock references. Most of all, I appreciated how the booked ended. Kuehnert could have ended on a sappy or fake ending...but it really closed on a perfect note.
trisha_thomas's review
1.0
"You're sixteen years lost and I'm sixteen years found. You couldn't teach me how to live, but I figured out how. I figured out how."
I....have no idea what this was.... This was a jumbled mess, that's for sure. With chapters that jump back and forth - between a mom and daughter that haven't been united in years.
The chapters also jump around in years for the daughter. And they don't appear to move just forward but are all over.
And I think the main theme of the book is...I have no idea. It seemed to try to tackle too many themes and never settle on one. Mother/daughter drama or the daughter's fight to not be her mom my acting like her mom did or the plight of a teen trying to be a famous star.... None of these themes were fully explored, explained or gone through. It's a high level overview at times of what happened without every really pulling the reader in.
I just...this was awful.
I....have no idea what this was.... This was a jumbled mess, that's for sure. With chapters that jump back and forth - between a mom and daughter that haven't been united in years.
The chapters also jump around in years for the daughter. And they don't appear to move just forward but are all over.
And I think the main theme of the book is...I have no idea. It seemed to try to tackle too many themes and never settle on one. Mother/daughter drama or the daughter's fight to not be her mom my acting like her mom did or the plight of a teen trying to be a famous star.... None of these themes were fully explored, explained or gone through. It's a high level overview at times of what happened without every really pulling the reader in.
I just...this was awful.
heykstan's review
2.0
i know that Stephanie Kuehnert wanted this to be a love letter to punk rock, but she really just painted it in a really terrible light. in her version of punk, everyone involved has to be a deeply emotionally fucked up alcoholic or drug addict who is probably a slut and generally violent. the main character, emily black, comes across as a cowardly, self destructive little girl who shouldn't be a role model to ANYONE. i feel bad for all the 14 year old girls who read this and wanted to be just like her.
i can't give it one star because it was easy to read and i did want to finish it.
i can't give it one star because it was easy to read and i did want to finish it.
sonia_reppe's review
4.0
Four stars because I couldn't put this book down, but not five because the sections in Louisa's point of view were soapy and melodramatic. The Louisa sections kept my interest, but her characterization wasn't as in-depth as Emily, the protagonist whom the book follows. This character, Emily, drives the story. Emily is passionate about music, and talented. She becomes something of a rock star. This is believable because her music is written about in a believable way. The author either has a knowledge of music or did her homework. And I loved her relationship with her dad. Emily kept messing up but she kept learning from her mistakes, and she stayed loyal to/returned to the good things in her life: her dad, her music, her best friend.
This book has great momentum, and I had sympathy for Emily from the beginning since she was momless, but I really became endeared to her when she and her friend dressed up like Rizzo and Frenchy for Halloween. That scene was so cute.
This book has great momentum, and I had sympathy for Emily from the beginning since she was momless, but I really became endeared to her when she and her friend dressed up like Rizzo and Frenchy for Halloween. That scene was so cute.
david_agranoff's review
5.0
I found this book in a really interesting way. At my school a couple of my students have a volunteer job at the San Diego book project. Down in this sketchy basement there is pallets and dumpsters filled with used books that are destined to for libraries in smaller communities and various non-profits. The people who run the book project are clear they want people to take books and enjoy them if they find ones they like. I have found several cool retro science fiction books, including Ace doubles.
One day I was sifting through the pile and I saw this book. I was never a big Ramones fan so I almost chucked it but I read the back. It was a coming of age punk rock novel set in the midwest. As the author of a published coming of age novel about punk rock in the midwest myself I was intrigued. Granted my novel has skinheads and werewolves but they are both about small town punks moving to Chicago.
I had to read it. I am glad I did. I know now this is a debut novel and I can say it has all the benefits of a first novel in terms of passion and story dedication. It has none of the negatives of a first novel, it is confidently written in fact.
The story is strongly plotted and the characters are vivid. The setting from the small town punk scene to the large scale tours are fully realized worlds. You often hear the term world building being used in large scale fantasy and science fiction novel but the author did a wonderful job building this world.
The story of Emily Black a young small town punk rocker who was raised by her father after her mother left them to chase punk rock dreams. While Emily works to realize those dreams her mother lives a nightmare. The question becomes will they ever find each other.
I enjoyed every page of this book. It was the punk rock coming of age promised on the cover. One of the reasons I started writing punk fiction myself was it is rare to find fiction set in this world that is authentic. This is a case where I closed the book feeling like the author and I went to alot of the same shows, watched the same bands and felt much the same ways about the scene. This is punk fiction done very well.
One day I was sifting through the pile and I saw this book. I was never a big Ramones fan so I almost chucked it but I read the back. It was a coming of age punk rock novel set in the midwest. As the author of a published coming of age novel about punk rock in the midwest myself I was intrigued. Granted my novel has skinheads and werewolves but they are both about small town punks moving to Chicago.
I had to read it. I am glad I did. I know now this is a debut novel and I can say it has all the benefits of a first novel in terms of passion and story dedication. It has none of the negatives of a first novel, it is confidently written in fact.
The story is strongly plotted and the characters are vivid. The setting from the small town punk scene to the large scale tours are fully realized worlds. You often hear the term world building being used in large scale fantasy and science fiction novel but the author did a wonderful job building this world.
The story of Emily Black a young small town punk rocker who was raised by her father after her mother left them to chase punk rock dreams. While Emily works to realize those dreams her mother lives a nightmare. The question becomes will they ever find each other.
I enjoyed every page of this book. It was the punk rock coming of age promised on the cover. One of the reasons I started writing punk fiction myself was it is rare to find fiction set in this world that is authentic. This is a case where I closed the book feeling like the author and I went to alot of the same shows, watched the same bands and felt much the same ways about the scene. This is punk fiction done very well.
sabine0510's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
abigailbat's review
2.0
Emily Black is a punk rock goddess. As she works her way through a series of drunken one-night stands, playing punk music is the only thing that balances her and keeps her sane. Plus, how else is she ever going to find her mom who ran out on her when she was a baby to chase the punk music scene across the country?
I really dug the parts of this book that were about music and Emily's band, but I never really clicked with Emily as a narrator. The story's told through the lens of an adult looking back at her punk rock years which created a distance between the reader and the story.
I really dug the parts of this book that were about music and Emily's band, but I never really clicked with Emily as a narrator. The story's told through the lens of an adult looking back at her punk rock years which created a distance between the reader and the story.
m_e_d_b_'s review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0