Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

32 reviews

meggs1005's review against another edition

emotional funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Hate crime, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Addiction

sib_reads's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Homophobia, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Sexism

Minor: Alcohol, Car accident, Cursing, Gun violence, and Religious bigotry

prettycloud's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

This book is so compelling. So concise and yet with such gorgeous visuals and descriptions of music, so focused and yet so devoted to the nuances of the story and the supporting cast. It reads like a book written by a journalist, asking important questions and pushing the reader to think critically, but never dragging the way more self-indulgent literary books do. It focuses on racism, sexism, misogynoir, and the far-reaching effects of structural inequality and subcultural resistance, and yet it comes off emotionally real rather than preachy. If you liked "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo," you're likely to get a lot out of this one too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Police brutality, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Blood, Cursing, and Addiction

Minor: Abortion, Car accident, Medical content, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

This book is ultimately more adventurous than dark in tone, so though it shows racist violence and bigoted attitudes, it lingers more on subcultural connection, healing, and inspiration. The book centers around the death of the narrator's Black father during the riot that launched the eponymous band to stardom, and the narrator's ongoing quest to learn more about that night and its key players. One of the key players is at the time of narration dying of cancer. There is a twist related to that night, but no surprise violence or illness or anything.

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Death of parent, Drug use, Hate crime, Infidelity, Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Addiction

Moderate: Homophobia

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

5.0

 - THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL AND NEV is one of those books that feels so real you can't believe it's fiction. I kept wanting to listen to these songs and look up the photos and album covers described.
- I listened to the audiobook, which is read by a full cast: a uniquely all-encompassing experience for a book written in an oral history format.
- It's funny and glam, and also serious and sad. So much is covered in this book that's ostensibly about rock and roll excess. You'll be thinking about Opal and her life for years to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Murder, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, Blood, Grief, Violence, Cursing, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Racism

destinyperry01's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Murder, Racism, Violence, and Infidelity

morganperks's review against another edition

emotional funny informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The full cast audiobook was riveting. With all the real names mixed in, I had to keep reminding myself that this was a fictional l story. It's unfortunate that this book keeps getting compared to Daisy Jones because Opal and Nev is its own story. It dives deep into racism, sexism, and social justice in the music industry. Something about the pacing was off. There were a few parts that dragged. Overall it was a great book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Hate crime, Murder, Drug abuse, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Police brutality, Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity

Minor: Rape

katsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

"I believe in myself above all.”

“I got a better question for you. Why are you so deeply invested in proving I'm scared? Does a Black person showing they're scared make you feel safer? I suggest you sit back and interrogate that.”

The format of this book was super cool and intriguing. I really loved how it made me feel like I was really hearing the characters and getting to know them yet somehow also kept them at arm's length. It was hard to truly like any of the characters. I felt like it helped it feel like they were real people. Every person had their own imperfections and flaws that made them feel more realistic. I felt like the social commentary was really impactful, as well. It was really interesting to read a story about the artistic and creative labor of black women and how it's been exploited throughout history. I struggled with the ending a little bit. I wanted a bigger conclusion and resolution. I wanted everything for Opal. But on the other hand, would that have made it less realistic? This isn't one of those books that necessarily has a nice happy bow tying up all the loose ends. It's fiction but I've already stated that I liked how realistic it was. Perhaps, the real world is what actually disappoints me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Cultural appropriation, Infidelity, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gaslighting, Racism, Addiction, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Cursing, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

katymat18's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, and Infidelity

leandrathetbrzero's review against another edition

informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I am frustrated with Dawnie Walton’s The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, and that is not strictly because it is a mouthful to remember and type in full! My frustrations and disappointments come from my desire to love this book - for its massively important themes and messages about historical and present-day racism and oppression - but my inability to ignore the hypocrisy of certain characters…one of whom I am pretty sure we are meant to root for. The character I struggle the most to like is Opal, our fierce “Black Girl Magic” protagonist, and I wish this wasn’t the case. I LOVED the scenes involving television interviews or appearances (i.e., her appearance with Nev on Cavette is spectacular!). I did not love that she knowingly becomes the mistress of a married man and, after that man dies tragically, her nonexistent attempt to empathize with the narrator (the daughter of said man) or her mother (his wife).

Twice Opal’s best friend and stylist, Virgil, makes comments that infuriated me. Once, he scolds Sunny (the narrator) for questioning Opal’s sincerity, “her heart,” since that heart paid for all of Sunny’s education. Honestly, fuck that. As if Sunny owes Opal anything when, in reality, that money was what Opal felt she owed Sunny’s mother after embarrassing her and taking part in events that led to her husband’s death and left her daughter without a father. Sunny owes Opal nothing. The second comment from Virgil is something to the effect of suggesting that Sunny would find it difficult to understand just how many people Opal has helped or changed. Again, bitch, let’s get one thing straight. There are too many people to count who have done great things, and they 100% deserve acknowledgement for that, but if they have done terrible, selfish things, then they also deserve judgment and repercussions. One does not simply cancel out the other. And I felt like this book kept suggesting that it could, likely unintentionally, but it annoyed me.

Opal’s relationship with Nev also left a bad taste in my mouth because while he was

the “bad guy” in a sense,

the only flaw I could see outside of that was that he was described as “childish” at times when, in my opinion, in the scenes this childishness is described, I thought he was fully in his right. Opal betrayed him the first time by not confiding in him and letting him be caught off-guard, and then she abandons him when he is addicted to pills, which she is totally in her right to do, BUT when he gets sober and on track again, she walks back into his life to reap the benefits of a clean Nev. I would understand his “childish” reactions.

Moving on to the narrator, Sunny: I wish she had more backbone like her mother. I absolutely loved the chapter that includes her mother’s voice, and I wish more space was dedicated to her. Her entrance into the novel was actually when I was considering changing my 2-star review to possibly even a 4-star if it ended the way I thought it would (based on her mother’s words). Unfortunately, the ending was not what I hoped; it was what I dreaded.

Sorry to those who love this book. I am only just realizing that my love-hate relationship with a book is very dependent on its characters and my ability to root for/against them appropriately.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Drug abuse and Addiction

Minor: Infidelity and Toxic friendship