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A review by thereadingraccoon
The Lightning Bottles by Marissa Stapley
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
5.0
The Lightning Bottles is a novel about a fictional alternative rock duo that finds both success and despair in the ’90s music era.
Before they were famous, Jane and Elijah were just two teenagers exchanging messages, letters, and phone calls in 1989, musing about life and music. Jane was an isolated girl in a strict Canadian household, while Elijah was a high school dropout playing music with his friends in Seattle. When they finally come together after Jane turns 18, their lives are more difficult than she imagined while dreaming alone in her room in Canada. She feels shut out of Elijah’s musical life by his bandmate, Kim, and is naive about the amount of drugs flowing through Seattle’s music scene in 1990. When tragedy strikes, they make a messy exit and head to Los Angeles to make music on their own, but they can’t completely leave behind Kim or Elijah’s issues with drugs.
They quickly find success with a powerful group of songs written by Jane, but misogyny in rock music is rampant, and they agree to let Elijah take credit for her work. Despite his demons, Elijah’s angelic voice paints him as a sensitive soul ready to be saved, while Jane is portrayed as his scowling and difficult guitarist. This reputation follows them across continents as they continue to tour in support of their albums, but the stress of fame and lawsuits by Elijah’s former bandmates, including Kim, spin them further into their separate addictions and away from each other.
Eventually, a desperate Elijah takes a rowboat out into the cold waters of Iceland and is never seen again. With her husband and musical partner presumed dead, Jane must face life without him and conquer her own demons. But five years later, a German teenager (Hen), living next door to her rented house, shows Jane a piece of her past that leads her to a series of graffiti street art memorializing her private life with Elijah. Jane starts to question if he’s really gone or if he’s been waiting for her to find him again.
The Lightning Bottles is a complicated love story set against the backdrop of the early ’90s music scene. It’s easy to imagine this band existing alongside actual bands of the time, and the author makes it feel real and authentic. I loved how she gave Jane a thoughtful and introverted personality, which could easily be misconstrued by the public as angry and controlling. The bare-bones depiction of their spiral into addiction is heartbreaking but realistic for the era and their chosen career. I really enjoyed this unique love story and look forward to reading more from Marissa Stapley.
Before they were famous, Jane and Elijah were just two teenagers exchanging messages, letters, and phone calls in 1989, musing about life and music. Jane was an isolated girl in a strict Canadian household, while Elijah was a high school dropout playing music with his friends in Seattle. When they finally come together after Jane turns 18, their lives are more difficult than she imagined while dreaming alone in her room in Canada. She feels shut out of Elijah’s musical life by his bandmate, Kim, and is naive about the amount of drugs flowing through Seattle’s music scene in 1990. When tragedy strikes, they make a messy exit and head to Los Angeles to make music on their own, but they can’t completely leave behind Kim or Elijah’s issues with drugs.
They quickly find success with a powerful group of songs written by Jane, but misogyny in rock music is rampant, and they agree to let Elijah take credit for her work. Despite his demons, Elijah’s angelic voice paints him as a sensitive soul ready to be saved, while Jane is portrayed as his scowling and difficult guitarist. This reputation follows them across continents as they continue to tour in support of their albums, but the stress of fame and lawsuits by Elijah’s former bandmates, including Kim, spin them further into their separate addictions and away from each other.
Eventually, a desperate Elijah takes a rowboat out into the cold waters of Iceland and is never seen again. With her husband and musical partner presumed dead, Jane must face life without him and conquer her own demons. But five years later, a German teenager (Hen), living next door to her rented house, shows Jane a piece of her past that leads her to a series of graffiti street art memorializing her private life with Elijah. Jane starts to question if he’s really gone or if he’s been waiting for her to find him again.
The Lightning Bottles is a complicated love story set against the backdrop of the early ’90s music scene. It’s easy to imagine this band existing alongside actual bands of the time, and the author makes it feel real and authentic. I loved how she gave Jane a thoughtful and introverted personality, which could easily be misconstrued by the public as angry and controlling. The bare-bones depiction of their spiral into addiction is heartbreaking but realistic for the era and their chosen career. I really enjoyed this unique love story and look forward to reading more from Marissa Stapley.