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ricarda_reads 's review for:
Hot Wax
by M.L. Rio
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Maybe I should just finally read If We Were Villains and give up on M.L. Rio's new releases, because so far I'm really not vibing with them. To be fair, Hot Wax is an ill match for my personal reading taste in the first place, because the book has multiple plot points that I don't like to read about (music, fame, road trips) and the dual timeline format is not my favorite either. I can't really blame the author for that, but just imagine my disappointment when I found out that a book titled Hot Wax was about rock stars in the 80s and not about creepy wax figures or my favorite wax-winged boy Icarus.
The story is following Suzanne at two different points in her life. One storyline is about her at eleven years old as she accompanies her rock star father on tour in the late 1980s. A second storyline is set in present day with the now 40-year-old Suzanne not having her life together, to say the least. Even though I don't care about music-centered stories, I was pretty invested in the chapters about her past. I don't have any 80s nostalgia, but it was still such a vibe. I liked to read about her falling in love with music and her very unique perspective of a child amongst sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. Suzanne loves her father and this life on the road, but the whole situation is unsettling for the reader, because it's ultimately no place for a child. She's always around many people but still neglected in multiple ways, and she also has to witness intense violence more than one time. Something happened on tour that still has Suzanne traumatized in the present-day storyline, 29 years later. At first I thought that the dual timeline could be an interesting way of showing how Suzanne reflects her past and how she finally starts coping, but she barely ever did so. The present-day storyline reads like a midlife crisis while also being so very boring. Suzanne leaves her husband and goes on a road trip with two strangers where they do the most random stuff without any direction. I understand that this reflects her character and her mental state, but actually reading about it was such a chore. Then there are also chapters from her husband's POV, and they were even worse. He's looking for his wife and he's always one step behind her, making his POV repetitive and unnecessary. I really wondered what the point of his chapters was, but later his character was antagonized entirely, so I had my answer. I would never excuse his behavior in any way, but Suzanne turned his life upside down without ever answering a single question, so I at least understand his motivation. Suzanne on the other hand was completely unlikable in the present-day chapters. I felt sorry for her as a child, but her being a fully grown adult without any sense of responsibility was so annoying. The present-day side characters gave absolutely nothing either, but at least the band and crew members in the past chapters were interesting. Some of their scenes were absolute mayhem and really intense to the point where I had a hard time understanding what was actually happening. Overall, I just can't say that I enjoyed a book when I only liked one of two storylines. The plot was jumping around in time constantly, and I was always dreading the return to the present-day chapters. In addition to that there are also so-called snapshots that are set at different times once again. Some were straight up unnecessary, like the first meeting of Suzanne's parents, but some were interesting, like the flashback to Suzanne's late teens or to her wedding. I still didn't get a complete picture of Suzanne's life with the way this book was structured. There are too many holes in her story that are just not filled when we mostly get the perspective of her as an eleven-year-old and her as a forty-year-old. So yeah, at first I was turned off by the overall themes of this book and when I started to actually like something after all, it left me unsatisfied in the end.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Headline / Wildfire for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.
The story is following Suzanne at two different points in her life. One storyline is about her at eleven years old as she accompanies her rock star father on tour in the late 1980s. A second storyline is set in present day with the now 40-year-old Suzanne not having her life together, to say the least. Even though I don't care about music-centered stories, I was pretty invested in the chapters about her past. I don't have any 80s nostalgia, but it was still such a vibe. I liked to read about her falling in love with music and her very unique perspective of a child amongst sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. Suzanne loves her father and this life on the road, but the whole situation is unsettling for the reader, because it's ultimately no place for a child. She's always around many people but still neglected in multiple ways, and she also has to witness intense violence more than one time. Something happened on tour that still has Suzanne traumatized in the present-day storyline, 29 years later. At first I thought that the dual timeline could be an interesting way of showing how Suzanne reflects her past and how she finally starts coping, but she barely ever did so. The present-day storyline reads like a midlife crisis while also being so very boring. Suzanne leaves her husband and goes on a road trip with two strangers where they do the most random stuff without any direction. I understand that this reflects her character and her mental state, but actually reading about it was such a chore. Then there are also chapters from her husband's POV, and they were even worse. He's looking for his wife and he's always one step behind her, making his POV repetitive and unnecessary. I really wondered what the point of his chapters was, but later his character was antagonized entirely, so I had my answer. I would never excuse his behavior in any way, but Suzanne turned his life upside down without ever answering a single question, so I at least understand his motivation. Suzanne on the other hand was completely unlikable in the present-day chapters. I felt sorry for her as a child, but her being a fully grown adult without any sense of responsibility was so annoying. The present-day side characters gave absolutely nothing either, but at least the band and crew members in the past chapters were interesting. Some of their scenes were absolute mayhem and really intense to the point where I had a hard time understanding what was actually happening. Overall, I just can't say that I enjoyed a book when I only liked one of two storylines. The plot was jumping around in time constantly, and I was always dreading the return to the present-day chapters. In addition to that there are also so-called snapshots that are set at different times once again. Some were straight up unnecessary, like the first meeting of Suzanne's parents, but some were interesting, like the flashback to Suzanne's late teens or to her wedding. I still didn't get a complete picture of Suzanne's life with the way this book was structured. There are too many holes in her story that are just not filled when we mostly get the perspective of her as an eleven-year-old and her as a forty-year-old. So yeah, at first I was turned off by the overall themes of this book and when I started to actually like something after all, it left me unsatisfied in the end.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Headline / Wildfire for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.