The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a tale of two parts. We have the music editor Sunny who sets out in 2016 to tell the story of the 1970s rockstar duo Opal & Nev. We then have the oral history interviews that take us back to 1970s New York and the emergence of the duo. The narrative revolves largely around the impact on one event on Opal's life and career when she protests against a rival band's use of a confederate flag and the series of events and life long impact this has.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a fun and atmospheric dive into 1970s New York and the music scene and industry. It's also a critical and condemning narrative of current and past politics and institutionalised racism in the music industry and wider society.

The oral history interviews are exceptional as they come from music producers, fans, family members, fellow artists, journalist interviews and more. It brought the narrative to life and had me considering whether these events were actually real as it all felt so realistic and immersive.

Opal and the music editor Sunny for me were the main draws of the narrative. Their characters really unravelled across the book and we saw the difficulties they faced, their highs and lows and the real strength of these women. Opal was particularly flamboyant in her style and I loved her energy. I didn't always like her choices, but I think Walton used her character to explore some really important issue. Both of these women for me had great spirit and tenacity and (despite the title) they were the central characters in the narrative for me which I really enjoyed.

It was through the characters of Opal and Sunny that Walton really explored institutional racism and how this hampered both women specifically in their careers. Walton tackles some heavy topics in this book as she explores attitudes towards violence against Black individuals and the police's response. She focuses in on the violence of white supremacist and how their actions go unpunished. She also examines the fragility of the white ego and the white man, and how this all interplayed in the environment of the music industry. At no point for me did this feel to heavy to read though.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev kept me drawn in from the beginning and I really enjoyed the pacing of this novel. I know it's been marketed to fans of Daisy Jones and the Six but as I haven't read this I couldn't draw a comparison for you. Overall though I really enjoyed this book, and whilst I wouldn't say it's a favourite book it's definitely worth the read!

Thank you to Quercus for the proof copy, out now.