with the #FreeBritney movement and the revelation of how close demi lovato actually was to dying when she overdosed a few years ago, the unraveling of cassidy holmes is more relevant than it should be.

a girl group called gloss, fifteen or so years after one member left for many reasons, are reunited in a radio interview to be told, along with the rest of the world, that they’re forth, cassidy “sassy” gloss holmes has died.

between then and now, we find out what happened to these girls while they were just beginning, to how they blew up and became just as big as the spice girls, all the way to them all being on different paths in the current (2017) time.

i honestly didn’t want this book to end. all four of the main characters were different and i wanted to learn more and more about each of them. obviously, the book centered on cassidy, but i was fascinated with each character. rose’s toxic need for fame and unwillingness to be loved, merry’s ups and downs with her love life and a #MeToo moment, and yumi’s kindness that was met with racism, that we’ve all clearly seen much too much of, especially in the past year, and blowing up earlier this week.

elissa r. holmes’s writing flows so well and is so practiced that this didn’t feel anything like a debut novel. it was very dark, but also written with sensitivity and heart. there are even trigger warnings before the book begins, which is such a nice thing to see!

i definitely recommend this book if you can take in the heavy themes. i can’t wait to see what elissa writes next!

tw: suicide, abuse, stalking, abortion, racism, sexual assault, eating disorder, body dysmorphia, depression, body shaming, homophobia