Thank you so much to Celadon for including me in their Read Together Initiative.

This book will be out June 25th, 2024.

When I first heard of this book and read the description, I knew right away that this book was going to be the one for me. It had all the elements that truly at my core is who I am: a millenial with a love for my teen years in the late 90s/early aughts and the love of pop music.

I thought this book captured that time period of 1999 to 2004 so perfectly. Obviously being a young adult during that time vs being a teenager at this time are very different. We were the first group of young people to grow up with the internet, the last generation to not have cell phones as a teen and now we are entering our midlife approaching 40. As someone who was knee deep into the pop princess, boy band, TRL culture, this was exactly what I needed to fill my soul.

Amber Young has this talent that is beyond her hometown. She has this big ambition and knows she is good but her mother plays along for a bit but ultimately stops supporting her. That is until she gets close to 18 years old and the idea of getting out of her small town grows more and more. After a series of events Amber meets fellow girl group member Gwen Morris.

The two girls relationship was interesting to follow over the years. Amber looked up to Gwen and in some ways was chasing her approval and was trying to make her proud. It came across as very frenemy and yet there was a LOT of love.

There was a moment that really irked me about Gwen. Blocking out the next section as it is spolierish but I felt it was important for me to note in my review:

We learn that Gwen has feelings & is dating privately her fellow dancer Tammy while publicly being linked with boy band member Wes. I felt that Gwen was a little dramatic in how she reacted to learning about Amber and Wes's relationship. Should Amber have told Gwen earlier? Sure but she left Amber's apologize and iced her out a long time that was unnecessary.

But in the end, I think they truly needed one another to survive the business.

"I think a good song is like an affair. It lingers long after it's over. You can't forget it, especially when you try to. It's the lover who stays in your head. Who drives you made."

Amber & her relationships to men. From the very beginning you knew that Amber craved that wanting and acceptance from men. As soon as she reconnected with Wes Kensington (they met as children on Star Search), those butterflies came fluttering through and she was smitten. I wanted to root for him. But like most men, they just let me down and Wes was no exception. For whatever reason Amber just was not "good" enough and there was a moment at the end that just made me angry at him. Just thinking about what he says to Amber makes me raise my fist to him. What I do wish we got to see more of was the intimacy relationship between Amber and Axel. Granted one could say that their time working on the album was them growing their intimacy. I would love to have seen it beyond where the book ended.

As a whole I just really enjoyed this book and it kept me engaged the whole time. I was anxious to see where Amber's story was going to go and with majority of pop performers when/how their fame fizzles. I thought it depicted what life was *likely* like for pop singers during that time (and honestly in any decade). The pressures from old men. the pressures from parents to be an "good influence" to kids, the pressure to stay thin, comparing yourself to your peers all are common challenges to being a female pop singer.

If you couldn't tell from this lengthy review (and will get longer when I review the audio), I really enjoyed this book! This may not be for everyone but those who like me were deep into the TRL & pop world maybe entertained like I was!

And if you made it to the end - thank you!