wordsofclover's Reviews (2.16k)

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev is a brilliant fictional take on an oral history of a pop-punk band that had a brief moment of stardom in the 1970s. Journalist Sunny Shelton has been given the chance to finally receive the life story of feminist icon Opal Jewel who came to fame following her punk band Nev Charles, who later became an 80s pop sensation. But Opal and Nev's rise to fame came following a horrific event that actually claimed the life of Sunny's father - drummer Jimmy Curtis. And now the two are finally going to reunite, and talk about what really happened that day.

This is a great story that's perfect for fans of Daisy Jones and the Six, or The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. There's just something delicious about a tell-all story, even if it's one that fictionalised - maybe because it can be as sensational as it wants. I also always love and appreciate the journalist angle - the fine line of wanting the line or the truth that will break a story wide open, but having to thread carefully so you don't spook your subject away.

While this book is similar to Daisy Jones, it also takes on a lot more political significance due to the story heavily revolving around race relations at the time - and so much of Opal and Nev's songs and images were a reflection of the racism experienced by Opal and other Black people in the US at the time, and beyond that we see how she was treated by others such as management, and the media because she was young, outspoken Black girl. I thought all of this was done really well in the book, and at times we see Opal's struggle reflected in that of Sunny's in her role as the first Black female editor of music magazine Aural - and how her young, white 'hip' boss just doesn't understand the importance and significance of Opal's story versus that of the white, British Nev.

I do think there was a little twist/reveal at 50% through, and I felt like there was going to be some great action after that but the story ended up meandering for me instead. We see Sunny go back and forth with what to do, and while the ending and Opal's decisions were satisfactory, part of just wanted a bit more, sooner. I also thought something would come out as well with Beau Bond appearing out of the woodwork and telling his story, and revealing what really happened/what was said.

I do think this book is good. I'm just disappointed that I wasn't as invested in the story as I thought I was going to be past that 50% mark. I would definitely reread this on audiobook though as I say it's excellent! 

Samantha Miller has it all - ambition, fame, money and 'her girls' - adoring fans that hang onto every word she says. Life is good for Sam, and her new book is set to rock the charts until an email from an old friend brings it all crashing down. Sam's childhood best friend is claiming a sexual experience between the two of them, that Sam wrote about in an article, wasn't consensual and now Sam's whole career is teetering on the brink. There's nothing worse than being cancelled, and Sam is determined to not let it happen.

Another fantastic book from Louise O'Neill - this had everything I wanted in a book looking at celebrity and cancel culture that I haven't received in other books and I loved how Sam's character was built up as this wellness influencer (think Brené Brown meets Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop), but then over the chapters all the cracks and ugliness in her perfect exterior started to shine through.

This author is just a master at creating these amazingly complex, flawed human beings and you hate them but relate to them all at the same time for the perfectly imperfect way they swan through life. I think so much can be written about the world of influencers - particularly a type of influencer (rich, white women) who don't really know the meaning of struggle taking advantage of the needs and issues of other women who are so desperate for a calm face to guide them through it all. There were some great moments in this when we see how Sam's following is mostly white young women (but that's not her fault) and she receives criticism from BIPOC influencers in the same sphere for her cultural appropriation when it comes to the type of practices she preaches which seem to be a mixture of different faiths and organisations.

Everything in Sam's hometown was like watching a car crash and Sam just kept digging that hole deeper, and deeper for herself. While she was 40 years old, it was obvious that she had never let go of some things from her childhood (namely not being chosen as 'the one' by the boy she liked). The look at the intoxicating, obsessive way female friendships can be especially at a young age when emotions and hormones are so out of control was done really well. And how we can see Sam exercise her control once more over Lisa when she comes back into town and uses her more domineering personality to wear the other woman (who is mentally & spiritually fragile) down.

There were lots of satisfying moments in this book but the ending was the cherry on the cake, and I feel like I let out a sigh of relief when everything came crashing down once again.

This book is a fantastic take on truth and memory, as well as how one can warp the truth/memory for their own gain. It's also a fantastic gaze at the danger of influencer culture to such an extreme and how it seems to be so easy for young women to fall under the spell of others who might just being using their trauma for their own gain.

Kayleigh is finally telling her story about her dark time working as a content moderator for a giant unnamed tech corporation, and it's her job to watch any flagged videos and deem if they are worth staying on the platform or be taken down. During her job, under stressful conditions and not enough breaks, Kayleigh and her colleagues witness horrific acts and have to play 'gods' in a way when it comes to leaving these videos up or not - and if they make the wrong decision, their corporate bosses breathe down their neck. Kayleigh's work and personal life entangle as she starts dating her colleague Sigrid but soon what everyone is absorbing every day turn things ugly.

This book is really interesting on so many levels. The mental health and toil of real life content moderators were the inspiration behind this book, as the author writes within her acknowledgements and as someone who, while not a content moderator, has worked a job which meant I was often privy to some really horrific and disturbing online content, I definitely was able to relate to some of what Kayleigh and her colleagues were going through here. What's going on in this story definitely feels like a very much exaggerated form of the life of content moderations, I definitely don't think it's that far from the truth unfortunately. It's easy to see how the work and content being absorbed directly resulted in people drinking and smoking more heavily, and finding solace in each other. The mental health of content moderators, as well as that of online journalists, who are sitting at a desk in a safe part of the world but still bearing witness to terrible moments of war, cruelty or human depravity is one that we still have a lot to learn about and I think this is reflected within this book.

I thought it so interesting how we see Kyo and Sigrid begin to fall prey to some conspiracy beliefs from idea that the earth is flat, to Holocaust denial and this in a way reflects what one sees on all sorts of forums from Facebook to 4chan and how if people are absorbing enough information and opinions/ideas even if unintentional it may actually start shaping the way they are thinking.

I definitely think this book could have done with another chapter at least and while the ending was there for shock value, it did feel that little bit too abrupt for me and I felt unsatisfied. 

In the court of King James 1, Anne Turner is told to befriend the young Frances Howard to needs help styling herself in a court that knows how much her husband despises her and her family. Stuck in an unhappy marriage, Frances latches onto the older, wiser Anne, and the two become fierce friends, sticking to each other during grief, annulments and poverty. As Anne uses Frances's connections to help keep her family afloat, Frances uses Anne as a confidante which eventually leads to a true scandal when they are accused of murder.

I enjoyed this historical fiction book set in a court that I have yet to read a lot of books from. While I've read books focusing on the witchcraft trials during James's reign, this is one of the first I've read set within his court and with characters who lived very closely with him. It was fun to learn more about the king's 'favourites' and reading more that it appears he was most likely bisexual and took lovers of both genders.

There was a strong strand of female friendship in this book, not only between Frances and Anne but also Anne and Mistress Bowdery. How people lived in the court such as the wealthy spending money the didn't have and living in debt because that's how the King liked it to be (and therefore these people not being able to pay the lower classes for work done like Frances and Richard Weston).

This book felt well written and really well researched and I'd like to read more from Lucy Jago. I didn't know anything about this true murder scandal before, and it was fun to learn about all the things leading up to it even if it had a tragic ending. I thought the epilogue between the daughters was also really well and touching, and it was nice that a story of female friendship still ended with the blossoming of a new one.