Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Canções em Ursa Maior

Wow, this one was a ride! This is a story about a courageous young woman who chooses herself in an industry and society that consistently tries to tear her down, to pressure her to mould herself into someone she doesn't want to be, and to sacrifice her biggest dreams just so that she can "get in line" with everyone else. Janie Q paves her own path in life and doesn't allow anyone or anything to deter her from her dreams and ambitions. In turn, she achieves more than she ever could have imagined for herself. It goes to show that saying yes to the things that are meant for you first requires you to say no to the things that are wrong for you, even when it's hard. Furthermore, what people feel they want might not be what they actually need because maybe they deserve better and are meant for more than they could have ever imagined

(This was especially evident in the way that her relationship with Jesse was portrayed; even though she clearly loved Jesse, she didn't want to be known solely as his love interest and managed to foresee how his addiction issues could affect their relationship down the line. It must have been a really hard choice for her to make to walk away from someone she dearly loved, but I understand how important it was for her to set that boundary with Jesse so that she could be there for him without having their relationship be completely engulfed by his issues)

. The story progression was well-paced, from her career beginnings with her band to her solo debut, and all of the transitional phases in between. Thematically, the book covers a lot of different topics such as women's rights and freedoms, mental health and addiction, family dynamics and friendships, music publishing and rights, just to name a few. I loved seeing how the different characters evolved, how the dynamics of their relationships changed over time (especially with her former band), as well as how their choices influenced their life experiences. There were also lots of unexpected twists and turns which kept the readers on their toes

(I did kind of foresee her mom's mental health issues because there was quite a bit of foreshadowing there, but it was also ambiguous at times so it was kind of hard to tell for sure. It definitely came as a bit of a shock when Jesse initially confronted Jane about it but thinking back, it does make sense because some elements of her story didn't really add up)

. Another issue that was highlighted in this book is about how men are often asked serious questions about their music while women are often questioned for their fashion choices or scrutinized for the relationships they pursue. As an example, it makes me think about how Taylor Swift's relationships are more dissected in the media than those of literally any other artist. Jane's songs were about Jesse to some extent, but they were also about more personal life experiences that she went through which had nothing to do with him

(she did write some songs about her mom's mental health issues and about the connection she feels to her, after all)

. I think I have written out pretty much most of my takeaways and I should probably stop writing now before Storygraph caps my book review limit (if there is one), but overall TL;DR this is an excellent book and I would highly recommend it to music lovers who are passionate about social issues. To whoever ends up reading this full review, thank you for taking the time to do so - I know it's long and sort of in a rant style but I appreciate the time you have taken to do so and I hope you enjoyed it lol 😂

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jujube2387's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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liv_lovesbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Super fast read and I had a blast reading it

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kyrajg's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This one is a difficult book for me to review. I absolutely tore through it and couldn't put it down. But I felt there were some major issues with pacing and a few of the plot points felt really rushed/characters weren't fully flushed out. I also wish the epilogue had given a bit more closure as I still had a lot of questions. It's not as well put together as Daisy Jones and the Six, but if you liked that book you'll probably enjoy this one too.

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emmlxxi's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

the characters are lovable with the exception of Jesse. Idc that he had his character developement, he still gives me the ick✊🏻

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jessy_reads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed the experience of reading this book a lot, but I believe the author has more growing to do in their writing. Important events were not described in action but only after the fact, and some events were vague and only became clear later. This made the themes not come across as clearly as they could have. That is a shame, as I really liked the message this book wanted to bring across, about women in music and how much a womans reputation depends on her relationship, as well as dealing with mental health, describing schizophrenia and addiction. On top of that a healthy dose of music that i could feel vibrating through the pages, and this book came alive before my eyes.

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mommarex1221's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Perfect for those riding the 70s fictional rock roller coaster that is Daisy Jones and perfect for those who wanted to like Daisy but struggled with the interview format. But it's so much more than that! Ursa Major branches off in unexpected ways and ended most in a satisfying manner. I truly enjoyed this debut and look forward to her next book, whatever it may be.

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janae_reads's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I won’t lie, I mainly picked this up to fill the Daisy Jones & The Six-shaped hole in my heart. I’m also just a huge fan of 60s/70s music and culture, so I’m usually always ready and raring to consume any sort of period piece that takes place during this time. So this book checked off a lot of boxes: another story about musicians who fall for each other and also set in the late 60s.
But, to my disappointment, this book was just…okay. I want to make it clear: I was not comparing this book to DJATS while reading. They’re two separate books and it wouldn’t be fair to compare them. With that being said though, I just couldn’t find myself liking these characters. Jane and Jesse were both fairly unlikeable, and every other character was simply forgettable. The plot was also, I mean, it was just alright; really nothing to write home about.
I’ll be honest, the main thing this story had going for it was its lyrics which I enjoyed reading. Aside from that, a few of the character interactions were nice and funny at times but that’s about it. Don’t get me wrong, the book isn’t bad, but I wouldn’t re-read it.

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