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rworrall78's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I listened to this as an audiobook and I really didn't get on with the narrators voice to start it sounded really smarmy. But the narrator did a pretty amazing job doing all the many, many accents.
The characters were well set up, quickly which is often a challenge when you're telling a story from multiple viewpoints. I came to really love the characters and the invested in what was happening to them.
I was listening to something recently saying how it's really difficult to represent either sport or music in fiction. And I think it's pretty much impossible to describe musical things without it being a little bit cringy. The celebrity cameos were a bit ridiculous too, and as others have said they take you out the story, but equally I think they were done as well as those kind of things can be. And how else can you tell the story of the late 1960s music scene without having those characters appear?
I definitely enjoyed the human stories of the main characters more than the party scenes or even the gigs scenes.
I didn't love the dream scenes at all and I'm sure they were more symbolic than I realized. But I think Jasper's story was very cleverly done.
As with all writing that is very long and tells the story in almost slower than real time, I always wonder whether that level of detail was necessary, but when it's well done I begin to find myself reveling in it and I did with this book.
The characters were well set up, quickly which is often a challenge when you're telling a story from multiple viewpoints. I came to really love the characters and the invested in what was happening to them.
I was listening to something recently saying how it's really difficult to represent either sport or music in fiction. And I think it's pretty much impossible to describe musical things without it being a little bit cringy. The celebrity cameos were a bit ridiculous too, and as others have said they take you out the story, but equally I think they were done as well as those kind of things can be. And how else can you tell the story of the late 1960s music scene without having those characters appear?
I definitely enjoyed the human stories of the main characters more than the party scenes or even the gigs scenes.
I didn't love the dream scenes at all and I'm sure they were more symbolic than I realized. But I think Jasper's story was very cleverly done.
As with all writing that is very long and tells the story in almost slower than real time, I always wonder whether that level of detail was necessary, but when it's well done I begin to find myself reveling in it and I did with this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Violence
jordangddrd's review
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I loved almost every part of this book, and the fresh take on a classic rock band where the members don't all hate each other's guts really compelled me to finish this book more than other similar recent releases. <The ending was Stand By Me levels of shocking and heartbreaking.> That being said, the descriptions and roles of POC characters in this book didn't meet the standards I would expect from a book written in 2020. Also, the dialogue from American characters but especially <Janis Joplin> (who was from Texas) felt to me like David Mitchell has maybe never had a conversation with an American person.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Car accident, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, and Antisemitism
itsanoctopus's review
I kept waiting for the plot to advance to some crescendo or get more interesting, but it continued to just be a mishmash of 60’s music industry tropes with forced quotable “morales”. Easily my least favorite entry of Mitchell’s.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, and Violence
jomarchkinnie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, and Grief