A review by moonlightreads007
Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

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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