A review by blevins
Every Anxious Wave by Mo Daviau
3.0
Daviau's main idea of this novel--that characters use a time travel portal to go back in time to watch rock shows--is a unbelievably great idea. Unfortunately, she doesn't really pull it off as the lead characters only want to watch 1990s indie rock and the story gets bogged down with an unrelenting over-the-top emotional quality to it that was tiring and a bit annoying. The self-negativity of the characters gets old quick--okay, the girl is overweight and the guy is also past his prime...we are told that over and over again. Enough.
Another thing that bugged me about this one. All they want to see is indie rock bands? In the history of music, they want indie rock? Okay, I get it, Daviau probably dug all those bands, but my goodness, she could have had a ton of fun with being a little more diverse in the listening habits to the lead characters. I did pull out my Sebadoh "Bakesale"/Pavement "Slanted & Enchanted"/Unrest "Perfect Teeth" and Stereolab "Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements" after reading this, so I guess I shouldn't be too harsh on Daviau as those are all great albums from that era.
Another thing that bugged me about this one. All they want to see is indie rock bands? In the history of music, they want indie rock? Okay, I get it, Daviau probably dug all those bands, but my goodness, she could have had a ton of fun with being a little more diverse in the listening habits to the lead characters. I did pull out my Sebadoh "Bakesale"/Pavement "Slanted & Enchanted"/Unrest "Perfect Teeth" and Stereolab "Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements" after reading this, so I guess I shouldn't be too harsh on Daviau as those are all great albums from that era.