There was so much to like about this novel, but there were also a lot of things that disappointed me. I’ll take a deep dive into the characters, plot, and everything that I loved/loved-to-hate about this novel by Jennifer Weiner. 

The characters. Phew. This book, in my opinion, is primarily character-driven. We have Cassie and Zoe, two sisters who start a band and become famous worldwide. Until, after a year, they crash and burn. Hard. This novel is told in two alternating timelines with three points of view. You have the past, which is everything that leads up to the Griffin Sisters’ demise. Then, you have the present, which has a lot to do with Zoe’s daughter, Cherry, and her desire to be a rockstar, too. I’ll start with Cassie since I know exactly what I want to say. Cassie is described throughout the book (by others and by herself) as fat, ugly, and a complete introvert who doesn’t know how to socialize with other people. There was one person whose review I read who said that the whole novel was fat-phobic. I disagree with this for a lot of reasons. First, I don’t think the author was going for that. I think the main purpose was to show just how fat-phobic other people were in that time. When Cassie and Zoe start the band, it’s the early 2000s. There was a LOT of fat-phobia back then. The thing I think the author could have done better about is showing how we’ve grown (at least a little bit) since the 2000s to be more inclusive and accepting of others and their individual circumstances. 

So, with these horrible descriptions and Cassie’s self-hatred because of them, you get a very down and depressed character. I thought she was extremely nuanced and honestly, Jennifer Weiner left a lot of her character sort of unknown, which leaves a lot for discussion. 

Cherry, however, didn’t resonate with me at all. Her character felt more like a tool than anything and the present-day chapters were much more boring than the chapters when Cassie and Zoe were in the band. Not only that, but a huge part of Cherry’s identity was never truly revealed (I’ll talk more about that in the spoilers). 

Now, for Zoe. I literally could write paragraphs and paragraphs about how much I despised her character. She was unkind. She was selfish. She was, in every sense of the word, a female dog. She not only manipulated Russell and caused EVERY PROBLEM IN THE NOVEL, but she ruined lives. I’m talking majorly ruined. There was thing after thing after thing that made me hate Zoe during the chapters from the past that she was almost irredeemable by the end of the novel. I wish there would have been a little more to humanize her rather than a token scene of “the industry hurts young girls”. 

Russell. Oh, Russell. I’m sorry. I’ll say more in the spoilers, but damn, why is it always the good ones?

With the plot, like I mentioned early, I loved the past chapters with them forming the band and becoming famous. I loved that the fun rock-and-roll aspect about it and how they were both sucked into the industry. I think it flowed really well and the present-day chapters did as well, but they just weren’t as interesting. I could have used more to be the driving force for the reader, but present-day lacked something and it always made me want to put the book down and take a break because I got bored. 

Spoilers ahead. 

Zoe. Is. Horrible. Literally, she is intimidated by her musical prodigy of a sister, “conquers” Russell like he’s some sort of prize or pig or slave to be won, FORCES him to marry her, tells him she’s pregnant and he can never be with Cassie because of it, and causes him to get killed (whether on purpose or on accident, we will never know). All of this was just too much for me to feel like I could forgive at the end of the book. Was I the only one who felt like that? Russell deserved SO much more and, damn, does it hurt to see the kind and pure ones destroyed like that. 

Also also, I guess we’ll never know who Cherry’s real father is….

Overall, I did enjoy this novel and felt drawn to it and wanting to finish it to find out what happens. What bugged me more than anything about this book was the multitudes of bad decisions Zoe made that made her almost irredeemable in my eyes. Cassie deserved better. Cherry deserved better. Russell deserved WAY better. I wish Zoe would have had more to make her at least a little lovable so I didn’t feel so icky at the end. 

Source: Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley

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