By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
First of all, what an emotional roller coaster, when I didn’t know what the book is about, and quickly realize it’s an oral history of a monumental rock band, so I look them up and it turns out their fictitious! I mean, before I started I thought it was fiction, then it started, and I was like “huh, am I the only one in the world who’s never heard of this band?” But it turns out, it is fiction after all. It’s definitely a page turner. I read it in 100+ page chunks, which I almost never do. It was silly. It was wild. It was fun.
The character of Camila is so easy to love, and for awhile I was hung up on the fact that one person couldn’t possibly be the absolute perfect wife – understanding, perceptive, humble, not jealous to any degree, faithful, cheerleader – the perfect mother, the perfect friend, the perfect role model. Not one person could say the exact right thing in all possible situations. Because she was for sure, too lovable. But in light of the ending, it made more sense that people would remember her that way.
I couldn’t really love Daisy or Billy, but they weren’t written to be lovable. And I think most of the other characters were tropey, but in a fun and lighthearted way. It was fun reading about a rock band, and I think I’ll write my own rock album now.
