The Saturday Review - 20 April 2019

The Saturday Review is a weekly meme hosted by me (Taylor Fenner's Bookish World) where fellow book bloggers and readers can share what books they've recently reviewed. 

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Blurb:

Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

My Review:

Cover: 🌟🌟🌟 (I like the US cover alright, but I prefer the UK cover because it's much more colorful and gives you an edgy vibe.)

Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟 (“Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now." - From the blurb. I thought this was a fictitious band - which it is - but this first line of the blurb makes you doubt that which can be confusing for a reader.)

Characters: 🌟🌟🌟   (It's hard for me to put a rating on the characterization for this book based on the way the story is told in interview format. The reader only knows what the person being interviewed says, which can be skewed. About all I know about Daisy is that she's a redhead, apparently gorgeous, and a major druggy. I can't tell you how Billy is described to look because it didn't leave an impression, and honestly I had to look up his name because I blanked on that too. In the most basic sense, this story is about a rock band that we only vaguely know the particulars about.)
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟 (The author does a fantastic job describing the drug and debauchery of the 1970s. As a 90s baby I didn't live through this era and I'm grateful because if everyone in California was acting like the people in this book, they were not someone to look up to no matter how famous they were. As for a setting as a literal place or being on the road, again based on the way this book is formatted you don't get a real clear picture.)
Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (Despite everything I really loved this story about a spoiled brat junkie who goes from groupie to star and a band climbing its' own mountain to the top amidst inter-band jealousy, drug abuse, and a fling between two of the members of the band. The book reminded me of the movie Almost Famous if Kate Hudson's character had been a singer. On the other hand, I hated Billy's wife Camilla. I mean legit couldn't stand her. Oh she's so great, yada yada, Billy cheats on her then spends the rest of the book trying to prove he's a repentant husband. Gag me. I would have much preferred if Billy ditched the needy wife and hooked up with Daisy, but that ship didn't sail. Also, the songs. Uck. The author includes snippets of them in the story and then places the full versions at the end but to me, if they were actually songs, they wouldn't be to thrilling to hear.)
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟 3.2 of 5 Stars!

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟 

3.2 of 5 Stars!

Repeat by Kylie Scott

Blurb:

When a vicious attack leaves 25-year-old Clementine Johns with no memory, she's forced to start over. Now she has to figure out who she was and why she made the choices she did - which includes leaving the supposed love of her life, tattoo artist Ed Larsen, only a month before. Ed can hardly believe it when his ex shows up at his tattoo parlor with no memory of their past, asking about the breakup that nearly destroyed him. The last thing he needs is more heartache, but he can't seem to let her go again. Should they walk away for good, or does their love deserve a repeat performance?

My Review:
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (MMMM can someone say sexy? And with the tattoos on top of that 😍)
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (Should they walk away for good, or does their love deserve a repeat performance?" - from the blurb. This ties in the title, which I like but honestly the author had me at "tattoo artist." )

Characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (Clem wakes up after being attacked not knowing who she is and she has to go on what other people tell her about her past and decide who she will be now when things don't feel right. She becomes this sassy, forthright woman and lets go of the frilly mouse she was before. Then there's Ed. Sexy, muscled tattoo artist who is trying to put the heartbreak of the love of his life walking out on him behind him... until the day she walks back into his life with no memory of their life together or why she left him. He's moody to mask his hurt, and he's sexually frustrated wanting Clem despite the way things imploded the last time. We also have Clem's sister who is a cop, Iris - the nice woman at the bookstore who becomes a motherly figure to Clem and gives her a job, Tessa and Nevin - Ed's co-worker and friends, and his sexy, inappropriate brother Leif to round out the story.)

Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (I liked the description of the neighborhood that housed Ed's shop, the condo, and Iris's bookstore. It sounds like a hip but quaint place to live and hang out and makes me want to step onto the page and make it my home.)
Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟(Besides being sexy and romantic, this book hit me emotionally and made me think about how I would handle life if I were in Clem's shoes. Who I would rely on to fill in the gaps in my memory. There's also a hint of threat and danger in Clem's life which makes you keep turning the page to see if her attack was a random thing, or if someone is out to kill her.)
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.8 of 5 Stars!
My Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
4.8 of 5 stars!