Advanced Reader copy - Enjoyed this book, really opened my eyes and made me seek out other similar books to read.

I loved Versions of Me, though it is not the normal genre I would read so when the opportunity came to read Greatest Hits I couldn’t say no. Greatest Hits tells the story of a hugely successful singer-songwriter who has disappeared from the music scene and selects 16 songs for her personal greatest hits compilation.

This is truly a lovely and unique idea for a novel – the story of your life told through song. A book of memories that conjures up the great singer-songwriters of their day and the songs you yourself have written. Music has always been so powerful and so evocative that it makes sense to put a soundtrack to the story. I know a lot of authors make a soundtrack for when they are writing and this takes it to a new level. The author has really gone to town on her research and I loved that that shone through the words.

I liked it so much I brought the book, CD, and LP so I could experience it over again.

I found this somewhat of an anodyne read. It was a pretty good idea, reasonably well executed and pleasant to read but not particularly memorable. I think I'm probably not particularly emotionally invested in music and so didn't find it particularly relatable.

This book is set over the space of one day where rock star Cass listens to her greatest hits and the memories that go with them. I had to remind myself several times as I was reading this that Cass is fictional and that her memories actually didn’t happen. As soon as you start reading it sucks you straight in. This was really emotional and heartbreaking and not at all what I was expecting when I went into this.

The cover intrigued me with the picture of a woman with a guitar, I really wanted to read this because of being related to music.

At the beginning, there's a singer called Cass Wheeler who is making a greatest hits album.
She looks back on what has happened in her life when she was making these specific songs. She has gone through a lot with her father who was a bit depressed, her mother who left her, her husband who was an alcoholic and into drugs, and her daughter who had an eating disorder. This may be a lot of trauma for a character to go through and I understand that they would have had some difficulties but it seemed as though there wasn't enough happy memories. Most of the music related events happened at the beginning and I felt that there could have been more towards the end of the book.

The layout is different with song lyrics followed by chapters. The author actually worked with a singer called Kathryn Williams creating songs that you can listen to with the same lyrics that were included in the book. When listening to these songs, they could give you a sense of how they would have sounded like or they could sound completely different to how you thought they would in your head when reading the lyrics.

There were so many supporting characters that sometimes I couldn't remember who was who. This is probably why I couldn't connect with the characters but I did like the friendship between Cass and Irene. My favourite part was when Irene's mother introduced Cass to the piano when she was little.

The main thing for me was how some parts it was a bit jumpy, talking about one part of her life and then another part so quickly. I was a bit confused to follow the story if it was in the past or present.

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

The premise of Greatest Hits appealed to me and reminded me of, ‘Daisy Jones & The Six,’ which I have also enjoyed recently. Unfortunately, Laura Barnett’s novel didn’t grip me in the same way; I just wasn’t invested in Cass and therefore found it a struggle to pick up and finish. There is no doubt that the novel is well written but the emotional connection was lacking for me.

I’ve been blogging for 5 years now (my anniversary just passed! *shock emoticon) and yet I sometimes tend to slip back into my earlier blogging/ARC request habits – wherein I feel so guilty about not having requested a book from a publisher (who has me on their bloggers list) in quite a while, that I end up requesting one as soon as they have new review books in.

That’s what happened with Greatest Hits.

I literally remember thinking “Oooh, I like this synopsis but do I like it enough to read the (entire) actual book?” after a few minutes of indecisiveness I just thought “You know what I’ve got until the 15th of June to read it (I was offered it around the end of December last year/beginning of January), hopefully by then I’ll actually know for certain that I want to read it.” So I accepted the review copy. Fast forward to the 8th of June and I was ready to pick up Greatest Hits but still with some uncertainty (which I squashed with the reasoning that I liked the author’s previous book so I’d most likely, like this).

I shouldn’t have worried because I loved Greatest Hits! Using Cass’ songs to flashback to her past was genius! And something I’ve never seen done before.

I found myself really liking Cass and seeing her (SPOILER AHEAD) finally get her happy ending after everything she goes through. Laura’s characters are real, with every day issues and problems and not just that, she really gets you invested in her characters and their stories.

The one thing I had a problem with was the over-long (and sometimes unnecessary *oops emoticon*) descriptions but, I think that’s just the author’s writing style, and I was able to skip the descriptions that got a bit too long (and still know what was happening).

Greatest Hits was heart breaking and poignant but still full of hope and as I said before, I really liked it and can’t wait to see what the author will write next.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

I have to say that I really, really tried with this book but unfortunately I had to DNF it at 60% (see, I told you I gave it a good go). It’s well written but, frankly, dull. Cass is a singer-songwriter re-launching her career after years of shying away from the public and the book flips between her life now and her back story. I initially enjoyed reading about Cass’ early life and relationship with her family but as the book progressed I felt like the action was sorely missing. Cass has a horrible relationship with her jealous boyfriend (another member of the band) but this point is so laboured and the endless chapters about yet another gig, yet another argument, yet another London flat were so repetitive and dull that I lost interest.

I feel like there’s a good story within the novel but to stretch it out over 400 pages was too much for me. When my Kindle estimated that it would still take over three hours for me to finish I made the decision that life was too short and gave up on it.

I enjoyed reading this book of history told through songs. This captivated me till the end and I found it refreshingly honest

Absolutely stunning book and I love the soundtrack that runs through the book. Wonderful characters and a compelling story.

Great idea for a book, as versions of us was but I should have known better. I can see why some might like it but not for me.

It was ok i guess. It took me absolutely ages to trawl through it because i constantly lost interest and found something better to do.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me, but I'm sure others will love it.

Loved this story, the unique idea of using soundtracks that were so real to me that I really wanted to listen to the songs while I was reading this. I have a very good musical ear though so was singing along in my head. Very pleasurable, the story,not my singing!!!

Absolutely loved this book. Devastating and beautiful.

This book was OK but unfortunately didn't hold my attention much. Most likely the fact that it's not my usual genre rather than it being a bad book. Sorry.

I thought when I requested this book that the "Greatest Hits" were going to be from real life - but it turns out they are the fictional songs that Cass the main character in the book has written. There are some references made to contemporary songs and bands of the various times and so I did like those parts as it enabled me to relate to those periods of time.

Overall this book really didn't do it for me. I felt it was long at over 400 pages, drawn out and protracted. Bearing in mind this is one day - it felt like the longest day to me. Think of the TV series 24 and how that aired over many weeks!

There were parts I did like, such as the early childhood of Cass and her struggles with life. I could really relate to her being a young child and "grown up" things happening around her which she just couldn't understand - that is until many years later when she had a family of her own.

There didn't seem to be a pattern to the book, characters just came out of left field and I was left wondering who they were. I decided to just go with it and get to the end, hoping I would warm more to Cass, but unfortunately the opposite happened for me. Some characters popped up again and I was glad that Cass did reconnect with her past, and again those parts of the book I enjoyed more.

If this is ever made into a film I could see Bill Nighy playing Cass's boyfriend/husband Ivor. I am giving this book 3 out of 5 stars.

My thanks go to Netgalley for a copy of the book for review.

I love a story and this one was epic. Spanning decades, Greatest Hits follows Cass Wheeler, singer/songwriter, through her life, her loves, her music. We see the ups and downs of living life in the ever constant spotlight and the perils and loss that can occur, not just the fame and popularity.
We first meet Cass in the present day and through her choices of hits for the impending Greatest Hits album, we are transported back to the very beginning with flashbacks to her life.
Nostalgic, beautifully written and emotional, a great read.