I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

I’m sad that I didn’t like this book better than I did the rest of Wildenstein’s books. I was sooo excited to read this because all of her other books, I loved. I might change my review in a more coherent, and substantiated one but right now I’ll only make it a brief one. It was an interesting concept, but I didn't like our main character. She was so judgy and annoying! The plot felt really flat, and the pacing was off. Not it

This is a heartwarming story that will stay with you for a long time, it was a pretty quick read because I really flew through the chapters.

I loved this book! The way it was written, the characters. Plus set in Nashville, what isn’t the to like?

I unfortunately was not able to read and review this book before the digital ecopy expired. The synopsis sounds great though, so I will be buying a copy of my own to read soon!

I truly enjoyed this book! It was cute and easy-read yet touched serious topics. Definitely recommend!

I loved this story. Even though the characters were mainly teenagers there was still a certain maturity to the book and the problems were very grown-up ones. I also liked how the book were handling people who were different. For example, Nevada was sick and because of that looked different. It made the book more interesting and I certainly enjoyed this book because of it. It made the book more meaningful I think.
Loved this book from page one.

I liked this book. I found myself flying through the chapters and I even turned on text-to-speech on my Kindle so I could carry on listening to it whilst I was cooking. I enjoyed it and I really liked the characters but I just didn't find myself fully connecting and investing. I would still recommend it because it was a good read and I wish it every success when it's released.

Even though it took me three weeks to finish Harshville, I still have to say that it was a pretty quick read because whenever I actually felt like reading the book, I really flew through the chapters. The only problem was that it just wasn’t interesting enough to make me want to finish it in like a week or so. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun story and seeing a character like Nev – who has a rare medical condition – in a young adult novel was very interesting and it’s important to see more of that in literature. But most of the plot was very cliché and so was the writing. A lot of phrases the author used were some I’d just heard so many times before.

What I really liked about Harshville though were the characters and the romance. Angie and Ten were an adorable couple and I loved following their story. I just think there was a bit too much back and forth between the two and the story dragged on a little before the novel ended way too abruptly.

But overall, Harshville was a cute read which I enjoyed for the most part. It just wasn’t anything special and way too cliché for my liking but I’ve definitely read worse books which is why I decided to still give it three stars.

I gave this book 4 stars. Where do I being with Harshville? It was a lot. The central premise around this book didn’t really have me scrambling for my ereader, however, I figured I would give it a shot because I do really enjoy Olivia Wildenstein’s writing. 

I’m not really a country fan, quite the opposite really, I will listen to anything but country music. So already this book was at a bit of a disadvantage. The bright side is that I didn’t actually have to listen to country music to read this book. If you are in fact a fan of country music, here is a book about a girl who really wants to make it in the country industry. Enjoy!

The book starts off with a girl named Angie wanting to enter into a music competition run by her idol, Mona Stone. And so commences a storyline that actually wasn’t as drama-filled as I thought it was going to be. I mean there was definitely drama, but I was actually expecting a lot more teen drama, but it was more real-life drama. 

Enter Tennessee, a really hot new guy. Ten is a character I genuinely like. He isn’t just this mysterious bad boy that shows up and does nothing but brood. He legitimately has motivations and shows actual emotions. I feel like we just don’t get enough of that sometimes in YA romances. 

I kind of feel bad for reviewing this right now since after checking out the release date, I found that it was pushed back. It’s not coming out for another year and a half-ish. 2020. So if you guys are in fact swayed into reading this by my review then I sincerely apologize because there will be quite a wait.

I voluntarily reviewed an Reader Copy of this book which I received through
Netgalley. 

This story is amazing. I loved the story and the writing style. I flew through the book. This was my first book by Olivia Wildenstein and I can't wait to read another book by this author.

Angie loves music but most of the time she isn't 100% sure of her talents. When her idol announces a songwriting class Angie is determined to enter and win it. While this is happening she encounters a boy that intrigues her but also makes her furious....isn't that what love feels like? The more she learns about Tennessee (said boy) the more she begins to learn that maybe her idol isn't who she had hoped.
This book was interesting...I guess what I found lacking for myself was I don't really understand the culture of country music and sometimes throughout the book I felt a disconnect because of it...if that makes sense. Overall I did enjoy it but found myself wanting more at the ending.

I needed something fluffy to read and this was pretty much exactly it. There are some heavier topics mentioned - a disease, family issues and a brief scene with attempted sexual assault - but overall I really, really felt the fluff.

I loved how Angie got roped up in Ten en Nev's lives, found her spot and ended up making them better people. In return, they pretty much did the same for her. The relationship Angie has with her mom is also one I admire. They struggle through some things, but in the end they prove what a mother-daughter relationship should be about. Love and support.

I absolutely adored Nev. Being only twelve, she definitely has her childish moments, but overall she comes across as pretty grown-up. Makes sense with the life she's had so far. The relationship she has with her brother, Ten, is a fun one to watch as well. They're protective of each other, yet still know how to push the other's buttons. Guess it wouldn't be a brother-sister relationship otherwise, right?

The general focus of Harshville is definitely on Angie's passion for singing. With me being a sucker for anything dance- or music-related in books, I was bound to enjoy this aspect of the story and it didn't disappoint!

There is one very minor issue though. Actually one in particular and that's Ten and Angie getting too close too fast for my liking. Ten starts out as the typical brooding, mysterious type and then there's this.. sudden switch he makes where it all changes. I feel like it should've happened more gradually at least. That would've made me one happy person!

This is definitely an enjoyable story to pick up when you want something fluffy and easy to read. It's a quick read, with some fun twists and overall very likable characters!

I recived an ARC from netgalley for my honest opinion.


I give this book a 3.
I won't say that there is anything majorly wrong with it, since the book includes a lot of positive stuff for me at least and it wasn't poorly written. It just however felt a bit cliche-y and at times not. It felt over the top and I wish it hadn't because I would have enjoyed it so much more. Just a lot of things that made it so far fetched and cliche-y as I mentioned earlier. It wrecked a lot for me. It was however a major throwback to being a teen and it was full of teenage angst. If you can't handle books with angst in them, I'd steer clear of this one.
I also took forever to finish this which I honestly normally don't with books.

This was not a book I enjoyed very much, unfortunately. Though I was interested in the concept, for me, the book failed to deliver in a number of ways, which I'm going to talk about below.

Please note that there are some SPOILERS in the below review, specifically regarding the character of Nev. I've tried to avoid spoilers as far as possible, but as this is something I think it's important to comment on, the spoiler for this is unavoidable.

I also think there should be a trigger warning for an uncomfortable scene near the beginning of the book, involved Angie and her friend Jasper and some unwanted physical contact. Whilst the situation is resolved relatively quickly, and it's shown as being a negative and upsetting experience, which is a good thing, it could potentially be upsetting or triggering to readers. 

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

So anyway, here's what I liked about the book:

Angie's relationship with her mum - this changed over the course of the book, but it was nice, at the start, to see a strong, loving relationship between Angie and her mum
Angie, Steffi, and June - Steffi and June are Angie's dancing and singing teachers, and also, married queer women! I loved the relationship between these three characters, and also how Steffi and June are held up as the 'best' relationship Angie sees in the adults around her. It's definitely great to see queer adults being portrayed as examples of strong, healthy relationships
Angie's dedication to her dancing and music - Angie spends a lot of time working on her music, or going to lessons with Steffi or June. I enjoyed this aspect of the story because it felt realistic - improving at anything requires practice, but particularly in the hyper-competitive worlds of dance or music, there are way more people who want to be in the industries than will ever make it, and Angie knows she has to be the best to make it
What I didn't like about the book:

The overall plot - to me, it felt like there were just too many competing storylines going on throughout this book, and none of them felt like they were developed quite enough to really pull me in. There's the competition, there's Nev and her condition, there's Angie's relationship with Ten, and there's the secrecy around Angie's father that she's trying to investigate. We spend a lot of time bouncing around between these different stories, and so I struggled to really get involved in any one of them. I think this also led to me feeling like the plot was just too contrived. I appreciate that every story will be, to a greater or lesser extent, but it seemed that each aspect of the plot only served to push something forwards in a different aspect, which is another thing that left me with the feeling that I wasn't involved enough in any of them
The relationship between Angie and Ten - I found this element of the book immensely frustrating. It starts off with the insta-love trope, and then they seem to spend the whole book going back and forth between being together and being broken up. For me, it didn't feel like a believable, or particularly healthy, relationship
The inability of characters to talk to one another - this is a particular bugbear of mine, so I do appreciate that others might not be so frustrated about it, but so much of the plot of this book could have been easily resolved if characters actually talked to each other about problems! I understand that that's not always easy, and that this can be handled well within fiction but hear, it seemed to be most of the reason the book was as long as it was. Of the four main plotlines I mentioned above, I think all of them had elements of this unnecessary secrecy, some more so and more understandably than others. This focus on secrecy and lies meant that by the end of the book, I didn't really like any of the characters, as none of them seemed capable of having honest discussions with anyone, but were then upset when other people were upset by their lies!
What I wasn't sure about in the book:

The portrayal of Nev's condition - what's described in the synopsis as Nev's 'extra-ordinary looks' is actually a medical condition. Though I appreciate that this is reveal in the book and that Wildenstein probably didn't want to ruin that in the synopsis, I think the term 'extra-ordinary looks' is pretty unpleasant and awkward. The friendship between Nev and Angie is great - Angie's very supportive, doesn't believe that Nev should be limited in any way, and challenges Nev in a way that her own family doesn't. But Nev felt, to me, like a mechanism to get Angie to change and develop as a character

I was also frustrated to realise, thanks to the Afterword when I finished the book, that this book is not actually due to be published on 1st January, as is shown on NetGalley, but is actually up on the Swoon Reads platform, where it may or may not be offered the opportunity for publication following voting by the audience on that platform. I have absolutely no issues with Swoon Reads or how they work, but I think it should've been made clear on the NetGalley page for the book that this was the situation. It feels to me like the author was trying to drum up additional support on Swoon Reads by putting the book up on NetGalley - again, I have no issue with that, if it's made clear that that's what's going on so I can make a decision as to whether or not that's something I want to participate in.

In general, this was not a book that I enjoyed at all. My frustration with the story was then compounded by the issue about its publication, as I felt this was not clearly or accurately explained on NetGalley. I seem to be in the minority here, as the reviews on Goodreads are largely positive, so clearly plenty of people have really enjoyed it but for me, there were just too many issues with the book, and it's not one that I will be recommending to anyone.

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book trough Netgalley. I requested this book because of the cover, who doesn't love a purple cover with a gold, shiny mask!, and the synopsis sounded good so I thought, why not! Well.... unfortunately there's a lot of reasons why not.


To start with, it's horribly cliche. There's this high school girl who had a crush on a sports guy and then the new guy shows up. She hates him at first but ends up being in love with him. I feel like I have read this book ten times already. To make things better, he might apply to boarding school and she can't handle the possibility of long-distance so they break up. Wanna guess if they end up back together? Of course they do.

And don't get me started on the second part of the story. The one where her mum suddenly isn't her mum but just a surrogate. I had no idea where this came from. Sure, she was asking questions about her dad and her mum wouldn't tell anything but there was so foreshadowing (or a good reason) why her mum should be a surrogate. There was 1 or maybe 2 chapters about this and it was never mentioned again.

And Mona Stone being Nev and Ten's mum? Really? I was so disappointed. It just added to the whole "let's throw every cliche known to man in this book" kind of feeling. The only reason for her to be their mum seemed to be a fight an them being played on the radio. The author could've just let them win the competition but that was probably deemed to boring.

I also felt like Angie abandoned her best friend as soon as she started hanging out with Nev and Ten. There was little to no mention of Jess from that point on. Why couldn't Angie hang out with all of them?

What I did really like about this book was how Angie treated Nev. She really liked Nev for who she was and wouldn't let anyone think it was just for pity. She truly believed Nev could do whatever she wanted and she would push her where necessary.

The last third of the book was a bit better. Less cliche and more fun to read. What I didn't understand however, was the ending. How did the relationship between Angie's mother and Ten's dad get so serious all of a sudden? There was little to no mention of a relationship between the two and all of a sudden they were getting married? Also, it made the relationship between Angie and Ten that much more strange and out of place.

I think it is safe to say I really did not like this book. It's probably not necessary to repeat why not. Normally I would say, see for yourself but I don't know if I can muster up enough positivity for this book to even say that. It's a bummer because it sounded so promising.

spoilers below!

i went into this book expecting something very different. i kinda thought it would be a little bit like the show nashville, but it turned out to be much more than that, and i was pleasantly surprised. then it turned into a soap opera and i was annoyed lol.

the concept of the book is interesting — it's about a girl, angie, who wants to be a singer and enter a songwriting contest hosted by one of her idols, mona stone. then she meets a mysterious hot boy who turns out to be mona stone's son (i guessed this right from the beginning because it was so obvious) and angie learns that mona is one of the worst people ever. in the middle of this she also finds out that her mum isn't her biological mum, and her actual biological parents died in a plane crash. oh and she's super rich. yeah. i don't even know.

the author did try to deal with things like consent and body shaming, but it wasn't done very well and basically came off as being added for the sake of it. the love interest was emotionally and sometimes even physically abusive, but none of this was addressed. he and angie broke up like three times throughout the book for the stupidest reasons. it was all just a huge mess.

the only redeeming thing was all the friendships. nev, jess and angie are all supportive and awesome, the kind of friends you need in life. i liked june and steffi and their relationship with angie.

but, there was so much unnecessary drama, unresolved subplots and weirdly abrupt writing that stopped this book from being as awesome as it could have been.

I really love this author! She has a way of making her stories even more than one is expecting. A previous book of hers, Ghostboy Chameleon and the Duke of Graffitti is one of my favorite YA books. As with that novel, Harshville takes the reader into a world where people are damaged, but trying to heal. Characters have good friends that support them and encounter many others who are not so nice. Most adults attempt to be supportive, while dealing with their own flaws while others are not great people. Her characters always have layers and depth, and neither the main characters nor the supporting ones are flat stereotypes. The premise of this story is very original, reveals are followed by twists and no relationship is ever simple. I highly recommend this book to YA fans and teen readers. This story, like the author, is not something to be missed.

When I realised this book had been sitting at 43% for two days wiithout me feeling any urge to go back to it, I was worried. When I couldn't get through more than about 15 minutes at a time without going to do something else, I was sure. This is a fine book, but it's not standing out in any way for me, and I have no inclination to finish it. I'm fairly sure she'll win the competition, probably by playing her music while Nev sings it. She'll end up with Ten, and her mother will accept everything.

There's nothing wrong with this book; it's a teen romance with music trappings, and if that's what you like, you'll really enjoy this. It just wasn't for me, sadly.


Thank you for allowing me to read it; I hope to read more at another time.

what a great book. I would definitely recommend it. This book sucked me in right away and I immediately felt a connection with the characters. I could literally see the book like a movie, playing out in my head, as I read. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy as soon as it comes out!