Rated 3.5 really.

First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to North Star Editions/Flux for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way. Also, please note that this is an uncorrected proof - I was able to spot some (genuine) typos that are most likely not to find their way into the final version 🙂.
Fun fact: to match the book, all the headers for this review are US song titles from the '60s.

THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'

1968 was a pivotal year in most of the Western countries, but there's no doubt that the US - with the Vietnam war draft, the still very much current segregation and Martin Luther King's assassination - were one of the hottest spots at the time. And probably more than anywhere else, music - rock music - embodied the spirit of protest of the young generation, or at least their restlessness. Now, I'm in no position to know firsthand, but it seems to me that TVU captures the feeling perfectly - that of a nation losing its (mostly fake, apparent at best) innocence, and being forced to come of age. Against the backdrop of the draft scare and of his uncertainty about the future, Ronnie - along with his friends - finally sees the bigger picture, and realises that not taking a stand against injustice is just as bad as being part of it. Music itself, for him and the whole Vinyl Underground, become less of a hiding place or a cure for heartbreak, and more of a rebellion flag and a way to make a statement. But it also plays a key role in the story...a role that, of course, I'm not going to spoil 😉.

BE YOUNG, BE FOOLISH, BE HAPPY

The four members of the Vinyl Underground feel undeniably real, though maybe Hana comes across a smidge too mature and knowledgeable for a 17 y.o. (even one who wants to be a journalist). They do brave things and foolish things, as they're expected to (sometimes those overlap), without realising their actions could end up in casualties. In a way, I admire that about them - which is the point of the book, I guess - and I applaud the author for creating teen characters who unapologetically embrace their age and all its quirks. On the other hand, as an adult and a former quiet chickenhearted teen with a penchant for overthinking (though I had the heart of a rebel), I can't help seeing the fault in their grand plan and feeling, you know, a TAD disconnected from them. (And don't get me started on the drug use - though of course it comes with the territory, because in a way, drugs had a sort of innocence about them back then - they didn't seem to pose more of a threat than your average smoke). The main problem, though, probably amounts to my liking these four kids, but not seeing myself - my teen self - reflected in any of them (and I'm not talking about the obvious - three of them being male). As I said, though, they feel real, which is what we're always swearing we want from book teens, so I guess that's a good thing. Let a jury of their pairs pronounce on that 🙂.

THE WAY IT USED TO BE

Now, the adults in this book - or some of them at least - are a different thing entirely. Of course they have to counteract the kids, to embody the status quo - but I find it difficult to believe that they can be so misguided, and frankly, one of the parents comes across as a dumb, self-centered asshole...until he pretty much does a 180. Physical abuse is NEVER OK, no matter how distraught you are. Then again, I suppose it's historically accurate to depict a parent like that, since (to the best of my knowledge) corporal punishments were still considered an educational method at the time - and probably not long ago, too...So we come full circle, back to the genuine feel this story has - despite some reservations on my part. All in all, I'm glad I got the chance to read it, and I would definitely recommend TVU to both teens and teens at heart, even if - in the first case - with a bit of supervision and/or historical context. It's an inspirational story, despite being set in the past, because no matter the era, there's always a battle to be fought - and especially nowadays, young people (and older ones too) can use the reminder.

'The Vinyl Underground' is an emotional read full of badass characters and fellow music lovers will be as hooked on this book as I was. This was a surprisingly tender read which explores a plethora of different issues such as grief, friendship, racial tension, political unrest and the events surrounding the Vietnam War. I found it very enjoyable and quite unique compared to my usual kind of read.

I finished 'The Vinyl Underground' within 48 hours back in April 2021 and it is incredibly memorable. Even though it's been just over a year since I finished reading it, I still think about it often; the characters have really stuck with me. I highly recommend you give this underrated book a read. Now I just need it to be adapted into a movie or a show and I'll be happy!

I really liked the whole idea of the Vinyl Underground. I love the setting and the characters. It just felt like something was missing though I am not sure what. I would love to see where the characters ended up in life. Overall, a pretty cool read.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this title. My opinions are my own*

Please check for trigger warnings if that is something you want/need.

The Vinyl Underground is set in the year 1968 following Ronnie who is grieving the death of his brother who died in Vietnam. But when four teens come to form The Vinyl Underground a record club where they talk music, joke around, and trying to escape their Southern town. We have Ronnie, Milo the bookish friend, Ramrod the star athlete, and Hana the new girl in town who is half-Japanese but all roll’n’roller! But when the draft for the war is what everyone is doing and talking about these teens hatch a plan to keep Ronnie from being drafted.


The book is about grief, rebellion, Relationships, racial issues. The draft, the unfairness of it, and how young men were affected by, was something I haven’t read much about or around it, and like being able to see into this side of it.

I love how music affected this world and these characters. How music culture plays into our world and into this world is well written.

The racial issues are handled well. The racial issues are a theme through this and are towards a side character. (So not through the main character) The main character sees what his friend is going through and how it affects her.

If you like music, books that have war but not war as in going to battles, racial issue through side character, then you might enjoy this.

This was a different kind of read. I enjoyed reading a book set in that time. However there was a lot I didn't enjoy about it. The ending was a little bit odd. It just wasn't quite for me.

This was a fun historical fiction looking at a group of friends in 1968. The book, of course, looks at their response to the ongoing war in Vietnam and their desire to be left out of it. The approach that they take is very unique to say the least.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.

This was nothing like what I expected, and thank God because it was so much more than my initial assumptions. I figured, cool a book about kids that love music set in the early 70's. Yes that is part of it, but what it's mainly about is all the tension and emotions surrounding the Vietnam War and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.. Ronnie is still reeling from the death of his brother in the War, Milo is his movie loving best friend, 'Ramrod' a fellow wrestler avoiding the draft, and Hana a half-Japanese punk rock-n-roller fighting against the war and bigotry everywhere. They bond over trying to avoid the draft and music. They come up with a pretty unique way to get Ronnie to fail his draft test. This book really hit the emotions and sentiments that must have been so prevalent in 1968. Rob Rufus didn't pull any punches when it came to showing the small town, small minded racism that many of Ronnie's fellow students believed in. While I really loved the story and the characters, I feel that it was a pretty open ended ending. It works but I wish we got a little more.

IT'S THE FIRST TIME I'VE READ

It's the first time i've read something like this; a trio group of best friends watching how the U.S is completely changed. War, political propaganda sets in cold war avoiding mentioning the second-generation Japanese American citizens incarcerations in ww2 doing to expand the racial discrimination.

Using the same music like a weapon against this themes in the western towns (once again in the U.S history).
However this isn't last trouble to Ronnie, Milo and Hana.

i liked the author's way telling this plot inside the YA (historical) fiction improve the reality!

This book took me by surprise in the best way. I was already looking forward to a book about music in the late 60s, but this little gem of a novel was much more of a commentary on the social and political strife brought on by the Vietnam War and all the tensions that came along with it. This book tackles music, youth, abuse, but also just the absolute shitstorm of political and social turmoil that was the United States in the 60s. This is already an era of history that fascinates and horrifies me in almost equal measure, so the more I got into Vinyl Underground and realized the direction it was taking was just as much eloquent and appropriately angry political commentary (always something I enjoy) as it was zany teen dramady adventure story, I. Was. Stoked.

Rob Rufus did so much right by this book for me. I loved the kids, first of all. I felt their angst, their fear, their anger, their joy, and their spirit. Everything beyond and in between because they were just so enjoyable (side note: 2020 was a really good year to read this, even if it is disappointing that I've heard so little about this debut as it got swallowed whole by the maelstrom that has been 2020). Their frustrations and fears and their driving need to do something resonated so strongly. Hana was absolutely kickass, and very quick to set people straight in their ignorance. I loved the setting, and Rufus, in my opinion, captures the energy of the era perfectly. I fell into the story so wholly.

My only complaints are that one, some things were a bit quickly and conveniently resolved. As incredibly fleshed out as the kids were, the adults tended to be pretty flat. This might've been by design, but if that's the case then it wasn't the most effective. Secondly, the language was very slangy to the point that it bordered on campy. It's the 60s, they're teenagers, got it. But aside from pausing for campiness occasionally, it wasn't really enough to take me fully out of the story.

The reality is that against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, a highly unpopular draft war that we didn't have any business getting involved in to begin with, this book tackles with utmost finesse these themes of antiwar sentiment, racism, grief, and rock n' roll. Please read it, you won't regret it.

Thank you so muchly to NetGalley and North Star Editions for this free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I ended up giving it 3.75 stars, rounded up to 4 stars, because I still had some slight 'issues' with it.
Firstly: I was really confused at the beginning of the book. There were so many characters thrown at your head and I couldn't follow who was who and what their relations to each other were. Especially since almost every character is a male teenager. It took me up until the end of the book to fully get which character was which.
Next to that the beginning of the book was really slow, not a lot happened and the chapters were too long to keep my attention on the pages. Which is a big contrast with the end of the book where one thing happened after the other thing and I kept on wanting to read to know what the outcome of everything would be. So because of that the pacing wasn't really 100% right for me.
The last 'critique' I have is that as a non-American reader I don't know a lot, basically nothing, about the Vietnam war and I think the author could've gone into that part of the story a bit more, to really get the full picture and to make sure every reader knows what is going on. However, I did think the author did a good job with creating the atmosphere of the 1960's.
I think the way this book dealt with racism is done really well, but of course as a white person I can't speak for that representation.
The main cast of characters all felt really real to me, I could definitely believe that this could be someone's diary.
So overall I definitely recommend this book if you like historical fiction, and especially if you (like me) want to read more historical fiction that is not WWII related.

I originally picked this up because I love music from this time period. What I found was a book that moved me, rocked me and made me really think!

With the Vietnam War as the background, this story centers around 4 high school kids: Ronnie, who is grieving his brother's death in the war; Milo, his film buff of a best friend; Lewis or "Ramrod", who was Ronnie's brother's best friend; and Hana, a half-Japanese new girl, who's a bad ass and new in their small-minded little town. These four come together and form The Vinyl Underground, a weekly record club where they play records and read Ronnie's brother, Bruce's letters. It's during these meeting that they come up with a plan to try and get Ronnie out of the draft. And then, as if that's not bad enough, racism rears its ugly head! And in their small, still segregated town, Hana is considered no better then the Vietnamese...I couldn't believe what happened! And yet when you think about the war, you think and hear ugly things...some people even here, if they are sick enough, can be impressionable. The group takes it upon themselves for the ultimate rebellion.

I had so many emotions during this book. First of all, Ronnie, and I'm sure a lot of boys his age didn't plan his future past 18 because of the war . Ronnie couldn't think past the draft! Why bother. After his brother was killed, it was harder for Ronnie to see a different future for himself. It really made me wonder about boys in real life at that time. I can't even imagine! I loved this friendship that the kid's had! They were honest and real! You couldn't have better friends then them!

As for what they did to try to save Ronnie from the draft, I won't ruin anything for anyone. All I will say is that....Wow! To be willing to put yourself through that! But I can see that! I think I would go through just about anything to avoid going to war! But it just goes to show you how desperate someone would have to be. I wonder, once again, how many boys in real life considered doing something? Attempted something? Anything? Would some have considered it being weak? Maybe.

I had purchased the audiobook from Libro.fm, but I loved the book so much I just had to get the paperback because I know it's going to be a re-read! And it needs to be on my shelf! I highly recommend this! Well done! And the music.....the original reason I got it.....it's there.....and I could almost hear it in the background. And the way the author talks about it, I felt like we were part of The Vinyl Underground talking music ourselves!

Until next week...

Thank you Netgalley, Flux and Rob Rufus for free e-Arc in return of my honest review.

1968, the war in Vietnam is reaching it's peak. Young man start to realize what the draft means and they all feel unrest. Four teens, outcasts, are drawn together by the music and their un-desire to participate in Vietnam War. The draft is coming and friends hatch a plan how to avoid it. At the same time, one of the frinds suffer racial-charged violence and the rest decided to take revenge.

I like the book very much. I find all characters reliable and believable, Their stories are lovely sewn into each other. Particularly, I love how music became its own character. Being raised in different country, I have not heard many of the mentioned songs, but I googled and listened to them. It helped to create atmosphere. I wish publisher would have a list of songs mentioned in the book, it would make my job easier. I also love the idea of a letter in vinyl sleeve of particular song. I think it made it all complete.

Plot wise, The Vinyl Underground is quite solid. Story line goes smooth with a few flashbacks from the past.

I am looking forward to read more work from Rob Rufus.

This book was fantastic in all it's aspects: the era, the music, and the characters. I really enjoyed getting lost ing this book. The ending did feel a little like I was left hanging though. Maybe if the author had added an epilogue I wouldn't have felt that way at the end, but I also don't know if it would have taken away the vibe. I really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it.

This was such a wonderfully touching book about a hard time in history. The setting is vivid and the characters are fleshed out nicely. I highly recommend!

I highly enjoyed this nostalgic book! The music, the history, and especially the strong friendships were exactly what I was looking for in this story.

I really appreciated the anti-war “wokeified” take on the home front during the Vietnam War that Rob Rufus brought to his novel. I really enjoyed Hana’s character - love the aspiring journalist vibes - even though they boys were sometimes not my faves. It took me a while to get into it - I had to get over a few of the speech pattern quirks and super woke characters (sometimes in historical fiction this seems off, but I get it, it’s better than reading about passive bigots). Overall, this book wasn’t my favorite, but I enjoyed the reading experience enough to get to the end.

I can’t even begin to explain how much I LOVED this book to pieces! The protagonist, Ronnie is still reeling from the death of his older, charismatic brother Bruce, who passed away while fighting in Vietnam. Not only is he dealing with that tremendous loss, he’s also having to deal with the very real possibility that he too will be drafted for the same war. Truth is, Ronnie doesn’t believe in this war and wants nothing more than to be able to finish senior year and figure himself out. Because ever since his brother passed away, Ronnie doesn’t have a clear idea of what he should do with his life. Before he envisioned himself in California with Bruce who dreamed about becoming a radio DJ and Ronnie would be the sidekick. But how much is a dream worth without the original dreamer? Ronnie tries to answer that question throughout the whole novel. He wants to honor his brother’s memory, although he also is trying to figure out what he wants from life and his future.

In the midst of all this, he begins a club with three of his friends called The Vinyl Underground, where they share music. For Ronnie, it’s a way to also share parts of Bruce with his friends since all the vinyls he owns used to belong to his late brother.

What I LOVED about this book were the strong bonds of friendship and how loyal the group was to one another. And although the book did use the trope started by Stephen King in Carrie (where something MAJOR happens during prom or school dance), I really, really loved how devoted the characters were to their cause. And yes, a lot of their actions would make several parents flip out, but I think the novel beautifully depicted teenagers and their will to rebel against injustice.

It takes a lot for a book or movie to move me to tears, and this book did the trick! So if you’re someone who easily tears up, keep tissues on hand! There’s much to love in this book, from the era, the music, the friendships, and one kick-ass female protagonist that will make you wish that someone would turn this book into a movie stat!

READ THIS BOOK IF YOU’RE A FAN OF COMING OF AGE, STRONG FRIENDSHIPS, AND ROCK MUSIC.
*Thank you so much to NetGalley and North Star Editions for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The era, the music, the story and the characters were all fantastic pieces I enjoyed getting lost in.
"It ain't easy being the only rose in an asshole parade."
It felt like too many things were left unsaid/did when the book ended.
I'm not sure if an epilogue would have destroyed the mystic or settled my questions?
Much thanks goes to NetGalley & North Star Editions for my DRC.

I fell in love with Rob Rufus’ writing when he published his teen memoir, Die Young with Me, so to say I was excited for The Vinyl Underground is an understatement. I had the opportunity to meet Rob when his band, The Bad Signs, toured to SF a few years ago and he introduced me to the story that would become The Vinyl Underground.

Set against a background of resistance and punk rock music, The Vinyl Underground is a story set during a historic time period that wasn’t well taught in my high school history classes. It’s 1968 and the draft is a real fear for graduating male seniors. For Ronnie, it’s especially worrisome, having lost his brother to the war. In the story, we also meet Hana, a girl who faces racism and charges back with an anti-war rebellion, and Milo, bookish and bff of Ronnie. Rounding out the bunch is Ramrod, who tries to fail school to avoid the draft. Each character brings a unique perspective to the story, so much that they practically jump off the page.

Together, our main characters from The Vinyl Underground, focused on draft-dodging and punk rock music. What could go wrong…or what could go right? It’s easy to see Rob’s personal music experience bleed through the pages. That’s what I loved most about Die Young with Me - I too love rock n roll, with its rebellious roots and zinger lyrics (which are used as part of the storytelling here). This book does not shy away from the outright racism at the time but does confront it head on.

The youth in this book are definitely doing things that adults might side eye, which I appreciated the realness. To balance, the adults are definitely doing the adult things you’d expect, driving the rebellion even further. I won’t spoil the end but I definitely fist pumped (sorry, shitty adults).

Vividly told through setting, character, and story, The Vinyl Underground is a story many years in the making that I am glad has finally arrived!

An absolutely beautiful book combining music with the cruelty, violence, and pain of the Vietnam war, and the discrimination in the 60’s. Loved it.