The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is clearly in the same sub-genre of fictional 1970s music biography as Daisy and the Six. But this book layers on more of the era’s potent political activism and violent tendencies. Unfortunately, many of the issues are still relevant today.

The characters within The Final Revival of Opal & Nev are what drive the story. These people feel so realistic! But there is action here too. If you remember, or enjoy, the American 1970s music scene, you will be enchanted by this book. 4 stars!

Thanks to 37 Ink, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

While I really liked the premise of the book and couldn't wait to read it, I just didn't enjoy it. It seemed to drag on and on and the constant switching between different character's perceptions was annoying and confusing. I had really high hopes for this one but to me it didn't measure up.

I have not read Daisy and the Six, so this a fresh approach for me. The story was told through interviews. What a pair Nev and Opal were. When it begins Opal is finding her voice and style. She is a black women who does not fit societies definition of beauty. Nev is a white, awkward “rock & roller”, The story really shows how they evolve over the years together. As a band, they are never able to move past a violent outburst at one of their early concerts. It took a life and left others physically and emotionally damaged. The story has the drug and sex that you would expect. It also has strong statements on racism, cost of fame, women’s rights and what it feels to not belong or feel valued.

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev is intensely readable because of the unique relationships between its' characters. All of these people are fully realized and seem like real rockstars from a bygone era. It was also refreshing to read about black rock stars who were the main characters not just a side character for equality's sake. Dawnie Walton is a breakthrough and necessary new literary artist who we as readers need urgently today.

Opal, a young Black woman from Detroit, and Nev, a White songwriter from the UK, seem like they have nothing in common but come together to start a rock band in 1970's New York City. This book is a bit memoir, a VH1 Behind the Music vibe, and an interview style that is all fictional but will have you pausing and wanting to do internet searches to se what is real and what isn't. It touches on race, historical events that are eerily current as well, and the struggles that go along with loss and identity. I enjoyed this book a lot and I would love to hear the audiobook version of it. Because of the style, there were a few times where I lost interest or felt distracted from the stories and how it jumped around. Overall, this is a fun book that most people will love. I think if you were a fan of the style of "Daisy Jones and the Six", this will be a hit for you, although they are very different books. If you are looking for something a little different in your reading, I would recommend picking this up.

This book was fantastic! I loved it so much - i love the rock N roll feel of the book. Seriously this book is amazing and everyone needs to read it.

Had a hard time getting into this one, as compared to similar Daisy Jones and the Six, but had so soul and movement. It lead me down many research rabbit holes of music makers and influencers I didn’t know much about, and am not grateful for. Looking forward to reading more from this author, and the hidden stories they tell.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a compelling, timely, and entertaining take on the intersections of music, fame, politics, and identity. Opal is a fascinating, powerful character, and those surrounding her are complicated. I don't want to just compare this book to Daisy Jones & The Six, but it's hard not to - I had wanted to love Daisy Jones and its format but was let down by it for a number of reasons. Opal & Nev works much better - expanding the story of the narrator/interviewer, as well as the story of the stars themselves. There is far more depth and a greater scope to Opal & Nev, grounding them in the outside world and culture and far more successfully connecting to the present day. The book did drag a bit around the middle, but once I got back into it, I was pleased to see how the book was drawn out after the central event the book had been leading to, and then builds into an ending you can't wait to see.

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev is a captivating gem of a debut.

This fictional story of Opal and Nev starts out in the early ‘70s as a rock duo with an unusual style. Nev is a white flamboyant British songwriter of crazy lyrics, and Opal is a black independent and free- spirited Afro-punk singer. Due to circumstances, they go their separate ways.

Fast forward to 2015, Opal and Nev are contemplating a reunion concert, and SarahLena (Sunny) has been assigned to interview them for a book for Aural. She is the first black female editor in chief of Aural who happens to be the daughter of Jimmy Curtis, the band’s drummer who was killed in 1971 when a racially charged riot broke out during a concert. This event occurred before Sunny was born so she never knew her father. Opal and Jimmy were lovers during this time.

Throughout this novel, we hear excerpts from Opal and Nev as they tell their story. We also get conversations by family members, friends, band members, managers, photographers and promoters, etc. and even a taping of the Dick Cavett Show. I love this style of oral history storytelling of this iconic band with a format similar to “Daisy Jones and the six” and “Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk.”

This story was well told as the many voices contribute to the telling of this story. In the course of these interviews, Sunny discovers the truth behind her father’s death and wrestles with disclosing this information. Opal’s character was particularly interesting to me. She was a strong, independent and provocative woman deeply convicted to the cause of equality for women, specifically black women who have been marginalized throughout history. A quote from the book that particularly resonated with me was by Sunny,

“That the voices of black Women like Opal should not be discounted or diminished in deference to those who have highjacked our shine whenever it suits.”

That is so powerful!

This just seemed so real to me in light of current racial tensions. Opal and Nev were equal members of the band in their creativity but Opal was treated differently simply because of her color.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and 37 Ink/ Simon and Schuster for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.


5 Reasons You Should Read The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Mostly Because My Brain is Scrambled and My Thoughts Incoherent)

1. The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a kind of technical masterpiece. Written as a rock and roll oral history, this novel uses interview formats and chapters written from the perspective of the journalist to tell the story. If you don't think this is hard to achieve, just think about how each interview voice (Opal, Nev, their producer Bob, their old friends, the fans and other people commenting on them) all have to be distinct and realistic to who those people would be. And then there's Sunny's voice, which is the guiding force of the entire narrative as she tries to reconcile her own family history with Opal's legacy. I mean, it's just spectacular.

2. Speaking of the format... The way this novel is constructed worked incredibly well for me. It's engaging and very easy to read. I practically flew through it because I was so enraptured by the story and eager to find out what would happen next.

3. Who doesn't love a complicated history of rock stars that deals with feminism and race? Opal Jewell gave me Grace Jones/Nina Simone vibes, and Nev Charles gave me big Paul McCartney vibes, and their partnership/collaboration is bound to be interesting.

4. There is a twist in the narrative that I did not see coming, and it completely transforms the narrative and what I expected the story to be. I will not spoil it because it shouldn't be spoiled, but it does complicate the narrative in a way that's unexpected and interesting.

5. Opal's story is certainly front and center, but Sunny's story might be the most compelling part. She's a Black female editor at a Rolling Stone type magazine trying to put together this oral history of two artists she really admired who have history with her family, and she's trying to unpack all of that while being a journalist. Also, just the insights into what being a music journalist are like? *chef's kiss*

I liked Daisy Jones and the Six but I LOVED The Revival of Opal and Nev. The first half read almost like a murder mystery to me... I was captivated and couldn’t wait to find out what actually happened at the Revival and put all the pieces together. The second half was a bit more of a slow burn but by that point I was so in love with Opal I just wanted to spend as much time as possible with her and see what happened to her. I probably would not have picked this one up if it weren’t for the ARC but I have already recommended it to a few people and will be for awhile!

GUT PUNCH
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2021
What a story!! It took me a while to finish this as 2020 was stacked with trials & tribulations. I kept having to put it down and return, not only to reflect but also to digest its truth. Read the rest of the reviews to "whet your whistle" on the context, but what's more important is what you take away from it. America is steeped in systemic racism and bigotry-our history is rich with it. This quasi re-telling is effective and unsettling as the time period adds its raw glamour. I see Grace Jones as Opal in my "mind movie".

THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV by Dawnie Walton is a novel showcasing the rock and roll musical duo of Opal and Nev, with their rise to fame in the 70's and their final revival in 2016. This was very similar to Daisy Jones and The Six with it being written in interview style. Comparing the two, I loved Daisy and I liked Opal. Opal was a tougher, more combative character and she had a very different relationship with her bandmate. I liked this okay, but it dragged a bit in the middle and I didn't form any attachment to either Nev or Opal.. I also think this would be better as an audiobook with a full cast, just because of the format in which it was written. A solid 3.5.

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev is reminiscent of Daisy Jones and The Six in that it's a book about a now defunct duo ( rather than a group ) that once made great music together ( afro punk rather then rock and roll ) and is written in the form of an oral history. The oral history is written by a band outsider but she has a distinct and important connection to the duo. I loved both books but this one definitely took it up a notch by covering important current topics ...making the book a little more weighty than the former. I think the author did a great job looking back at the 60's-70's, bringing tow very different artists together ( independent, flamboyant Opal with a British singer/songwriter whose dream is to make it big in the music industry) to create a story with tension that examined the line between integrity and the fulfillment of our dreams at any cost. I'm glad I got to read this one and am pretty sure it will remain among my favorites this year. Loved it !

This is a brilliant book, combining the inside baseball oral history of a rock act with editorial perspective from someone personally connected to and evolving from the story and key players. Add to that the fraught sexual and racial politics from the 60s that are still not resolved today, and you get a great mix of entertaining narrative and depth.
It is very well crafted and interesting to see people look back on their lives and whether they were successful or not isn't as critical to their impressions as their self-confidence and identity.
The depictions of concerts and wardrobe details is especially interesting.
Great story and exploration of how people spiral towards and away from huge defining moments, especially ones that aren't in their control.

There were definitely four and five star moments for me while reading "The Final Revival of Opal & Nev" but they were few and far apart. I was surprised after finishing to see that the book isn't particularly long, the plot just dragged so terribly that it felt much longer. The bulk of the story between the characters felt like it was there to serve a political message, and while that message is important, when the story is missing otherwise it's difficult to enjoy as a reader.

From the first few pages of this book, it felt more like a memoir than a work of fiction. The fictional characters blend in so well with history and real people that I had to keep reminding myself that this was fiction!

The book is written in the same oral history format as Daisy Jones and the Six, but let’s be clear, this is not that book.

This one, in my opinion, is better.

Set in the early 70s of NYC, this book details the story about the overnight rise and fall rise and fall of the iconic fictional rock duo:

Opal, an Afro Punk from Detroit and Nev, a Red Headed singer from the UK.

The story gives us background and the history behind the duo that leads up to the reveal the truth of what actually happened one night at one concert when a rival band signed to their label brandishes a Confederate flag. Opal’s Protest and the violence that follows sets off events that changed the lives of each of the book's characters forever.

Even though it is set in the 70s, the messages of race, feminism, sexism and politics are still relevant RIGHT NOW.

There is so much to unpack in this book, it is impossible to do it in a few paragraphs here.

I recommend it for sure, predict that Opal and Nev is going to be on everyone’s best of 2021’s lists!


Thank you netgalley for the complimentary e-galley in exchange of my honest review! All opinions are my own.

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton is a fabulous book written in interview format about the fictional proto-punk duo Opal and Nev who formed in the early 1970s. Because of its similar interview format with a 1970s rock group, obviously it will be compared Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. While Daisy Jones focuses more on relationships between bandmates, Opal & Nev focuses on relationships and political and cultural elements of the time periods. (1960s-70s and 2016) Nev, a pale, red-headed, up-and-coming musician from England seeking a female counterpart for his group. While on tour to recruit a singer, he encounters Opal, a striking and enigmatic dark-skinned African American woman in Detroit.

The novel illustrates their personal and professional backgrounds and struggles. Through interviews about events and background, we learn so much about Opal and Nev, their character and motivation. From the beginning, the editor inserts herself into the story. Her father was a African American drummer in the band murdered during a racially-motivated brawl that ensued at their concert. I really liked that the editor was part of the story as it was interesting to see the complex nature of her relationships play out with those she interviews, especially Opal Jewell. This book touches on so many issues, pervasive racism in the US and allyship, politics, complicated relationships, drug addiction, etc. Though the book itself was fascinating, the last chapter really tied everything together and made me love it.

Thank you 37 Ink / Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

The scene is set early on: a finally established journalist interviewing Opal and Nev. Nev has been in the spotlight forever however; Opal has taken a break. An upcoming tour with both artists is on the horizon and the journalist will set the stage. Stakes are high to get this interview out and do justice.
This story reads like a Daisy Jones and the Six or even The Seven Husband's of Evelyn Hugo. I loved the multi interview format however, this book would have caught my attention more in an audiobook format. I would have been able to appreciate the characters more and the interactions they had with the outsiders.

An amazing debut novel that reads like a history of a famous rock and roll duo, Opal Jewel and Neville Charles, in the 1970s in New York.
Written in alternating chapters from Opal, Nev, family members, and past band members, each voice brings light to their lyrical journey. Music lovers will wish the duo was real. Walton writes an immersive story about a woman compelled to speak her truth – whether about politics or feminist power - regardless of the consequences.