The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, a debut novel, wrote in oral history format, is the story of the rise and fall of a unique pairing of band members. Of course there will be comparisons to Daisy Jones because of the format and storyline. But where Daisy went light and fluffy, Opal & Nev tackles social issues present during the times, continuing into today's reality. I really enjoyed the book, although pacing throughout the book slowed a little to much for my liking. Characters were really well fleshed out, I really enjoyed the interview style of the writing. Dawnie Walton brought such detail to this novel that I had to remind myself that Opal & Nev were fictional. I think this book would make for a great book club selection. Thank you to netgalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me an advanced readers copy.

This book is so well written that I wish it was a fiction novel. I loved the style.of Daisy Jones so I couldn't wait to read this one.
There's enough real world people and characters to make Opal (a young Black woman) and Nev (a British singer/songwriter) feel like they fit right in the time-line. It's relevant to the 70s and now with the abuse of power from cops and record albums. Go put on some punk rock and read this book.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is like reading a biopic of a band that you love/loved! Several times throughout I had to stop myself from Googling the relevant participants or parts of the story because Walton is very skilled at weaving her characters into the fabric of the contemporary music scene. If you enjoy "Behind the Music" stories and learning about the lives of musicians and other artists, then this fictional bio is for you! RECOMMEND! [Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in order to review the book.]

After reading that this was the next Daisy Jones & The Six I was looking forward to diving into the music life of Opal and Nev. The first half caught and held my attention, but the second half fell flat. I found myself not really caring about the characters or feeling invested in their story. Opal was the most interesting in the beginning, but by the second half even she lost some of her luster.
If you are looking for the next Daisy Jones, you'll have to wait a little bit longer.

I really enjoyed this book & how it was written in the oral history style. It reminded me of a book version of VH1’s Behind the Music. You get to learn about the chaotic ride of Opal & Nev, a fictional 1970s rock duo, from many different perspectives. I also enjoyed the historical & political undertones throughout the story. Very unique & engaging.

It's good. It's not Daisy Jones and I'm sure the author is sick of hearing the comparison but I don't see that going away anytime soon. It's fiction that reads like nonfiction about made-up musicians. See why they're being compared?

Where Daisy Jones is a white cast of characters, Opal & Nev speaks to race in way that make you sit back and think about if we've made any progress at all. At times the commentary felt forced and so in your face obvious that of course maybe that was the point.

Throughout the book, I found myself wishing I could hear Opal & Nev's music because I couldn't quite grasp what it sounded like in my head.

It's one I can't wait for more people to read because it lend itself to great discussion. Definitely a good book club pick and I hope the find a stellar ensemble cast to narrate an audiobook version.

Thanks to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book interested me before I picked it up--the setting of Detroit, music, the 1970s...Everything about it indicated I'd be interested. There is a lot that Walton does well in The Final Revival of Opal & Nev. I enjoyed how the history of the 1970s was woven in, and the way in which the journalistic form of writing made the book read almost like non-fiction. The latter made me double check a few times that Nev & Opal are fictional. The characters were intriguing, and the book highlights a important facets of the Black American experience of the time.

However, it fell flat for me. Perhaps I could not get invested in the story, or perhaps it was that I thought there would be more focus on the history of the time within the story (the latter of which I would have especially enjoyed). Perhaps it could also be my general disinterest in the showbiz industry. I can't really place it on only one thing but I felt bored reading it, and after getting through part one I was not interested enough to continue reading. It is for these negative points & my reading experience that I rate it so.

All that being said, if you do enjoy pop culture, reading about a band in the style of an interview, and also learning about the racial history of the time, I highly recommend reading The Final Revival of Opal & Nev.

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a brilliant debut that adds a bold new voice to the conversation regarding systemic racism not just in the 1970s, but today as well. The story starts with the origin of Opal Jewel from Detroit, and Neville Charles, an English singer from Birmingham and how they came together. When in Detroit one night, music producer Bob Hives is trying to find someone worthy enough to duet with his latest protégé. When Opal and her sister, Pearl, perform, Nev Charles is awestruck by Opal. The way she carries herself, her style, her voice. She's exactly what he's been looking for.

This one took me a while to really get into in the beginning. It's a lot slower paced than I'm used to, so that maybe played a part, but the first half was a bit confusing for me up until near the end of part one and the small twist that reared its head at the end. The book was easy to read and digest, but seeing as this genre and style of writing is new to me, so I maybe didn't get as much out of it as is potentially possible.

I did enjoy the writing style, because it helped to move things along and it was definitely easy to follow with the interview format of this fictional oral history. As new to this style as I am, I think I especially enjoyed it because you really get a sense of each character being interviewed for this fictional book within a book. The world building in here, while it takes place both in the past and the recent past, is so well done that there were quite a few times where I forgot I was reading a fictional novel and thought that I was reading someone's memoir or autobiography. I almost Googled these two main characters thinking I must have missed something, but luckily, I didn't.

For a debut novel, this is brilliantly written, and the conversation is starts is an important one. Tackling systemic racism is going to be uncomfortable, that's the point. There is no sugarcoating it. If we want to continue to have this conversation and dismantle the system, and we definitely should, we're going to have to feel uncomfortable. Fighting for equal rights has never been easy, and as indicated by this novel, the job is never finished.

A great story told from a unique perspective. The oral history narrative made this book incredibly readable. This story, while about a band and its “life” is so much more because of the elements of race and racism and how they are interwoven into the intricacy of the story. When you have an interracial band, in the 70’s, how can it not be about race? The tale of Opal and Nev is so sophisticated, robust, and sometimes sad that I could not put it down.

I have been waiting to read this book for a while and was so happy to run across it on NetGalley! It was well worth the wait too! This is a wonderfully griping story that will suck you in and you'll quickly find it hard to put it down.

Tackling a topic as tremendous as the music industry of the past sixty years then add in racism and feminism and you have the makings of quite a story on your hands. In her new work of historical fiction, #The Final Revival Of Opal And Nev, author Dawnie Walton proves she is more than up to the task. A quick note here about this reviewer. I am 71 years old and from Toledo',Ohio, a stone’s through away from Detroit’s international sister, Windsor and well within listening range of the Motown infused music of legendary AM radio station CKLW. What a marvelous soundtrack for my formative years. In fact, it was so influencing that from 1973-2004 I was co-owner of one of Toledo’s top record stores. I mention these facts to show I have about a thirty year age lead on Ms. Walton and, by my standards attest that she has done her homework well - this book rings true from start to finish. Although the book is, in title, the story of songstress Opal Jewel and songwriter/musician Nev Charles', for me this was primarily Opal’s tale. The book is packed with colorful characters and antidotes,but it is Opal’s je ne sais quoi that jumps her off the page. I must admit that throughout this entertainment every time Opal was front and center I heard Nina Simone singing Mississippi Goddamn. Please correct me if you disagree. # The Final Revival Of Opal And Nev is a remarkable time capsule of an era that will live on forever, made even more remarkable in that the author didn’t live through much of it.

I was really intrigued by this once I saw it followed a similar oral history format as Daisy Jones & The Six. I would say this one includes more interjections by the interviewer / fictional author, as she herself is entwined in the story, which worked well and made the format feel more personal.

This is a story about music, about racism, about media and the public and the way we treat women vs. men and BIPOC vs. white people. While it covers a lot of ground profoundly, at times I wished the central message was more focused on one particular theme. The pacing also felt off for me; there was so much setup at the beginning of how Opal and Nev came to be (close to the first half of the book) that the ending and reunion show felt a little rushed (and I spent a lot of the book thinking they'd achieved a lot more success as a duo than Nev had as a solo act).

Still a very good read that I would recommend! And I just really, really wish Opal Jewel were a real person because she sounds like an absolute badass and we could use more women of color like her in this world. Thank you Dawnie Walton to bringing her to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

I rate this book 3.5/5 stars. I really enjoyed the oral history and the way it was written. I really enjoyed getting to hear different characters and think Dawnie Walton did a really good job giving each character a different voice and personality.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is about a young black woman who partners with Nev, a white European man to create music. S. Sunny Shelton is a journalist who is creating a story about both Opal and Nev and wants to write an oral history of their lives. Sunny, is the daughter of the late Jimmy Curtis who was the drummer for Nev and Opal, she wants to find out more about the night her father was murdered during a protest.

I will say it again, I really liked the characters that Dawnie Walton created and how they each have their own voices. I think she wrote a great story with a lot of very delicate material. This novel navigates, racism, women in music, identity and equality. I think for a debut novel this was really well done. I do think the first half was very fast paced while the second half really slowed down for me. I did like that this story wasn't what I thought it would be like and took me by surprise. I look forward to seeing other work by Walton.

I loved this book so much! I love stories about pop culture, especially about the music scene. It took me a little bit to get into because I can have a hard time with the interview format, but once I got into the storyline, it stopped mattering because it was quite the ride. I also enjoyed the breaks from the writing style with the editor notes to help drive the story. I did not expect the story to be a suspense novel going into it, but the way the interconnected stories and faulty memories flowed together made it that way instead of just a journalistic type tale. I am glad that there is a book coming out that focuses on the hardships a black, female musician faced on her rise to fame, especially after the hit Daisy Jones and The Six. I cannot wait for everyone to get their hands on this.

The novel was written in an unexpected way. I enjoyed the constantly changing points of view because as a reader, I felt I got a well-rounded perspective of how Opal and Nev grew into the people they came to be, and not just from themselves, but also from the people closest to them. At times, it was as if the characters were having a conversation with each other in their changing parts. There is additional context provided to the situations portrayed in the novel, and it gave me the sense I was reading a documentary. It was crafted creatively.

Opal, ebony-skinned, bald, outrageous dresser, experiments with a punk musical style. Nev, pale, British, ginger-haired, is more mainstream. Combined, they present a stark contrast which seems to promise a successful career for these two “outsiders.” Taking part in a production showcase, which unfortunately attracts diverse groupies and fans, instead of glory, they experience a brutal murder of her lover, their drummer Jimmy, a married man expecting his first child. Their stories are framed by a series of interviews conducted years later by a newly-promoted music industry editor, Jimmy’s child. Dawnie Walton gives her readers a trustworthy narrator in Sunny who seeks the truth about the character of the father she never knew and what really happened that night. Following the story of this duo, we witness their complete self-absorption and lack of concern for how the lives of those around them are altered. With the opportunity to reunite once again pending, we read contrasting accounts and like Sunny seek answers. What happened that night? Who carries the guilt of Jimmy’s death?

As riveting as any rock n roll biopic you've ever read/seen, this book seems destined for the big screen. It's the coming together of two dynamic forces - Opal, the talented Black girl who's dealing with spending part of her life in the Jim Crow South and Nev - a white British boy. The book chronicles the rise, the inevitable fall and the reunion of these two forces in their Afropunk collaboration. It's particularly poignant given the complexity of the Black experience in America, both in the past and present. Do yourself a favor and read this book. You won't regret it.

The Final Review of Opal & Nev reads as an oral history of a flame-haired Britain and a AfroPunk black women that form a duo that storms New York city in the early 70's.

S. Sunny Shelton, music magazine editor, traces the the rise and fall of the short lived group, and their tumultuous gig that took her father, Jimmy's life. Shelton literally pieces together the night he died with interviews from the wild cast of characters involved with making of the music. She thought she knew the story leading up to the infamous show but as she digs deeper, a revelation from an unexpected source threatens to blow-up the renewal of friendships.

The book also provides glimpses into Opal's life from her childhood in Detroit to womanhood where she pushes the norms of fashion and attitude. Embroiled in duo's stardom are race relations and the Black Panthers in the 1970's and then again in their comeback thirty years later in the Black Lives Matter movement. The book looks into the real history of violence against black people with this fictional duo in a heartbreaking, beautiful manner.

"Because the more things change, the more they stay the same - that's what Jimmy would say. What's the same right now is I'm still pissed off....and white people, be warned. You still can't say n*****". - Opal

It is captivating debut novel with a strong black female protagonist that is absolutely worth the read.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review. Publication date March 30, 2021.

This is one of the best novels I have ever read. It’s one of the few books that I can say made me think about society and what role I play in it. This is also the first book where I understood the slow narrative of the first half of the book was intentional and actually served a purpose that helped define the second half of the book where the depth of the narrative becomes more compelling. It is also one of the few books where I had to put my book down after a huge plot reveal because I needed to digest the information I had just read.

Like others, I picked this book up because of my love for Daisy Jones & The Six. The storytelling is done in a similar format reminiscent of watching a music documentary and that’s about where the similarities end between the two. Daisy Jones was more about the emotions and intricacies of the bands’ relationships whereas Opal & Nev is about the emotional impact racism has played over the past 50-60 years in the United States.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is an incredibly moving story that follows Sunny, a Black editor and journalist, who is writing a book about the multircial rock and roll duo Opal & Nev. The story interweaves Sunny’s personal ties with the overarching story of Opal & Nev’s music history while also making a statement about music’s influence and impact on the larger society, especially surrounding race. Walton does a phenomenal job of portraying a variety of characters that range from Opal’s push against the white men in her life to receive equal treatment as her white male counterpart to the Confederate flag’s symbolism for a Southern colleague.

One critique I do have is that I think the relationship between Opal and Nev was glossed over. It never felt like they were as close as was claimed.

Overall, I loved this book for it’s beautiful story and commentary on a variety of social issues.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is written in an oral history format - bouncing back between the past and the present. It is the story of two musical icons, Opal Jewel and Nev Charles, and how they got their start in the industry, what caused the breakdown in their duo act, and where they are today. It is also the story of Sunny, the music journalist writing the oral history, and her life-long connection to Opal & Nev.

Though dubbed "historical fiction", this novel is incredibly timely and the final act of the story ends up in present day. A huge theme of the novel is racial discrimination and racial violence - and the sad reality of how little has changed from the 60s/70s to present day. I highly recommend this book - it both covers important topics while also being a fun look at music culture and celebrity culture.