I think several books now are picking up steam from the Daisy Jones and the Six train, and I am here for it. I really liked this one and all it had to offer. I also love that it came from a background that I'm very unfamiliar with. I need to continue reading more diverse books. LOVED this one.

5/5 Stars

Let me start by saying Opal & Nev was being recommended for fans of Daisy Jones & the Six and did I ever love that book! It seems that was really setting the bar too high for this debut. I never felt for these characters, they were all just such a mess and lacked communication. Dawnie Walton does show talent and even though I trudged through this novel I'd be happy to read another from this author.

For fans of Daisy Jones and the Six, this is a musical “memoir” with even more depth. One of my true favorites of 2021!

THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV by Dawnie Walton is an amazing debut novel which traces the musical careers of the title characters. It presents a behind the scenes look at rock musicians and rock history in the 1970s. Originally from Detroit, Opal Jewel is a fighter and a survivor, unafraid to express herself although her talent is often underappreciated. Nev Charles, a quieter soul from England, crafts incredible tunes with Opal as a muse. They are linked by their music and subsequently by the racial violence at one of their concerts. As Opal notes, "That's what the South was like for me. Sweet on the first taste, but something gone sour underneath." This work of historical fiction is told through multiple perspectives that read like the script for a documentary, THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly.

This title was also recommended recently on PBS NewsHour when Jeffrey Brown interviewed Glory Edim and Maureen Corrigan about their suggestions for diverse books to read this summer:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/need-a-new-summer-read-heres-a-diverse-list-to-pick-from

THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV • Dawnie Walton • Pub Date: March 30, 2021 • ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 {rounded up}

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

First, let me address what I think many are curious about (or at least, what my first thought was when I heard about this book) — Yes, in many ways this book was similar to TJR’s “Daisy Jones and the Six”. I would hugely recommend not reading these books back-to-back because of that. There was a year gap in between the two books for me, and I think that allowed me to enjoy each book in its own right. I think it also helped that I listened to DJ&tS on audiobook, and read TFRoO&N on my Kindle.

I really enjoyed the interview style of this book (and that, coupled with a band being the focal point, is why this book is so easy to compare to DJ&tS). What made this book stand out was how it addressed racism in the music industry, as well as on a wider scale. Also, Opal was so much fun to read about!

Where this book fell flat for me was the ending. I expected something more, like a twist or big moment. The whole time I felt the story was winding towards some grand ending. The ending we got just did not deliver though. Imo, it left a lot to be desired.

TL;DR: This was a great book that sort of fizzled out at the end, but was still well worth the read.

This is a fun book that I would compare to Daisy Jones and the Six. I really enjoyed Daisy Jones so was excited to read this one. It doesn't necessarily do a whole lot different than Daisy, but it is a really good book.

This could be one of my favorite novels this year!

A fictional Afro-punk rock band thats description and presence throughout the novel feels so real, I am not ashamed to admit that I had to look and see if this was an accounting of a real 1970’s group. This author has an amazing talent as a wordsmith, spinning a tale just a smoothly as a record on a turntable.

The tale is told through the use of fictional interviews, footnotes, talk-show transcripts, letters and editor's notes. Even the footnotes throughout feel so authentic that it’s hard not to be swept away into the lives and heartbreak of the characters contained within.

This is a story about music, race and family secrets that spans five decades and is told so well, I suggest reading it a couple times to let all the notes sink in.

This is surely one not to miss. Amazing and prolific and a reflection of current times, the author, Dawnie Walton, nailed this one all the way around. Definitely a 4.5 out of 5 star read that I highly recommend you take part of!

Thank you so much to #NetGalley, the publisher Simon & Schuster, and the beyond talented Dawnie Walton for an electronic ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Everything about this book should have grabbed me and kept me invested but it was not a homerun for me. Love the characters but I especially loved the character Opal Jewel - she carried the whole story for sure. I enjoyed the format with the interview style, and the fictional rock and roll history which always made you wonder "do I know this song or this artist?", and the audiobook was great with so many narrators. I enjoyed the microcosm study of race in America as told through a 1960s band experience but I also think the story could also have been condensed into a bit of a tighter tale...

I was completely in love with this book by page 20. There were indeed a few moments where I couldn't help but wonder if I was reading a (better executed) version of Daisy Jones and The Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid), but luckily by about 50% in it was clear that was not the case. The tables are turned, and things just get better from there. No spoilers.

The writing was propulsive and moved at a good clip. I loved the creativity behind the invented song titles, lyrics, and fake celebrity blurbs. I also loved Virgil's sections, and the descriptions of the outfits he styled and created for Opal.

Really- there wasn't anything about this book that wasn't good- but the best bits by far were Opal's. And I was so glad that Walton was able to end this gymnastic performance of fictional musical writing/oral history/memoir with a very elegant and satisfying dismount. Can't wait to see what she does next.

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy!

This book wasn't quite what I expected it to be. I thought it may have been along the same vein as Daisy Jones and the Six as a fictional memoir to a band, but it was much different than that. It was a work about social justice and the clashes of different viewpoints of bands because of race and beliefs. This was a book about Opal and Nev, but it was also about the Bond brothers and their stereotypical white Southern views of Black people. It focus on the incident between Opal & Nev and the Bond Brothers band and how that shaped the lives of so many people.

This book seemed a little over hyped to me and drug on a bit. I was well written, but fell flat by the end.

I was really excited to get ahold of a copy of this book, as I had loved Daisy Jones & the Six so much. This book I think had a lot of potential in telling how blacks are treated much the same today as they were in the 70s, but it was lost in this book. I struggled with this book. Not only was I not engaged or held any sort of connection with the characters, story line or even the topic at hand, I just feel that this book was very underdeveloped. By the time the book even maybe began to spark my interest, it was too far gone., I was just continuing to leave this review. As I am sure the editor notes were in there to be helpful to readers who may have not known about certain events in history, being in the middle of parts of the book, it became very distracting overtime. I even listened to the audio version, after reading 61% of this book because I felt I was missing something, but unfortunately I wasn't.
I am not sure I would recommend this book.

This book possible could have been better if it was told from Opals POV instead of Sunnys. Or even if it focused more on Opal and Nev themselves, together.

Thank you Netgalley for a free copy in return for an honest review.

I love these kinds of stories! The kind that makes you feel like you are right there with them. I loved this book, I was able to relate with the characters, and I just really enjoyed the storyline. The author does a great job of painting a picture for the reader so it makes you feel like you are right there with them. The characters are built up just perfect- I was able to almost feel them as they were real people. I love it when I can do that with books.

Thanks, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy!

Thank you Netgalley for the e-book of The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton in exchange for my honest review.

The Final Revival if Opal and Nev is written in an oral history type format. If you've read Daisy Jones and the Six, the writing style is similar but the story line completely different.

This book follows a fictional afro-punk band in the 70's and a reunion many years later. I loved the story line and the writing style! It's not for everyone but definitely for me! Such a fantastic debut novel!

3.5 stars

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a juicy book. Its style is propulsive and readable and the drama at the core of its story made the novel an engrossing read. While I found some of the storytelling clunky it was a fun and unique read.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a sweeping oral history centring the fictional afro-punk, rock ’n’ roll duo Opal & Nev. The novel recounts the flash-in-the-pan success of an infamous pair best know for the tragedy that kick-started their career. Between chapters recounting the nitty-gritty origins of Opal Jewel and Nev Charles, we follow the journalist piecing the story together, S. Sunny Shelton. We see Sunny’s ups and downs as she uncovers the decades-long mystery of the death of her father and exactly what role Opal and Nev played in it.

As someone who loves a good celebrity documentary what initially drew me into Opal & Nev was the way this fictional oral history blended salacious scandal and nostalgic history. Dawnie Walton crafted a meticulous, vivid image of a fictionalized past. 1970s rock ’n’ roll and the tapestry of interconnected history that made Opal & Nev’s story was amazingly realized. Her writing perfectly captured a nostalgia for the time period that made the story feel all the more authentic.

One of the most clever things about this novel is the way Walton used a constant rotation of points-of-view to capture the scope of the story. We heard a cacophony of voices chime in on every aspect of Opal & Nev’s story. Everyone from siblings to producers and receptionists got a voice. This variety made for a detailed portrait of the most infamous moments in Opal & Nev’s history. The constant contradiction between players added layers to the characters and the story.

This book seems built for discussion. Its salacious drama and occasional shocking twists are a breeding ground for conversation. Even further, Walton’s stunning portrayal of complicated, messy characters would be fun to unpack with a group. What ties those elements together are the overarching themes of the story. This book explores the ways black artists in the music industry are disregarded and devalued. Walton depicts the ways white mediocrity is elevated at the expense of exceptional black artists. Her exploration of how even the people who call themselves allies turn a blind eye to injustice for profit was particularly incisive. It's the heart of the book and excellently woven into every aspect of the story.

However, despite my praise, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev didn’t fully work for me. This book attempted to balanced two connected but separate narratives and lost me because of it. This book is primarily an oral history, but a major thread of the novel follows our protagonist, Sunny, uncovering the truth about her father’s murder. By the novel’s midpoint, the story overwhelmingly centres on Sunny’s personal journey rather than Opal & Nev. Unfortunately, I cared significantly less about Sunny as a character a didn’t appreciate how the story shifted gears.

I also found the depiction of contemporary social politics within the novel clunky and jarring. While I appreciate what Walton was saying about our modern attitudes towards black women in the music industry the ways she conveyed that did not work. We’re subjected to multiple scenes wherein Walton attempts to convey the conflicting attitudes towards racial awareness in the industry. These scenes read like Twitter hot takes and the characters represented these viewpoints are caricatures. This was especially jarring because of how well-crafted the characters in the oral history portions of the book were.

In the end, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev was an impressive novel. I loved diving into the fictional history of a rock duo whose music I’ll, unfortunately, never get to hear and I was completely engrossed from start to finish.

In all honesty I didn’t finish this book- I was bored all the way up to 25% and just couldn’t push through.

I’ve seen this compared to Daisy Jones & The Six a lot which I get but I think Opal & Nev does a much better job at creating nuanced and complex characters and situations. Would definitely recommend to a friend and plan to reread over and over!

5 Stars! The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is in my top 10 favorite books of 2021. Wow! This historical fiction/romance was so real and raw and relevant to so much that is still happening in our present day. Opal is funky, fierce and so very talented and Neville is sweet and creative. This story was daring, scary, heartbreaking and beautiful.

This was a fantastic read and I encourage everyone to get it...especially if you like Daisy and the Six.

I tried to read this one multiple times and it took me awhile to really get into it. After the first few chapters though it started to pick up for me. I enjoyed the interview style and the different time frames this took place in. The author did a great job with the details of this book!

Walton’s debut novel has all of the dishy ingredients you’d want in a story about a scrappy rock duo that came to fame in the 1970s: Sex! Drugs! Scandal! Bell-bottoms! But this is a clever Trojan horse of a plot that contains a powerful critique of racism and sexism. It also, thankfully, includes Opal: a flawed, fierce, force of nature asserting herself in a world that makes it more difficult for women to thrive, especially women of color. So, come for the 70s fun, but stay for a bold new voice in fiction that skillfully serves some much needed medicine with just the right amount of sugar.