I love the way this story was delivered. I honestly think it did what daisy jones and the six did but better because I've recently realized that Daisy Jones as a book fell a little flat for me.

Some stories are meant to be told out loud. Such is the case with Dawnie Walton’s heralded debut novel, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (13.5 hours), which comes to life through a full cast of incredible voice talents, including Janina Edwards, Bahni Turpin, James Langton and 15 others.

In a series of first-person interviews conducted by journalist S. Sunny Shelton, the fictional oral history recounts the story of an 1970s rock collaboration between glam Black American singer Opal Jewel and white British singer-songwriter Nev Charles. Walton skillfully blends in real-life events such as Vietnam War protests to firmly establish the narrative’s tone and time period, layering the duo’s rise to rock stardom with social, economic, racial and sexual undercurrents.

But it is the impressive array of characters, from the titular rock pair to Nev’s first piano teacher to the head of their iconic record label, that lends authenticity and rhythm to the story like nothing else. You’ll wish you could rush out to scour your local music store for Opal & Nev’s long-lost albums.

Entertaining audiobook that ultimately left me with a feeling of blah. I didn't buy into the relationship (musical and otherwise) between the main characters and didn't fall in love with either one individually. But I liked all the music stuff.

4/5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishing team for providing this audiobook-arc!

It was a fun audiobook that wasn't boring to me. It kept me hooked actually! Loved the sister relationship

The audiobook is definitely the best way to experience The Final Revival of Opal and Nev - the characters take on dimension and richness that the printed text can not AND the cast is amazing!

If musical historical fiction were a book genre, The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton would rank at the top of the list. The story chronicles Opal Jewell and Nev Charles's rise starting in the '60s and culminates in a recent day with a revival performance taking readers down a melodic memory lane. As I read, my mind called upon real legends - the edgy androgynous images of Grace Jones, the eye-brow-raising fashion flair of Cher, and the fanatical appeal of the Billie Eilish's following. Watson's musical references throughout the book will make the reader yearn for a playlist of the artists. Some songs just as a reference because they evoke images of the Confederate flag, others because they are classics, such as Motown, gospel, the Beatles, and British rock. The latter half of Opal and Nev is raw and real with words and references to Black Lives Matter, Trump, and racial tension. Watson deserves praise for weaving together music, motivation, and humanity into one cohesive story that comes full circle.

Years after a scandalous incident that left her lover, drummer Jimmy Curtis, dead, singer Opal Jewel is contemplating a revival tour with her former music partner. When journalist Sunny Shelton (and Jimmy’s daughter) catches wind of a possible reunion, she wants to do a retrospective on Opal’s life. Sunny thought she knew everything, but as she curates an oral history of the duo and those involved in their lives, shocking new possibilities about the night her father died come to life, and she’ll risk blowing up everything to learn the truth.

If you’ve ever nursed a Daisy Jones and the Six book hangover, I implore you to read this book. It’s got some of the same vibes, the same oral-history type storytelling, but it’s less white, and the sociopolitical issues carry though the decades into today. Opal’s story is fascinating, and its only complete in the context of her family, her music partner, her enemies, and those around her all these years. Sunny is determined to get to the bottom of it, and there’s tension as well as hero worship, because Opal was dating her father when he was killed and just before Sunny was born.

The storytelling is enthralling, thrilling, and tragically human. I loved the characters. I loved the oral-history storytelling format. It made me think not only of Daisy Jones but also retrospective, deep dive podcasts on microhistories or unsolved mysteries.

I did the audio version of this book, and I was blown away by the full cast recording. The narrators did a great job bringing these characters to life and helping me navigate such a massive story with so many players. I highly recommend the audio version if you’re into that sort of thing. You might even hear a few familiar voices.

It’s been out for a couple of weeks, and I definitely anticipate this being some bookclub picks, and hopefully a best seller.

OK, so... THIS AUDIOBOOK!! Wow, the production quality is amazing. The full cast (!!) of narrators were all incredible and truly brought these characters to life. I think it's extremely hard to make a fake nonfiction book super riveting and at parts I felt the book drag on, but that did not take away from the incredible experience overall. Do yourself a fave and listen to this one!!!

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is the fictionalized tell-all about the iconic music duo, years after their quick rise to fame and twists and turns of their lives leading up to and following the shocking and racially-charged killing of their drummer at a gig in the early 70s. The journalist uncovering all of the details has been hand-picked by Opal herself and is the daughter of the late drummer, who happened to be having a years-long affair with Opal.

To say that the recounting of the band's history and experiences of that evening are unexpected, would be an understatement. Add in the fact that the latter portion of this book evolves into a story about music industry cover-ups and shocking new allegations, plus an Opal & Nev reunion concert that puts Beychella's theatrics to normal levels - and you've got one hell of a juicy book!

If you loved both Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - look no further! I promise you this book is a compelling and culturally significant mix of these two stories, and sets up so many relevant themes throughout! Plus, the audiobook of Opal & Nev is an immersive experience, with multiple narrators and even some singing!

This novel tells the story of Opal and Nev, a musical duo of the 1970’s This story tells of their rise to dance, their influence on the culture and the fall of their career. Through interviews, the musicians and the people who were instrumental in their success details moments and situations that’s helped to shapes their music
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This was a nice story, I enjoyed the format and the different characters . I listen to the end of it on audiobook and the full cast was amazing . I wish there was more romance and drama. Overs it it was an interesting read!

Thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster for this ARC.
4.5 ⭐️ rounded up.
Yes, this book starts off very similar to Daisy Jones & continues that story arc for ~1/2 the book. But Daisy Jones was a light hearted beach read, and this is the book that we are needing in present day. This book brings up the hard conversations, commonly overlooked or misunderstood issues of racisms and does an AMAZING job at it (& touches on some gender inequality too).

Sometimes the pace of the book was off (speeding up or slowing down the plot - I think this was mostly a struggle with the ‘editors notes’ when discussing present day events), but overall I really enjoyed it!

Having a full cast & multiple POVs really highlighted the story & helped emphasize all the different view points the issues addressed.