I loved how this anthology coalesced teen angst, music and high school into one threaded story and we even got to know who won. Super cute, diverse and just lovely overall.

I loved how all the stories in this anthology were interconnected and that we were able to get invested in the individual band's stories as well as the bigger arc of the battle of the bands. There were a few authors who had me excited to read this one, and I also ended up loving some of the stories by authors who were new to me. We read this one as our Teen Buddy Read on Instagram and it was so fun to talk about which stories were people's favorites. This is definitely a book I'd revisit.

Definitely something I wouldn’t normally go for, but it sounded so interesting! I actually enjoyed it so much more than I expected to. I enjoyed this audiobook so much!

This was an excellent short story compilation. I love how so many of the stories were related, and that they all centered around the same event. The audio was particularly well done with several narrators making the stories come alive even more.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun compilation of short stories from various authors all revolving around high school kids playing in/going to their schools annual battle of the bands.

Some stories are better than others, but overall this is a fun read that captures the teenage voice and experience well.

The audiobook quality was hit or miss... some stories sounded better than others. A couple of the narrators took awkward pauses between words that hurt the flow of the story.

This was a lot of fun. The conceit to these interconnected stories is that they all occur at the same high school battle of the bands which leads to the reappearance of characters, callbacks to earlier stories, and viewing of events from other perspectives (sometimes handled cheesily, sometimes well). It does give the impression that this high school has SO. MUCH. DRAMA.

But y'all it was good drama; YA stories about love, and friendship, and family, and betrayal, and self-betrayal, and self-discovery, all of the drama that you get into in your teen years (and never really stop getting into if you keep growing, to be honest. Maybe a little less messy and with less cheese as you get older. But maybe not.).

With different authors for each chapter (and different POVs and different main bands / characters) there are some big shifts in tone (and presentation and characterization of some people like the music teacher MC) but it's a nice reminder that different people see the world very differently. And in general the editor did a good job keeping things from getting too out of whack. I loved the different narrators for each story too; really captured the multiplicity of points of view and made it easy to get into each story. A good read if you are a teen, know a teen, are in a band, know a band, or enjoy music and stories of self-discovery.

This was a fun collection by some great YA authors. I knew I wanted to check it out because it includes some of my YA favorites. It did not disappoint. I really enjoyed it.

3.5 stars

When I requested this book I had no idea that all the stories revolved around the SAME Battle of the Bands event. Characters and bands slowly weaved in and out of the 15 stories—who doesn't love a good cameo? it must have been extremely difficult to coordinate with 15 authors for one anthology, so I do commend the editors, Lauren Gibaldi and Eric Smith. I enjoyed the many relationship dynamics that were represented during the stories—friendships, relationships, and siblings. I do think it dropped off a little in the middle of the collection but ended extremely strong.

While I was reviewing the audiobook for this book I would like to point out that although I enjoyed the music interludes between stories, I felt like it bled too much into the next piece, causing me to miss the beginning of each story.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I picked up this book because I loved the concept of an anthology where all of the stories focus on the same event and essentially happen simultaneously. This collection really brought Raritan River High School's Battle of the Bands to life in a way a traditional novel just wouldn't be able to. The excitement and chaos of a real event was conveyed in this short story collection through the voices of the different authors and the stories of the participants.

The variety of stories was really nice too. There was more romance (including breakups) than anything else but even all of those stories were very different. In addition to romance there were stories about sibling bonds, drugs, and abusive relationships. There was one I particularly enjoyed that hinted at non-traditional relationship structures.

I imagine writing these interconnected stories was very fun, and hearing them read was too. I listened to the audiobook of this anthology and it was very well done. I liked that there were different readers for each story which helped to give each character their own voice.

If you are a fan of short fiction or a musician looking for a fun and different read, I recommend Battle of the Bands

The stories did not interact as much as I would have liked. They barely interacted at all. Couldn't finish it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC audiobook of Battle of the Bands by Lauren Gibaldi. The short stories in this collection are all intertwined by a common theme: a high school Battle of the Bands. Each story is unique, yet various characters, band names, or topics recur as their lives revolve around this event. Some of the characters are performers, while others are the crew who work behind the scenes.

The storylines deal with teen issues such as friendships, relationships, breakups, moving to a new school, sibling rivalry and more. The relationships highlighted many LGBTQ+ characters including a character who identified as bisexual.

Overall this was a fun book to listen to. While it was long, it helped that it was broken up by the various short stories. #NetGalley

Battle of the Bands edited by Lauren Gibaldi and Eric Smith is an upbeat anthology of interconnected stories about a battle of the bands competition. I loved the wide range of perspectives, featuring characters with differing relationships to the event, and each of the works within it are strong. The audiobook version is equally engaging, and the full cast makes the world of the contest feel like a real community. This is a great read for those looking for something quick that will leave them with a smile on their face.

This anthology features interconnected stories all centred around a high school battle of the bands contest. As a big fan of books about music, and an even bigger fan of books about competition, I was so excited to see 15 different stories with common themes of finding your place and working hard to achieve your dreams. I loved the way the stories are in dialogue with each other, with some characters making appearances in multiple authors’ contributions, and the wide range of perspectives and relationships to the competition, from a lead singer to a judge to a stage manager, is well-executed. While each story is about the same event, they all feel unique as all angles of the competition are included.

❀ AN ENJOYABLE ANTHOLOGY

I always find anthologies difficult to review since there are always a few stories that are inevitably a miss for me. However, this is one of the rare cases where I genuinely enjoyed each one, and I came away a list of new authors to check out. I especially enjoyed Preeti Chhibber’s contribution, following two people in charge of the merch table, and Lauren Gibaldi’s story, which stars the stage manager who is sick of being in the background. Out of all of them, Katie Cotugno’s work, “All These Friends and Lovers,” might have been my favourite. The characters are so well-written, and she packs so much into such a short space, somehow making the short story feel fully developed.

❀ NARRATED BY A FULL CAST

Listening to the audiobook version of this book was a surprising and enjoyable experience. The anthology is narrated by a full cast, which each story read by someone new, and I found that each narrator suited their section so well. I wasn’t expecting so many different voices, and I loved the way this makes the world of Battle of the Bands feel like a real community. The variety of narrators also helped me keep the stories separate, and I would definitely recommend this format.

❀ WIDE RANGE OF STORIES

Battle of the Bands edited by Lauren Lauren Gibaldi and Eric Smith is a unique and entertaining anthology about the titular battle of the bands competition. I loved the wide range of stories within it, and I had many favourites. The audiobook version is also well-produced, with a full cast that captures the community of the event. Everyone, whether a music fan or a music hater, is sure to find something for them in the pages of this book.

This is an anthology revolving around a Battle of the Bands competition and each story focuses on different characters at said competition. It's different from any anythology I've read before; all the stories interconnected so well. I would highly recommend this if you're a huge music lover.

But despite me enjoying the majority of the stories, there were just some I didn't care for. So I have to dock down a rating for that. Some of my personal faves were: "Peanut Butter Sandwiches" and "Reckless Love." "Advenutres in Babysitting" was a story I felt uncomfortable with at first, but I will admit got better as it progressed.

Individual ratings: Miss Somewhere 2 stars
Cecilia (You're Breaking My Heart) 3.5 stars
Sidelines 2 stars
Battle of the Exes 4 stars
Love is a Battlefield 4 stars
You Found Me 3.75 stars
Adventures in Babysitting 3.75 stars
Peanut Butter Sandwiches 4.5 stars
Reckless Love 5 stars
The Ride 4 stars
Three Cords 3 stars
Merch to Do About Nothing 4 stars
All These Friends and Lovers 3 stars
A Small Light 3 stars
Set the World on Fire 3 stars
Sisterhood of Lights and Sound 3.5 stars

I recieved an audio-galley from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this. I have never read an anthology like this before. Each story is written by a different author, but the characters reappear in the other stories and they all take place on the same night at the high school battle of the bands competition. Each story had a different narrator, which helped differentiate between the characters. I really liked that there was such a variety between the stories. There were musicians, stage hands, bands, solo acts, managers, and songwriters, just to name a few. We also got characters from a range of backgrounds, so it didn't feel like a homogenous group.

This was such a fun collection! I especially enjoyed the production of the audiobook with sick guitar licks inbetween stories. I also appreciated the use of a full cast. My favorite story was Ashley Poston's, but I enjoyed them all!

So... I have been seeing this book literally EVERYWHERE. It has been all over my feed for weeks.. and from the moment I saw the title I KNEW it would be right up my alley.

Before I was obsessed with books, I was obsessed with bands..I grew up in the Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Paramore, Boys Like Girls, The Academy Is..., Cobra Starship, Warped Tour scene..

This book BROUGHT me back to those days. Back to going to shows with friends, spending all of our money on merch, standing for hours in line to make it to the barricade, that feeling when the lights went dim just before the bands took the stage..

It was incredible to get such a great line up of authors, coupled with so many great references...

It's incredible to me that so many authors were able to craft such a seamless story with such few pages per story.

Overall this book was a lot of fun, with some really incredible heartfelt and empowering moments. I loved how character based and relatable every single story was, and how each story felt unified, yet so distinct.

Highly recommend adding this to your reading queue!

This anthology is unlike any I have read before. The stories are short, each describing a character or situation that all comes together in the end. It's cute, fun, and totally interconnected. If you listen to the audiobook, there is actually rock music in between the stories! I usually don't read Anthologies, but this one was so different. It reads like a one storyline book, so if you have never picked up an anthology before, give this one a try!

This was a really fun read! I'm already a big fan of many of the authors and loved the idea of them coming together to tell a series of interwoven stories. I have many students who aren't big readers so this will be a great purchase to recommend to some of them who prefer shorter texts that still tell a compelling story. I definitely recommend!

I enjoyed the theme of this book, centering around a battle of the bands competition. Some characters are members of the band, some are stage crew or ticket takers, one is even a judge. There are cute romances, terrible exes, and some pretty good songs. Each story interconnects with the others, showing us the bands in the show and who wins it all.

I think there were too many stories in this, making each one very short. Some didn't seem to have a lot going on and I wanted to get to know the characters more. It was difficult keeping track of so many people and how they all fit in to the story. If there were half the stories, they could have taken more time to develop and I would have enjoyed this more.

I did love that so many of the stories had LGBTQ characters. Some of them got together with someone they'd been crushing on and it was pretty adorable. There's also a theme of going for what you want, not letting others hold you back, and living your true self. This is a fun book and super quick to get through.

The audiobook has several narrators to help differentiate each story, which helped a lot. There's also some music which fit the theme well and brought a bit of rock into the book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the copy

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'll admit that I was pretty excited to dive into Battle of the Bands once I got accepted. It just seemed like it was going to be a fun book to dive into. With a little bit of rock 'n' roll, and a whole dash of drama toppled over this, you are constantly questioning what the heck is even going on here. Or maybe that's just me?

Now I will also say that I liked the whole battle of the band theme throughout this. Each story was woven so perfectly that it was pretty easy to figure out who the next story was going to be about. Or at least which point of view would be next. Some of the bands were a hot mess though and I honestly had no idea how they were even a band to begin with.

Other than that, I thought some of them were hilarious like the adventures of babysitting. Not sure what I would do with a bunch of kids high on acid but it did seem like everyone was having a blast. I also agree with what was said towards the last two stories about how bands didn't care about starting/having drama before the show. It happens and they deal with it right then and there. Which, in this case, meant lots of bands breaking up.

In the end, I'm glad that I got the chance to dive into this audiobook but it definitely had potential to be a little bit better. Mostly because in some stories it felt like nothing really happened and we were just meeting people that I would never remember down the line.