Thank you so much to William Morrow and Net Galley for the eARC of this amazing debut novel by Sarah Priscus!

In Groupies we follow Faun Novak, a college dropout from Massachusetts, as she moves in with her childhood best friend, Josie, in Los Angeles in search of a fresh start. Josie just happens to be dating Cal Holiday, the lead singer of the mega-famous rockband Holiday Sun, and before she knows it, Faun is fully immersed in the glittery and grimy rockstar culture of 70’s LA. Faun is achingly desperate for love and attention and finds her niche in the groupie-sphere through the lens of her polaroid camera - snapping photos of steamy backstage moments and A-list, drug laden parties. Yet, all that glitters is not gold, as they say, and as Faun peels back the layers of the rockstars and the women who worship them, she uncovers grim truths about the perils of fame, addiction and abuse.

Without spoiling too much, this book was an absolute thrill and so enjoyable to read. Priscus creates a vivid, sometimes painfully raw depiction of the party scene in 70’s LA as told through the eyes of Faun. I know the book world is already comparing this book to Daisy Jones, however I think that’s a cheap shot, because aside from the setting, they are totally different books IMO. The style of the narrative being the most obvious difference, but the plot and aim of each author diverge greatly. So whether you liked Daisy Jones or not (I personally didn’t love it) - don’t let that affect your decision to read this book!

Priscus is an extremely talented writer with a special knack for description and honestly, the reason I gave this a four instead of a five is simply because I wanted more. Some of the exposition at the beginning could have been trimmed in order to beef up the end. I felt there were certain scenes (especially in the back half of the book) and characters that I wished had been fleshed out further, and part of me wished we had gotten to the climax sooner in order to marinate in it more.

However, overall, I’d absolutely recommend this book (but be sure to check tw’s first as it discusses some heavy topics). It’s a wild ride and a gripping escape from the era we’re currently living in. I’ll be thinking about Faun and Josie for a while.

This was a book that I was very excited to read. I did find this story a little hard to connect to. I think it is because I was confused with the characters. But overall loved the setting of this book. I loved the plot twist at the end. This was a very solid read and I would suggest it.

Groupies is the debut novel from Sarah Priscus, which hits shelves on July 12, 2022. William Morrow publishing provied me an early galley for review.

The 1970's is really when music started to become a big part of my life, so a novel set in that time period in the world of rock 'n' roll is an absolute draw for me. Priscus really manages to capture the vibe of the times, peppering her story with just the right amount of touchstone references to give the story that authentic 1970's feel. Even the names of the characters - Faun, Josie, Kitty, Yvonne, Darlene, Floyd, etc. - perfectly echo that period.

Faun's story is interesting in that she quickly falls into the obsessive life of a hanger-on. She wants to be important; she wants to be known and thought of as cool. And she soon stumbles down that path of doing whatever it takes to get there. It becomes "her world". And as she does so, I found myself liking her less and less, but I believe that is exactly what the author wanted me to feel. Faun is not the victim here; she actively makes decisions that lead to her own misery and downfall, and the downfall of others. This is a bold writing choice that pays off well.

The ending turned into a direction I expected, not necessarily as satisfying for me though. I liked the dark tragic tone that the story had taken, so a promising light felt a little too neat, too clean of a way to end. Granted, Faun was still a long way from a normal life, but it implied that at some point she was likely to get there. That felt too convenient for me. Still, it was an engaging read that I would recommend to others.

3.5 Stars

I am fascinated by rock bands and loved the autobiography "I'm With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie" written by the famous 70s groupie Pamela Des Barres. I also love the seventies era (when I was a teenager), so naturally gravitated towards this book.

Faun Novak is a college dropout from Massachusetts who relocates to Los Angeles after her mother's death, staying with her best friend from high school days, Josephine (Josie) Norfolk. Faun's mother never approved of Josie, a girl who was very popular and could dazzle anyone she met. Josie's current boyfriend is a famous musician who is financing her apartment- Cal Holiday of the band Holiday Sun. This is one of Faun's favorite bands and she just can't believe she is going to get to meet them through Josie. Faun's prized possession is a Polaroid camera, and she feels she has a special talent in photography.

I experienced a multitude of emotions and opinions while reading this book. I guess you could say it was thought-provoking, and I became judgemental of various characters. The aura of a groupie might make someone jealous who is stranded on the outside of the rich and famous, but a lot of their experiences left me feeling empty and grateful for my boring- but orderly and contented life. There were endless parties, drugs, easy sex/nudity, lack of responsibility and a revolving door of staying with different people. Quite frankly, I was embarrassed for some of the female characters. Some of them had strained and troubled childhoods/ home lives and it reminded me of some of the female Manson followers looking to glorify someone like a god.

The writing style was good, but could have been edited down some, at almost 400 pages. I also questioned the constant use of a Polaroid camera by Faun, when at a certain point she transitioned to professional photographer status. Earlier in the story she says she would like but cannot afford an expensive SLR camera. I never heard of a professional photographer getting jobs using a Polaroid camera, even in the seventies. There was another incident towards the end of the book involving the police questioning a character after a serious crime, and I found his handling of a potential suspect rather weak and out of the norm. Otherwise, I found the book interesting as a psychological/sociological voyeur journey. I struggled whether to rate it a 3 (good) or a 4 (really good) and settled upon 3.5 rounded up to 4. When I first started the book I was a bit underwhelmed and purposely didn't read any other books at the same time, worried that my attention would drift away from getting back to this. So I stayed the course reading this solo and managed to get through it without getting bored. I was a little confused sometimes with the character of Faun and her observations. She seemed all over the place, lacking in personal integrity and character. It would be interesting if the author would take this character forward into a subsequent book to see if with some maturity she could redeem herself.

Thank you to the publisher William Morrow who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

I picked this book up because its description reminded me of Daisy Jones and the Six (which was excellent). And it does have a similar vibe (at least at first), but then it takes a much darker turn. All the glamor of the 1970's rock scene is there, but there is also a dark undercurrent of abuse that is explored and a violent climax that is more on par with Gone Girl or Girl on the Train (or a similar title). I will say that the flash forward at the beginning of the book was welcomingly misleading, as the story twisted in a way that I wasn't expecting. It was a quick, great read, and I would recommend it for both Daisy Jones fans and fans of psychological thrillers.

(Content warning: assault, abuse) I got an ARC of this book through NetGalley – it comes out on July 12, 2022. This book is being compared to Daisy Jones and the Six and The Final Revival of Opal & Nev – they’re all coming-of-age stories of sorts of music groups, but to me, this one was a little bit darker. After her mother dies, Faun decides to drop out of school and move to Los Angeles, where she reconnects with her friend Josie. Josie, it turns out, is dating Cal Holiday of the band Holiday Sun, and Faun wants to be a photographer, so she takes her Polaroid camera and starts tagging along with Josie and the band, getting behind-the-scenes, candid shots of the group. She starts partying with them, too – getting totally lost in their world. While Josie and Cal’s relationship looks perfect from the outside, Faun soon starts to suspect – and then learns – that partying with rock stars has a darker side, too. It’s a really immersive read and is a true coming-of-age story.

An interesting fictional story about the life of groupies - however I'm sure a lot of it is based on real experiences. A group of women follow a rock band wherever they go and end up not really having a life of their own. One of the main characters, Faun, finally does end up making something of herself but she's still immersed in the rock world.

Faun is young, carefree, and mostly trying to escape the realities of her life. With that as her main motivation, she heads to LA to follow her friend / friend's bf very famous band as they live out the very real rock and roll lifestyle. With her camera as the true lens of the story we see that faun doesn't really have the easy-going lifestyle that initially seems promised.

Sarah Priscus did a beautifully painful take on the culture of being a young girl in a world that barely provides the space for you to navigate into your womanhood. Very well-written, very hard to read at times.

Dark and gritty like a train wreck you know is coming but you can’t look away! Faun arrives in LA to live with her best friend, Josie. She has no money or direction beside her love of taking photos. Josie introduces Faun to the music scene as a groupie for the popular band Holiday Sun and Faun gets sucked into to the lifestyle, booze, sex, and drugs. Much of the book focuses on the meaningless excess of the 70s music scene and the sad symbiotic relationship between the groupie girls and the band members. The ending went a different place than I expected and made for a satisfying conclusion. I loved the main characters of Faun and Josie. The writing was evocative and perfectly captured the haze of a never ending bender. Highly recommend!

I loved this book so much! I was looking for a book with a similar vibe as Daisy Jones and the Six and this definitely did just that! It was fun and fast paced, and I feel like a lot of people (including myself) could relate to the main character Faun and her struggles in being accepted but always feeling like everyone’s second choice. This book was empowering and insightful and very feminist (which I loved). There was a very interesting plot twist that just made me like the book even more.

This book felt flat to me. It lacked the glamour and excitement that would explain the attraction to the rock and roll world, and many of the disturbing parts were so matter-of-fact that the sense of horror just wasn’t there. Many details seemed glossed over, while others were unnecessarily highlighted. (How many episodes of vomiting and throwing up do there need to be?) The groupie world is rich with potential, as evidenced by other novels, and especially Pamela Des Barres’ books. Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Josie, who’d be covered in blood on bathroom tiles in nine months’ time, met me at the Greyhound station.” If that opening line doesn’t draw you in, I don’t know what will 👏

Faun Novak steps off that Greyhound bus in LA and into the arms of her best friend Josie and a whole new world of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. She wants to make a name for herself, but at what cost?

Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. There are a lot of characters, but for the most part, I felt like they were all unique and I didn’t find myself just lumping them all together. The ending left me feeling unsatisfied and angry, but in a way that worked for the book. This book packed a punch, from the opening line to the last page.

It’s grungy and gritty and glamorous in the way only rock ‘n’ roll in the ‘70s was.

Engaging
Main character has not like other girls vibes but she does want to be like other girls and I do find that to be interesting and honestly relatable. like wanting to be "cool"
I like that the author brings up the problematic parts of groupies ex. Teenage girls, the racism, the partying culture is extreme
Reminds me of almost famous if the main character was a boy instead
i had so much second hand stress and embarrassment! i wanted to enjoy it but Faun stressed me out so much. I love the concept and I think the book is really fun and good but not for me.

I struggled to connect with the story and characters during the first half of the book. However, like Faun's Polaroid pictures, everything sharpened and came in to focus the more the story developed. Sarah Priscus captures the allure and elusiveness of fame very well.

I've always been fascinated by the era of groupies in the 60s-80s era of rock n roll and how the progression changed through the decades. Seeing that this was set in the 70's, the height of all the alcohol and drug usage. Although this is being marketed to "Daisy Jones & the Sixes" fans, I believe it's different. It shows the industry's darker side and how girls wanted to be someone to the band members and, most importantly, themselves. Though you're screaming at the characters for their actions, you understand that they also have to do it.

Though I couldn't finish the last 50-70 pages of the book, I enjoyed it more than expected. Though I read most of it, I will purchase a physical copy and re-read and annotate it more.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

TW: DA, Violence, Mentions of S*xual Acts, Mentions of Alcohol, Drugs and ODs.

4☆ for Groupies by Sarah Priscus.

A groupie, pronounced ˈɡruːpi, is according to the Oxford dictionary, a young woman who regularly follows a pop group or other celebrity, especially in the hope of having a sexual relationship with them.
But groupies are much, much more than that. They love too much and care too much - despite it all. Despite the hurt and the pain.

Faun Novak's path is going to change forever. Leaving her old life behind, she embarks into a new one with her eyes closed and her heart open.

This is a story of hope, hurt, love and many more difficult themes.

I really loved this book. I thought it was a lighthearted read as first, and I was (positively) shocked to discover it truly isn't. It's a rough, difficult story but I'm gonna stop here as to not spoil the rest.

I would say though, the reasons this received 4 stars instead of 5:
- The similarities with Daisy Jones and the Six at points were too much to ignore.
- I felt the story dragged a bit until it eventually picked up. The endless inner monologues became tiring at some point which caused me to skim.

I think this book is 3.5 Stars, rounding to 4. Groupies follows a band of women who are, well, groupies for theBand Holiday Sun. Faun Novak heads off to LA to stay with her childhood friend Josie and join the crazy lifestyle she leads. She's soon recklessly following the lifestyle of groupies and joining in on the girls' antics along the way. A twist at the end makes Faun question the road she's down and where she's going to go from there.
The comparison of Daisy Jones and the Six had me very interested, but instead of following the band so much, follows the girls who want to be around and with them. The story is fast paced, focused on the wild child life these girls all lead, through the eyes of the aspiring photographer Faun. I liked the second half of the book a lot more than the first, as I felt the pace really picked up about the 40-50% range. The twist towards the end and Faun's life after was very interesting to follow along and, in my eyes, carried the book and characters to a new level. The amount of characters and where they all tie in together was a little bit much at the beginning, but as the book went on, they became much more easy to separate into their own stories.
In the end, I did enjoy the overall story as well as the writing style. I will be picking up more from this author in the future.

LOVED IT. This book is giving very much Daisy Jones and The Six/Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but with Sally Rooney's matter of fact writing style. It was very interesting, seeing the MC be so unsure of herself and lost in life. It felt more realistic and raw than Daisy Jones did. One might also think that keeping track of an entire band and the groupies would be difficult, but this was executed so well. I knew all of the different characters and didn't feel lost at all. In fact, I loved them so much. I wish it would've been a happy ending but I understand that a book like this can't end with a happily-ever-after. It must be realistic. Honestly, such a good binge-able read!!

This novel was a bit like Almost Famous, only from the perspective of a groupie/wanna-be photographer as opposed to a journalist, and it brought out so many emotions. Faun was at times naive, misguided, and downright unlikeable but I never wavered from my desire for her to make it through this reckless time in her life. There were so many twists and turned that I never saw coming and moments of true poignancy. I had never thought about the life of groupie, their desires and the expectations placed upon them from the band. It was so interesting. A very impressive debut!

"Life was rainbows and muck." This is a stunning and addictive novel that explores the gritty (and, yes, still glamorous) substratum of the 1970s famous rock 'n roll scene: the groupies. When aspiring photographer Faun, 24, loses her mother, she leaves the east coast to join up with her old high school bestie, Josie, who is now dating the lead singer of a band. In Los Angeles, Faun tries to find herself--and her art--while also navigating the groupie subculture with which she quickly becomes entrenched. This novel probes the fascinating intersection between what one desires and the lengths one goes to in order to be desired--and when Faun arrives at this crossroad she makes a pivotal decision that leaves the lives of those around her forever changed. This is a page-turning, intricate read filled with beautiful, concise prose, complex characters, and the dark, alluring underbelly of rock 'n roll. A gorgeous achievement!