A great next read for fans of Daisy Jones & the Six, Songs in Ursa Major, and Mary Jane. The Lightning Bottles is a fun and thought provoking account of life in the music industry, showing the behind-the-scenes cost of fame. The set up is interesting, and the plot takes just enough creative and unexpected turns to keep pages turning. A great addition to the growing list of compelling novels about life in the music industry.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review.

THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. I loved this one! Jane and Elijah were quickly catapulted into fame. As rising rock stars in the early 90s they became an overnight sensation. When Elijah goes missing and is presumed dead, 5 years later Jane is trying to put the puzzle pieces together with one of their biggest fans. I LOVED this one. As a Seattle born and raised girl, who loves the alternative/grunge scene of the 80s/90s it’s like this book was made for me! I absolutely loved it, this book was a story of addiction, love, insecurities, adoration. As a woman, it was such an honest book about the blame and pressure women had and still have, on their shoulders. I need a signed copy for my shelf! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

3.5 stars - If you enjoyed "Daisy Jones & the Six" then this title might be right up your alley. It's the 90's grunge this time though, as we search for one half of a once-famous duo with the other half, Jane and an obsessed fan girl. It was not really what I expected from this author, whose "Lucky" I really enjoyed and I found it hard to connect with the story and characters. I know as a boomer, that I am not the intended audience though and likely older Millennials will enjoy this one. My thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for my advance review copy, I appreciate it!

The Lightning Bottles is a love story about rockstars Jane Pyre and Elijah Hart, depicting their meteoric rise to fame and their role in ushering in a new era of music in the 90s. This book is gritty, nostalgic, angsty, and perfectly captures the culture surrounding Seattle sound and grunge music.

This reminded me a lot of “Daisy Jones and The Six” with its glimpses into the music industry and how artists pour themselves into the songwriting process. I appreciate how it showcases musicians’ struggles with substance abuse, fame, and especially in Jane's case, misogyny.

I also liked how the chapters went back and forth in time to reveal more of their past before focusing on Jane and Hen decoding Elijah’s messages in the present day. However, I couldn't really get into this book, and I think it may be due to Hen's character. While I understand the importance of Hen as a an outsider to ground the story and provide a different perspective, I couldn't really connect with her as a character and see past her motivation to unravel and get close to rockstars she has worshipped for years.

I’m not musically inclined and I haven’t felt such adoration towards artists before, so perhaps this book wasn't the right fit for me, but I wanted to see more of Jane and Elijah. Regardless, I’m glad they found their way back to each other at the end.

I have mixed feelings about The Lightning Bottles. I loved the depiction of the music and rock n roll world of the 1990s. I sympathized with Jane's struggles as a woman in that world. The author did a good job with the issues of alcoholism and addiction.

On the other hand, I didn't particularly like any of the main characters. The plot moved slowly until the ending, which was rushed.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

If you enjoy rock n roll love stories & Daisy & the Six you will really like this book. I absolutely could not put it down! Stapley fully develops her characters and you will feel like you really know them. A great summer read, thanks for the advanced copy!!

If you were around for the rise of alternative music, loved Daisy Jones, or enjoy a good rock and roll book, The Lightning Bottles is a five star read! Instantly I started catching some Easter eggs about alternative, grunge and rock bands from the 90s. It was great to catch real names from the music scene interspersed throughout story characters (RIP, Steve Albini).

I loved the use of parallel timelines - The time changes were seamless and integrated very well into a genuine story of love, loss, and relationships.

5 stars for a compelling, vivid story. An extra star for a fast, fun read. Another extra star for the feeling I got of being “in the know” while I read.

This is another book that I had high expectations going into, as I enjoyed the authors previous book, “Lucky”. However, I didn’t feel very lucky after having read this newest release. This is story about musicians in the 1990’s, and I thought that I would feel a great sense of nostalgia and longing for what was once a great time in my life. This book didn’t bring me any joy unfortunately, and the pages and chapters seemed to drag on… This book is also labeled as General/Historical Fiction for adults, but I feel that it is more of a YA read.

We have the story of Jane (formerly Janet) Pyre, who runs away from home on her 18th birthday to get away from her very strict, church-going mother. Jane fell in love with a musician she met online, and drove all the way to Seattle, WA from Canada to be with him. Luckily, it was meant to be and they went on to make beautiful music together…

However, things were not always easy for Jane and Elijah. Elijah’s friends hated Jane, as did all their fans. Elijah struggled with substance abuse problems, and Jane always felt like she was the problem. They had to deal with legal issues, all while growing up in the public eye. Then Elijah disappears, and maybe Jane has one friend that can help her find out what really happened…

Unfortunately, I didn’t care for any of the characters in this book and I felt that it was unnecessarily long. As I mentioned above, I didn’t get that nostalgic feeling I was looking for, and I think that those who enjoy reading about young love might enjoy this book more than I did.
(2.5 stars - rounded up)

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and the author for an ARC of this book which I had the pleasure of reading. Publication date: September 24, 2024.

The Lighting Bottles is like elevated Love/Cobain fanfic-- and I mean that in the absolute best way. Told with cinematic precision, Stapley has crafted a portrait of a polarizing, widely misunderstood woman and woven it together with a mystery. Actually, a few mysteries: who is leaving her clues that only Elijah would know? Who really wrote the Lightning Bottles's hit song?, and is Elijah still alive?

Together with Hen, Jane Pyre sets out to find answers, and to find out who she is outside of the spotlight.

While this doesn't feel like a derivative of Daisy Jones, it will certainly appeal to fans of that bestseller, and I would definitely recommend this book.

Wow, this is easily going to be one of my favorite books of the year, and it’s only June. As a younger Gen X’er, I am *super* picky about 90s nostalgia and 90’s music-related fiction, and she carefully built a world in The Lightning Bottles that mixed real 90s musicians and cultural moments with fictional composites and original characters. Marissa clearly knew her stuff or knew where to do her research to accurately reference music venues of the time period (hello, Re-Bar callout!), and it adds to the richness of the setting and story.

But this isn’t just a nostalgia tale. I loved and related to Jane, the main protagonist, who just can’t seem to do anything right or have anything she does perceived correctly in the male-dominated music scene. (A lot of Jane’s struggles with perception still apply to being a woman working in the tech world 25+ years later.) On a personal level, she struggles with the frustration and guilt related to trying to save someone who can’t save himself.

The mystery surrounding what really happened Elijah’s disappearance drives the plot and is handled in a way that keeps you turning pages while you fall more and more in love with the characters. (Side note: I adored Maxime, a minor character who appears in a few pivotal scenes.) To put in perspective how bingeable this book is, I finished it in under 2 days while suffering from Covid Brain Fog and could barely concentrate on anything for more than 3 minutes. If you were ever a fan of or at least fascinated by the Pixies or Jeff Buckley or Courtney Love or Sinead O’Conner, I highly recommend checking this book out when you get the chance.

I cannot truly begin to elucidate how The Lightning Bottles made me feel. This story was so raw and complicated—and reminded me of two of my own relationships. I really loved the dual POVs, as well as the intergenerational component—it felt really well-rounded and hopeful. The conclusion felt extraordinarily satisfying and I am just so truly grateful for the introduction to Marissa Stapley and this story.

“The Lightning Bottles,” by Marissa Stapley is a homage to misunderstood, strong, ambitious female rock stars from the eighties and nineties, in particular Sinead O’Connor. It features a fictitious husband and wife rock duo, Elijah and Jane, called “the Lightning Bottles,” who met in their teens through an online user forum created by Jane to find fellow music fans. After Jane comes to live with Elijah and his parents, Jane writes music for Elijah to sing and perform. Soon they are discovered by record managers and promoters, quickly becoming a rock sensation in the 1990s, with platinum records, Grammy awards and sold out concerts worldwide. The book chronicles their subsequent descent into alcoholism and drug addiction, until Elijah is pronounced dead in Iceland from drowning in the stormy waters off Iceland’s south coast.

Five years later, Jane moves to a farmhouse on the outskirts of Berlin, where she meets Hen, a teenage girl who is an ardent fan of the Lightning Bottles. Hen believes that she has found clues that Elijah is still alive and trying to communicate with Jane through posters and graffitti on the walls of buildings in Berlin, the site of the Lightning Bottles last public appearance. Jane reluctantly agrees to accompany Hen on a journey across Europe to find these clues, ultimately returning alone to Iceland to find the last pieces of the puzzle.

The book contains lyrical language, and well-drawn characters whose anguish and sense of loss are palpable. This book will resonate for those who spent their youth idolizing musicians and compulsively listening to emotionally moving music.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

When i saw this book was centered around music in the 90s I was so excited and let me tell you-it did not disappoint. I loved everything about this book (except Kim, he can kick rocks). The music, the lyrics, the teenage angst, the rockstar life, getting too famous too fast....ALL of it! I was a teenager in the 90s and so many of the music references hit close to home. I even loved the reminder of how we all thought the world was going to end on y2k lol
Go read this book! Just do it!

The Lightening Bottles, by Marissa Stanley, is an absolute must read for everyone who was music crazy back in the 90s. And for those who weren't around of don't remember, you might wish you were. Shapely captures the era and angst perfectly! The music industry is like another character in the story of Jane and Elijah, who met in an internet chat room and went on to form a band, catapult to fame, and then... You will have to read to find out! An emotional, nostalgic, rollercoaster of a novel. Highly recommend!!!

It was truly an emotional journey reading this book. First and foremost, the book is a moving love letter to a bygone era, 90s rock music and its impressive musical representatives, the desire to assert one's individuality, the price of fame and inexpressible loneliness. Following Jane and Hen's quest, I empathized with the events that unfolded, realizing that every individual has a dark side, and above all, you have to save yourself. But after everything, the fortunate thing is that you still have loved ones waiting and forgiving.

Through the locations on the journey, the author gradually unveils the events leading to Elijah's disappearance. I understand why Jane and he are two halves of each other, two kindred spirits; they were lucky to have met in life. I empathize with Jane and Elijah for the hardships they endured. The enormous price to pay for being a rock star: struggling with drugs, seeking oblivion in alcohol, constantly yearning for new creative inspiration, deciding whether to be oneself or conform to the public's expectations... That path has never been easy. Some people couldn't overcome it, and the harsh reality of rock singers is somewhat reflected in Marissa's book.

I think the book has all the elements to become a beloved, bestselling book and possibly even be adapted into a film. There's a lingering sadness when we recall old memories, the 90s with rock songs accompanying our youth. The lyrics of The Lightning Bottles are poetic; I can feel the pain of a generation eager to express themselves through the power of music. Marissa has become one of my favorite authors, and this book deserves widespread recognition.

I was anxious about the outcome of their story, you know, because they had endured so much pain, and sometimes in this world of rock 'n' roll, reality can be like a bleeding knife wound. But hope was ignited at the end of the road, and finally, they found each other again, a new life.

In conclusion, this book easily became one of my favorite books not only due to Marissa's captivating storytelling ability but also her unique character development, profound psychological portrayal, and poetic song lyrics. I want to embrace Jane after all the hardships she's been through while smiling because she finally rediscovered herself and found her lost love. I sincerely thank Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was provided an advance e-book copy by NetGalley and the publisher.

Other reviewers have provided fairly detailed synopses, and I will not repeat their efforts here.

The writing is excellent, and in fact I read the entire book in basically one sitting (with a few snack and bathroom breaks). I will definitely be reading other books by this author in the near future.

I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 simply out of my own musical tastes. I have never been a fan of the music (or musicians) depicted in this book, and I readily admit that I don't "get" the grunge scene. My preferences are found in the 60s and 70s.

Having said that, though, I appreciated the author's depiction of the raw realities and pitfalls of the music business, both personal and professional. Having read far too many sad tales of artists signing really bad contracts and being cheated out of millions of dollars of royalties, I was glad that this book's fictional band acquired good representation from the beginning of their professional career.

The Lightning Bottles

In the 90’s where Grunge and the Seattle sound was everywhere, there was The Lightning Bottles, a duo made up of two highly talented amateur musicians Elijah Hart and Jane Pyre.
This story is about where it all began and the most important part, where is Elijah Hart ?Presumed dead by everyone for the past five years, but when a super fan of The Lightning Bottles discovers clues that may mean Elijah is not dead the journey begins.
The story is a bittersweet one but in true rockstar fashion it’s filled with the good , bad and ugly of all of what happened with Jane & Elijah.
4 musical stars

I absolutely loved this book and found myself drawn in and unable to put it down from page one! I can see this being a great pic for anyone who loved Daisy Jones and Six, and I especially enjoyed the love letter to the 90's era of grunge and rock.

While at it's heart, this is a romance, I think it still had some great commentary on the music industry, addiction and grief. Stapley has a way of making you immediately at ease and develop a relationship with these characters, I found myself really resonating with Jane and rooting for her, Not to mention seeing how she reacted to fame in real time.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for letting me have access to an eARC in exchange for an honest review! Be sure to check it out when it comes out September 24th, 2024!

If you remember being 14, beeing seen for the first time on the radio, and flinging your relentless will against anyone, against everyone, this is for you.

Wow, what a story! Everything from the realistic love between Jane and Elijah and the honest look at Fame and the Music Industry made this story phenomenal for me.
From the very beginning when Jane and Elijah meet on a chat room, they were connected for life. They just click and it made me want everything they wanted, but like most people who want to be famous they had no idea what was going to happen to them or that the music world would be so harsh and unforgiving and just mean. But in the end, their love was stronger than lies, drugs and the music industry, but in order to get to the other side they would need to go through a soul searching journey that made them look at where they ended up and coming clean with all the stuff that was destroying their relationship.
Another aspect of the story I found important, the realistic view of the Music Industry which is refreshing because so many young and talented people make the mistake that fame and money solves everything but instead it messes with their head and if they have any self doubt fame will enhance it. In the story, Jane believes if she sells her song and becomes famous her life would be better but instead she found barriers for being a woman and jealousies because friends of Elijah couldn't handle the love he had for Jane, and they took every opportunity to tear her down and just lie about her. And when she try to tell the truth the industry just enhance the lies about her and made her into a monster she never was, and told the world that Elijah really didn't love her. I also liked that the story dealt with the drug addictions and alcohol abuse that is entrenched in the industry and it show how easy it is to obtain in.
One last important topic about Fame especially in the story is that sometimes the artists that lived the lifestyle just couldn't handle it and would kill themselves, which shows how any self doubt or lack of confidence can be dire and sad. It made me think of all the artist that didn't make it who were stars in the music industry.
One good point of the story that I liked is that the story gave Jane and Elijah an honest manager that stood by them and was honest with them, because even that, some artist don't get and in the end it actually saved their lives, because she cared.
I LOVED THIS STORY!

I want to thank Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advance copy of this fabulous story about love, music and destiny.