This book was a fun, feel-good read about two sisters who reconnect after years apart. I loved that the daughter started it all. It’s got all the drama, humor, and heart you’d expect, with a little nostalgia thrown in. The story flips between past and present, giving you a deeper look at what broke them apart and what might bring them back together. It’s an easy, engaging read with relatable characters and some great sisterly moments. If you like stories about family, second chances, and a bit of music fame, you’ll enjoy this. Jennifer Weiner is such a reliable author for a great story with compelling characters. Loved every minute of it!

The Griffins Sisters Greatest Hits was an emotional book because the mother, daughter, sister dynamic was simply not a healthy one. The mother is Janice, and she has two daughters named Zoe and Cassie. Zoe is the oldest and she is clearly the favorite child. She is the pretty one and the “normal” one. Cassie is only one year younger than Zoe and it is excessively emphasized that she isn’t the pretty one because of being overweight.
Now despite that, the story itself was good. It is about two sisters who form a band and Cassie is the one with natural talent when it comes to singing and playing the piano. She is the true talent in the band.
The story is told from different POVs and it does go from past to present. In the present time we learn that the Griffin Sisters broke up and there is a great mystery regarding the breakup. We slowly start to learn what led to the breakup when the story is told from the past POV.
Overall the story was really good. I enjoyed more of Cassie’s POV than Zoe’s. Cassie has been through so much and has isolated herself so you can’t help but feel bad for her. The aftermath of their lives after the breakup is very sad that you can’t help but feel bad for both sisters. Regardless of who was wrong it just seems terribly sad.
Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow. All opinions are my own.

A Jennifer Weiner book about sisters and early 2000s music, what’s not to like? I was so excited about this book, and I’m a Jennifer Weiner fan, but this one missed the mark for me. There is no other way for me to describe how I felt reading this other than I felt like I was being fat-shamed the entire book. I certainly hope my own sister has never had the horrifying thoughts about me, her plus-sized sister, that Zoe has about Cassie. It’s possible (maybe if you’re skinny) that this won’t offend you, and you’ll think this book is great as it calls attention to a larger societal problem about beauty standards and diet culture. It was just a no for me. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for my ARC.

🎸The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner published on April 08, 2025 is a moving saga of two sisters. One the golden child, the other the invisible one. Set across two timelines, the story primarily unfolds in the early 2000s, the golden era of music bands and iconic solo female artists.

Zoe and Cassie are opposites. One is cherished, driven by fame and visibility. The other prefers shadows and silence. One has raw musical talent; the other has the look. Together, they formed a hit band, but after one successful album, tragedy strikes. One sister disappears, and the other settles into a quiet life. Now, in the present day, Cherry is determined to find her missing aunt, hoping for the mentorship she needs from both her mother and the woman who vanished.🎸

🎻This book is packed with emotion and nuance. Zoe and Cassie's bond is close yet laced with unspoken resentment, care laced with superiority. The novel explores sibling rivalry, body image, exploitation, the cost of fame, and ultimately, the possibility of forgiveness.

What struck me most is how the author masterfully blurs the line between right and wrong. None of the characters are entirely good or bad, which makes them feel achingly real. If you love stories about music, messy but meaningful sibling relationships, and morally grey characters, this one will hit you right in the heart.🎻

Thank you to William Morrow for the digital copy of this book.

4.25

Brief overview: The Griffin Sisters, Cassie and Zoe, become an musical sensation in the early 2000s after performing at a battle of the bands. As they are rocketed into fame overnight, they deal with love, rivalry, and loss.

My thoughts: Overall, this was a story of how all the people around her took advantage of a young girl with talent. This book brought back the rage I felt while reading Britney Spears' memoir. The industry was just as rough on Cassie and Zoe as we have learned the industry really treated their stars in the early aughts, particularly young women.

I loved the character Cassie, and I would do anything to protect her! She owes these people nothing and deserves the world. The dog was also a wonderful side character.

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner is a book for those of us that remember the heyday of bands and tours. Zoe is beautiful, and pretty much talentless, but she knows how to get what she wants. And she wants stardom. Her sister, Cassie, is not attractive but filled to the brim with talent. Zoe convinces Cassie to perform with her. To make a long story short, they become stars. A young man joins the group, a songwriter. Cassie falls in love but knows it pointless. Zoe sees him as a stepping stone, something she wants. She seduces him, involves him, eventually announces they are engaged, and marries him. It is no good from the start and she takes up with another member of the band. It all gets very complicated until now it is twenty years later and Zoe’s daughter wants to be a musician. Told in two timelines, it is an enticing story. In many ways, Cherry is a combination of the two women: talented and driven. Through a lot of investigating and personal sacrifice, she finds her aunt and brings the sisters together again.

Cassie is the classic example of a woman with no self-esteem. She is not nearly as unattractive as she sees herself, and she sings like an angel. They songs she wrote are still being played. Zoe finally found herself in the right situation and is happy. Then she sees reality and acts on it, jeopardizing everything. Does it sound complicated? It is. But it is a story worth reading. A woman so blinded by what she wants that she can see nothing else. Another woman who does everything she can to disappear as that’s how she’s always felt. Well done. Poignant. Not sappy. Interesting.

I was invited to read The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by William Morrow. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #WilliamMorrow #JenniferWeiner #TheGriffinSistersGreatestHits

Thank you @williammorrow for my early reading copy of Jennifer Weiner’s newest novel, THE GRIFFIN SISTERS GREATEST HITS, which came out this week!

It’s pretty cool when literature inspires music and vice versa- this musically gifted novel has inspired a new song creation “The Gift” from Hello Sister- take a listen, it’s linked in my post!

This newest novel from Weiner is the story of two musical sisters, a band, and the heartbreaks along the way.

If you enjoy the following, then I bet you will like this novel!
Multiple POVs
Dual timelines & perspectives
Sisters
Familial drama
Music
The 2000s
America’s Got Talent shows

I was definitely glad I read this on my kindle, so I could make sure I was on the right timeline, sister, and moment within the story. It jumps back and forth in the midst of intense moments when you’re trying to piece the storyline together. So, if you listen to the audio make sure to have the print/digital handy in case you need to check it!

I loved Cassie’s character and wished that ultimately I could hear her voice in real life! I am sure it was amazing. Weiner does a great job of building her tenuous relationship with Zoe and the band- life is hard and you can tell it is equally hard in dramatically different ways for these two sisters.

TW: alcoholism, sexual assault, drug use, death of a loved one, familial manipulation.

Rating - 4.5 stars rounded off to 5

No one writes women’s fiction like Weiner does!

Thanks William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC!

Synopsis -

Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were born only one year apart, but there is a world of difference between the two sisters. While Zoe is all beauty, charm and with a penchant for music and fame, Cassie is a gifted child prodigy in both vocals and the piano but prefers total invisibility. The early 2000s saw the rise of the their pop band with the moniker “Griffin sisters” to the top of the charts, but a year on, they’ve broken apart. 2 decades later, Zoe’s teenage daughter Cherry, is determined to make it big in the music industry. Will Cherry manage find out what happened to her mother and aunt’s band all those years ago? Will the sisters ever sing together again?

Review -

This novel is a treat for music lovers - especially for those who love the 90s and early 2000s era of the pop culture. I’ve read a few of Weiner’s books and I am in awe of her choice of theme with this - how effortlessly she’s written this story with music at its core, while also dealing with several wide-ranging subject matters.

The limelight of course is on the sister dynamic. The storyline involves a tight rope dance between Zoe and Cassie - balancing good looks, gregariousness, mediocre musical abilities and the yearning for stardom along with innately extraordinary musical talent, a rare and impossibly magical voice, social awkwardness, low self esteem and inferiority/body image complex.

With alternating POVs and jumping timelines, the fate of the band after being an instant sensational hit all those years ago, is what keeps us hooked. The suspense and the love triangle that unfolds in the past are enough to get us completely invested in the characters. I cried, I cheered, got lost in the mesmerising quality of their songs, of their words, reflected on how the teenage me would’ve have loved them, while the teenage population at the time adored and worshipped the Griffin sisters.

I had the ending completely envisioned, but Weiner threw it completely off course, still managing to win my heart and soothe my soul.

Three cheers for “The Griffin Sisters”.

Jennifer Weiner has been one of my go-to authors since I read In Her Shoes and Good in Bed in the early 2000's. I loved the Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits! It was one of my favorites of her more recent books. I loved the nostalgia of the band in the early 2000's, the years I was in college. For most of the book, I hated Zoe, which is maybe what Jennifer wanted. I rooted for Cassie every step of the way! I know some friends had a hard time with how Cassie was viewed/treated/spoken about for her weight, but I think it was real, as sad as that is, it was/is reality that many women face. I felt like it was an honest look at how the world can treat women, especially women who are overweight.

3.5 stars rounded up. This book really sounded like it would be right up my alley. I always find behind the scenes stories entertaining and I would've been in the right demographic to listen to the sisters at the peak if they were real. There were parts of the book that I really liked and it did hold my attention. It wasn't as juicy as I would've liked though and the characters felt a bit flat to me. That said, I did like it overall. I just didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

My thoughts:
The story is told in two timelines…past and present.
The Griffin Sister’s Greatest Hits has so much going on.
Sisters
Stardom
Music
Relationships
The story revolves around two sisters, Zoe and Cassie. They are so different from each other in every way possible.
This story had me going through many emotions.
Can past mistakes be overcome?
Can broken relationships be fixed?
All in all….a heartwarming, heartfelt and engaging story about sisterhood, family and discovery of self.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Cassie and Zoe Grossberg are sisters who are only a year apart in age, but could not be more different. Cassie is a brilliant musical prodigy who wants to remain hidden and Zoe wants nothing more than the fame and glamour of stardom. The sisters are discovered at a battle of the bands and soon become the pop band The Griffin Sisters. But after only a year, they split up under mysterious circumstances.

Now, it's been 20 years and Zoe's daughter, Cherry, is determined to discover why the band broke up and why her mom will not talk about her past with the band or her sister. Can she track down Cassie in Alaska and get answers?

Trigger Warnings

Sexual assault (not graphic)

Why Jackie loves it

I love the references to 1990s pop music and would love nothing more than a playlist to go with the book. The characters are rich and flawed, and I love how to story develops as we uncover the reasons the band broke up.

Unfortunately I just could not get into this book. I wish the author much success with this book. It just wasn't for me.

Moving women's fiction story; loved how it reminded me of Wilson Phillips! Lots of negative body talk which was almost too much at times; enjoyed it

I liked it because it had that classic Jennifer Weiner mix of humor, heart, and family drama, which I always enjoy. The story follows the Griffin sisters, Cassie and Zoe, both super different, navigating life, old wounds, and some juicy family secrets.

It definitely had its moments—great dialogue, relatable emotions, and that comforting, “you’re not alone” vibe she’s so good at. But I’ll be honest, I didn’t love it as much as some of her other books. It didn’t hit me quite as hard emotionally, and a few parts felt a little slower than I expected. Also the constant mention of Cassie’s weight and Zoe always being of as the pretty one was just a bit overdone.

Still, it’s a solid, enjoyable read, especially if you’re in the mood for a story about sisterhood, growth, and all the messy, beautiful parts of family.
3.5 stars

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits is the story of two sisters who had a short run as a pop sensation until it all blew up. The book bounces around between their rise to fame and present day, with the points of view of both sisters and the daughter of one of them. All three women have secrets, all three women are facing their own issues and all three women are seeking something out of life but hitting obstacles. I loved the inside glimpse into the music world. I also loved the honesty and rawness of these women and their issues and stresses. It was very emotional on all fronts and really sucked me in as I wanted all three women to embrace forgiveness and find their happiness.

While it took me time to get into this one, I was invested in finding out what happened. This was a story of family, history, and the events that spark our paths. How sisters can support one another through things but then can be so torn apart. Music brings people together and begins to heal.
It’s not the best of Jennifer Weiners but worth grabbing!

In the early 2000s a band came out of nowhere, the Griffin sisters. This is their story, the story of two sisters, but also of the daughter of one of the sisters. The band broke up when a member, the husband of one of the sisters died. Told in alternating viewpoints and timelines, this is a story of fame, fortune, talent, deceit, communication, grief, and life.

This book is masterfully written. The way it is structured leaves the reader unsure about so much of the prior timeline. I enjoyed it! I found that I was sucked in and wanted to listen to the Griffin Sisters. I really wanted to be able to hear Cassie's voice, as I struggled to imagine it. It was really interesting to think of someone being so isolated they didn't know of Adele.

Overall, I think this will be enjoyed by those that have enjoyed Weiner's previous works but will also attract new readers.

Thank you to Net Galley and William Morrow for the DRC. All opinions are my own.

I love Jennifer Weiner and will always read everything she writes, especially when she ventures into (modern) historical fiction. The Griffin Sisters is an interesting take on the music scene in the early 200s and is great for fans of Daisy Jones and the Six.

Jennifer Weiner KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK! I absolutely devoured and loved The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits. I could not stop reading once I started. I was so captured by Cassie, Zoe, and Cherry that I did not want this to end. This is the perfect book for a book club, a beach read, a plane ride, any adult. There were times I laughed, times I cried, and times I was happy for the characters. The character development here is absolutely breathtakingly full. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy and thank you to Jennifer Weiner for creating this world that I want to escape back in to. All opinions are my own!