I really enjoyed this story! It had a little bit of everything - rock ‘n roll, family secrets, and dual timelines from the 2000’s to now. I raced through it to see how everything would turn out.

I felt like I understood everyone and their choices by the end of the story, but it was quite a ride to get there! I disliked every character at some point, but also ached for them at some point. There were a lot of ups and downs and sadness, but ultimately love and caring as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this.

This was a very fun ride! I'm not sure I've gotten so completely lost into a Jennifer Weiner book as I did for this one. Very Daisy Jones and the Six vibes with the bands and music. A whole lot of trauma and drama going on the whole time - a bunch of tough topics. I liked the way the protagonist was really pretty awful but we didn't totally know this until further into the story as everything unfolded.

Jennifer Weiner is one of my favorite authors and I am so grateful to have received an advanced digital copy of this book from the Publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my review. I cannot wait to get my copy when it releases. I really enjoyed this story - it had me hooked. It had many of the regular themes that Jennifer weaves into her stories: sisterhood, motherhood, developing inner strength, body awareness/stuggle/confidence, partnerships and a lovable dog. I was thrilled that it was set in Philly (Go Birds!) and its suburbs. The nostalgic throwbacks to the 90s and early 2000s had me laughing and reminiscing. I enjoyed reading about these sisters and their adventurous struggle as they chased fame and then learned to deal with what life handed them when they got it. I would have enjoyed a little more character development for Russell since he had such a profound impact on the sisters, and a bit more discussion on autism. Overall a great read. Pre-order your copy for publication April 8, 2025.

Cassie and Zoe are sisters, as different as can be. Zoe is beautiful and popular and Cassie is introverted and overweight. what Cassie does have, however, is talent. She's a musical prodigy with dreams of playing classical piano; Zoe wants to be famous. Everything changes one night when they perform at a Battle of the Bands competition, and they are suddenly thrust into the spotlight. Everyone loves the Griffin sisters, but Zoe knows her sister is the one with all of the talent and that she is only there because her sister wants her to be. Without giving anything away, tragedy strikes and the sisters go their separate ways. Zoe gets married and becomes a PTA mom. Cassie goes into hiding so that no one will find out her secret. Until one day, when a niece that she didn't know about tracks her down.

I loved this book. I didn't want to put it down. I needed to know what secrets the sisters were hiding and if they could ever find each other again. Highly recommend. Thank you to netGalley for the ARC!

DNF at 20%…I couldn’t get into the writing. It felt more tell than show. All the characters seemed unlikable and I couldn’t get full invested.

This story was a fun trip through the world of professional music. Love, betrayal, and a lot of songs. I enjoyed the read! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I have read and adored several of Jennifer Weiner’s books, and was so happy to receive and advanced copy of this one.

BUT…

I did not like this book and was really just reading it out of obligation until the final 25%. Why?

-The characters were so incredibly one-dimensional and unlikeable.
-The story was just told to me and nothing was really shown. -Many things were just mentioned as something that had happened, but we didn’t actually get to be in that scene or experience the dialogue.
-So many subjects in the book were written about with zero sensitivity or depth.
-The “pretty sister” was one of the most vile characters I’ve ever read. The selfishness and intentional hurt she caused and the almost total inability to love anyone but herself, well into adulthood!! Wtf?
-The “fat sister”….where do I even start? Her weight was quite literally shoved down our throats in every scene she was in. I understand that time period, I was the same age in the early 2000’s, but it wasn’t quite as terrible as this book made it into. Was there body shaming? Absolutely. But this took things to a new level of “you have nothing to offer the world, including your own family, because you are fat.”
-The autism afterthought? What even was that? Why make someone clearly autistic, and then give it one paragraph in the final chapters of the book? How about less body talk and giving the autism a bit more attention?
-I hate to say this one, but this felt like an older person trying to write about youth, and it came across as very out of touch, to the point of being distracting. (Name one huge band in 2003 that had a dedicated tambourine player).

I would give this book 2 stars, but bumped it half a star because there was some redemption in the end, I guess. Rounding up to 3 because it’s Jennifer Weiner and I’m probably being too generous.

I really enjoyed this book! Getting a peek into the lives of band members working to make it big in the early 2000s was such a fresh perspective. I love books when the story is being told by multiple narrators to understand each character's motivations and fears, and I'm happy to say that I was incorrect in my prediction for the ending! This feels like a different sort of style from Jennifer Weiner, and I liked it much more than her other works I have read!

This was such a captivating read. It had elements of Daisy Jones but was also its own unique story. I love how it vacillated between past and present and told the story of the musical sensation The Griffin Sisters. Their rise to fame, their trials and tribulations, and ultimately the matters of the heart that tore them apart and was their greatest downfall. This book was a story of success, decline, and redemption; and it was just such a mood. For fans of music, biopics, or "historical fiction", this is a must read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jennifer Weiner, and William Morrow for an advanced copy of this ebook!

Cherry is a talented and ambitious singer who wants very much to be discovered and become a household name. All she needs is an edge. Her edge can be found in her mother Zoe, a disapproving PTA mom who used to be one half of the very famous Griffin Sisters. Although Zoe was able to keep her identity hidden for most of Cherry's life, discovery came by way of a random mention at a record store. From that moment on, Cherry became obsessed with finding out everything she could about the Griffin Sisters, including searching for the aunt that she never knew she had.

Cassie is very much the black sheep of the family. As talented as Zoe was ambitious, despite being the ugly duckling to Zoe's beautiful swan, Cassie, with her beautiful voice and provoking lyrics, was the real talent behind the Griffin Sisters. She's been off the grid for years and no one, other than Zoe, knows the real reason why. Cherry, very much her selfish and entitled mother's daughter, seeks to find Cassie for her own gain, promising to out her in order to gain favor on a reality tv talent show. What Cherry finds will bring about heartache, pain, betrayal, and maybe healing.

While none of the characters are particularly likeable (a fact that I actually enjoyed, as in real life not all people are likeable just because they have a story to tell), each one is compelling in their own way. Jennifer Weiner crafted each adeptly and made their stories plausible. The Griffin Sisters will stand as one of Weiner's best books.

I absolutely loved this book! I got so caught up in the drama of the characters and stayed up late a few nights to finish this. The story is set in the world of early 2000’s pop music and revolves around two sisters who couldn’t be more different. Cassie is a musical prodigy but wants to stay in the shadows. Zoe is beautiful and loves the limelight, but her talent is average. And of course there is a man in the mix. The sisters rocket into the pop music spotlight and are living the dream, but the dream soon unravels. The sisters haven’t spoken in 20;years, but now Zoe’s daughter needs her Aunt Cassie. The story behind the band is told in incredible, often painful detail. Jennifer Weiner has done it again. Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits is another standout from Jennifer Weiner. She is a must-read author for me because she always delivers honest, multi-dimensional characters and usually hits their dynamics just right. This story reminded me of one of her best, “In Her Shoes,” with the very relatable highs and lows of a close sibling relationship, but amped up to include overnight stardom.

Off the bat, I was comparing this to “Daisy Jones and the Six,” and “Mayaluna” and there is no doubt some similarity to the behind-the-scenes rocket to fame in the music business. If you liked those books, you’ll love this. However, I think there’s a more interesting arc here for the sisters than you see in either one of those other stories. Plus, the issues of body image and neurodivergence as it relates to fame were something I haven’t seen before.

Thank you to William Morrow and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was a big fan of Jennifer Weiner's earlier books but haven't liked many in the past few years. I was hoping this book would be different but I just didn't enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC and William Morrow books.

THE GRIFFIN SISTERS’ GREATEST HITS by Jennifer Weiner is a novel about two sisters who started a band in their early 20s, and their relationship fell apart for the next couple decades until one of their daughters needs help to fulfill her dreams.

Cassie and Zoe are close-in-age sisters. Cassie is extraordinarily musically gifted, and Zoe has stars in her eyes and the determination to be famous more than actual talent. Cassie is also fat while Zoe meets the mainstream beauty standards. Zoe gets Cassie to start a band with her, but once she realizes that Cassie is getting attention for her talent, Zoe feels irrelevant and takes actions to make herself stay relevant to the band. After the band splits up, Cassie retreats to desolate Alaska while Zoe has her daughter and marries.

This was a compelling narrative, for the most part. There is some disturbing sexual stuff between stepsiblings that I think could have been explored more because there was enough dropped that the reader felt invested, but it ultimately didn’t come to a good resolution for me. I wish the friction between the sisters wasn’t over a guy in the band and was instead over something that could have passed the Bechdel test.

I thought Zoe was a very interesting character. She seemed wholly unlikeable for a chunk of this book, but you know what? She felt very realistic. I think many of us, including me, have acted like Zoe, especially when young. I felt invested in the plot and wanted these sisters to reunite and make music together again. I thought Zoe’s daughter Cherry was really mature for her age.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

It publishes April 8, 2025.

Wow, my heart. This book just wrecked it all to pieces & put it back together again.
I love a good coming of age/rising to stardom story, and this book had it all. The sister drama, the love triangle, the excitement of a band hitting it big.
With 2 timelines, as the sisters rise to fame as 20 year olds, and the present, 20 years later, as one of the sisters’ daughter struggles to find her own fame.
I only wish this book was longer, I didn’t want it to end.

I read every book Jennifer Weiner writes so I was excited to get this ARC from #NetGalley and they publisher. It was so different and sometimes the same as her other books.

This one was told from multiple points of view and sometimes I had a hard time keeping up with the story and even had to back track at one point to make sure I read what I thought. Two sisters, one more talented than the other with a shyness that seems painful. One sister wants to make music and other wants to be a star.
Cassie, is one sister with all of the talent, they are in the same band. The problem is that they both have fallen for the same guy. The daughter of one of these sisters wants to be a star and she leaves home to be on a reality show but ends up searching for answers about what really happened with her mom, aunt, and father.

One of the things that I loved about this book was that Cassie was a plus size woman. Jennifer Weiner gets it and often has a character who is bigger in her novels. Jennifer Weiner has an awesome talent writing about larger women and I love to read how she makes them come to life. It is one of the things I love most about her writing. I would absolutely go to a concert that featured the Griffin Sisters. Their music felt real and I wish I had a song of theirs to play. This was a really great story and I enjoyed reading about all of the characters even Zoe and Cassie's mom. As one of three sisters, I love stories that have to do with sisters and how they love, and argue all in the same sentence.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. After a slog through a slump, this book was exactly what I needed. One of the best Weiner books I have read. Highly recommend

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner in exchange for an honest review. Spoiler: I loved it!!

This book grabbed me from the first scene and didn’t let go. Told in two timelines, the story of sisters Zoe and Cassie Grossman who grow up in Philadelphia and become a smash sensation as The Griffin Sisters pop duo has everything you’d want from a novel: insightful writing, complex characters, family drama, love twists and the possibility for redemption. Told from varying perspectives including Zoe’s daughter Cherry - a musical prodigy like the aunt she’s never met - this novel is Weiner at the top of her game. Five stars.

Jennifer Weiner is one of my favorite authors and she has done it again! The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits is a heartfelt, captivating story about family, ambition, and the complicated bonds between sisters. The characters are beautifully written—flawed, relatable, and deeply human. Weiner’s storytelling is immersive, weaving together past and present with rich emotional depth. I laughed, I cried, and I couldn’t put it down. Each sister has so much for offer, yet they can’t truly succeed in the music world without each other.

The Griffin Sisters is definitely a must-read for fans of compelling, character-driven fiction!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I wanted to like this one as I like all of Jennifer’s books especially in her shoes. However I found it hard connecting with the characters and I didn’t love some of the body commentary.