eBook - 2 Stars
Well, this was a bit of a disappointment.
Did I learn about ABBA and their lives and music? A little [I WAS today's year old when learned what ABBA stood for ::FACEPALM::], but not nearly enough. I learned a lot about Swedish history, many other bands from Sweden, Eurovision [and how many before and after truly view ABBA], Swedish politics [it was all a bit of a jumbled mess that jumped around a LOT], but precious little about the actual band, and its members, and their magnificent music [I'd have LOVED less chapters about Swedish politics and MUCH MORE about the music and how/why it was written etc].
While some of this was interesting, overall, it was mostly a real disappointment.

Audiobook Narrator - 4 Stars
Ian Hallard is a new-to-me narrator and I'd listen to him again. He does a splendid job with all the Swedish names/cities/language and he DID do a good job overall narrating the book, trying to make it more interesting than it actually was in spots and I am grateful for that. I would absolutely listen to him again.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jan Gradvall, Ian Hallard - Narrator, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing the eBook and audiobook ARC's in exchange for an honest review.

There were so many really interesting historical facts and relationships within the music industry exposed, as well as the personal histories of ABBA members. I really enjoyed the well-researched content. The layout of this was a bit confusing in that it bounced around a lot and I felt it could’ve ended a couple chapters before it actually did.

I wished I liked this book more. It was definetly intresting and I felt like it was written very well, the only probelm was sometimes it did loose it's appeal. I also think the flow of the book felt off at times.

I was a huge fan of Abba in my younger years. I think I might have had all of their albums at some point. This is fascinating and I am happy I have gotten to delve more into their lives and careers. My husband loves them too. This is well written and informative. Lots of nostalgia for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a copy to read for review. I recommend to all kinds of music fans.

loved learning more about the band abba. loved their music and great to learn more about the writers and singers in this band

ABBA was one of my dad’s favorite bands. I remember growing up listening to them in the car. Since his passing, their music just hits differently. This book was an amazing read, I couldn’t put it down. If anyone ever wanted to know the story of ABBA, this is the quintessential narrative for you.

I thank netgalley and the publishers for this access.

Gradvall's work does present the story of ABBA with lots of direct quotes from the band members. It also provides a lot of information about the music scene and the musical genres of Sweden, and other Scandanavian countries. I enjoyed how each step of the formation and then song creation was described, but much of each chapter seemed choppy in some way. Overall, I did learn a lot about a lot, not just the band, and bonus-got to practice my Swedish while reading.

If you are a fan of music history, ABBA, or history in general there is something for you in Gradvall's book.


Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the dARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

Who hasn’t heard an ABBA song? If you weren’t born yet during their chart topping days then you might have seen the movies based around their songs. There have also been plays designed around the band and their music. This is a great book for any ABBA fan. The author had amazing access to this phenomenal pop band and we are able to discover so much more about the member’s of the band, their success, and their evolution. Definitely pick this one up if you are a fan!!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this free ebook ARC in return for my honest review..

Interesting book for ABBA fans, as journalist Jan Gradvall had pretty much unlimited access to the band members and has done a good job relating much of the behind the scene details of the bands development. If you are looking for a tell-all this is not it. Instead he delves into the early lives and career of the group, as well as giving us a detailed look at Swedish music, as well as the open contempt that the Swedish music pundits had for the group after they won the EuroVision title in 1974. Lots of great stories about Benny and Bjorn and their early musical groups, the Hep Boys and the Hootenanny Singers. Little known facts are also interspersed as we come to realize the Agnetha was a trained pianist and the only person in the group who could read music when they were formed. Also how Waterloo was a last minute change in the Eurovision contest, when they decided not to use their original song. The men have stayed close, no so much the women. Frida seems the most distant from all of the group and Agnetha has had s0lo projects and now enjoys being a grandmother - what she is a grandmother!!!!
I really enjoyed this book but this is a blended rating as I feel the Swedish readers will give this 5 stars, for me it was about a 3.5 stars, but a 4**** makes it ready read for all fans of ABBA!

✨ The Vibes ✨
A look behind the scenes of one of the world’s most successful bands

📖 Read if…
✨ You love a good music biography
✨ Mamma Mia is your favorite musical
✨You’re an ABBA superfan

I’ll be honest, most of my ABBA knowledge comes from Mamma Mia, so I was eager to learn more about the band behind the iconic songs, and Jan Gradvall’s new biography is a great way for both new and longtime fans to learn more about the band.

The Story of ABBA blends exclusive interviews with the band with a more traditional biography format. I personally enjoyed this because hearing directly from the band was balanced by the more objective biography sections, which made all of the information shared feel very well-rounded. I also thought that the way the basic historical facts and events were presented alongside anecdotes about the cultural impact of ABBA was a great way to illustrate the impact of music and art.

As a theater fan, I of course loved the brief insights into Benny and Björn’s experience writing Chess and how that gave the group some hesitancy when conversations around an ABBA musical began. The chapters covering the development of Mamma Mia were also fascinating and really shed light on how the musical has helped to cement the legacy of ABBA around the world.

I read most of this book via audio (which is sometimes my preferred way to consume nonfiction) and I found the narration to be pleasant to listen to. Given that part of the book consists of recent interviews with the band members, I thought those sections flowed especially well through the audio format, but the entire book is a really easy listen.

No matter what format you use to read this book, you can’t go wrong. The Story of ABBA is out June 17. Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies in exchange for an honest review.

Although it was an interesting read it didn’t feel like it centered on the members of ABBA enough. I wish we got more than one chapter dedicated to each of them. Overall, it was intriguing but more about other things that ABBA redefined rather than the group itself.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc

As a lifelong ABBA fan, I was intrigued when I saw the title of this book, and that it would detail how ABBA came to be the world renowned group with hits such as Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia!

ABBA has always been an important part of my life, with “Dancing Queen” being a a song I used on a very special day in my life. I remember my Mom buying ABBA Gold at Borders Books, and listening to the album on repeat at home, and in the car throughout my childhood. From seeing the musical Mamma Mia, to both movies, and seeing ABBA Voyage on a trip to London a couple summers ago, it’s safe to say, I’m a pretty big ABBA fan.

I enjoyed the parts of the book that told the story about ABBA, the members, Eurovision, and how several songs and albums came to be. Unfortunately, the book was not done in a chronological order and I felt it jumped around a bit too much at times, and also had some fluff in the book that didn’t necessarily pertain to the band specifically, but more to either Sweden, or the music industry. It was interesting to learn more about the band and heir history, but I felt it could have been shorter and wish there were certain parts in order, since I would read a chapter, think it would lead to the following part, and not find out about what actually happened until several chapters later.

Thank you for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oh, The Story of ABBA. Or as I like to call it: ABBA: Now With 75% Less ABBA Than You Ordered. I went into this expecting a backstage pass to the glittery, spandex-filled world of Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid—and instead I got a whiplash-inducing rollercoaster of vaguely-related tangents, time-hopping faster than a DeLorean with an ABBA Gold playlist.

We start in 1981—bam, the drama, the tension! And then screech—suddenly it’s 1968 and someone’s talking about Swedish politics or some guy who once walked past Benny at a grocery store. The timeline in this book is less “chronological narrative” and more “ABBA-themed fever dream.” You know that feeling when you shuffle your playlist and get whiplash from going from “Dancing Queen” to death metal? Yeah, it’s that. In book form.

And while the blurb promises “exclusive interviews” and “remarkable intimacy,” what it delivers is more like: ABBA exists, Sweden is a place, and here’s 400 pages to say it. I came here to learn secrets of the band’s success, not to take a side quest through 1970s Eurovision bureaucracy or ponder the socio-economic impact of ABBA Voyage on the future of holograms.

To be fair, there is some ABBA in this ABBA book. Occasionally, you get an actual quote or a peek behind the curtain. But then it’s off again—now we’re talking about globalization, now we’re lost in some music critic’s philosophical deep-dive about melancholy, now it’s 1974, or maybe 2013? Time is a construct and this book is its chaotic overlord.

If you’re looking for a heartfelt, detailed, focused look at the rise of one of the world’s most iconic pop groups, this book might leave you saying “Mamma Mia, no.” But if you want a book that occasionally remembers it’s supposed to be about ABBA while doing mental cartwheels through Swedish cultural history—this is your jam.

I grew up listening to ABBA thank you to my father. When the movie Mama Mia came out and my sisters and I rented it from Blockbuster, he sat and watched it with us and then asked if we could start it over again from the beginning. So when I was sent a copy of The Story of ABBA I was SO excited.

This book goes into great detail from the beginning of the band and all the ups and downs of their relationships and making music together. An absolute must buy for any fan of the their music.

Resident Music Nerd reporting for duty!

This is less "the story of ABBA" and more the story of ABBA's immense impact, not just in Sweden but around the world. This book handily demonstrates how ubiquitous and important ABBA's success was and the waves they made that are still being felt today. I went into this reading expecting an overview of ABBA's career -- that arguably changed the course of pop music as the world knew it in the 1970's -- but instead was gifted this reminder of far their reach really was, long beyond their too-short recording career (brief "reunion" notwithstanding). I also learned quite a bit about Sweden and its culture, and as an American, that was also fascinating.

My only real complaint would be the writer often jumped around within each chapter, requiring a bit more focus to keep to the topic at hand. Overall, this was a fun read and inspired me to re-listen to ABBA's entire recording catalogue. If you're curious, 'Voulez-Vous' is my favorite ABBA album and I'll hear no pushback! Recorded long before I was born and still holds up in 2025 if you ask me.

My many thanks to St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

A gripping story of the history of ABBA. From the early days and Eurovision to the very end, you feel immersed in the story of their history and the love the band shared for music and each other.

If you want a definitive history of ABBA, this is it. The author goes in depth on their beginnings and the political and historical climate in Sweden when ABBA started. I would have loved to have more background history on Frida and Agnetha; it seems he dived deep in Benny and Björg's origin stories but the ladies seemed like an afterthought and we learn more from them on the 2nd half of the book.

"You can dance, you can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh, see that girl, watch that scene
Diggin' the dancing queen" - Dancing Queen by ABBA

Calling all dancing queens!!!! The Story of ABBA: Melancholy Undercover tells the story of Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad who made up Sweeden's best-selling band of all time!!! Who hasn't found themselves singing along or dancing to one or more of their songs? In 2013, journalist Jan Gradvall was given access to the band members. This book is full of facts about them, where they recorded, the significance of places and relationships for them. Speaking of relationships, I had no idea that there were two marriage couples in this group who did get divorced, but sill made magical music together. This book also provides some facts on Sweden and other musical groups who recorded at studios where ABBA recorded.

"There was something in the air that night
The stars were bright, Fernando" - Fernando by ABBA

ABBA's popularity ebbs and flows around the world and most have seen Mamma Mia the play and movie by the same name. I know I have! This book gives quite a bit of information, some that I enjoyed and some that I wasn't sure was necessary. The most intriguing part for me was that the two couples and how they worked and sang together through marriage and divorce. I was hoping for more juicy bits here as I can only imagine how difficult that must have been. But one thing that was brilliant was learning the history behind the songs and the inspiration behind them.

"I don't wanna talk
About the things we've gone through
Though it's hurting me
Now it's history
I've played all my cards
And that's what you've done too
Nothing more to say
No more ace to play" - The Winner Takes It All - ABBA

Overall, an enjoyable book about ABBA and its members. I must admit this book had me thinking of their songs in a new way and wanting to hear them again. ABBA did have a big impact on music worldwide and through the disco era. They had presence and presentation on their side! I enjoyed learning some new information about them. I do wish that some information was given in a more cohesive manner but overall, this was an informative read. I believe ABBA fans will enjoy this book.

"Mamma mia, here I go again
My, my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again?
My, my, just how much I've missed you?" - Mamma Mia - ABBA

My thanks to Net Galley and St Martin's Press for allowing me this arc.

As an Abba fan I had to read this and I did it in one day. LOVED IT!! My only issue was I thought it would be more focused on the band. I didn't need to read about Swedish culture/movements and the bios of the engineer and band player. All in all a good well researched book.

ABBA. Four incredibly and individually talented people combined their talents to form the first true worldwide Super Group. As a longtime fan of ABBA, I thought I knew a lot about the band. This extremely detailed look at ABBA, one that could rival any college class, presents much more.

As I was reading, I repeatedly found myself amazed at the connections between the band members and each other, and with others involved in the music and entertainment industries, fashion, politics, German history, and so much more.

The way the book was written, in a somewhat scattered manner appealed to me. It felt like sitting down and chatting with friends, one subject or topic at a time leading to another and maybe wrapping back around again.

This deep dive into the magic of ABBA is one that should delight most ABBA fans. It is well worth reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are my own.

5/5 stars.