Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⬜
Title: The Final Revival of Opal and Nev
Author: Dawnie Walton
Genre: Fiction / Historical Fiction
Author Info: She / Her
Setting: Detroit, MI / NYC, NY / Paris, France
Month Read: May 2021
Book Type: Hardcover
Publication: 2021
Pages: 368
*March Book of the Month Pick / May Books and Brews Book Club Pick
TRIGGER WARNING-
Racism / Murder / Riot / Sexual Themes / Grief
"I felt pride, of course, but something more, something better: freedom. freedom to trust my tastes, take my own counsel, make bold moves."
No Spoiler Summary:
The Final Revival of Opal and Nev is a fictional account of two musicians who try to make a musical relationship work despite differences they can't quite recover from. Opal Jewel, a poor woman from Detroit with a big voice and even bigger stage presence, and Neville Charles, an upper middle class singer/songwriter from the UK.
Opal is a feminist black woman known for shocking outfits and her extreme wigs. Nev is an English man who may or may not be hopelessly in love with her. When Opal starts a romance with their married session drummer, which all comes to a head at a showcase for the record company brought on by a Confederate Flag and Opal's decision to get rid of it.
A riot ensues at the showcase- and everyone is blamed, but only one person pays the final price. Told in a journalists' narrative similar to that of Daisy Jones and the Six, Opal and Nev is a book about love, sacrifice, music, and finding out who and what you are.
Review:
I enjoyed Opal and Nev both more and less than I thought I would. Overall, I love this style of storytelling, and the characters were definitely super interesting. I wish the themes of relationships and love would have been more fully developed, but I also get that sometimes closure isn't given in relationships and that made the story very real.
The book makes you feel like this actually happened, and that you could go out and buy an Opal and Nev album. I didn't get the audiobook, but I wonder if it is like Daisy where there is music and a full cast, vs one narrator. (Have you listened to the audiobook? I'd love to know more!!!)
The narrator was unlikable in ways that she's too emotionally close to what has happened, which I don't want to spoil. I think she reacted too emotionally for being a journalist at some parts of the book, and wish she had been a little more professional at times. I felt forced to care about her, but understand why she had certain repercussions personally and professionally during her time working on this project.
The back end of the book has one of the best scenes, and unfortunately, it's so rushed. I wish chunks from the beginning and middle would have gotten edited out so we could have really chewed on some of the ending scenes vs. rushing through them.
Overall, this isn't as good as Daisy was for me, but I did really enjoy it and am glad I read it. I'm glad this was a book club pick, as there was SO much to discuss, and lots of different opinions on characters, motivations, and the narrative. I can't wait for our next pick, Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid!
Recommendation:
For Books about Musical Women:
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Girl With Stars in Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod
For Books about Race:
What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
"New York can be so hideous and crude, but the creative classes often display a wonderfully colorful spirit of résistance when we've had enough of the nonsense. Even the most delicate among us becomes weary of the tactics of bullies--- we life out pens, our brushes, our voices, our sequined- off-the-shoulder floor-length gowns, and then? Mon dieu, we make a gorgeous noise."