Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨⬜
Title: The Girl With Stars In Her Eyes
Author: Xio Axelrod
Genre: Fiction
Author Info: She /Her
Setting: Philadelphia, PA / NYC, NY
Month Read: May 2021
Book Type: Hardcover
Publication: 2021
Pages: 464
*May Book of the Month Pick
TRIGGER WARNING-
Addiction / Sexual Themes / Violence / Parental Abandonment / Parental Abuse
"I don’t need throngs of adoring fans or the pressure that comes with their expectations. Fame is a trap...fame was as addictive as any drug. She’s seen first hand what her mother had done in its pursuit."
No Spoiler Summary:
The Girl With Stars In Her Eyes is a story about a female guitar player in Philly, struggling to play and save enough money to buy into a partnership at a local, historical recording studio. Antonia (Toni) Bennette is as talented as they come, and gets noticed by an up-and-coming female rock band.
Toni doesn't realize that the band also comes with some unexpected baggage, that of her former best friend/crush who is the de-facto manager. Toni and Seb need to figure out how to move forward from their tumultuous past, while working toward nailing a showcase that could be the launchpad for The Lillys.
Will Toni and Seb put the past behind them? Will The Lillys get their big break? A lot of this is left TBD as the first installment of this new series wraps up. Stay tuned for book 2!
Review:
I'm a musician, and typically books about musicians are REALLY hard to read- because most of the time the author doesn't really know what they're talking about. Xio Axelrod KNOWS what she's talking about, and it made this book SO SPECIAL. From the recording studio terms, to key changes and gig terms (my husband does recording and live audio so the sound guy at The Unicorn REALLY sold me) this book was spot on, and I just adored it.
The characters could be a little caricature-y at times, but overall I really grew to love them and am excited to see what happens next in the Lillys saga. I thought that Toni forgave Seb REALLY fast, but who am I to judge her trauma, I guess? This book is definitely a setup for more, so forgive that you hear a lot of things being said about the same characters over and over again. There is a lot of character and world building happening, which does get tedious at times and ultimately knocked this down a star. Hopefully we'll get more in the next novel.
Overall, I really liked this book. I hope Xio can flesh everyone and everything out a little more in book 2, but am glad I read this and can't wait to see what they get into in the future. :) I'd definitely recommend getting this though BotM or wherever you get books. I've also heard that the audiobook is totally worth getting as well (but haven't experienced this myself.)
Recommendation:
For books about music:
Guitar Notes by Mary Amato (YA)
Leah and the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (YA)
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn (YA)
"She had the crowd in the palm of her hand but didn't seem to realize it."