Greatest Hits by Laura Barnett Review

Hi ForeverBookers,

I've just finished a great contemporary, Greatest Hits by Laura Barnett!

3 Stars! - I got Greatest Hits to read through NetGalley so thanks to them for allowing me access. It was published on 15th June 2017 so is now available to buy. 

NOTE: Greatest Hits has some content to do with drugs. It's set in the mid 1990's when I believe drugs were seen as cool, though. There are some deaths of characters that are emotional scenes as well. 

Greatest Hits tells a biography, I suppose of this fictional singer named Cass Morgan. It tells the story from when she was born, in 1950 to present day. It describes all of the struggles that she has to cope with as well as the highs she experiences, throughout her career. 

Spoilers below...

Cass doesn't get on with her mother at all when she's young. Her mother called her Maria but she doesn't like this name. Her father calls her Cassandra, her second name so she goes by Cass. When her mother abandons her and her father, she doesn't understand what she's done wrong. She finds her only peace when playing the piano, which a friend's Mum teaches her.  She has to move in with her aunt and uncle when she's still young because her father can't cope. 

When she meets Ivor at a gig a few years later, she instantly falls for him. Cass and Ivor both have struggles in being together and this causes some friction. Ivor does drugs and is a bit of a wild boy, which Cass doesn't like. They disagree on lots of things, particularly when they start collaborating musically. 

There are happy, romantic things as well as heartbreaking things that happen to Cass. 

What did I like about Greatest Hits? 

I liked how the stories main focus was Cass and I liked seeing her grow up around music.

I liked how the story had one main focus, Cass' life and music. There wasn't anything confusing about it. 

I liked seeing Cass' loves from her being a child. First we see her mother abandoning her, then we see her aunt taking her in, then her father declining to mental health, then we see Ivor take over her thoughts etc. 

What didn't I like about Greatest Hits?

I found I was skipping over some of the music producing parts, which I could do and still keep up with what was going on in the story. This, I think meant the book didn't have to be so long in my opinion.  

I thought that the chapters were too long. Most chapters seemed to take 50 or more pages to finish (on my iPhone 6+). In fantasy, that's okay but in contemporary I enjoy and expect shorter chapters. 

Overall, I enjoyed Greatest Hits. The biggest drawback for me was how long the chapters are. I ultimately enjoyed seeing Cass' life though. If anything I would have made the chapters a lot shorter and maybe cut out some of the music producing parts as I don't think these were necessary to the overall story. That's why I'm giving Greatest Hits 3 Stars! 

Stand by for my next review coming soon...