Skip to main content

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...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

City Of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments Book 2) by Cassandra Clare Review

Hi ForeverBookers,  I've just finished reading City Of Ashes and it was really good! I've read this book before again and I didn't think it was very good last time but now I think differently. It had everything from fighting demons, to laugh out loud parts, to heartfelt moments. The story starts from where City Of Bones finished so there will be minor spoilers below.  The characters continue developing in this second book. For example, Clary's best friend, Simon really takes on a new role as a vampire, as well as the other characters maturing too. This was good to see as it gave the story different levels that we haven't seen before. I especially enjoyed reading about Simon's transformations. There's a new character called Maia, who is a werewolf. There's some antagonism between Simon and her as in this series vampires and werewolves don't get on.   We meet Alec and Isabelle's parents here. Maryse, their mother is a strong character, who is angry...

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty Review

Hi ForeverBookers,  How are you all today? I've just finished a great contemporary book! 4 Stars! NOTE: There are scenes of abuse and bullying in Big Little Lies so if you're sensitive about either of those topics this book maybe isn't for you.  Big Little Lies tells several stories at once. There's the story about the trivia night that runs throughout, the story of who one of the main character's father is, the story of an abuse victim, a story of a teenage girl putting her virginity up for sail in the internet and the main story for most of the book, little children lying about who bullied another child. All these stories were handled well.  We see the characters, both major and minor be interviewed throughout because of the murder that happened on trivia night. I'll be honest in saying that at the beginning of the book I thought that another character had been killed so it was a surprise to read what actually had happened.  Spoilers belo...

Larchfield by Polly Clark Review

Hi ForeverBookers, I've just finished Larchfield. It was a good story of hope, loss, finding oneself and redemption. I believe this is a standalone also.  I got Larchfield through NetGalley so thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read it! It releases on March 23rd 2017!  NOTE: there are adult situations in Larchfield!  3 Stars!  Larchfield tells the story of two characters. One, Wystan is a relative of WH Auden. He's also a writer. He's going to Scotland to work at Larchfield, a boys school. We see him struggle with who he's meant to be throughout the novel. The other character is called Dora, also a writer. She's a married, pregnant woman at the beginning of Larchfield. Her and her husband have just moved house, to a place on the sea. However, not all is right with Dora who experiences set backs throughout Larchfield.  Spoilers below... Wystan is gay. We see this quite early on in the novel. Working at a boys school put...