Welcome to Litsy!

Sisters Zoe and Cassie form a band and get famous, and their stardom only lasts for one year, when a tragedy breaks up the band. Zoe has since become a wife and mom, while Cassie has isolated herself in Alaska, and the two haven‘t spoken since the night the band broke up. When Zoe‘s daughter enters a reality show singing competition, she upends all their lives. Really good story, but Zoe was the literal worst, and Cassie was a 👇🏻

I know what her books are & are not. While not peak literary achievement, her characters are relatable and her storytelling is so familiar its comfort for me.
After a breathtakingly shitty few days I needed to let my self disappear into Weiners easy story and the world of the Griffin Sisters

Low end of pick scale. I wanted to like this more than I did, but I could never get invested in the lives of any of the characters. Cassie is whiny and mopey; Zoe and Cherry are manipulative and care only about themselves. Also, I know Cassie is fat — I do not need to be reminded of it a million times. Since I finished this less than halfway into my #audiowalk, I switched my nighttime book, How to Seal Your Own Fate, to my walking book.

Starting this one today! 🎤 💿 🎵

Zoe is quite manipulative, and it appears that her daughter, Cherry, inherited that trait. Zoe finally stepped up to the plate for her daughter, so that was good. I‘ve got a little over an hour left, so I should finish tomorrow. #audiowalk

Every day, I get more enraged by something Zoe‘s done. Today, instead, I was annoyed with Cassie, Russell (Zoe‘s husband), and the band‘s managers as well. Lots of annoyance to go around. Usually, the gps doesn‘t track well inside, but it did today. My time for 3 miles was pretty much the same as outdoors. The map is a big, red, blob because I was on a track. #audiowalk

More Zoe anger. She has pretty much everything; she‘s beautiful and popular — yet she begrudges her sister, Cassie, the one thing Cassie has: her musical talent. Ugh. 😣 I didn‘t think I‘d get to walk outside because it‘s been raining most of the day, but I managed it. #audiowalk

I‘m so mad at Zoe! Turns out she understood something her daughter had been complaining about for years and never helped her — just let her go through 14 years of it. Starting to get hot enough outside that I may have to move my walks indoors soon. 😞 #audiowalk

I really want to find out what Cassie did that‘s so horrible that she believes she must deny herself music for the rest of her life in order to atone. I went for a shorter walk today because I planned on swimming afterwards, but as I was headed back to the car, I heard thunder, so no pool. 😞. #audiowalk

For a change of pace, I chose Jennifer Weiner‘s latest as my new #audiowalk book. I had a little trouble getting into it at first, but now I‘m interested. The lovely breeze outside this evening made me choose an outside walk as opposed to the gym one that I‘d originally planned.

I gave The Griffin Sisters‘ Greatest Hits 4 stars. I really enjoyed the music industry setting, especially the reality TV show tryouts. The flashbacks to the sisters‘ 90s band felt authentic and reminded me of real groups from that era. A heartfelt, fun story about fame, family, and second chances.

This book was so irritating. The characters are very unlikable. Very Jekyll and Hyde. The sisters relationship also felt very off. There was one big event that hung over the whole story. You really don‘t fully know what happened until the end. There were also what i felt should have been bombshell moments that the characters just glazed over. I feel like maybe i missed someone in the story. Not a fan!

Im fully invested in The Bombshell but my library holds came in so now so i have to jump books. Im really anxious to get back to The Bombshell because its really good so far!

Wonderful! Took me a while to read, but that's all me bc I have had the crud for awhile.

#Netgalley #Bookspinbingo #Read2025

This is a pick with issues - I liked how it ended. I‘ve read most of Jennifer‘s books and always appreciate how she builds an interesting FMC whose physical appearance wouldn‘t put her in the running to replace Margot Robbie in a Barbie movie. But geez, this was brutal (TW to those whose families made them feel invisible for who they were). I just wanted to reach in the pages, befriend Cassie, and convince her she mattered.

In Weiner‘s latest, 2 sisters were in a band that went big before quickly breaking up. We follow them in the current day then get to see what happened 20 years ago. She really knows how to tell a story and I was really pulled in. I will say, though, that one of the major characters reveals themselves over the book to be a truly despicable person.

Chick lit is not my genre but I was gifted ticket and book for the Jennifer Weiner event by a friend and I‘m so glad I got to see and listen to her talking about women, women‘s literature, her writing process, publishing, women‘s bodies, how they were and are shamed in media, motherhood and so much more. She‘s funny, intelligent, charming and generous. I had a great time! Looking forward to reading her book.

I‘m back on the #botm bandwagon! #itsbeentoolong #feelsgood

"I never should have touched you," Russell D'Angelo says to the empty room.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl