With lots reviews from readers smarter than I, I'll just recommend this to mystery fans, plus the author is pretty dang talented and knocks out a lot of good books.

Thanks very much for the review copy!!

I am generally skeptical about rock novels, but if there wasn't a great one before, there is now. This is a beautiful narrative sprinkled with characters from the Mitchell-verse and 1960s rock. I engulfed the book in four days and wished it could have been much longer. One of Mitchell's best.

I have loved all of Mitchell's books but unfortunately didn't love this one in the same way. He's a master storyteller in his prose, his character and world-building and his dialogue. In that regard this book hits all the right points and that's the 4 stars for this book. But it's set in the late 60s, about the rise of a fictional band and I found the story so strangely mundane in comparison to the fantastical tales he generally weaves. The name-dropping didn't feel natural (and I'm familiar with all of those musicians and the music), the flip-flopping of characters made me scan certain points to read more on the characters I enjoyed, and in general, I felt a sort of boredom I haven't felt before with his books. What it boils down to is that this book just wasn't for me. But it might be for you.

A magical book, deep and wise. The story of Utopia Avenue, a rock band whose meteoric rise lasted not quite 2 years on the psychedelic 60’s. The cast of characters is brilliant as is the writing, just a brilliant book.

Fantastic read, a great ensemble cast. Characters, plot points, and concepts from previous Mitchell books are woven throughout.

Abandoned book at the 20% mark (end of part 1)
I was hoping that this would be an engaging story with Mitchell's great writing that just happened to take place in this setting, but I found that being interested in this setting is almost required to enjoy the book. Every time the book would settle in to a section about the music, or the awkwardly-placed cameo of a famous musician, I would just grow incredibly bored. Someone who is into this stuff would probably absolutely adore the book, but it just isn't my bag.

I would prefer to not read any rating (not reviewing on Goodreads), but selecting 3 stars here just to allow me to submit.

Explore the late-60s with David Mitchell and Utopia Avenue, a fictional British rock band trying to make it in the music industry. The chapters alter POV between the three singers/songwriters of Utopia Avenue, slowly giving us their back stories as the band tries to move forward in their career. I loved the dynamic between the four band members and their manager, finding the characters to be the strongest part of the book.

Unfortunately, Mitchell has the characters meet most of the big players from the late-60s music scene and the book gets side-tracked by conversations between the band and David Bowie, Brian Jones and many, many more. I really didn't feel like these real-life music legends provided any substance to the book, but rather seemed like a shiny distraction for the reader. But as I loved the fictional characters, I wanted more of them and not a fictional version of real people.

As to be expected, there are characters and references from Mitchell's other works in this one. I think it could be read as a stand-alone without knowing any of his other books, but people might be surprised at some of the paths the book takes. (That being said, I did predict some of the plot points, which I always find disappointing.)

Utopia Avenue is still a worthwhile read for Mitchell fans, but it's definitely a b-side to his hits.

I've read all of David Mitchell's books so I was very excited to receive an advance reader's copy of this one. His writing style is both lyrical and slightly off key at the same time. I enjoyed all the call backs to his previous novels and characters. The "Mitchell Multiverse" is part of the draw for me. Each novel is connected somehow and when you discover it, it's like solving a puzzle. In all honestly, I have no interest in the 1960s English music scene and although I recognized most of the famous names he threw out, it just felt ...odd. Like name dropping? The characters were well-written with endearing strengths and probably more endearing flaws. My favorite chapters involved Jacob de Zoet. The description of his mental illness was palpable. I found I did not really want to read a story about a coming of age band from the 60s, but I continued to read because of the beauty of the writing. I look forward to more time-slippage type of Sci-Fi but this was something different and I applaud him for trying something new. I believe this will resonate deeply with fans of "Daisy Jones & the Six".

Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I did not care for this book. Much of <i>Utopia Avenue</i> is a fairly unexciting, conventional story of a weird band's rise to moderate success -- it hits all the same notes as, for example, Queen's rise to fame in 2018's <i>Bohemian Rhapsody</i>, only that film has the benefit of being able to include Queen's music in it. This, on the other hand, gets bogged down with heavy passages of unsatisfying descriptions of (not real) songs. There are also lots of moments where Mitchell wedges in people like Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, and Janis Joplin, I guess for historical texture? But every time it happened, it was like when sitcoms bring in a guest star for one or two episodes, a really famous actor who feels out of place for how they disrupt the reality of the sitcom as we know it.

The most interesting parts of this book are the chunks that connect to the mysticism/philosophy that first became explicit in Mitchell's earlier novel <i>The Bone Clocks</i>, but even here I must hesitate. I question whether a book can be a book of its own merits if it—not belonging to a series—is dependent on the context of another book. Pre-<i>Bone Clocks</i>, I liked the interconnectivity of Mitchell's works because 1) they were fun and 2) I thought those connections offered some interesting metatextual commentary on the notion of the contemporary novel as a defined, complete narrative of a character. Now, however, I'm worried about how much his new projects are able to operate self-sufficiently.

Sadly, not the book for me. Better luck next time.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC,

Once again, David Mitchell reminds me why he’s my favorite living writer.

Utopia Avenue, a fictional band from the 1960’s UK, feel so real that I was actually imagining their tunes in my head while reading.

Where Mitchell has gone for more genre based affairs in his recent work, Utopia Avenue showcases a straightforward, character based narrative. The book is very much in the Mitchell-verse, with tie ins to Cloud Atlas, The Thousand Autumns, Ghostwritten, and The Bone Clocks (and probably others, but it’s been awhile).

The book is broken into ‘tracks’ as chapters. Each chapter tells of a pivotal moment in a characters story, thus leading to the creation of a new track.

If you haven’t read ‘The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet’, I would highly recommend reading that prior to this. A portion of this book will spoil some major plot points of it.

Another masterpiece from David Mitchell. Loved every word. Even better than The Bone Clocks! I grew up in the 60s and love reading anything about that era. Story and characters perfectly portrayed!

This book was pretty good! I was not able to finish it, but I still enjoyed it! I would try another book by Mitchell since I do not know if this is the ideal example of his work, based on what I read from other reviewers. Again, I enjoyed it, but it was not quite the complete escapism that I needed during these crazy times!

(Spoiler alert)

I loved this! I was reading along for a good long time, enjoying being teleported back to the 60s music scene, when all of a sudden a name registered from long ago: Marinus of "The Bone Clocks"! This had some elements of prequel to TBC, but is very much its own novel. In fact, the fantasy element takes up only a small fraction of the book (but made me want to go back and read TBC again). Bravo!

Welcome to the swinging sixties: to the world of youth-driven revolution, modernism combines with hedonism showing its creative face by flourishing at the art, music, fashion. That’s the same world of Vietnam War, hippies, drugs, sex, rebellion, rock n roll! But this is not a story about Four Liverpool boys conquer the world with their rhythm and charisma or the other band members made us empathize with devil and taught us the importance of having satisfaction.

This story is all about Utopia Avenue, one of the strangest British bands of the history.
The most enjoying fact about the introductions is the method of characters’ definitions. They are described by their music and lyrics. We’re introduced to the band members starting with Elf Holloway: folksinger, a brilliant woman who is trying to survive at the man’s world but her parts of the story are mostly about her fights with her insecurities and self-sufficiency. Those parts are more dramatic and at some ways melodramatic than I expected.

So let’s go back to meet with the others! ( I have to admit I enjoyed their stories more. Even though they’re tragic, heart wrenching and consisting a very dark humor and sarcasm.)

Dean Moss: Blues bassist, dealing with his bad luck and surviving in his tragi-comic life choices.

But our guitarist Jasper De Zot’s story was more heartbreaking than the others because of his inner fight with his mental illness. His pain, suffer at the creation process. (Let me tell you something, I haven’t read something so powerful, realistic and emotional that describes the challenging points of creating art!!! It reminded me of Bohemian Rhapsody movies’ tragi-comic scene (mostly silly-comic) as the band members locked themselves into a barn and finally they were illuminated by finding the exact words for the lyrics: they magically appeared in their minds!!!??? (Really, is that Oscar winning best movie script?)

Anyways, I don’t want to compare this remarkable masterpiece with shitty script’s painfully absurd song creating process scene or Daisy and the six’s more daytime TV romance kind of story-telling by using docuseries transcripts. (By the way, I still enjoyed that book but you may imagine there are extreme differences with story-telling styles) But I can imagine how challenging, compelling and aching process to create something concrete like giving a child birth and the author brilliantly expresses this process at those pages.


And of course I had no idea about the term named “emotional dyslexia” till I read the impeccable depictions and its effects on the people. Jasper is suffering from this unique, complex illness which means it is challenging for him to understand his own feelings and reflect them to the outside world. Sometimes his expressions and articulations don’t reflect what he’s bottled inside which makes him ticking bomb: too many unexpressed and hidden emotions create a whirlwind turmoil so only his music and song lyrics help him to survive!

This is musically unique, vivid, original, head spinning, entertaining, ultra-smart journey with too many surprising cameos from John Lennon, Diana Ross, Leonard Cohen, Jerry Garcia to Keith Moon, Mama Cass. Just grab the book and join David Mitchell’s powerful, magical, extraordinary universe.
Utopia means “nowhere” but maybe we can find our happiness at that place with right directions coming from our own hearts!
4.5 magical, mesmerizing, complex, musical, experimental stars rounded 5!

So much special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for giving me opportunity to read and review this ARC. I’m always a big fan of David Mitchell’s captivating, outstanding novels and I truly loved this book,

Here's one for lovers of progressive rock. Flashback to the sixties: The Beatles, Cream, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia. I remember being a teen in the nineties, and the resurgence of these bands, along with the drug culture. The story focuses on a group formed in these times, their journey to the top, the culture of the times, and the hidden philosophies of the music.

David Mitchell has been one of my favorites authors for his eclectic style and imagination, and wisdom of philosophical themes. The three I have read connect shorter stories into one. Utopia Avenue lacks the shorter stories. Rather, it flows into one, single narrative. The story didn't captivate or resonate with me as the others.

However, I'm only one drop in an ocean. I believe others in the water will find great delight in these pages. It touched me and moved me, thrilled me, but could not compare with the three others I've read.

This was beautiful. Even though I would have loved a soundtrack to accompany the book.

The book follows the members of a 1967 British band as they rise along with the changing culture. Each chapter is from one band member's perspective except the drummer who only gets one chapter. Dean's and Elf's reminds me of The Glass Hotel (which comes out soon and you should read it too) with the haunting way it handles people. Jasper deals with the weird things that happens in David Mitchell books and characters from previous David Mitchell books show up in his chapters.

As much as I enjoy reading this book, I can't wait to read the negative reviews on GoodReads. His disappointed fans are very amusing.

Until the end of Utopia Avenue, I think I'd been taking this book too seriously. I'm a huge fan of the other David Mitchell books I've read (The Bone Clocks, and Slade House), and they contained only the occasional laugh. I think Utopia Avenue is meant to be fun. It's pretty light-hearted, though there are some brief harrowing sections (and a smattering of magical realism for good measure).

The book follows the fictional band, Utopia Avenue, and their rise to fame. Along the way, the band members face personal and professional crises, the unreliability of a career in music, but also have some notable successes, not to mention conversations with real-life Rock Gods (Bowie and Hendrix to name but two).

It was amusing to imagine Utopia Avenue genuinely existing. Much like the recent Taylor Jenkins Reid novel, Daisy Jones and The Six, there were moments when I want to Google certain moments to get more information, only to come hurtling back down to reality.

Mitchell's love for the phenomenal era of music is evident in his writing. Some parts contained a little too much technical info for my liking; I spent years as a music journalist and do not miss in-depth conversations about equipment and instruments.

Utopia Avenue is a pretty epic novel in terms of length, but it's a relatively easy read. Given its summer release date, I think it will sell a fair few copies in airports. Is it as good as The Bone Clocks? Not for me, but it's a completely different type of David Mitchell novel, and one that may open him up to completely new audiences.

This was an excellent novel! As always, Mitchell developed intriguing characters that felt like real people I knew, and will stick in my head long after I finish reading.

There were three main things that kept this book at 4.5 stars instead of 5 for me. One was the excessive celebrity name dropping in certain chapters—it felt more like a catalog of cool artists for the bands to meet than actual story development. The second was (*spoilers*) the fact that Jasper’s mental illness was actually magical—though I understood that Mitchell wanted to place this book firmly within his already established magical world, and Jasper de Zoet was the way to do that. And, thirdly, the ending (*more spoilers*). I was not impressed by the cliche of redeeming a character (especially one who’s not actually a bad guy but has some faults and is working through some big life decisions) by having him choose to Do The Right Thing just seconds before he dies. I would have rather that Mitchell kept Dean imperfect and human through his last moments.

But, truly, I loved this book a lot. It was the kind of book that made me almost miss my train stop because I was too busy reading. I’d recommend this for fans of Daisy Jones & the Six who wanted more realistic characters, more of the 60s music scene, and less inter-band drama.

4.5 stars
David Mitchell is one of those writers I had been too intimidated to read, so I'm delighted by how accessible, not to mention compulsively readable, "Utopia Avenue" is. The '60s London setting and the making-of-the-band premise are irresistible, the writing rich with insights and gemlike turns-of-phrase, and the characters so vivid. "Utopia Avenue" actually kept me awake during my 6:45 a.m. train rides to work, and not many other books do that.
So why don't I give it five stars? Some of the dialogue from the historical figures such as Jerry Garcia, David Bowie, and the like didn't ring true to me; they seemed to be mouthpieces for the author. (Though I am willing to bet that Leonard Cohen really did speak as he does here.) I think the character of Jasper was given short shrift; it was as if his illness were the whole of his character. (As an aside, if you find Jasper and his storyline intriguing, I highly recommend "Lowboy" by John Wray.) And the ending was a cliché and a cop-out, imho.
All that said, I did love the book and am already looking forward to rereading it. Thank you, NetGalley and Random House, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was a big fan of Daisy Jones and the Six from the summer of 2019, so I was very excited to read that Mitchell was tackling this subject - the rise of a popular band and the intricacies of band life. Whereas that book felt more "pop culture," Utopia Avenue feels deeper and allows for more detailed storylines of each band member. Following the life of a 60s rock band, Mitchell explains how each of the parts/members of the band came to become part of it and continues their stories in sections. He writes a complete story that makes you get to know these characters so well - you have your favorites and not so favorites and when things happen to them, you feel their emotions just as deeply.

Read this for the writing, stay for the quirky way he incorporates a supernatural storyline, and finish it for the satisfying completion of a brilliant story.

I loved how these band members "bump into" up and coming actual pop icons throughout their journey into become a band themselves.