While this was a sad look at Cassidy Holmes' experience in a pop group the late 90s/early 00s, it was definitely a realistic one. I remember the pop music explosion of this era, and only now 20 years later are we looking at the cultural consequences the music industry had. It definitely reminded me of the Spice Girls, and how hard it is to hold onto celebrity. I'm a sucker for anything 90s themed, so I devoured this one. Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan.

This is a split timeline story about Cassidy Holmes, music reality star hopeful, and eventual girl band member. The news has just broke to the band that Cassidy has died, but the responses of the members are curiously mixed. What led to Cassidy's death, and what was her life like while she was in the band.

This is well woven and nicely fleshed out. Lots of complex plot points and intrigue. My only real complaint was that it went a bit too long. After 50%, I was ready to wrap it up.

I originally decided that I was going to be unable to give feedback, but after finally finishing this one (several months later), I think I am able to justify some feedback. I usually go into reading novels, with an open mind. This one, I did just that and unfortunately wish I would have just kept the book down when I laid it there the first time. I think the author was trying desperately to achieve the same level of success as Taylor Jenkins Reid, but she failed to do so. This novel reminded me of Daisy Jones, but without any substance. Again, I find it incredibly hard to leave this critical review, but I feel that people are entitled to know what they are getting involved with when they begin to read this one.

Cassidy Holmes placed second in a national, televised singing competition, and the devastating loss not only crushed her dreams of a singing career, but also resulted in her not graduating high school. As she was taking stock of her life and figuring out where to go from here as she watched her siblings and friends move on with their lives, she receives a phone call from one of the judges of the singing competition with an offer to be the fourth in a new girl band. Cassidy accepts, and her life is catapulted to fame, glory and fortune. Of course, none of this makes Cassidy happy. The other girls in her group are not friends, she enters a relationship with one of her high school friends but does not share the romantic feelings. As her life spirals out of control with the demands of public life, Cassidy eventually walks out on everything except her beloved rescue dog, Penny.

Very much a read-alike for "Daisy Jones and the Six," Cassidy's story shows the ugly side of fame and stardom, from the grueling hours to every decision made by handlers, advisors and agents in addition to abuse of every sort, some self-inflicted and some criminal. This was an engaging story, and your heart will break for Cassidy through the entire book. This book left me not helping but being able to believe there was some truth to this lifestyle and asking at what point will Hollywood be called out for this poor behavior? It's one part innocents having their live destroyed and one part glamorizing corruption

Do wish Daisy Jones and the Six had been a little darker and grittier? Cassidy Holmes is the fictional look back every 90's TRL kid needs.

This is a book about a girl band. It reads like a soap opera with so many issues from eating disorders to drugs to sexual assault. It was fun to read about the music industry and get an inside look at that world, but overall this book left me feeling kind of lukewarm.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes! I was pulled in from the first page and had a hard time putting it down. I'm looking forward to Elissa R. Sloan's next book!

I was so hopeful for this book, I started reading and was excited that I would be getting a Daisy Jones vibe. But then it turned. Nothing was answered and the current story seemed pointless. While I liked the story of Gloss and their downfall, I really didn't enjoy the present stories. None of the girls seemed to have grown up or matured in 15 years. Also what was going on in Cassidy's current life? She was the reason for the book and the readers were expected to believe she didn't change after 18 years old and held onto one event until it killed her.

Move over Daisy Jones, Cassidy Holmes has arrived.

The entire time I was reading this, I pictured the movie in my head. A series of interviews telling the story. And I couldn't put it down.

The rise and fall of an early 2000s pop girl group told in the past and present of the members. after the suicide of one of their members, Cassidy Holmes. I wanted to like this book more than I did. I thought it was a bit superficial, lacked depth. The characters were undeveloped and I didn't care or connect with any of them. Overall, not a book that clicked for me, but it may work for a YA crossover.

I enjoyed this one. I love multiple storyline novels and this one goes between the main characters of the story. I loved Daisy Jones so that's what I was expecting with this one. However, the girl pop group just kind of missed the mark for me and fell a little short. I still enjoyed the book and would read the author again.

Thankyou NEtgalley, Harper Collins publisher and the author Elissa R. Sloan
for the ARC of this book.

This is a debut novel. Let that sink in because anyone who has read this book will have a hard time believing it.
Cassidy, member of the once popular pop band Gloss is dead. When this bombshell of a news drops, the remaining gloss girls or the "Glossies" are in a radio interview promoting a new movie in they all have made a guest appearance as a band after the group split many years ago of course Cassidy excluded. The story then shifts back and forth between their lives as pop queens and the present . It’s a multiple narrative story from the point of views of both Cassidy as well as her band mates. We get to understand the girls and their individual personalities in depth as the story makes progress. The author does a beautiful job of narrating the life of Cassidy, from a being a normal Texan girl to being THE most Successful pop icon of the 2000s. The journey here is quite riveting. Each of the Gloss girls have secrets they harbor about themselves as well as their teammates which only comes to bite them back in the future. They say not all can handle fame with grace but in this story even though fame doesn’t get to their head ,these girls still face struggles of their own being women in a society that’s so patriarchal and sexist. These are not your good girls gone bad kind of story either and even then, fame does damage in its own way. The author has also touched upon many sensitive issues and as much as I want to talk about it, i don’t want to spoil it for anyone reading this. The millennials who grew up in the same time as the story's timeline would have a great sense of nostalgia. This definitely was a page turner for me even though a little predictable. The narration is what made up for that. There were instances that made me what to sympathize so badly with all the characters who are subjected to certain treatments only because they are female pop stars. She has painted a very realistic picture of the lives of celebrities who many hate to love and run their unsolicited tongues to spread rumors and false information without the slightest imagination of how that could ruin lives of not just them but the people associated with them.
All the drawbacks that come with celebrity life are wonderfully incorporated in this story. Privacy issues. Trust issues. Stalker issues. Paparazzi culture. All of it. The rise and fall of Cassidy Holmes and her band mates will seriously make you think if all the fame that comes with celebrity life is actually worth it at the end of the day?
Such a stunning debut. I will be looking forward to any books written by this author in future.

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The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan is an entertaining novel about a glamorous pop star who commits suicide. Her story is told through the lens of not only Cassidy’s view of events, but her friends. Its easy to see how this could happen in real life.

Fame and fortune don’t always equal a glittering, charmed life.

Here is the synopsis:

Cassidy Holmes isn’t just a celebrity.

She is “Sassy Gloss,” the fourth member of the hottest pop group America has ever seen. Hotter than Britney dancing with a snake, hotter than Christina getting dirrty, Gloss was the pop act that everyone idolized. Fans couldn’t get enough of them, their music, and the drama that followed them like moths to a flame—until the group’s sudden implosion in 2002. And at the center of it all was Sassy Cassy, the Texan with a signature smirk that had everyone falling for her.

But now she’s dead. Suicide.

The world is reeling from this unexpected news, but no one is more shocked than the three remaining Glossies. Fifteen years ago, Rose, Merry, and Yumi had been the closest to Cassidy, and this loss is hitting them hard. Before the group split, they each had a special bond with Cassidy—truths they told, secrets they shared. But after years apart, each of them is wondering: what could they have done?

Told in multiple perspectives—including Cassidy herself—and different timelines, this is a behind-the-scenes look into the rise and fall of a pop icon, and a penetrating examination of the dark side of celebrity and the industry that profits from it.

I loved the look back at the 2000’s and I kept thinking about the girl bands of that time. This was a very good that I enjoyed and highly recommend.

You can get the book here!

Absolutely loved this book. It drew me in from the first chapter. While similar to daisy jones in the beginning, it clearly diverges when discussing sexuality and abuse. I do wish that it dove into more of the abuse retribution, but it didn’t take from the story line. I liked merrys character a lot and found her the most relatable

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes was sooooo good and impossible to put down.

The story begins with three members of the 2000s era girl group Gloss finding out that their fourth member, Cassidy Holmes, is dead. The story is then told from four narratives who all literally have names that reminded me of the Spice Girls' names (Cherry, Tasty, Sassy, and Rosy). The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes reminded me a bit of Daisy Jones & The Six, but I enjoyed this one much more. It was like a Behind the Music story of like, TLC or Dream or (duh) The Spice Girls. I loved how the story went back and forth between 2017 and 1999-2002, told mostly from the perspective of Cassidy in the past, but also from the other three women in the present. Women were sexualized back then (in 2002) and still are now, and we see how Cassidy deals with that. This book chronicles the joy, sadness, and secrets of the group, and looks at how easily things can go awry. It’s also a hard look at triggers like eating disorders, addiction, depression, and abuse. I highly recommend and loved this one.

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes begins with the news of Cassidy's death. Then perspective goes back 15 years in time, to 1999, to begin to chart Cassy's rise - after all, the girl next door needs to become a pop star before she can unravel.

This book integrated so much of what plagued Hollywood and pop culture in the early '00s, from a fixation on unhealthily skinny bodies to the sexualization of teenage women. Not to suggest that any of the issues on these pages have been "solved," but the chapters set in the past did feel of the moment. And they didn't shy away from what it might have been like for a girl group on the rise.

Yet somehow, I didn't feel Gloss' climb to stardom. For whatever reason - pacing, the inclusion of 4+ perspectives, jumping from the past to the present to the past again - I felt at a remove for much of the book. I wonder if the author was a bit ambitious in what they incorporated; while already a lengthy book, there easily could have been further description and details included. It also was difficult to appreciate Gloss' moments at the top, knowing full well what awaited - rather than eat up the juicy details, it was sort of like waiting for a train to go off the track.

To be sure, a few friends labeled The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes a 5-star read, so I do hope you'll give it a shot if it sounds up your alley. If you choose to pick it up, please take the time to read the Author's Note. I commend Sloan for including it, and for the honesty in the acknowledgements.

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes is perfect for fans of Daisy Jones and The Six. The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of a pop icon through the icon herself, as well as her fellow pop group members. Cassidy Holmes is "Sassy Gloss” and was the fourth member of America’s biggest pop group in 2002. Now she committed suicide and no one understands why. This leaves her remaining pop group members reeling trying to figure out why she did it. Each shared secrets with Cassidy causing them to each wonder if there is anything they could have done. The novel alternates between timelines and perspectives as it pieces together a behind the scenes look at fame and who is pulling the strings and what do they want nobody knowing. If you enjoy books like 13 Reasons Why or Daisy Jones and The Six, this is a great novel to check out.

Cassidy Holmes departed Gloss suddenly, leaving her blockbuster girl-group bandmates in favor of a life less scrutinized. And now, she’s been found dead.

Austin author Elissa Sloan unpacks what happened in her debut novel, “The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes” (William Morrow, $16.99), which published this week. She’ll talk about the book Thursday via BookPeople with fellow Austin writer Amanda Eyre Ward.

The book follows Cassidy from her stint in an “American Idol”-style singing competition to her life as part of Gloss, a Spice Girls-style pop band with distinct personas for each member: Rose (“Rosy”), Yumiko (“Yummy”), Merry (“Cherry”) and Cassidy (“Sassy”). They all want success, but they also struggle with the darker side of fame. Most of the novel focuses on moments fans never get to see.

“I really like celebrity gossip – I’ve been reading it for 10, 12, 14 years,” Sloan said in a phone interview. She happened to catch a TV rerun of the movie “Spice World” at the same time former “Scary Spice” Mel B was going through a painful divorce, with allegations that her ex-husband abused her.

“I was thinking about how she was on top of the world in 1997 when ‘Spice World’ was being made, and then here’s this very private battle she’s going through publicly in 2017,” Sloan said. “So I started thinking about a story about a girl band that peaked in the 2000s.”

Looking in from the outside, girl-band life seems like froth and fun. And we get tastes of that, including the exhilaration of connecting with an audience, the thrill of topping the charts and a vivid set piece about a Gloss video shoot.

Inside that world, it’s not so fun, as Sloan shows us. We see the Gloss girls’ handlers demand they adhere (or diet down) to a certain image, and how they ignore concerns about racist statements. We know from the opening that Cassidy dies by suicide, so it’s clear that mental health figures into this story as well. Sloan says that such challenges mirror many people’s lives, so they were important to include.

“Celebrities are also people. Sometimes people can’t conquer the demons, and they succumb,” she says. “While I was writing this I saw a few headlines, like when Robin Williams died, and I was thinking that this could totally happen to somebody without the right support.”

It’s to Sloan’s credit that her tale is a propulsively addictive read even with its sobering content. “I’ve never felt more alive,” Cassidy thinks, just as she’s ready to compete in the finale of “Sing It, America!” As Sloan shows us, fame can eat away at that exuberance until there’s nothing left.

It seems I enjoyed this more than many of my fellow reviewers, but I can definitely understand their critiques.

Told from four narratives, those of Cassidy, Merry, Yumi, and Rose, The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes reminded me a bit of Daisy Jones & The Six...but honestly reminded me more of the life stories of pop groups like the Spice Girls and TLC.

It kept me entertained throughout, but everything felt superficial. The characters weren't completely developed and most of the story lines were glossed over, barely skimming the surface of any true depth. It felt more like the author was telling us how it went, versus letting the girls' stories speak for themselves.

I never really found a complete answer as to why Cassidy committed suicide either. I was hoping to have a chapter devoted entirely to her mindset prior to her death, but there was nothing.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel, but I do wish it had dug a little deeper.

3.5 stars

Available now!

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for my review copy.

Being born at the forefront of the Millennial generation, I was coming of age right when pop exploded on the music scene at the end of the 90s and into the early aughts. Pop princesses like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Jessica Simpson were our idols, and boy bands, such as 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys were the source of many teenage crushes. It was a definitive time for music that shaped an entire generation, and author Elissa R. Sloan is showing up with her debut novel The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes just in time to hit us Millennials with all the nostalgic feels.

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes follows a teenage artist from her early days on a music competition reality TV show similar to American Idol in the late 90s to her rise to pop superstardom as a member of the girl group Gloss, the hottest musical act to hit the scene during the new millennium. But in 2002, Cassidy unexpectedly and abruptly walked away from fame and fortune, leaving Gloss behind and disappearing from the spotlight. Now 15 years later, she is dead by suicide and the world is left reeling, trying to figure out just what went wrong for Cassidy during those fateful years when no one could turn on the TV or pick up a magazine without seeing the Gloss girls splashed across it. Just what is the price of fame, especially when it ends in death?

I will be the first to admit that I devoured this scintillating and captivating novel. Celebrities are an object of public fascination, but one can't help but wonder, who are they really outside of the spotlight? The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes explores this concept, taking readers into the life of a pop superstar and showing us the dark and dangerous parts of the music industry; the things that are too often hidden from public view. While music stars show the world a smiling, happy face, there is often much more lurking behind the scenes. And that is what makes this book so compelling, because while music labels promote their artists to look and act perfectly, the story that is shown to the world is sadly often not a true one.

I was given the opportunity to listen to an audiobook production of this novel, and I am sure that this experience heightened my enjoyment of this compelling read. The audiobook uses a full cast of characters, and it made me feel as if I were listening to interviews with the actual members of Gloss - I was completely immersed in the story they had to tell. I found the narrators to be believable as the girls of Gloss, and forgot that I was listening to a book and not the story of an actual pop group. Additionally, the audiobook employs the talents of Stephen Graybill to read off tabloid stories and provide exploitative "behind the music" commentary about Gloss, furthering the feeling of authenticity in this truly enjoyable listening experience.

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes will be enjoyed by anyone who has held fascination with Hollywood or celebrities, especially those of the Millennial generation. This book is recommended to readers who also loved Daisy Jones and the Six.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.