The Final Revival of Opal and Nev is a delicious book. The characters are so well developed that it’s easy to forget that you’re reading a novel. It absolutely reads like a historical account of a fabulous Afro-Punk revolutionary star who rose to rock fame in the 70s.

It deftly layers elements from the 1960s civil right movement and more recent Black Lives Matter themes to show us the continuum of racial and sexual inequality across the decades. The author accomplishes this with an informed voice that illustrates that everything is different and nothing has changed.

That said, it’s a hopeful, beautiful, entertaining story. It seems impossible that Opal Jewel was not a real person. She’s so well drawn and so well-woven into the music and culture world she inhabits that you cannot see the how the author cleverly stitched her in.

Moving, clever, and stunning. I highly recommend The Final Revival of Opal and Nev.

Stop comparing this book to Daisy Jones & The Six, while they share format and a basic premise, musicians and personalities get together to discuss a dynamic woman's presence in their lives, Walton's debut provides a deeper look at a woman and a society ill-equipped to serve the other.

In fact, Opal Jewel's voice rings clear on its own, sometimes, without often needing extra clout chasers, I should say, attempting to speak for her, but I digress. Opal's a strong character riding against a wave seeking to silence her. While I didn't always care for some of her antics, I respected the character and her voice. Walton wrote a complex woman without cliché but with troubles of her own.

Additionally, the supporting characters demonstrate clear motivations in their support or opposition towards Opal. Let's be honest: This is Opal's show. Buckle in and enjoy the wild ride. Nev, on the other hand, (view spoiler)

More so, I appreciate Sunny's placement in this story as an audience surrogate. She's us as we read this story, asking questions or commenting on how we approach Opal. Do we like her? Should we like her? How can we strangle her while we push to be inside her world?

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the opportunity to read the book.

Opal and Nev are a rock duo that used to play in the 70s.
This is an amazing oral book that follows the life of the two main protagonists, along with their relatives and friends, from their discovery of music until they became a rock icon. The whole story is "written" by a journalist, Sunny Shelton, who was Opal's love interest daughter in the early 70s.
I must say that I have really enjoyed reading the book, although it has been very different from what I am used to reading. Overall, I'll definitely recommend it to anyone obsessed with the 70s and rock 'n' roll.

Considering all the other 5 star reviews I have read I am definitely in the minority here but this.one just didn't do it for me. I didn't care for the format even though it was well written. It seemed to drag.and.couldn't keep my attention for long periods of time. I would like to try it in audio.
Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read this arc for my honest review.

I have mixed reactions to The Final Revival of Opal & Nev. The author gets so much right: the oral histories, capturing characters through the various points of view, and its themes of racism, sexism, and more. But in the end it misses the mark of greatness for me. The story feels dragged out and the climactic scenes of rioting and destruction of characters as well as death did not seem real. I didn't quite feel the tension or smell the sweat and fear as Walton obviously intended. 3.5 stars

I loved The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, and I am so glad I got the chance to read this book! Dawnie Walton tells the story of two very different members of a fictional 1970s rock & roll duo, both back then and in 2016 as they prepare for a reunion. It is told through a combination of interview transcripts and a music editor's notes, which adds to the intrigue and believability that this story actually could have happened. I enjoyed how Walton interspersed actual history with the character's stories, as this helped richly develop them and keep me excited to read more.
The social struggles of racism and sexism the duo experienced in the 1970s are timely to read and learn about today. We learn that while those core societal problems have changed somewhat in thirty years, they are still very present in 2016. And we can tie the very same issues to the world we are living in in 2021.

I'm in the minority on this one. It was ok - a pleasant enough read but it just didn't move me. The oral history format was a miss and the big reveal didn't go anywhere. Opal was an interesting character and, as another review stated, this book may have been better from her perspective.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster/37 Ink! for an ARC of this book.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is the oral story of a fictional band in the 1970s, so far so Daisy Jones and the Six. Well... Yes and no.

A journalist, who has a personal stake in the matter, is interviewing band members and producers of the great Opal & Nev ahead of a possible reunion. Where Opal & Nev is different is that it delves deeper into the upheavals of the time period than Daisy Jones. Opal is a Black singer and that changes her experience, how audiences perceived her, even how she became famous.

One of the strongest part of the book is, in my opinion, its characters. Making each character "sound" distinct is no easy feat when you have so many different POVs, but Dawnie Walton not only manages but greatly succeeds.

The other very strong part, and what sets it aside from Daisy, is the real history behind this fictional history. The racial tensions, the hate crimes, the questioning of whether some art deserves to endure and what it brings to us in modern times.

As for the weaker points, pacing was a big issue. Sometimes things felt like they dragged, the plot meandered and you got the sense that if this was a real oral history, someone would have needed to edit those interviews because some of them felt unconnected, or unnecessary.

Overall, I had higher hopes for this book. It's solid and interesting, but it didn't stay with me after having read through it.

It is hard to avoid comparisons of this book to Daisy Jones & the Six, and I get why: the oral history of a rock 'n' roll band and the trials and tribulations they experienced. But for me the similarities end there. This book is what Daisy Jones *should* have been, and read with such an authenticity and rawness that I felt like these characters exist in an alternate reality somewhere, doing their thing. That Dawnie Walton is a first-time author is amazing, I will definitely want to pick up what she puts out next. Captivating and amazing.

Opal and Nev were a provocative rock due in the 70s, with Nev joining his folksy songwriting with Opal’s loud, flamboyant, and political performances. When Opal protests the brandishing of the Confederate flag by another band at her label’s showcase performance, the event turns violent and Black drummer Jimmy Curtis is killed.

Decades later in 2016, S. Sunny Shelton–the daughter of Jimmy and a music journalist–is writing a book about Opal and Nev. Her intentions are professional, but as she learns more about what really happened that fateful night and in the years after, the project becomes very personal.

This fictional oral history of Opal and Nev–the band is fictional and so is the story–is just as riveting as any history you might read about your favorite band. If you liked Daisy Jones and the Six, you will love this. It’s less about the debauchery of the rock life than about the constant inequalities, racism, and sexism Opal faced as a Black woman in the music industry, and how it affected the trajectory of her and Nev’s careers. Definitely one of the best of the year.

For fans of Daisy Jones and Perfect Tunes, a wonderful book about music! I loved this. Opal and Nev was delightful, charming, everything... I really enjoyed this read, and plan to give it to all of my music people! There are books that you know will be popular, even among non-readers... this is one of them!

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev was certainly a book that offered more than the blurb implied. This book, reminiscent of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones and the Six, had big shoes to fill. The concept of the book was similar, both were written in interview style and through fictitious news articles. The major difference is that this book offered a lens into the social and societal issues from the early 1970s until current day 2016.

When Ned, a grungy, geeky British “ginger” chooses Opal, a black, bald, badass woman to be his co-vocalist, it causes quite an uproar from the label and others in the band. She’s not a great singer but she brings the “umph” that Nev needs for ultimate success. Add Sunny to the mix of characters, the daughter to a deceased bandmate, who is out to write Opal’s memoir before the comeback of Opal and Nev. Jimmy, Sonny’s dad, was the drummer in the band. He’s a major character yet one of the only ones that needed more fleshing out. I wanted to understand him more.

Sunny is the interviewer and researcher in the book, so we learn everything through her eyes. So much is covered in this book…race relations, white supremacy (yep, the confederate flag comes out in this book), sisterhood, infidelities, addiction, romance, intense friendships, the innerworkings of the music industry and also an underlying mystery about what really happened during a fateful concert.

I definitely like the oral history way of storytelling. It allows for a different reading experience. The book, rounding out at 368 pages felt longer; I’m not sure if that was a pacing issue or just me. This book will appeal to many readers and I look forward to what’s next from this author.

***Will be posted on goodreads, instagram, twitter and pinterest

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, by Dawnie Walton is out on bookshelves already and I'm way late in reviewing the ARC I received many months ago, but late is better than never, and this book is worth all the praise, so here we go!

As you may have noticed, this book is being compared to Daisy Jones & The Six in every other review. As with Daisy Jones, Opal & Nev is told in a series of interviews with, and about a rock duo. This format really brings you into their rock 'n' roll world. Opal, a Black woman from the south and Nev, a pale, redheaded British man, come together to form an unlikely duo in the 1970s rock scene. You hear multiple sides of their history from the voice of each character involved. It's entertaining, fun, full of drama and so many costume changes. Racism and politics of the times, then and now are main themes throughout.

I am going to go out on a limb and recommend you get this one as an audiobook. Full disclosure, I haven't listened to it, but it is narrated by a full cast and that alone tells me everything I need to know... Well, that and the fact that I've read it and thought it was great... If you do listen, please come back and let me know what you thought of it. I just might have to get on Libro.fm and get myself the audio version! Either way, get your hands on this book, it's a great one!

Thank you for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this one! It reminded me a lot of Daisy Jones and the Six, but was also so different. I really enjoy the interview type narrative and for some reason really enjoy books about bands, even if they are fiction! This might be one of my favorite books this year so far. 5/5 stars for this one! Thank you.

People will be quick to compare this to Daisy Jones and the Six, but Opal Jewell demands more than that. This is a story that reaches back to the past to reveal how much and how little things have changed. Starring a richly original cast of characters and focused on injustice and righting old wrongs, this behind-the-music novel is rooted in place and time while telling a worthwhile story that will keep audiences captivated, much like the Mercurials in the novel. I highly recommend this powerful story that makes you not only root for the Opal Jewells of the world, but to fight for them.

“Before my birth, before the world had a chance to know much about my father beyond these facts, he was beaten to death by a racist gang during the riot at Rivington Showcase”

Wow what a book ! I finished The Final Revival of Opal & Nev at 4 am! What drew me to this book was that it was being compared to Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid but this is more than a story about a group of singers 😭 this book touches on racism, social injustice and knowing your worth.

Let me tell you when I started this not even 1% into this book I was googling if the characters were real 😭 this story is told in an interview style and you follow S. Sunny Shelton who is a editor at Aural Magazine and its 2016. She wants to do a writing piece on her favorite idols Opal and Nev but who are these two people? Opal is a Black woman and she gets sought out by Nev (who is white) and his team for her to record a rock n roll album with him. they don’t blow up at first but they keep trudging on.. until one day the record company decides to sign a band that displays the Confederate Flag and causes a lot of problems for everyone.

This was like a documentary in my head. You know those Unsung documentaries? That’s what I felt like I was reading. This was a RIDE ! I wish the songs was real. I kept wanting to go on YouTube to look for a old video of Opal & Nev and had to remind myself that THESE PEOPLE AREN’T REAL !! I was cracking up one minute and mad the next. There is one character who supported a certain Orange person we know and he made me want to fight him ! I’m only 4’9 but listen... 😂😂😂👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽

Huge thank you to @netgalley , @simonandschuster , @37ink for the advance copy of this book I finished right on pub date so everyone go get a copy !

Rating : 5 ⭐️

I wanted to love this book. But it did just not work for me. I found myself struggling to finish. I think that because I went into this book thinking it was going to be like Daisy Jones and the Six, that I doomed myself. I hope to try again and if I do I will update my feedback.

This book seems right up my alley. An oral history style retelling of a badass female rock lead, set in the '60s, racial justice elements, all of that sounds AMAZING to me. So I'm not sure why this one just never quite hooked me. It took all of two weeks for me to finish (I'm usually less than one week for a read I'm really immersed in) and I just didn't feel connected to Opal or Nev or Sunny, for that matter - though I did love Virgil. The story was interesting, but fell short of captivating. I don't want to sound too critical, because this was a good story, but I just really expected it to be my new favorite and can't quite pinpoint why it won't even be on that shelf.

This is a fictional oral history of the story of Opal and Nev, a rock duo from the early 70s. Opal is a young Black woman from Detroit with a signature style and attitude for days. Nev is an Englishman and aspiring singer/songwriter, attempting to make it big in the U.S. with a fledgling record label. The story is written by music journalist Sunny Shelton, who has her own connection to the group- her father was Jimmy Curtis, the duos former drummer. The duo is famous for a photo taken during a riot at one of their shows, and decades later Opal is considering a reunion tour with Nev.

I’ll start with the obvious- there is a similarity to Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, in that it’s a story about musicians told as an oral history. But that’s really where the similarities end. This has commentary on race and sexism in the music industry, and brings the discussion into present day. What I loved about this was that the story was unraveling as the journalist was writing it. She uncovers some things that threaten to put an end to the reunion tour, and the reader gets find out what happened back then and about how they’ll handle things now. I started this in print and switched to audio- a great decision, as it had a full cast and really brought the characters to life. I LOVED Opal- she’s such a powerful and fully fleshed out character- I swear I had to remind myself several times that this was fiction. Overall, this was a fantastic debut that goes on my recommended read list!

A poignant and timely look at a 60s rock group with a black woman and a British white dude. I deeply enjoyed the editor's notes that gave us the background on the journalist narrator whose father had an affair with Opal while married to her mom. Perfect for fans of Daisy Jones & the Six.