Dawnie Walton tackles a lot of heavy, complex topics in this fictional oral history of an iconic 1970s rock duo, and she does it so, so well.

The premise (an afro-punk powerhouse and a timid British singer/songwriter duo are catapulted into fame after a disastrous concert and decades later consider a reunion show), the characters, and the obstacles they faced felt real. I kept finding myself double checking that the book was not, in fact, a true biography written by the narrator, Sunny.

The pacing is the only aspect that felt iffy for me. The book starts pretty slow, but around the halfway point it totally takes off. I also felt that at times Sunny’s interjections disrupted the momentum, but the story itself was so compelling I barely slowed down.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is similar to Daisy Jones & the Six, sure, but it’s also more. Opal & Nev is, at it’s core, a book about racism, sexism, addiction, and injustice in the music industry. It’s powerful and timely and bound to be one of the top books of 2021.

Like a rock fan pining for her favorite group's next album, I'm already clamoring for Dawnie Walton's next book. With her debut novel, the former journalist for Entertainment Weekly and Essence was inspired to craft a fictional oral history about a legendary rock duo from the '70s. And the novel rocks. The form works beautifully, as a host of characters offer their accounts of the history-making events that launch Opal & Nev's careers. Accounts vary, as they always do, challenging us readers to compare and contrast stories about how things went down. As I read between the lines, I was fully invested in the narrative from page 1 to the finish (an ending that felt 100% right to me). Walton so seamlessly blends actual music history with fictional that I found myself researching whether some of her fictional characters and events actually existed. She also seems to capture Black women's lives in the 70s with vivid details. I read somewhere that when she started the book, she imagined Opal as Grace Jones and Nev as David Bowie. That's a great start, but what she's finished is that much better. This book gets compared to Daisy Jones & the Six because of the similar oral history format, but it goes beyond that book. Opal has a strength and a charisma that rocket off the page. She is a gem of a character. But the interviewer's character and stakes in the project add another layer to this novel. I highly recommend it.
[Thanks to Simon & Schuster/37 Ink and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.]

Amazing!! I loved this. People draw. Lot of comparisons to Daisy Jones, but I think this one stands on its own, and manages to be a completely nuanced and unique voice. I think the second time around, I will listen to this on audio, but overall I loved the character development and it never felt boring. Looking forward to more from this author!

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is clearly in the same sub-genre of fictional 1970s music biography as Daisy and the Six. But this book layers on more of the era’s potent political activism and violent tendencies. Unfortunately, many of the issues are still relevant today.

The characters within The Final Revival of Opal & Nev are what drive the story. These people feel so realistic! But there is action here too. If you remember, or enjoy, the American 1970s music scene, you will be enchanted by this book. 4 stars!

Thanks to 37 Ink, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

While I really liked the premise of the book and couldn't wait to read it, I just didn't enjoy it. It seemed to drag on and on and the constant switching between different character's perceptions was annoying and confusing. I had really high hopes for this one but to me it didn't measure up.

I have not read Daisy and the Six, so this a fresh approach for me. The story was told through interviews. What a pair Nev and Opal were. When it begins Opal is finding her voice and style. She is a black women who does not fit societies definition of beauty. Nev is a white, awkward “rock & roller”, The story really shows how they evolve over the years together. As a band, they are never able to move past a violent outburst at one of their early concerts. It took a life and left others physically and emotionally damaged. The story has the drug and sex that you would expect. It also has strong statements on racism, cost of fame, women’s rights and what it feels to not belong or feel valued.

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev is intensely readable because of the unique relationships between its' characters. All of these people are fully realized and seem like real rockstars from a bygone era. It was also refreshing to read about black rock stars who were the main characters not just a side character for equality's sake. Dawnie Walton is a breakthrough and necessary new literary artist who we as readers need urgently today.

Opal, a young Black woman from Detroit, and Nev, a White songwriter from the UK, seem like they have nothing in common but come together to start a rock band in 1970's New York City. This book is a bit memoir, a VH1 Behind the Music vibe, and an interview style that is all fictional but will have you pausing and wanting to do internet searches to se what is real and what isn't. It touches on race, historical events that are eerily current as well, and the struggles that go along with loss and identity. I enjoyed this book a lot and I would love to hear the audiobook version of it. Because of the style, there were a few times where I lost interest or felt distracted from the stories and how it jumped around. Overall, this is a fun book that most people will love. I think if you were a fan of the style of "Daisy Jones and the Six", this will be a hit for you, although they are very different books. If you are looking for something a little different in your reading, I would recommend picking this up.

This book was fantastic! I loved it so much - i love the rock N roll feel of the book. Seriously this book is amazing and everyone needs to read it.

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev -- 4.5 Stars

Although the obvious comparison to this book is to Daisy Jones and the Six because it is a story of musicians in the form of an oral history, Opal and Nev is much more than that. The many layers contained in this novel was something I did not fully expect and truly enjoyed. Not only do we hear about the early lives of Nev and Opal and their respective paths that lead them to New York and each other, but also the story of "Sunny," the author/compiler of the oral history and her personal connection and investment in the two singers, as well as Virgil--Opal's best friend and stylist, whose story we only get a glimpse of but his aspirations and role in Opal's life was one that enhanced this novel for me.

Opal is the true star of this book and with it focusing on her, it demonstrates the struggles and barriers she experiences as a Black woman in America, and the strength she has both in the time of her rise to fame in the 1970s, as well as during her present-day interviews in 2016.

I was not a huge fan of Daisy Jones and I think it is because this oral history style is not a preferred novel format for me, but Opal and Nev showed me that the content of the story can overshadow any qualms I have about this style. This was not only a novel about the struggles of two musicians' rise to stardom. Rather, it's about family in all its forms, identity, race, racism, pride, and passion. Walton's writing is well done and she is able to capture a unique voice for each of her interviewees. I liked that the interviews were organized in a way that flowed into each other so it did not seem jolting, and more like each person was chiming in on a conversation where they were all in the same room. When more background or context was needed, the use of newspaper clippings or interviews was effective and organic. I particularly liked the "editor's notes" section where we learned more of the events in Sunny's personal life surrounding the interview.

I deducted a half star because the pacing at the start was a bit slow for me, but as I traveled deeper into the story, I was fully invested in Opal and Sunny.

Had a hard time getting into this one, as compared to similar Daisy Jones and the Six, but had so soul and movement. It lead me down many research rabbit holes of music makers and influencers I didn’t know much about, and am not grateful for. Looking forward to reading more from this author, and the hidden stories they tell.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a compelling, timely, and entertaining take on the intersections of music, fame, politics, and identity. Opal is a fascinating, powerful character, and those surrounding her are complicated. I don't want to just compare this book to Daisy Jones & The Six, but it's hard not to - I had wanted to love Daisy Jones and its format but was let down by it for a number of reasons. Opal & Nev works much better - expanding the story of the narrator/interviewer, as well as the story of the stars themselves. There is far more depth and a greater scope to Opal & Nev, grounding them in the outside world and culture and far more successfully connecting to the present day. The book did drag a bit around the middle, but once I got back into it, I was pleased to see how the book was drawn out after the central event the book had been leading to, and then builds into an ending you can't wait to see.

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev is a captivating gem of a debut.

This fictional story of Opal and Nev starts out in the early ‘70s as a rock duo with an unusual style. Nev is a white flamboyant British songwriter of crazy lyrics, and Opal is a black independent and free- spirited Afro-punk singer. Due to circumstances, they go their separate ways.

Fast forward to 2015, Opal and Nev are contemplating a reunion concert, and SarahLena (Sunny) has been assigned to interview them for a book for Aural. She is the first black female editor in chief of Aural who happens to be the daughter of Jimmy Curtis, the band’s drummer who was killed in 1971 when a racially charged riot broke out during a concert. This event occurred before Sunny was born so she never knew her father. Opal and Jimmy were lovers during this time.

Throughout this novel, we hear excerpts from Opal and Nev as they tell their story. We also get conversations by family members, friends, band members, managers, photographers and promoters, etc. and even a taping of the Dick Cavett Show. I love this style of oral history storytelling of this iconic band with a format similar to “Daisy Jones and the six” and “Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk.”

This story was well told as the many voices contribute to the telling of this story. In the course of these interviews, Sunny discovers the truth behind her father’s death and wrestles with disclosing this information. Opal’s character was particularly interesting to me. She was a strong, independent and provocative woman deeply convicted to the cause of equality for women, specifically black women who have been marginalized throughout history. A quote from the book that particularly resonated with me was by Sunny,

“That the voices of black Women like Opal should not be discounted or diminished in deference to those who have highjacked our shine whenever it suits.”

That is so powerful!

This just seemed so real to me in light of current racial tensions. Opal and Nev were equal members of the band in their creativity but Opal was treated differently simply because of her color.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and 37 Ink/ Simon and Schuster for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.


5 Reasons You Should Read The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Mostly Because My Brain is Scrambled and My Thoughts Incoherent)

1. The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a kind of technical masterpiece. Written as a rock and roll oral history, this novel uses interview formats and chapters written from the perspective of the journalist to tell the story. If you don't think this is hard to achieve, just think about how each interview voice (Opal, Nev, their producer Bob, their old friends, the fans and other people commenting on them) all have to be distinct and realistic to who those people would be. And then there's Sunny's voice, which is the guiding force of the entire narrative as she tries to reconcile her own family history with Opal's legacy. I mean, it's just spectacular.

2. Speaking of the format... The way this novel is constructed worked incredibly well for me. It's engaging and very easy to read. I practically flew through it because I was so enraptured by the story and eager to find out what would happen next.

3. Who doesn't love a complicated history of rock stars that deals with feminism and race? Opal Jewell gave me Grace Jones/Nina Simone vibes, and Nev Charles gave me big Paul McCartney vibes, and their partnership/collaboration is bound to be interesting.

4. There is a twist in the narrative that I did not see coming, and it completely transforms the narrative and what I expected the story to be. I will not spoil it because it shouldn't be spoiled, but it does complicate the narrative in a way that's unexpected and interesting.

5. Opal's story is certainly front and center, but Sunny's story might be the most compelling part. She's a Black female editor at a Rolling Stone type magazine trying to put together this oral history of two artists she really admired who have history with her family, and she's trying to unpack all of that while being a journalist. Also, just the insights into what being a music journalist are like? *chef's kiss*

I liked Daisy Jones and the Six but I LOVED The Revival of Opal and Nev. The first half read almost like a murder mystery to me... I was captivated and couldn’t wait to find out what actually happened at the Revival and put all the pieces together. The second half was a bit more of a slow burn but by that point I was so in love with Opal I just wanted to spend as much time as possible with her and see what happened to her. I probably would not have picked this one up if it weren’t for the ARC but I have already recommended it to a few people and will be for awhile!

GUT PUNCH
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2021
What a story!! It took me a while to finish this as 2020 was stacked with trials & tribulations. I kept having to put it down and return, not only to reflect but also to digest its truth. Read the rest of the reviews to "whet your whistle" on the context, but what's more important is what you take away from it. America is steeped in systemic racism and bigotry-our history is rich with it. This quasi re-telling is effective and unsettling as the time period adds its raw glamour. I see Grace Jones as Opal in my "mind movie".

THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV by Dawnie Walton is a novel showcasing the rock and roll musical duo of Opal and Nev, with their rise to fame in the 70's and their final revival in 2016. This was very similar to Daisy Jones and The Six with it being written in interview style. Comparing the two, I loved Daisy and I liked Opal. Opal was a tougher, more combative character and she had a very different relationship with her bandmate. I liked this okay, but it dragged a bit in the middle and I didn't form any attachment to either Nev or Opal.. I also think this would be better as an audiobook with a full cast, just because of the format in which it was written. A solid 3.5.

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev is reminiscent of Daisy Jones and The Six in that it's a book about a now defunct duo ( rather than a group ) that once made great music together ( afro punk rather then rock and roll ) and is written in the form of an oral history. The oral history is written by a band outsider but she has a distinct and important connection to the duo. I loved both books but this one definitely took it up a notch by covering important current topics ...making the book a little more weighty than the former. I think the author did a great job looking back at the 60's-70's, bringing tow very different artists together ( independent, flamboyant Opal with a British singer/songwriter whose dream is to make it big in the music industry) to create a story with tension that examined the line between integrity and the fulfillment of our dreams at any cost. I'm glad I got to read this one and am pretty sure it will remain among my favorites this year. Loved it !

This is a brilliant book, combining the inside baseball oral history of a rock act with editorial perspective from someone personally connected to and evolving from the story and key players. Add to that the fraught sexual and racial politics from the 60s that are still not resolved today, and you get a great mix of entertaining narrative and depth.
It is very well crafted and interesting to see people look back on their lives and whether they were successful or not isn't as critical to their impressions as their self-confidence and identity.
The depictions of concerts and wardrobe details is especially interesting.
Great story and exploration of how people spiral towards and away from huge defining moments, especially ones that aren't in their control.

There were definitely four and five star moments for me while reading "The Final Revival of Opal & Nev" but they were few and far apart. I was surprised after finishing to see that the book isn't particularly long, the plot just dragged so terribly that it felt much longer. The bulk of the story between the characters felt like it was there to serve a political message, and while that message is important, when the story is missing otherwise it's difficult to enjoy as a reader.