Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuester for the pre release copy of this book

WOW WOW WOW!!! A fabulous fictional history of Opal and Nev, a duo who became famous in the 1970's. Nev, a ginger oddity from England, and Opal, a gorgeous Black goddess who got chosen by Nev to record on his record when he sees her perform at an amateur night. Opal becomes a sign of power for both women and Black people and when she sets off a riot the night of the Rivington Records concert over a rival band touting a Confederate flag andchanges the lives of both her and Nev.
Years later a music journalist, Sunny Shelton, finds out Opal and Nev are doing a reunion concert for a large music festival and decides to write a book about them and their musical history. Sunny finds out answers to her burning personal questions and Opal finds out just exactly what kind of a friend and partner Nev really is.

TL;DR - this book is absolutely engrossing, a must read that will challenge your mind, encourage you to speak up, and break your heart.

I heard about this book probably the same way others did: with comparisons to Daisy Jones and the Six. The only way Daisy Jones and Opal and Nev are the same is that it's set in the 70s and is about music. Daisy Jones is all about love, heartbreak and addiction. Opal and Nev is about what it means to be Black in the US, what it means to be a woman in a world run by men, finding our chosen family and living with grief. There is so much depth to Opal and Nev and I honestly hope it doesn't struggle due to comparisons.

Opal is a young Black woman trying to survive and thrive when she is found by Nev and asked to partner in music. Opal then has to navigate being a Black woman in this very white very male world. She is also extremely young, struggling to find her place, making bad decisions and being alive for the first time. Nev is such an interesting character - lonely but also extremely smug and overly confident in the way that white men often are. His trajectory was surprising but also perfect for the story that Walton was telling. And although there are great side characters (Bob, Jimmy, Rosemary) and some not so great ones (Howie UGH, Lizzie) - this is a story about Opal Jewel and Sunny, the woman that Opal asks to tell her and Nev's story.


I had over 30 highlights in this book. It's mindblowing quote after quote. Dawnie Walton has created a beautiful story and it is a must read.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and 37 Ink for my copy to review

Some writers just have a way of putting words and ideas together that make it so effortless and exciting to read.
'The Final Revival of Opal and Nev' is a riveting story that is chock full of politically relevant messages woven into the story expertly that were just as important in the 70s rock and roll era of the USA and are still relevant now. This is a story of Opal jewel, an afro punk singer, fierce, independent, strong, and how she navigated the music industry in the 70s when the up and coming Irish immigrant musician Nev Charles spots her singing at a bar and thus forms the unusual but dazzling, heavy on the rebelling.

Things unravel though for the duo when at a showcase, disaster strikes in the form of bike riding confederate flag toting hooligans, a riot, racism, police brutality, and the death of Jimmy Curtis, the act's black drummer. Jimmy Curtis also happens to be in an affair with Opal Jewel as well as the father of Sunny Shelton, the journalist researching and creating a book about the Opal and Nev story in the year 2016 when they are on the verge of a long impending and hyped reunion

In her investigations, she discovers the hidden scandals, blatant racism, misogyny, ambition, ego, and shadiness of the music industry of the era and how its still present today. The book is a reminder of how Black women in all walks of life are underestimated, abused, misjudged, and misconstrued at every turn and yet show strength and perseverance in the face of it all.

Thank you to @simonandschuster for the egalley.

'The Final Revival of Opal and Nev' was an interesting, refreshing, and beautiful fictional oral history of an afro-punk/rock n roll duo in the 70s. The first 2/3 of the story felt much stronger and cohesive of a story than the last 1/3. Yet, the story has a resolution that is satisfying and complete and I have a hard time imagining the story being any different while still being true to its plot and purpose.

As a duo, 'Opal and Nev' were short lived and only experienced a modicum of success at the time. The story starts with a potential reunion tour almost half a century later. The story is told in the form of interviews and short narratives by the 'author'. There is a lot going on here- politics, race, gender norms and roles, music and the music industry, history, identity. Author Dawnie Walton does an excellent job of weaving it all through interviews, newspaper clippings, and commentary. 'Opal and Nev' reads easily as a book-within-a-book.

There are SO many great discussion questions that could come out of this book- the questions that really struck me: for all that is supposedly done to support black lives and communities, for all the effort made to help women succeed in the past 50 years-- how much as changed? What needs to happen to create a better future for black lives/minorities/ women?

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is both a heavy and a light read- and an excellent debut by Dawnie Walton. Thank you for writing such a thought-provoking read!

I read this synopsis and was instantly reminded of Daisy Jones and The Six (read my thoughts here), a book I read last year and absolutely adored! At first, I was a bit hesitant these two books would be too similar – and they are – but there are enough major differences that it makes them both worth reading!

Before Daisy Jones, I had not read an oral history book. It worked really well for me with Daisy, and again with Opal and Nev. I appreciate how it feels like I’m watching a documentary – almost like I’m a part of the story rather than just reading or watching one. I also love how the format allows deeper nuances to be revealed that’s much more complicated to accomplish with a tradtionally relayed story. I’m not sure how long this style will hold my attention, but so far, so good!

While Daisy Jones focused more on the relationship between Daisy and her bandmate, Billy, Opal and Nev took on a much bigger issue that feels incredibly timely: social justice. While it feels new to those of us currenly living through the race riots of 2020, the idea that Black people are not treated as equals in American society definitely is not. Opal has grown up and felt that suppression all her life and when she’s finally given a platform to bring awareness to the issues facing Blacks in the 1970s, she wants to use it.

Through Opal, Walton gives us a stong, independent Black woman – something that is missing in so many stories. I loved the shell Opal created around herself – both as a protection shield around her heart, and as her armor in the battlefield of social justice. She is very clear on what she believes is right and wrong and she fiercely stands by her convictions regardless of the repercussions. When many would choose fame and/or fortune, Opal chooses her morality.

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev expands the oral history genre and gives fan of 1970s rock and roll another book to get immersed in!

What happens when an unknown young black singer from Detroit is hand-picked by a young white red-haired singer from the UK to be his unlikely partner in a musical rock duo? Grab some popcorn and sit back, because this is the compelling story of Opal & Nev.

This engaging fictional story of 70’s Afro-Punk rock duo Opal & Nev explores how these two misfits from different worlds found each other against all odds, and what happened not only to launch their short-lived musical journey together, but the racially-charged events that ultimately tore them apart and sent their lives in different directions.

What I liked:

Style: Author Dawnie Walton has created an interview style oral history - a la Daisy Jones & the Six - that seamlessly blends real, recognizable names from the 70’s up through current music and culture with her fictional duo of Opal & Nev, et al. It’s so effective, in fact, that I initially double-checked to make sure Opal & Nev and the remaining cast of characters weren’t actually real! This gave it the feeling of a legitimate memoir, which in turn gave it more depth, and I enjoyed seeing names I recognized scattered throughout. In that vein, the book spans several decades, so it offers a nice historical overview of what was going on in America, including the changing of presidents and ideologies of those times.

Characters: Opal is one fierce, intelligent, strong-willed woman who doesn’t back down in her desire to see her fellow African Americans treated with dignity and fairness, even when some of those actions cost her or those around her. The story really belongs to her, even if she shares title credit with Nev. Speaking of Nev, this ginger-haired, caucasian Brit is the more elusive and mysterious member of the duo. Less focus is devoted to him, but his laid-back, seemingly good-natured personality was the perfect counterpoint to Opal’s vocal, creative, free-spirited ways. A couple other standouts were Opal’s entertaining bestie and stylist, the flamboyant Francophile Virgil La Fleur, and S. Sunny Shelton (aka SarahLena Curtis), the interviewer/author of the story within this story and the daughter of Jimmy Curtis, a drummer who Opal had an affair with and whose death plays a central role in this story.

Relevance: The book explores or touches on timely and relevant social issues including the seedlings of the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements regarding racism, racial justice, and sexism, and the advent of legalized gay marriage. It also looks at some of the greedy and questionable practices of the music industry and the temptation of the media to represent certain popular narratives at the exclusion of truth. This gives the book some meaning and heft, rather than just being a standard sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll story.

Where I struggled:

Pace: As much as I enjoyed the story, sometimes it felt like the narrative was starting to drag a little or feel redundant. Some (OK - most) of that is a “me” thing: I get bored with listening to people talk. Ask my poor husband - he knows what I’m like when my eyes start to glaze over. Whether they actually were long, these chapters felt long, like my progress to the finish line was turtle-level slooooooow.

Conclusion: All things said, those who are patient readers who enjoy a historical fiction/interview-style rock ‘n’ roll memoir should enjoy this very good, extremely well-written story. Kudos to Ms. Walton for her stunning debut!

★★★★

Thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and author Dawnie Walton for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. This will be published on March 30, 2021.

I enjoyed this book overall. I found I engaged with the book most when reading the editor's notes, which is when it read more like a traditional novel. While I liked the creativity of the oral history format, sometimes it was harder for me to connect with the characters in this way and I think I personally do not prefer that style. I also wish the characters' voices within the interviews would have been more distinct; often I would find myself losing track of who was who. I think this book would be great as an audio book!

That being said, the story itself was very beautiful. I loved the way it tackled issues of race and discrimination. It had great commentary on societal issues and interesting characters. I loved the relationship between Opal and Sunny. I loved how complicated Nev was. I believe this will resonate with many people!

This was a little hard for me to connect with. But that’s not to say it wasn’t absolutely beautiful. The writing was real, raw and personal. I could feel the hype and the excitement about Opal and Nev, and even picture their fictional characters making history alongside The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. I think the only thing that made it a little more difficult of a read for me was the format. I heard comparisons to Daisy Jones, and I can see how, but let Opal and Nev stand alone. It’s worth the read. I look forward to hearing more from the author.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for honest review. The characters were incredibly interesting. The oral history format made it hard to get into for me. I think I would have liked the audiobook version of this more to really experience the characters and get to know them even more. A lot of people compare this to Daisy Jones due to the content - I would say this one is a bit more slow paces and takes a bit longer to get into.

I wish this had been written in a more typical novel format. I didn't find the oral history aspect to be very well done having done and read many oral histories. I loved the characters and the storyline but the format didn't work for a story that came to a head the way this one did. It made it seem flat when it was objectively very interesting!

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is Dawnie Walton’s impressive debut novel, and tells the story of a fiction rock duo from the 70s. The novel is partly an oral history collected by Sunny, the first black and first female editor in chief of Aural magazine. Sunny has a connection to Opal that is explored in the book, and Sunny interviews Opal and Nev, and the people around them, to recount their brief time working together in the early seventies. Opal is a dark skinned, bald black woman, who is outspoken and confident. Nev is a white guy from Britain, who sought out a partner to help him round out his sound, and finds that in Opal. The story alternates between interviews and Sunny’s own experiences trying to put this book together, and the challenges she faces. Sunny uncovers something in her interviews that surprises her, and this twists the plot quite a bit. There is a lot going on in this book. I can’t say I really liked any of the characters, but I thought Walton did a great job illustrating the blatant and underlying racism that Opal experienced, and also highlighting Sunny’s own experience with racism and microaggressions 45 years later. Walton is an excellent story teller, and I cannot wait to read more from her in the future.

I thought this was an amazing book. It has a similar style to Daisy Jones & The Six by being mostly in an oral history format, but I feel it would be unfair to Dawnie Walton’s work to only review it in comparison to DJ&TS.

The oral history style was such a good choice that really brought the characters to life - I kept finding myself wanting to listen to the songs that were being mentioned or find pictures of Opal’s avant garde fashion choices. It was also a great way of getting key characters’ perspectives on the climactic event of the book. Mind you, I also know it’s a fairly hit or miss style but for those who generally enjoy it, this is a wonderful example of it.

Walton did an amazing job of balancing her exposé of Opal and Nev’s musical collaboration and the personal relationships that developed through it with the real world issues of racism and privilege that she covered. I loved the story leading up the promotional concert that acts as a climax in this book (I’ll leave it at that so as not to spoil). I loved the intense play by play that we got of the concert - knowing that something would go wrong, and knowing part of the outcome right from the beginning but not knowing the details. I genuinely could not put the book down during those chapters. I thought the story afterwards was a bit less gripping, but seeing how the fall out affected Opal, a black woman, so differently to Nev, a white man was really valuable and felt incredibly real.

Especially for a debut, this book is absolutely phenomenal. I’m incredibly excited to see what Dawnie Walton writes in the future.

* I received this ARC from Simon & Schuster and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review *

Its easy to read the synopsis of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev and see the oral history writing style and automatically think of Daisy Jones & the Six. But the comparisons stop there. This story has so much more to offer, especially to the conversations we as a society are having right now. This book documents the story of how Opal & Nev came to be, the major "event" that defined them, and their reunion. Oh... did i forget to mention they have a connection to the magazine editor?? The characters are well defined and the writing is rich, I look forward to revisiting this book in audio form in the future!

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There was a lot that I liked about this book. The oral history format? Loved it! It made the story feel so real, and I wish I was able to listen to the songs that were referenced throughout the book. The characters? Loved it! The author did an awesome job of giving each character a distinct voice and you really felt like these were actual musicians.

But I was only so-so on the plot. I was invested for the first 60% of the book, but after that, my interest waned. We find out about halfway through the book what really happened the night of Opal and Nev's infamous concert, and then it just kind of...disappears? It's brought back up at the end, but with a lot of random fluff in between. I was disappointed in the latter half of the book and that bumped it from 4 to 3 stars.

Overall, still an entertaining read, and fans of Daisy Jones will definitely enjoy it.

This is a story of not only rock n' roll, but racial and social justice, or should I say injustice. It is so well done that it feels as if the story could be real. The characters are truly fleshed out, and you get a sense of growth or change from them throughout the story. The situations the characters go through mirror what has happened, and is happening right now. At times I had a hard time putting the book down, it simply pulls you in that much. The only let down to me was the conclusion. It makes sense, and I understand it, but I wanted more. I wanted to stay in the story longer, and if that doesn't explain how interesting these characters and their story is I don't know what will.

This takes what "Daisy Jones and The Six" did and elevates it to another level, and I'm saying that as someone who loved both books. I absolutely adored the structure and the writing itself, but it's really the characters that shined here for me, specifically Opal and Sunny. Music is the thing that got me through my childhood and my childhood dream was to write for a music magazine, so there was a lot for me to relate to here. My only complaint was that I wish we got to know Sunny more outside of her quest to write this story, which I think speaks to just how well developed Opal was in comparison to Sunny. I found myself double-checking people and events to be sure they weren't real because of just how well reality and the story were woven together. Another big takeaway here was how often racism and sexism in the music industry go undiscussed, and maybe I just know a lot more than the average person, but this book nailed all the issues I know to exist and shines a light on them in a way I think even non-music fans can understand and should learn lessons from. I can't recommend this one enough.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton is an interesting historical fiction story. Was I googling Opal Jewel by the first page? Yes, I was. Did I mention this is historical FICTION? Lol!

Opal & Nev are the rock n roll odd couple. Opal Robinson grew up in Detroit, Nev Charles grew up in the UK. Opal was raised by a single mom whose aspirations for her daughter were to work a 9-5 job either at Michigan Bell or the GM plant. Nev’s mother dreamed her son would be a star. This story magnifies the differences in American culture, ethnic background, family, society and privilege. Set during the turbulent 70s, and ending in 2016, Opal & Nev, together and separately, create a career that propels then to stardom but then burns out quickly. In the years between, they experience personal highs and lows, but can they overcome the past to revive what they originally built?

I enjoyed Opal & Nev. This book is told in an oral history format so it’s compared to Daisy Jones & The Six. This book is NOT Daisy Jones and, for me, it was unfortunate that it had the comparison because my expectations may have been too high. I loved Part 1! My jaw dropped at the reveal. But Part 2 was very disappointing in that it went a direction I wasn’t expecting and didn’t care about. Part 3 also was a bit disappointing but I did like the ending although the story wasn’t quite as tightly wrapped up as it could have been.

Thank you to #netgalley and @37inkbooks for the advanced e-copy of #thefinalrevivalofopalandnev !

Rock duo Opal and Nev represented a moment of musical brilliance. White British singer-songwriter Nev discovers Opal, a soulful Black singer, at an open mic night, and the two join forces in the 1970s music scene. But things are never that simple. When Opal and Nev are forced to perform on the same ticket as a racist Southern band, Opal steals their Confederate flag and lights it on fire while on stage, inciting a riot and igniting public opinion against her. While Nev continues on with a successful solo career, Opal is left behind - until a reunion concert planned for 2016. Will Opal finally have the chance to speak her truth? What really happened that night on stage?

Wow - this book is a gut punch. Since it's a rock history, you're probably thinking it's like Daisy Jones and the Six. Yes and no. You get the same "fly on the wall in a recording studio" vibe that music history buffs will love, but there's so much more social and political commentary to unpack here. Opal's actions on stage started a movement - but at what cost to her? When people reprint the pictures of her on stage, they are repeating one of the most painful moments of her life, almost celebrating her pain. Walton really gets readers into Opal's head, helping us feel all her emotions.

Nev is a complicated character, and Walton makes sure the reader knows it. He may think of himself as an ally - he sings duets with a Black woman - but he's constantly telling Opal to let things go, trying to diminish her feelings. And after the concert, he drops her and their bluesy rock style in order to become a solo artist.

Walton effectively uses this story to show how racism and misogyny, both overt and in the form of microaggressions, are so ingrained in society. If you're looking for a book that will make you think, I would not hesitate to recommend this one! There's a lot more than meets the eye here, and I'm sure I'll be rereading it.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster/37Ink for providing a ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Posted to Goodreads and Instagram March 17th, 2021.

This is probably a 4.5 star book for me. I was fully invested in the story. It felt so real that I found myself googling the concert name as well as the artists name to double check that this wasn't a biography of actual artists. I liked Opal's character and how she appeared to know what she wanted and wasn't afraid to go after it. Nev's character was just ok to start with and as the story developed I disliked him more. Really the only thing I feel I can ding the book on is it's length. It just covered a lot in these 400 plus pages. Otherwise, it was a great historical fiction.

DNF. Did not enjoy the writing style/voice in the first three chapters and it would not be fair to continue with the book and negatively rate it at the end.