Both the title and the description of this book called to me that I had to read this one, and once I started I couldn't put it down. The music industry in the 60's and 70's was volatile and make good subject matter. The damaged characters in the book are intriguing and it was engrossing reading about their triumphs and their failures. I cheered for Jane every time she stood up for herself and her music, and despaired as Jesse struggled with his problems despite his fame. The writing style is addictive and enjoyable and the characters are well fleshed out. I found the song lyrics inserted throughout the novel intriguing.

Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group through Netgalley for an advance copy.

I noticed right away that I was going to be comparing Songs in Ursa Major to Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The similarities are: same time periods in the music industry, shining female star, bands, drugs, and tragic love, and multiple perspectives in the story. Here's the thing though, these stories may have similar vibes, but I personally enjoyed Songs in Ursa Major SO MUCH MORE because I couldn't stand the distracting interview format of Daisy Jones. So, basically, this is the book I wanted when I ordered Daisy Jones last year. I adored the East Coast setting ac well as the setting of the 60s and 70s. I enjoy the rock, classic rock, and folk music of that time. I found this book to be be a cool and smooth journey written vividly enough that I felt like I was there hearing it all live and for the first time. I heard this was based on the relationship between James Taylor and Joni Mitchell and now I want to know more about that! This book worked perfectly for me. If you like the folk music scene, and 60-70s era historical fiction, then this book is for you too. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be an early reader. This was such a great book!

READ THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY - It is soooo good. Burgeoning musicians and their bands have become a popular topic for novels in the past couple of years. DAISY JONES AND THE SIX and UTOPIA are both fabulous examples of this and SONGS IN URSA MAJOR is just as compelling. I fell in love with Jane - her difficult relationship with her mother, her wonderful aunt, her struggles with her self-esteem and her wavering faith in herself as a songwriter and performer. This was such a lovely read that one night, I abandoned all responsibilities and just sat and read it straight through - a truly satisfying experience. I can hardly wait to read Brodie's next book.

A must read for those who loved the book "Daisy Jones and the Six" and the music scene in the late '60s and '70s! I couldn't put this book down anxiously awaiting the outcome of each character's life. The character development was rich and the author explored each of their lives in depth. You will fall in love not only with the story but with the characters who all play an integral part of the story.

From my public review on Goodreads, 4 stars:
A very thorough and interesting story. I’m intrigued by stories about the music world, although prefer when they have some inkling that they could be real, and this story didn’t disappoint (for the most part).

There were times when I didn’t like Jane and thought she was being slightly melodramatic, and there’s a section about 3/4 the way involving a trip that started to feel off-course from the rest of the book, but overall an impressive and engaging debut.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

As a book and music lover, I was excited to receive an advanced copy of Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie from @aaknopf and @netgalley.

As I read this story about two folk singers navigating the music industry in the 1970s, I had to keep reminding myself these deeply-flawed characters weren’t real. Emma Brodie does an incredible job bringing each character to life, and with each turned page, I found myself rooting for every single one of them to find peace, happiness, and fulfillment in their own stories.

This intimate novel was easy to fall in love with, and I read it in less than 24 hours, eager to see how the story ended. It included all the makings of an epic love story with fame, family, struggle, tragedy, and triumph.

Songs in Ursa Major weaves storytelling and music together beautifully, leaving the reader with a lyrical tale sure to stick with the reader after the last page is turned. If you loved A Star is Born, this book is for you.

From the description, i thought this book sounded like the movie, A Star is Born, which is great. The opening with Jesse not singing at music festival and local Jane Quinn takes the stage in his place and wins over the disgruntled crowd, was awesome. It had you rooting for Jane and excited when she did good. But the rest of the book didn't deliver for me after that.

Right off the bat, we were introduced to way more people than it's possible to keep track of, and that was the way through the whole book. We were told the bus drivers name to the music moguls, most of which weren't necessary to know for the story. It just confused things, in my opinion

Another issue for me, was that there was no buildup of the story...Jane sang in the festival and suddenly was making a record and a rock star. Same with the love story between Jane and Jesse, they met a couple times and were instantly a couple.

There were too many mentions of details about recording the songs, possibly a musician or producer might find interesting but it just slowed the story down for me. There were several pages discussing how they found just the right obscure instrument to tap in one song....none of this was necessary.

Janes family secret wasn't that big of a secret or that interesting. I thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. I wanted to like it, but I just honestly didn't.

This book will have you reaching for the record player...or Spotify playlist. Emma Brodie has a masterful way of developing characters that are untouchable and oh so relatable at the same time. This page-turner feels like a part of music history. An incredible debut book that at times reminded me of Taylor Jenkins Reid's "Daisy Jones and the Six" with the poetic song lyrics and relationship dynamics at play in a high-profile band.

I am a complete sucker for all 60's and 70's music and fashion and this book seamlessly combines both in the tale of a young woman from a small town convinced her music is enough to make her a star.

The book is a great read with not only an interesting romance, but a great take on women's liberation at a time very few people took women, even stars, seriously.

I loved the main characters, June and Jesse, but also June's band and family.

Obvious comparisons will be made to Daisy Jones, but this book, while sharing a time period and topic, is very much about Jane and her growth. I loved Daisy, and I loved this book also.

A great read.

I am glad I took the chance to request this book as I really had fun engaging in the journey that Jane took to learn about her talents and to find herself in music and writing lyrics. This book has a lot of potential to be a sleeper Summer hit, I hope that music lovers and fiction lovers find this book and take the chance on this charming, but with hidden depth, story. I would round up to 4.25 as once I got to the real strengths of the writing, where there are lyrics and an intimacy with Jane's talent that is compelling, I truly saw some specialness to this book. Thank you NetGalley and Knopff for early access to this book.

For me the strengths of the story, and writing and character development, come about 1/3 into the book, once Jane gets the chance to fight for her first solo contract and album. Reading that part of the book I felt the writing come to life in ways it had not earlier. This does not mean the early part was not good, it was fine, but I felt a new energy once Jane I suppose found her chance and her voice. When she was learning to speak about what she wanted for her album. her first small performance of that in progress work... yes! I was sad to put the book down by that point and was eager to see where the story would go, even though I could sense the patterns of misogyny and problems coming. I appreciate in fact the persistent weaving of a strong woman, women in fact as her family support was thoughtfully developed, against a past and present issue of misogyny and problematic relationships in music and folk music. Current familiarity with and attention to these themes in current news and social media experiences does not mean that they are not important to still highlight and present to readers and I thought this was done well without being heavy handed.

This was a quick, engaging, and intimate book and I really appreciate a writer who includes lyrics when writing a story about a singer song writer. I look forward to more writing from Emma Brodie and appreciate the chance to support this debut.

When Jesse, a popular musician, fails to appear at the island's music fest, Jane and her garage band, the Breakers, step in. She is a natural, and wins over the crowd. Opportunity arises, and her band begins touring with Jesse's. A romance develops alongside their careers. We see the glory and underbelly of the music industry (the story is set in the 1970s) as Jane, a preternaturally gifted singer and musician, matures and decides who she wants to be and how much she's willing to sacrifice. Jesse is even more gifted than Jane, if that’s possible, but his demons are greater as well.

Jane's mother is absent, and this is a mystery. Allegedly she ran off when Jane was a child. This shapes Jane, who lives in a rustic old Victorian with her surly, pregnant cousin, her aunt, and her grandmother. At the beginning of the novel, we learn that in Jane’s family, the women don’t marry. This is like another story line that seemed present only to support the fact that Jane was independent, but other than that, it didn’t play a big role.

The author does a great job of showing us what it was like in those times, with the sexism and misogyny, the drug abuse and sexual freedom. The whole Laurel canyon / Los Angeles music scene allows us to imagine being around when Joni Mitchell, Crosby Stills & Nash, and others were just getting started. In fact, some have opined that Jane is a representation of Joni, who was notoriously independent.

The writing is really good. The author is an artist. I’d give examples but I was reading a pre-publication copy so can’t give specific quotes, but take my word for it. She’s stunningly adept at describing moods, thoughts, and music, her knowledge of which was so in-depth, I wondered if she was related to a musical celebrity. To that end, I read the Acknowledgements, half expecting her to thank her dad or mom, insert famous name here. But no. Emma Brodie appears to just be a very gifted author, and I hope we’ll see many more works from her in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf for the early ebook. One of the hardest things to do in a book is to convey the sounds and the power that comes from listening to music. This novel does that and, amazingly, creates fictional bands and a record label from the American music scene of the early 1970’s. At an island music festival, Jesse Reid, a young and quickly rising folk rock star, has a motorcycle accident and has to cancel his show at the last moment. A local band, The Breakers, lead in all ways by the talented lead singer Jane Quinn, fills in for Jesse and steals the show, signs up with Jesse’s music label. From there it’s recording a first album, opening on the road for Jesse, passionate affairs, the ugly sexism of the music business and so much more. The book is shot through with a great love of music, sharp lyrics and a dozen interesting characters, but it’s the hidden secrets of Jesse and Jane that almost stop them just as each of their careers are getting started.

Thanks to @netgalley and @aaknopf for an advanced copy of this book. If you are looking for a summer/beach/vacation read this would be a good choice!
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This is a story of a young woman named Jane. It’s 1969 and she is 19. She has graduated from high school and is working odd jobs around her hometown. She lives on a small New England island. She lives with her grandma, aunt, and cousin. They all work together and job share to pay the bills. Jane is the lead singer in a local folk rock band. Her band has been playing together since junior high. They are practically family. The island hosts a rock festival every year and this year the headliner is unable to perform. Jane’s band take his slot. They are a hit and catch the attention of a record executive. The band goes on a crash course in being rockstars. It’s as amazing and terrible as can be expected.
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The book feels so real. You’re thinking the whole time about looking up these old songs but of course it’s fiction after all. Also, the behind-the-scenes workings of a record label are not glamorous. It’s arduous and the artists lack any real power in the beginning of their careers. It definitely brings to mind all the horror stories we’ve heard from the #metoo movement over the last few years.
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Overall, I enjoyed this book. It’s a quick, engrossing read. This book will be released on 6/22/21.

4.5 stars
In short, I loved this book. It's a coming-of-age story of two rock/folk stars in the 1970s, and reminded me at times of the movie Almost Famous. The main character Jane is one of the most real protagonists I have encountered in some time. At times it's sad, but overall the tone is hopeful. It did start off a little slow, but once I got about 25% through the book, I finished it in a single sitting.
I would definitely recommend this to others.

Thank you to to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the ARC!

This book was an emotional coming of age story about two folks/rock singers. The two main characters seem to be based off real life singers of the late 60s and early 70s. The main character was very likeable and overall the book was written very well, I think anyone that liked Daisy Jones & The 6 will like this book. It blends storytelling and music together beautifully.

A big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review

This genre of old school rock novels has become a favorite over the last year. Though I have read several novels about rock in the 60s and 70s, Songs in Ursa Major didn’t disappoint. It was a fresh and new story to the familiar tunes of rock and roll, love, fame, and family. The Quinn family was impossible to not love immediately. They brought me into their lives and made me feel welcome, just as they did the members of the Breakers and Jesse Reid. The family and the island on which they live are at the heart of the novel; they are what tethers the story and Jane’s life together. I couldn’t put this book down!

When Jesse Reid gets into an accident before a performance, Jane Quinn and her band the Breakers fill in and captivate the audience. When Jane meets Jesse, they have a connection, but she does not know if she can trust him. After Jane’s mother wrote a song that was stolen but another artist, she disappeared, making Jane and her aunt leery of the industry and people so cared with it.. When Jane has the opportunity to become a star, she wants to do it on her terms, which angers some of the record company’s executives. Jane uses her music to come to terms with her mother’s situation as well as her relationship with Jesse.

This book took me on a wonderful and terrible ride, with a soundtrack that I’ve never heard yet absolutely loved. I found myself feeling so hard for Jane and worrying about her and Jesse when I laid down for my nap after an eternal night shift! This story beautifully intertwined both of my main loves, reading and music. I felt like I was there through every single moment. Everything was so real and perfect that I already envisioned the movie version of this. Please, oh please! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc in exchange for my honest opinion. It was wonderful and I can’t wait to (hopefully!) see it on the big screen one day soon!

This is an emotional coming of age read about a musician and her band in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The main character Jane was likeable and relatable. She's funny & fun and there are scenes that stay with you, like the photo shoot. There are some sex scenes and drug related scenes too. I think fans of Daisy Jones & The Six will also enjoy this book.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC

An very enjoyable book. Jane Quinn comes from a family of strong women on an island in Massachusetts. I envisioned Martha’s Vineyard throughout the entire novel. She is a folk/rock singer, during the 70s, trying to break into the industry when she falls in love with Jesse Reid.. Jesse is a well accomplished musician with a drug addiction. I’m guessing this is loosely based on Joni Mitchell and James Taylor.
There’s music, love, drugs, travel and heartbreaks in this amazing book. I loved reading the song lyrics entwined throughout.
Many thanks to NG and Knopf Books for the ARC.