Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. Good read-alike for Daisy Jones and the Six and Almost Famous. There were some pacing issues. The major climax happens about 70% through the book and it feels very rushed through. The rest of the book was parties and the Dionysian playground that is destroyed with this incident. It felt like too much and nobody changed.

In this book, the main character Faun Novak travels to Los Angeles with her friend after her mother's passing. Once there, se becomes involved with the rock ‘n’ roll scene and soon becomes fascinated with the groupies that follow them.

This book is perfect for fans of Daisy Jones & The Six, Opal & Nev, and more. The 70s rock n roll vibes, dynamic characters, and gripping plot will be perfect for many readers looking for the next book that explores this setting. The endless parties, drugs, concerts, and more we see the groupies experience left me feeling a multitude of emotions for our characters and ultimately grateful for my non-groupie life!

I gave this book three stars and would gladly recommend to a friend.

Faun is an orphaned college dropout who, in groovy 70’s fashion, makes a pilgrimage to Los Angeles to start a new life with her high school best friend, Josie, now a girlfriend/muse for the front man of the rock band Holiday Sun. In short order, Faun is adopted as a member of the band’s entourage and becomes their amatuer documentarian, taking photographs of the gigs and, more importantly, the backstage parties, with her ever-presesent Polaroid camera. But the glittery life of a groupie casts a dark shadow and Faun learns the hard way that relationships can be as ephemeral as her square photos.

With a statement saying that this one would be "perfect for fans of Daisy Jones & The Six, Mary Jane, and The Final Revival of Opal & Nev" I had high hopes going into Groupies. Ultimately this one was a miss for me. If only the story had lived up to the vibe that the cover gave me.

I did immersive reading on this one (both reading an electronic version and listening at the same time). I found the MC beyond irritating. I did not enjoy the audiobook narration at all, so if you are still interested in checking this story out I'd recommend reading as opposed to listening.

Rating 2.5 stars.

Special thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC of Groupies for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

This was an entirely mediocre and ultimately forgettable book. Save yourself some time and just watch Almost Famous.

I do not recommend the audiobook. The narrator was terrible at accents and her voice was generally annoying. I ended up abandoning the audio and just skimming the last 25%.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️(2/5) Groupies - Sarah Priscus

✨Pages: 384

✨Genre: Historical Fiction

Thanks for the ARC @netgalley! I love the film Almost Famous and was hoping this would be almost a Penny Lane-like protagonist tale. Unfortunately, this book lacks much depth and I wanted more out of it.

In the late 70s, small town New England gal Faun Novak ends up crashing in Los Angeles with her best friend Josie. Josie is dating famous rock and roll singer Cal Holiday of the hit band Holiday Sun. Faun’s a fan, and becomes tied up in the groupie scene of the band. But there is a seedy underbelly to this world and Faun gets caught up in it.

While Priscus captures the rock and roll vibe of the 70s well, its very evident to me how much inspiration she pulled from Almost Famous. Many of the groupies are versions of those in the film, and the band members also have strong resemblances, let alone plot points that exist in both. Faun is most like William (the movie’s protagonist), but less interesting all around. William was a strong writer, Faun is a mediocre clueless photographer. William was dedicated to getting his interviews while Faun just exists in the sphere blandly. I could go on comparing this book to the film, but overall I’m just disappointed in this book and it’s lack of originality or depth.

✨Trigger Warnings: Adult/Minor Relationship, Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Drug Use

✨Themes: Celebrity, Belonging, Purpose

✨You May Like This If You Enjoyed:
-City of Girls (Elizabeth Gilbert)
-Daisy Jones & the Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid)

#bookworm #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreview #bookrecommendations #bibliophile #booknerd #backstagebookreviews #reader #fiction #netgalley #ebook #groupies

Faun Novak is an aspiring photographer and want to be groupie.
After the death of her mother, Faun joins her wild child best friend Josie and finds that she's dating the front man to the popular but not life changing band Holiday Sun.
Seeing this as her opportunity to break into the world of photography, Faun starts accompanying Josie to Holiday Sun's parties and shows and tries to get in good with the band.
I LOVE the 70's world of groupies and rock 'n roll. This book sounded like it was written for me, so imagine my disappointment when I hit the 30% mark and just could not pretend to care anymore. Faun is such a bland character, and seeing the world through her eyes makes everything feel lamer. Which is not what I wanted from a book about depraved rock stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for a copy of Sarah Priscus’ novel, Groupies.

The year is 1977 and Faun Novak needs a change. Her mother has recently passed away and feeling no ties to her midwestern home, Faun heads for Los Angeles, to live with her high school best-friend Josie. Josie has recently dropped out of college to focus her efforts on dating mega rockstar Cal Holiday, frontman for the group Holiday Sun. Josie’s life seems so glamorous and carefree that Faun wants to be a part of her world. Josie coaches Faun in all aspects of what it means to be a groupie, and soon Faun is initiated, finding herself in a small inner circle of woman who give all of their energy to supporting the band that they love.

The lifestyle is intoxicating and Faun quickly gets wrapped up in parties, drugs, and relationships with loose boundaries. As a groupie, her primary job is to keep the men of Holiday Sun happy, running errands and bolstering their egos. However, Faun has her own ambitions. She dreams of being a photographer and carries a Polaroid camera everywhere she goes, casually documenting candid moments with the band. When she begins to realize that Holiday Sun and the associated groupies don’t have her best interests at heart, Faun decides to sell her polaroids to the tabloids, a move that not only threatens her friendship with Josie, but puts Josie’s life in danger.

Oh this book…I finished it last night and I’m left with very mixed feelings. On the positive, it is an easy and compelling read. I loved the seventies Los Angeles setting and the faux glamour of the rock and roll lifestyle. Groupies has many similarities to Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones and the Six. Priscus does a great job with pacing. The story grows increasingly dark, and just as Faun becomes disenchanted with the parties, so does the reader.

Faun and Josie, along with the other “groupies” ring true as young women figuring out their lives. I do not believe that a main character has to be likable as a requirement, Faun is NOT likable, but she is relatable. I understood her moves and her self-centered world view. The story takes a very unexpected turn in the final third, setting Faun up for a transition out of late adolescence. This story build works well.

My issue with Groupies was the slowness in which the characters change. Faun and the rest of the female characters are fairly vapid throughout and the story ends with many of them still stuck in the groupie lifestyle. Faun’s shift occurs very late in the story, maybe in the final ten percent, and the catalyst is primarily due to a shocking situation that happens to Josie. I guess it just feels like the female characters make the choice to service the men, even when they are treated poorly or see other women being abused. The women rarely make active choices outside of being of service to the band. It’s a depressing situation and I think this vibe, which likely was intentional, made me feel cynical and angry.

Even after writing this review, I don’t feel like I’ve sorted out my emotions regarding Groupies. I didn’t dislike the writing or the general story, so much as I disliked the vibe. I can’t remember the last time I had this situation occur with a book. I would definitely read future works by Priscus, but Groupies left me in a funny state of mind. One additional comment thought, is I’ve engaged in a lively discussion regarding Groupies on Instagram and many people loved it. So while it might not have been exactly my cup of tea, I would not hesitate to recommend it. It’s also awesome to support Priscus as a debut author!

This right here was a perfect Kendall book. As a lover of complex female characters, books set in the 60s/70s music and arts scenes, messy relationships, and starving artists, this book is the gritty, slutty, glamorous and gory book of my dreams. I loved how we view the story through Faun's naive and inexperienced eyes and how slowly, but surely, she becomes disillusioned with the world she so desperately wanted to be a part of. Perfect for fans of Daisy Jones and the Six, Mary Jane, and Almost Famous, Groupies is an absolute triumph and should not be overlooked.

TW: drug use, physical and emotional abuse, minor/adult relationships, misogyny, death

Title: Groupies
Author: Sarah Piscus
Publisher: William Morrow
@williammorrowbooks
Genre: Fiction

If there is a music fiction book . . . I’m going to read it. Bonus if it takes place in the 70s. Double bonus if it’s a coming of age story. You guys . . . I loved this one! I’d say for fans of the book ‘Mary Jane’ by Jessica Anya Blau (who blurbed this), ‘Groupie’ is her little more rough and raw big sister.

It’s 1977, and Faun Novak has lost her mother and dropped out of college; But that’s ok because she has rock and roll and her polaroid camera. She hops on a Greyhound bus to Los Angelos and reconnects to her childhood friend Josie who is about to make it big as a model. Josie is also now dating the front man to the rock back Holiday Sun, Cal.

Along with the band Faun meets the proud groupies and becomes the unofficial photographer photographing everything. Everything is going fine. Everything is going great. Faun is feeling confident for the first time in her life. But then she realizes what a dark, dark world this dreamland is. As time moves on, everything begins to spiral out of control in this coming-of-age story; a cutting look at fame, desire and the media.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Solid debut! I love coming of age stories and strong characters. I felt like I was right along with Faun rooting for her the whole time. All of the characters, really. I will be looking forward to seeing what this author writes next.

CW: Domestic Violence, Drug Use, Death

Thank you @williammorrowbooks for the #gifted book!

A book about music in the 70s may be my favorite niche book genre!

This book had all the grunge and rock & roll vibes, celebrity gossip, colorful cast of characters, found family, and was so wild! 🎸

Engrossing storytelling and beautiful prose, I was so wrapped up in Faun’s world!

The book takes a huge turn at the end that I didn’t see coming at all! This had a good balance of coming of age and plot to keep the story moving forward. I loved the little vignettes with Faun’s photos!

Can’t wait to see what Sarah writes next! This is one for fans of Mary Jane and Daisy Jones!

Absolutely loved this read from start to finish. Great character development and writing. It was a great summer beach/poolside read!

I love books and movies that take place in the 60s-70s music scene. Almost Famous is a favorite movie of mine and Mary Jane and Daisy Jones and the Six are two of my favorite books ever. So I was super excited to read Groupies by Sara Priscus .

It’s 1977 and Faun’s mother just died. So the budding photographer dropped out of college and joined her best friend Josie in Hollywood. Josie is a muse/model/groupie dating Cal Holiday, the leader of the hit band Holiday Sun.

Faun goes nowhere without her trusty polaroid, and she soon becomes the unofficial groupie/band photographer. When she first got to Hollywood, she looked for photography jobs, but eventually the groupie life won out.

While Almost Famous had some bright, hopeful, funny moments, Groupies had none of that. It exposes the ugly, and delves deep into the psyche behind the Groupies.

“We needed something to nurture, and they needed nurturing. Constant attention made you need it even more. The band never learned to be alone and neither did we. But if they were starved for attention and we were, too, didn't we make a perfect pair?”

The style of Sarah Priscus’s writing was just a little too over-the-top at times, and the overly descriptive prose sometimes took away from the story.

“He turned back to me, passing me his joint. I sucked it, its burning paper saccharine with sugary saliva and sweet smoke.”

My biggest problem with Groupies was it was just kind of sad in so many ways. There didn’t seem to be any upside to this life they lead. There also wasn’t even a juicy story until the book was almost over. Faun’s inner struggle with being a groupie and being accepted and loved like she thought all the other girls were was the focus of the story, but she never made you root for her.

“I imagined I was above my own head, watching myself emulating all my friends. Mimicking what I was supposed to be.”

Likes:
•I love books that take place in the 60’s and 70s music world.
•Reminders of easier times in the 70s.
•There were some beautiful quotes.
•The story felt authentic. Almost autobiographical.

Dislikes:
•I didn’t find any of the characters likable.
•It was a depressing, sad read that could have been gritty and awesome.
•The writing style was over the top.
•Too large a cast of characters. It was almost impossible to keep track of everyone.
•Did not even come close to living up to the books it compares itself to.

The Down & Dirty:
Groupies by Sarah Priscus had such potential! I wanted to love it so much, but between the overly flowery writing and the characters I couldn’t really root for, the book lost its luster for me. I never had a desire to DNF, but I just kept waiting for something good to happen and it never really did. Sadly I found the book a little depressing and I can’t recommend it even to people who love 70s rock and roll books. If you read it, come back and let me know how you felt.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

An interesting and pretty well-written novel. Priscus does a great job of evoking the energy and vibrancy of the rock 'n' roll scene in the 1970s, but also the darker sides of it. The characters were well-rounded and mostly engaging, and I enjoyed reading this.

(It's been compared to Daisy Jone & the Six, but I do think Taylor Jenkins Reid's book is the better read.)

This was being compared to Daisy and the Six which I loved. This was not quite that book, but I still enjoyed the look at the 70s through the eyes of Faun Novak. She has dropped out of college and her mother has recently died. Her bff from high school, Josie, is a model in LA and dating a rockstar. Faun starts taking photos and things spin from there. The story has many characters to keep track of in such a short book. The main friendship to focus on is Faun and Josie. And of course the groupies for Holiday Sun, the band in the book. This gives you the feeling of being in LA in the late 70s. I look forward to reading more from Priscus. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

I'd never read a book from the POV of a groupie, so I found this an interesting read. I do think the comparison to Daisy Jones is adequate. Faun wasn't an all around enjoyable character. but I did overall enjoy the story.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I thought “Groupies” was fine-it follows women, who as the title suggests, are groupies for a rock band. There are the salacious tails of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Despite this, I was surprised by how the book was not as fun as I’d thought it be. Perhaps it’s because I found the main characters to be obnoxious, but usually I’m able to separate the two. The story just seemed to drag a bit. 3 star ✨ rating.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley!! This was a fun mix of Daisy Jones and the Six and Almost Famous with a dark dark twist. It is an empowering book with feminist vibes but feel like it could be relatable to all readers. It was a fun book with real themes!

I’m usually a big fan of books about 70’s era rock ‘n’ roll, so I was excited to read 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐒 by debut author Sarah Priscus. This book looks at a more gritty, rawer side of bands: the women who follow them including wives, girlfriends, and a whole lot of groupies. The story is told through the lens of Faun, a 23-year old who arrives in Los Angeles shortly after her mother’s death. Her opening line in the book is chilling.⁣
⁣
“𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴’ 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘺𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”⁣
⁣
Josie, Faun’s best friend in high school, is the current girlfriend of the front man for Holiday Sun, a well-known band. She helps Faun establish herself as an amatuer photographer for the group, at the same time teaching her how to live the groupie life. ⁣
⁣
While I enjoyed much of the story and was eager to find out what would happen to Josie, I didn’t love this book as much as some similar books. I think the set of groupies here were somehow less appealing to me. I found them hard to relate to and all just plain sad. (Which I realize probably was the point.) A large cast of characters sometimes made it a little difficult to keep who said what to whom straight. None-the-less, I liked it much more than I didn’t, and am definitely glad I read 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴. Priscus already has me curious about what she’ll write next. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫⁣
⁣
Thanks to @williammorrowbooks for an ARC of #Groupies.

This is such a wonderful debut novel! Despite the Daisy Jones and the Six comparisons, it was a little different from anything I've ever read before. One of my favorite parts of reading was the beautiful prose of the author. It truly made reading this book enjoyable. I found the protagonist's story to be compelling and forced me to think deeply about how we view people who have struggled in life. I do have to say that I thought some characters could have been cut out or had their stories consolidated. It did become a bit hard to keep track. Overall, I loved this book!