Thank you NetGalley, William Morrow, and Sarah Priscus for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review! Groupies follows Faun Novak as she travels to Los Angeles to live with her best friend. She becomes involved with the rock ‘n’ roll scene, as her friend is dating the lead singer of a popular rock band, and becomes fascinated with the groupies that follow them.

I picked up this novel because of the comparisons to Daisy Jones and the Six and The Girls and, while it is similar, it’s hard for me to review because something about it seemed… off to me. It’s a wonderful debut novel and contained some beautiful prose and gripping stories about LA in the 70’s, but there was something about the story that kept me from connecting to it completely. I think this may be because there are a lot of characters introduced quickly and it was hard to care for them because I easily got them mixed up. I also thought some of the writing was a bit weird or tedious at times, but there were also some stunning quotes I highlighted throughout.

However, despite my small problems with the first 70% or so, the ending was fantastic and helped sell the story for me. I didn’t expect the plot twist, but that made me love it even more.

My favorite movie is Almost Famous and this book definitely reminded me a lot of that, especially with Josie and Cal. I also related a lot to Faun with her insecurities and ambition to prove herself. It’s a good coming-of-age novel that shows that everything isn’t always as perfect as it seems. I feel like my problems with the story could be a complete personal issue and I do recommend this book to fans of the 70’s, Almost Famous, and/or beautiful writing.

3.5 stars

An incredibly interesting story about a group of women and a time gone by. I really enjoyed this book from the strong characters to the captivating story. Reading this book felt like time traveling.