What a joyous, queer read! I was a huge fan of 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,' and this book scratched a very similar itch. Country music isn't known as the most "queer-friendly" space, but I've been glad to see artists find and expand space for queer expression. I know that my high school students will really enjoy this book, and I'm glad that I can recommend this to my students.

Country roads take me home!!! What a wonderful mix of queer coming of age, historical fiction with a sprinkle of a mystery. I really enjoyed this book!

★★★★☆

Every Time You Hear That Song is a sweeping, emotional ode to country music and complicated women. This story captures the glamour and grit of fame, flipping between present-day teen journalist Darren and country legend Decklee Cassel's rise in the 1960s. Darren’s journey to uncover the truth behind Decklee's life and friendship with the mysterious Mickenlee is captivating, layered with high-stakes secrets and self-discovery. While some parts felt a touch lengthy, the rich characterizations and authentic dive into fame's costs made this a rewarding read.

TL;DR: A heartfelt exploration of fame, legacy, and self-discovery told through a queer, country-music lens.

What a story. I’ve truly never read anything like this. We have a famous country singer who put all their secrets into a time capsule but when opened at the funeral of the artist it’s found that nothing is inside. Cue our main leads on the wild treasure hunt of the century to find the missing artifacts. This story is perfect for any country music fan out there. I loved reading about Decklee and the author really creates a musically, beautiful story. A story about is it true better to get out of your small town and see the world. This book is perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Taylor Jenkins Reed.

I hope this author continues to write authentic and inquiry stories like this one.

A romp from start to finish!

A major fan going on a cross-state road trip to prove just how big of a fan they are goes awry in all the right ways.

Just when you think you have the plot figured out, something happens to circumvent your expectations.

I found this book to be so much fun. I love a fun romance, I love a scavenger hunt, I love a mystery, and I really loved jumping back and forth in time between Darren and Decklee's stories seeing how they might all come together at the end. It was powerful to see the characters grow and figure out what they truly want from life and see them advocate for their needs, even and especially when it's hard.

A road trip story, romcom and country music singer aspiring FMC made this one I couldn't get enough of! Definitely add it to your list if you're a fan of on the road, music filled, love stories.

arc via netgalley

Meh, this had everything going for it and it missed the mark for me. Ugh. Dolly is a gem, and this Dolly is not for me.

Yeah…this wasn’t it. In theory, this would be the perfect book for me. Queer Dolly Parton? A scavenger hunt? Country music and dreams of leaving your small-town? That’s literally everything I’ve ever wanted in a book! It sounded so good.

I loved this book! It was so fun and sweet. The storyline was a little predictable but in the best way. I’m definitely going to recommend it to fans of Taylor Swift, Elvis, or Dolly Parton!

I was excited about this one but it got archived before I got invested so I'd say it's a DNF for me.

I appreciated the vibes of this story more than the actual plot. The premise was really intriguing but the main characters, especially Decklee where so unlikeable. I refuse to accept the Dolly Parton influence because I don’t want to think of Dolly as so heartless. The road trip aspect was fun as well as the scavenger hunt. The romance was so cute.
I guessed the twist early on so that wasn’t too shocking. The ending surprised me though because it isn’t necessarily a “happy ending” where everything works out. I guess it felt more realistic then a perfect storybook ending that many books have.
Thank you to netgalley and viking books for a free e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was such a lovely twist on just how much music means to people. I adored the double timeline aspects as Darrel and Decklee's stories mirrored each other in so many ways as they both tried ot figure out what they want from the world.

DNF. Despite mainly positive reviews, I found that this book was underwhelming. Thank you for your time.

Every Time You Hear That Song by Jenna Voris follows Darren Purchase, a seventeen year old aspiring journalist whose biggest idol Decklee Cassel has just passed away. When Decklee’s time capsule turns out to be empty, Darren and her coworker Kendall find themselves on a scavenger-hunt left to uncover all Decklee left behind.

A wonderful queer roadtrip story, handling things like tough feelings of growing up in a small town and a lot of country music. The story alternates perspective between Darren and Decklee, whose stories although separated by time are interconnected. Darren, Decklee, Carla, and the other characters were all complex, complicated and felt real. The whole book in fact felt like that. It didn’t shy away from the anxieties of illness and grief, neither of realities queer people have lived and do live, or from how difficult but imperative leaving can feel. I really, really liked this story, and think it’s one I’d like to revisit again in the future.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for granting me early access to this book! What a delightful read, I can so many people falling head over heels in love with these characters and I cannot wait to see it reach the world.

Obsessed! This book is the perfect road trip adventure coming of age story! It's Ready Player One but for Swifties and music lovers. It's Evelyn Hugo meets YA. It's full of heart, lyrical prose, laughter, and tears. I love that the musician is heavily flawed and we can still hold her in our hearts.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to the author, Net Galley, Penguin Group, and Viking Books for this ARC.

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced ARC of this book

Unfortunately this book was not for me, I read up to 65% and lost interest but I can see this story being loved by so many

“𝚆𝚎’𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚃𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚘. 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚒?”
“𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝙸’𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢, 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚛.”
“𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚣𝚎. 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝙿𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚎.”

💛💛💛💛 / 5

»»————-✼————-««

Review:
This book had me sobbing and belly laughing within sentences of each other, I have never been so happily heartbroken in my life. But god I want to read it again for the first time, because it was utter perfection.

I have never read a duel timeline written so incredibly well, both aligned so so well, it was completely seamless. I love how both Darren and Decklee had such different voices, but were both written so so well. If you’re a big stickler for incredibly written books then this one will be right up your alley. I honestly cannot recommend it enough!

I’ve never been the biggest fan of Friends to lovers (always been more of an enemies to lovers girl tbqh) but Darren and Kendall had me in an utter chokehold and I honestly need more content. The way he just drops everything for her to go on this quest he couldn’t care less about just made my knees weak🥹 they had a beautiful coming of age, love story full of self and queer discovery, which they felt unable to attain in their small town.

Decklee is so hard headed and self driven it was incredible to read the cut throat side of the music business and watch as fame and stardom took over her and left her with everything but also nothing at all. I hate how she had to hide her sexuality and was forced to be someone she was not, it was heartbreaking. But I loved her enemies to lovers arc it was truly utterly perfect; I just wished it ended differently!

I don’t think anything I write will ever do this book justice, so I just NEED you to read it so I can scream shout with someone about it!