3.5 stars
I love books about musicians and have been looking forward to listening to The Singer Sisters. It was a well written family saga of music and secrets. I’m not always a fan of dual timeline and would have liked this book better with one POV. I preferred Emma’s timeline so maybe flashbacks to Judie’s past might have worked better than having her own POV? The narrators were inconsistent for me, so that likely affected how I connected with the characters. Reading might work better than listening for this title.
*Thanks to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the advance audio copy

The Singer Sisters chronicles multiple musicians from two generations as they navigate complex familial relationships while chasing fame, but at what cost? This is a story about growing up and parenting, love and family, and of course the music that binds everyone together.

I had high expectations for this book because usually I love the trope of "following singers through their career", particularly during "vintage" times. I quite enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six and The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, and was thrilled that this story was just as good. Set in the 60s/70s (my favourite "vintage" music decades) and the 90s/00s, we follow mothers, daughters, sisters, and the various love interests of each, as their relationships intertwine throughout the decades. The thread that connects the characters and the timelines is the music, and we see behind the scenes of the music industry, the onstage and backstage antics, flashbacks about growing up and coming of age, and the strains and consequences of this life.

Since we're jumping around on the timeline of different characters' lives, the characters were at times lacking depth as we skip over parts of their lives from their point of view to shift to another character's pov from another time. There was adequate character development though: we find out enough about each to feel like our glimpses of their lives are real, and I believed their motivations and actions. It was nice to see some queer representation and an attempt at including diverse characters. The various storylines come together at the end, with a moving on stage moment for the entire family that left me feeling like I really wanted to actually be part of that audience.

The writing is accessible and easy to follow. I thought the audiobook narrator did a good job giving different voices to the different characters. There is no actual singing as part of the audio, but lyrics are included throughout - and the lyrics are moving so perhaps someone will record an album or we'll see this on the screen before too long!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.