I really liked the premise of The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits, but the book fell a little short for me. Parts of the story are all over the place and at times it was difficult to figure out which timeline I was reading. I liked the idea of exploring the relationships between mothers and daughters and sisters through the use of music.
Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the arc. All opinions are my own.

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits - Jennifer Weiner

⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Cassie didn't know much about love, but she knew plenty about loneliness.”

When Cherry makes it through the first few rounds of a singing competition show, she sets out to find the truth behind her inspiration and love for music, the Griffin Sisters. They just so happen to be Cherry’s mom, Zoe, and her aunt, Cassie. The down side? Zoe and Cassie haven’t spoken since the band broke up 20 years ago.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC for this book. This was trying to imitate the concept of following a band like in “Daisy Jones and the Six,” but the characters were far less interesting than those ones. The sisters were so vastly different from one another but they both sucked in their own way. Zoe was a truly insufferable character up until the very end and a terrible mother and sister. Also, the title was far too long and a mouthful to say. Not my favorite book by Jennifer Weiner.

OK, this book did it for me, I knew I was going to get emotional, I called it after the first part. We get the story of the Griffin sisters, Zoe and Cassandra, Cassandra being a musical prodigy, and Zoe being the more beautiful and more outspoken sister. Then we fast forward to Cherry, who is Zoe’s daughter, who is a musician and wants to become famous, this is her LIFE, but Zoe is protecting her from that, which comes off as cold and mean to her own daughter, clearly her mom is hiding something. But we go back and forth and get 3 different POV’s, to when The Griffin sisters become famous and how the music business is not that nice.

What happened to these sisters and why they are no longer together? The DRAMA! But I will say this, I was expecting the tears because when all of the misunderstandings are cleared up, all because of Cherry of course. Cherry joins this competition and she is asked to come back but this time she has to choose a mentor to help her in the competition, and why not look for her long lost aunt and ask her!!!! But give me all of the drama! Music business drama is always EXTRA, and even though there was a tragedy, and still some unanswered questions, the ending was so darn cute, I am all for a cheesy ending.

I was immediately drawn to the premise of this book about the world of pop music in the 2000s and specifically a look at female artists (although the book is fiction). I will say that if you have any uncomfortable feelings about discussions of weight, body image, and body shaming this may be an uncomfortable read. The dual timelines about the sister's lives work perfectly in this story and allows the truth of how their band broke apart to unfold slowly. This book is truly about being a woman, a sister, life in the public eye, and finding yourself all against the backdrop of fame and talent. The ending to the story of the two sisters was very true to life instead of a neatly wrapped bow. I want to know so much more about their lives! Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I think there will be a lot of discussion around it when it comes out. Thanks to Jennifer Weiner, William Morrow, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Zoe and Cassie are sisters, only one year apart but couldn’t be more different from each other.

Zoe is beautiful and craves the spotlight, while Cassie is much more shy, but is a musical prodigy.

In the early 2000s they have a quick rise to stardom as a pop group. They go on tour across the country, are seen on MTV’s TRL, SNL and beyond.

But as suddenly as they gained popularity, they break up and leave fans with nothing but their debut album.

20 years later, Zoe’s daughter Cherry wants nothing more than to become a singer but her mom doesn’t support her. Cherry seeks out her Aunt Cassie, who she’s never met before to find support.

Okay. This is my second and last book by Weiner. Her style just isn’t my jam. She gets off on MAJOR miscommunication tropes and I just can’t take it.

I was excited to read about the early 2000s pop experience, we all know now how truly AWFUL women were treated in the limelight then. I thought there would be a little bit more reckoning with that especially as we flash forward 20 years.

I think Weiner tried to touch on it, she makes lots of mention of Cassie’s struggle with her body image and weight, but I don’t think it was successful. It almost felt just as damaging as the media and paparazzi.

This book wasn’t for me but, that doesn’t mean it’s not for somebody!

Thanks to #netgalley, the publisher and author for a copy of this e-arc!


The book is out 4/8. There’s a special edition with sprayed edges that is 🤩🤩🤩

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were thrust into the spotlight as The Griffin Sisters, a pop duo that defined the aughts. Together, they skyrocketed to the top, gracing MTV, SNL, and the cover of Rolling Stone. Cassie, a musical genius who never felt at ease in her own skin, preferred to stay in the shadows. Zoe, full of confidence and craving fame, lived for the stage. But fame has a price, and after one turbulent year, the band abruptly broke up.

Now, two decades later, the sisters couldn’t be further apart. Zoe is a suburban mom warning her daughter Cherry to avoid the spotlight, while Cassie has disappeared from public life entirely. But when Cherry begins unearthing the truth behind their breathtaking rise and infamous breakup, long-buried secrets surface, forcing all three women to confront their choices, their desires, and their complicated bonds.

With richly developed characters, a nostalgic nod to the pop culture of the 2000s, and a resonant tale of ambition, forgiveness, and family, The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits will captivate readers from the first note to the final encore. Whether you’ve followed Jennifer Weiner for years or are discovering her for the first time, this book is a must-read for music lovers, fans of sisterly dramas, and anyone who cherishes a great story of second chances.
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Jennifer Weiner's novel Good in Bed was life-changing for me, and I have continued to read and enjoy every book she has written. I was a little worried about this one because I am not a huge music buff, and it was clear that the music industry was going to be a major plot point...would this be too central to the story to hold my interest? I don't even watch shows like American Idol and The Voice. I listen to podcasts and audiobooks in my car.

Well, it turns out I did not need to worry. This was a story about so much more than music. It was about family and sisterhood and finding yourself and losing yourself and finding yourself again. It was about making mistakes and redeeming yourself. I just finished it, and I have to admit that the words were blurry because my eyes were filled with tears...the ending of this book was one of the most satisfying I have read in a while. I loved it.

Thank you to William Morrow Books for the ARC.

I got about halfway through before I finally was too mad to continue. The fat phobic characters and writing were over the top. Cass is clearly autistic (why does no one else see it???) and exceptionally talented musically but all they talk about is how fat and disgusting her body is? And there are no redeemable characteristics to her sister, Zoe. Who basically sleeps with Cass’ crush/love interest just because she wants to hurt her sister. I did read spoilers and the sisters apparently reconcile at the end and NO, that is not what I want. I want REVENGE.

It's the early 2000s. Zoe and Cassie Grossberg are close sisters, only a year apart, but are very different. Zoe, a young beauty, wants to be a pop star, though her musical abilities are limited. Cassie, a musical prodigy, prefers to stay in the background. After the two are discovered and get a record deal, the newly named The Griffin Sisters find early success with Cassie as the lead singer. Along with bandmate and songwriter Russell D’Angelo, he and Cassie write songs that resonate with girls and young women, especially those who struggle with body image issues, as Cassie does. A tragic event breaks up the band and severs the relationship of the two sisters. The story shifts to the present, with Zoe living the life of a suburban New Jersey mother and homemaker. Her eighteen-year-old daughter, Cherry, is a talented singer, yet she doesn't get any support from Zoe. Cherry heads to Los Angeles to compete on an American Idol-like show and, during the process, seeks to learn what happened to Cassie, the aunt she's never met and someone her mother never talks about.

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner explores themes of sisterhood, motherhood, ambition, and the bumpy road to forgiveness, all set against a nostalgic backdrop of pop culture. Zoe is a flawed character whose early ambition has hurt her most precious relationships. Cassie, a character who will capture your heart, has immense talent but has faced the cruelty of others who have made her uncomfortable with her appearance. I thoroughly enjoyed this complex family drama with a musical theme.

4.25 stars.

The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits is another quick and enjoyable read by Jennifer Weiner. The characters are relatable and keep the story interesting Before you know it, the book is over. The ending feels like it may lend itself to a sequel. We can all hope...
I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

A worthy read about two sisters who, in the early 2000s, with one successful album and tour in the books, disappear from the limelight. The book is told by multiple characters and goes back and forth between past and present. It's an ambitious book that was enjoyable, but at first I wasn't in the right mindset to enjoy it because it is a big departure from Weiner's other books. It eventually grew on me.

This was my first Jennifer Weiner book and I absolutely loved it and love the way she writes, I will need to dig into her backlog. The Griffin Sisters' follows two sister who, while growing up in the same household have very different childhoods and experiences. And yet they both end up as part of a ultra famous band.

The story is set across multiple timelines and POVs, which is definitely my favorite way to read lately. I think Weiner does a great job of rounding out each of the main characters and giving them depth, complexity and nuance. The plot also unfolds in such a lovely way as well, you know something happens but you are never quite sure what, who and how.

All the Philly references are fun as well, as someone who lives in the area.

Definitely pick this up!

I breezed through this book after a bit of a rut. I can always count on Jennifer Weiner for compelling and highly readable storytelling. I can also count on her for an extra dose of fatphobia too… and this one was dripping with it. Maybe this was intentional since so much of it took place during the early ‘00s when we didn’t know better.

But. It’s 2025. We all know better.

I wish the editors had helped her tone this aspect down. It was highly triggering and disappointing— and it definitely took away from an otherwise great storyline.

3.5 stars rounded up

Two sisters born one year apart to Sam and Janice Grossberg. Zoe is the beautiful one, she charming, thin and popular – the extrovert. Her desire is to be famous and aches to be a music super star. But does she have the talent? Cassie, she is the introvert, the sister that is always bullied, uncomfortable with her size and looks, she just wants to stay hidden from the world. But it is Cassie that has the talent .. a musical prodigy. Zoe knows who the talented sister is in the family, she also know that she can get Cassie to follow her lead to pursue the fame that she desires. In one tumultuous year these two sisters will experience a journey into fame like no other – sold out concerts, SNL appearances, Rolling Stone photo shoots and an album gone gold. They will embark on road of love, jealousy and deceit with one man that stands between them .. one that wants him and one that loves him. And one day everything will come to abrupt halt with the band banishing, Zoe returning to New Jersey and Cassie disappearing.

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits is told over two timelines: early 2000 and twenty years later. In 2024, the next Grossberg musical prodigy, Cherry is on mission to find her aunt, unite her mother Zoe and Aunt Cassie, and claim fame and musical stardom for herself. Will these three women forgive and embrace each other for who there are and their individual talent? Will they be able to make music together again?

As Zoe and Cassie tell their story, we get to look at their childhood, teen years and time as young adults growing up in a very adult industry – often with want and desire to envy, jealousy and maliciousness only to hurt the other person. This novel had such great prospect and there were many aspects that much of the book enjoyable. While the backstory of the novel is needed in order for the current day story to work, I felt it was overdone and at times repetitive. I did not think Zoe was a nice person she was deceitful, shellfish and jealous of her sister’s talent and relationships especially with her daughter Cherry. Cassie broke my heart.

Thank you, Jennifer Weiner, Wiliam Morrow and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jennifer Weiner is a must read for me. I love her books, and this was no exception. Multiple POVs and timelines. Excellent characters. Reminded me a bit of Daisy Jones & The Six. Fingers crossed for a sequel!!

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love a book about sisters, especially one set in the music scene of the early 2000's. As with many books about siblings, The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits has themes of rivalry and jealously and betrayal and forgiveness and love, overall.

I have been reading Jennifer Weiner's books for a long time and my favourite book of hers to date is Mrs, Everything, a story about two very different sisters which spans decades. I felt the Griffin Sisters' had a lot of similarities to Mrs. Everything. The story of Cassie, Zoe and Cherry had so much breadth and depth and the characters jumped off the page.

I connected so much with quiet, underdog Cassie, whose talent was so big it was as if her body needed to be large enough to contain it. In contrast to her pretty, skinny sister Zoe, the world is much harder for Cassie to navigate. If anyone remembers the early 2000s, diet culture was practically the religion and the everyday uniform was low-rise jeans and crop tops or baby tees. You can throw a stone a hit a millennial who got an eating disorder from watching Tyra Banks body shame young girls on America's Next Too Model.

Such is the milieu Cassie grows up in. Cassie's shining light, or her gift, is her innate prodigy like music ability, her voice and her songs about being lonely and an outsider that impact so many of her fans. In a world of Britney Spears, I think awkward teenage me would have clung to a Cassie as well. Unfortunately, the world shows Cassie she deserves nothing and Cassie felt she deserved nothing in return.

Zoe- the pretty, skinny one- has her own insecurities. She wants desperately to be famous and to be accepted, but is shocked to find that her expected place is in Cassie's shadow. Zoe loves her sister, but her green-eyed jealousy makes her do very ugly and desperate things. I was very frustrated with Zoe's actions, and she felt like a very selfish, self-serving character who learned her lesson a little too late.

It's hard to hold their choices against them though as the book does a good job of reminding us just how young Cassie and Zoe were when this all transpired, and we all know how young people- especially young people in the spotlight without proper guidance- don't always make the best choices. Again, see Britney Spears (her Vegas marriage stage, not her wrongfully placed in conservatorship stage). I wouldn't want my decisions in my early twenties to guide the trajectory of the rest of my life...

Unlike Zoe, her daughter Cherry is a rebel without cause, a bright shining star who, like most us, wants to be the exact opposite of her mother. I liked the contrast of her punk rock description versus her mother's pop star turned picket fence PTA mom. I really liked the scenes where she reconnected with her aunt Cassie and how her storyline, and the end of the book, wasn't neatly wrapped in a bow.

Overall, I really really enjoyed this read. I found it emotional and compelling and I couldn't put it down. Another great read from Weiner! Thank you William Morrow and Netgalley for my earc.

The Griffin Sisters' started off strong but ultimately ended up being mediocre for me. The plot got to be too repetitive with most of the focus being on Zoe and Cassie's differences and Cassie's "size". Very predictable outcome and I was wishing for more shock value. A few subplots that felt unnecessary to the overall story.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced copy. The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits will hit shelves on April 8, 2025.

I thought this was a really cool idea/concept. I think this will be heavily compared to Daisy Jones and the Six. Many fans of Daisy Jones would probably like this! For me, it wasn't quite as good as Daisy Jones.

Sisters Zoe and Cassie are thrust into the limelight during high school in the early 2000's, with their band The Griffin Sisters. Cassie is the musical prodigy with the angelic voice. She is also overweight and extremely shy. Zoe is the one who yearns for stardom. She is less talented, but is stereotypically pretty and very confident. Each sister wants what the other one has. This causes them both to act in ways that are rather mean to each other, especially in the realm of men. The band breaks up after one album, despite the high success.

I just.... hated everyone? Zoe is easily in my Top 10 least favorite characters of all time. I don't think there is anything she could do that could change my mind about her. What she did is completely unforgivable. Russell was weak and spineless. And Cassie's lack of confidence was understandable to a point, but it just seemed to be unrealistic for how famous and well-liked she was. And Cherry was okay, but I did not enjoy her side story about issues with her homelife. It felt very off-putting to me, and made me dislike Zoe even more.

I think the entertainment factor for this book is there, though!

Sisters Zoe and Cassie are only one year apart, but could not be more different. When everyone quickly realizes Cassie’s musical talent, they pushed the girls into the spotlight. While Zoe was meant to be on stage, but didn’t have the same talent, Cassie loves the shadows, and hates all eyes on her. The band took off, but after a year of fame, sadly they broke up, and Cassie hasn’t been seen in the public since. Now Zoe has a family of her own, but no sister to speak of…

Oh man this book was fun but had so many heavy topics. I have seen some reviews unhappy about the fat shaming toward Cassie, and while I agree, I think it really helped make the story. During the early 2000’s music scene, that would 100% have happened, and I enjoyed that Cassie helped show young girls that weren’t perfect little size 2 beauties that they could be famous, and helped build their confidence. That said, the fat shaming did give me gut punch every time it happened. This is one of those books where there should be a clear “villain.” However, throughout the story, you see how both sisters were jealous of the other, and how they were pitted against each other to hurt them by the people in charge. It really shows how, especially in the early 2000’s, women weren’t supposed to, and didn’t, support each other. Everything was a competition and about proving you “won,” which really just led to nobody actually “winning.” This one brought back all the nostalgia, both good and bad and I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to @williammorrowbooks for my gifted copy of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

Zoe and Cassie Grossberg (AKA The Griffin Sisters) could not be more different. Zoe is glamourous, outgoing and popular. Cassie is shy, withdrawn and a musical prodigy. So when Zoe persuades Cassie to enter a local talent show with her, neither thinks much of it.

But in the audience is the nephew of a talent scout who is anxiously looking for his next big find. And the Griffin sisters fit that bill. He gets them signed by a major record company and the company takes over from there. They find a promising young guitarist to work with Cassie to write original songs for the group and the band takes off. They tour the country going from radio station to radio station to small venue until finally one of their songs makes the radio. And the rocket ship is not what anyone expected, but they hang on and enjoy the ride. They put out an album and it goes gold and then platinum. But the glitzy whirlwind only lasts about a year until the guitarist/songwriter is killed in an auto accident.

Now Zoe's daughter Cherry has discovered her mother's past life and being a singer/songwriter on her own, wants to find out what happened and where is that OTHER Griffin sister? The story of what led up to that night in 2004 and what has happened to the two sisters in the intervening two decades makes for a great read. One that you won't want to put down.

At the heart of this novel is a great story—an early-aughts band that skyrockets to fame only to fall apart just as quickly, leaving a string of broken hearts and unanswered questions. Unfortunately, I felt it was bogged down by the author trying to say and do too much.

First of all, this book felt so much longer than it needed to be, while also somehow not moving the plot forward or giving the characters quite enough development. Second, there is a lot of side commentary on how awful the music industry was to young women back then, but that actually had very little to do with the events that unfolded in this story, and it left me feeling like Weiner was trying to write two different stories that were never quite tied together. So many of the characters were unlikeable, and, at least in my opinion, the one character who you truly want to root for doesn't ever get the justice she deserves, which made the ending a bit disappointing.

If you're looking for a great story about an ultra-famous band that famously falls apart, obviously Daisy Jones and the Six is the one. If you're looking for a story of early-aughts fame gone horribly wrong, I'd recommend The Daydreams by Laura Hankin. Sorry to say I'd tell everyone to skip this one. Also, major trigger warnings for fat-phobia and fat-shaming. (Again, I realize this was par for the course at that time, but I felt the autism angle would have been so much more interesting and impactful than her being overweight.)