Thank you, #Partner @williammorrowbooks @harpercollins and @NetGalley, for my #gifted (free) copies.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is my first #jenniferweiner book! Yes, I must have been living under a rock because her writing is incredible, and I've definitely been missing out. I loved this book so much, and it brought me right back to the 2000s. Definitely add this one to your TBR list!

Sisters Cassie and Zoe Grossberg are only a year apart, but they are total opposites. When they are heard performing one night, they stun the crowd, and then they get the opportunity of a lifetime. They become known as the Griffin Sisters, and they take the world on in a storm. That is until a shocking tragedy breaks the band up, and Cassie and Zoe are no longer on speaking terms. Told through multiple POVs, the main characters and the side characters have such a huge part in this book, and you will be rooting for them the entire way. 4.5 stars!

There's something not quite right here. The book has all the hallmarks of a Weiner book- strong female lead characters, overweight girl does good, family drama- but there's something missing, and that's the deep dive into people's emotions and motives that we've come to expect from Jennifer Weiner. We have two sisters at the heart of the book who make their way into the music industry. Zoe, who has all of the stage presence yet none of the talent, sees her sister Cassie as a golden ticket to stardom. Cassie has incredible talent, yet has to be coaxed onto the stage to perform. Zoe is beautiful, but selfish and vindictive, and that's all we learn about her. Cassie is overweight and unattractive, and that's all we learn about her. There's no depth to either of our main characters, even though Cassie pens emotional anthems for young girls, but we hardly learn anything about her other than she's "fat". Cassie, who we are lead to believe is neurodivergent (undiagnosed) may not be able to express those feelings to others, but other characters could tell us something about her. Like Russell. What did he get to see in her? What did he get to know that we didn't? I don't think his love was based solely on her amazing talent.

I don't buy the ending either. Neither sister develops or grows as a person. Cassie is still hiding herself and Zoe is only interested in Cassie when she needs her help. Zoe tells us she missed her sister and couldn't find her for 20 years, but she must not have looked very hard since a relative had her contact information.

That being said, I still liked the book, but it could have been so much more.

I have long been a fan of Jennifer Weiner's books -- they are always a comfort read for me because her characters always feel so familiar to me. Often that's because they're Jewish women, but mostly it's because they so often feel Less Than in some way -- inadequate, unworthy, unlike others, etc. It's been a while since I last read one of her books, so I was excited to see that a new one is coming out next spring. The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits is, as you would expect from the title, a story about sisters. Zoe, the oldest, always wanted to be a star. Cassie, the youngest, was born with immense musical talent but was always awkward around people and wanted to be invisible. Together, they formed a band that became an overnight sensation in the early 2000s -- and then a tragic incident not only broke apart the band but tore the sisters apart. The book opens 20 years after those events, when Zoe's daughter Cherry, a talented musician herself, decides to leave home to seek fame and fortune and, perhaps, bring her aunt and her mother together again. We learn the story in flashbacks that alternate with Cherry's present-day effort to compete on an American Idol-style reality TV show and find the aunt she's never met and who has been hiding from the world for 20 years. While the novel is largely the story of the band, at its heart, it's the story of family, why and how we hurt those we care the most about, and forgiveness.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with a digital ARC in return for an honest review. This book will be published April 8, 2025.

NetGalley made my holiday wish list complete by gifting me the ARC of Jennifer Weiner's new novel, The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits. It was everything that her loyal readers have come to expect and love, and more....

Zoe is beautiful and (moderately) talented and eager to be a star. Her sister Cassie is a musical wonder but is happier keeping her self-proclaimed overweight and unlovable body out of the spotlight. When the sisters are discovered and their band becomes an immediate success, Zoe basks in the glow of her fame while Cassie struggles to stay in the background.

Russell is their bandmate and the object of both sisters' affections, and his untimely death breaks them apart and leaves them with a laundry list of unanswered questions. When Zoe's oldest daughter Cherry runs away to enter a singing competition, Zoe finally realizes that her life-changing decisions have all been based on the tragedies and mistakes of her past.

This is an absolute must-read for Jennifer Weiner fans and for anyone who loves music, family drama and "the aughts".

I thoroughly enjoyed this family dynamic and it was all very real. Zoe, Cherry and Cassie had great character growth.

Get ready for a captivating blend of pop-star nostalgia, sisterly bonds, and the dark side of early-2000s fame. The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits takes readers behind the scenes of Cassie and Zoe Grossberg’s meteoric rise—and stunning fall—as an iconic pop duo from the aughts.

The Setup:
• Cassie: A musical prodigy more at ease in the shadows than the limelight.
• Zoe: A magnetically charming performer who dreamed of stardom from day one.

They skyrocket to fame practically overnight, ruling SNL stages and MTV countdowns—only for the band to mysteriously implode a year later. Two decades on, the sisters aren’t on speaking terms. Zoe is living a quiet suburban life, Cassie has gone off-grid, and the truth behind their breakup remains buried. Now, Zoe’s starry-eyed teen daughter, Cherry, is determined to follow in her family’s footsteps. Searching for answers to the band’s demise, she uncovers long-buried secrets that shake them all.

Why You’ll Love It:
• Early 2000s Pop Nostalgia: Fans of the MTV golden era and magazine covers will soak up every behind-the-curtain detail.
• Family & Fame: Revel in the highs, lows, and very real costs of life under the spotlight, especially when family is your bandmate.
• Mystery & Secrets: The tension ignites as Cherry unravels the truth about her mom’s past and the rift between the sisters.
• Emotional Depth: Jennifer Weiner’s signature warmth and insight shine through in a story about forgiveness, second chances, and rediscovering the music inside.

If you love stories about the bonds that hold (and break) families, especially when colliding with the razor-edged demands of fame, The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits hits all the right notes. It’s a tale of choices made, secrets kept, and the profound question: can music bring them together again—or is it all too late?

#JenniferWeiner #TheGriffinSistersGreatestHits #PopStarNostalgia #FamilyDrama #SecretsAndLies #Early2000s #MustReadFiction #Sisterhood #SecondChances #Bookstagram #BookTok

The Griffin Sister’s Greatest Hits
I probably read most if not all of Jennifer Weiner’s novels and was excited to get an advanced copy of her new novel. Well, I started reading the Griffin Sisters story the minute i downloaded the book and literally didn’t stop reading until i finished it. It’s a very interesting story of two sisters who made it big in the music recording industry when they were still teenagers, their road to success, their loves, their heartaches. Zoe is the pretty one, Cassie is the one who carries both of them with her beautiful voice but she cannot accept her overweight self. Their success is bursting to the top of the charts in one year, but after that first year, there are no more songs, no more recordings, as if the sisters disappeared. Why? What happened? You will just have to read the novel and find out. I loved the book, couldn’t put it down, but I also thought it dragged on a little. If it was a tad shorter it would have been even better. Some editing in the final version would definitely take care of it. It is five stars for me.
I received a complimentary copy, opinions are my own.

Absolutely loved Jennifer Weiner's newest novel! As a South Jersey girl, I love reading about the places I know and love! The story is compelling, the characters engaging, I loved everything about it! Easily the best book I've read this year and I'll be recommending it to my book club for next year! Thank you to the author publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This book really dragged on for me. Some parts were interesting enough to keep my attention but I grew very bored about 40% of the way in and struggled to finish. This book was a major miss for me.

This was such a cozy read, at times happy and hopeful and at times wistful and melancholy. You could feel the emotions.
Cassie and Zoe, young sisters about 20 years old, are "discovered" and start a band. They both end up wanting/loving/seeking the attention of the same man, their bandmate Russell. Zoe is the pretty one, so of course Russell should want her. Cassie, not as attractive and not as sociable, was sure he could never be interested in her. but Cassie was the talented one.
After only about a year into their band stardom, Russell is hit by a car and dies. Cassie flees and doesn't tell anyone where she went, she thinks Russell dying is all her fault.
Twenty years later, Zoe's daughter Cherry finds her Aunt Cassie and works to coax her back out into the word, hoping she will perform again, especially hoping she will perform with Cherry who wants to become a musician herself. This leads to a decades overdue reunion for the sisters.
Can they forgive each other for everything that happened? Can they forgive themselves?
It is a sweet, charming read. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I would say it’s a 3.5. The beginning drew me in, the middle was slow and the ending tied most things up.

A really enjoyable story and book, albeit a little too long. The book is divided into seven parts, and it took me until Part 2 or 3 before I had figured out who was who and the overall storyline. I read it on my Kindle, but it felt like a really long book even though it did keep my attention. I think some of the fluff could have been removed without losing anything. Saying that, I wish there was one last part or an epilogue that buttoned up some of the remaining outstanding items. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book - another solid win from Jennifer Weiner.

Thank you William Morrow for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Jennifer Weiner books are always five stars. This book follows the relationship of two sisters who are polar opposites. The sisters become famous singers, then tragedy ensues. Following this, their relationship comes to a halt. One sister deeply apologetic and disappear.. the other trying to forage on to create a "normal and typical" life. However, their worlds meet by one sister's daughter following her passion of becoming a sister. This leads to the discovery of meeting her Aunt and the journey to resolution begins.

I’m a really big Jennifer Weiner fan and while I was entertained by this book, I found the characters and some sub plot points to be a little flat.
The book revolves around a band of two sisters who have had a falling out that we only learn about well into the book. We also follow one of their kids who is trying to make it in the music industry. The sisters themselves are shown to be opposites. Skinny vs overweight. Talented vs average. Shy vs attention hog. Therein lies the think character development and unfortunately most of the characters seem just that- characters. There are also a lot of other twists that end up feeling thrown aside when they’re actually a pretty big deal like the paternity of a child, sexual harassment and on and on. It’s a bummer because I think the themes are so fun- the 90s, pop music; a talented singer a la Carnie Wilson. Again, entertaining but not this authors best work.

I couldn't get into this book. I don't know what it was maybe it had to do with music and bands but something just didn't click with me. Also I didn't connect with any of the characters. Jennifer Weiner's books are a hit or miss with me and this one is a miss.

I was hooked on this novel and found myself telling many people about it as I read. The plot and narration were so great! My only note: it would have been nice to hear a little less about Cassandra’s appearance. I think it could have been a smaller part of the story. The rest, I loved.

3.5 stars-They were the biggest band in the world, for one album…Cassie (who I think is an homage to Mama Cass of the Mamas and the Papas) is a musical prodigy with a beautiful voice. Her sister Zoey dreams of being a star. She is beautiful but only shines when her sister is on stage with her. The girls are discovered just out of high school and go on a whirlwind tour. They both fall in love with the lead guitarist, Russell. This story is told in multiple timeline between the past and the present where Zoey’s daughter has run away to audition for a reality show singing competition. Cassie and Zoey are long past their band days and haven’t spoken in over 20 years. The writing style of this was a bit of a departure from what I think of when I read Jennifer Weiner. It was a bit dramatic and exaggerated, think Colleen Hoover meets Taylor Jenkins Reid. The overdramatizing of the bands success and repetitiveness of how amazing and successful the band was, how perfect Zoey was, and the frumpiness of Cassie brought this down a little bit for me. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I adore Jennifer Weiner! Her books are always fabulous and this one is no exception. I was immediately hooked and devoured it. Highly recommend!

Zoe and Cassie are sisters but different in almost every way. Zoe is pretty and outgoing and social and Cassie is overweight and timid, almost a recluse. Interestingly, they end up in a band together, where Cassie shines because of her superb and innate musical talent. We know that the bank breaks up, and the dual timeline moves from the 2000s to the current day, and the sisters are estranged. Why? The story unfolds as Zoe's daughter Cherry, who seems to have inherited Cassie's musical gift, explores a career in music herself. This is a story about sisterhood, jealousy, fame, and forgiveness. It is another well-told story by Jennifer Weiner and I highly recommend it!

I new to reviewing and still finding my way,, but I always enjoy Jennifer Weiner's books and this was no exception!!