“How do you know the gift you are meant to offer the world? Whatever you secretly dream of doing and, simultaneously, are terrified of doing—that’s it.”

I received an eARC of The Lost Voice by Greta Morgan in exchange for an honest review. Here are my thoughts!

🎙️Greta Morgan was on top of the world in 2019 - a musician who was touring with Vampire Weekend and gaining critical acclaim with her own original work, but her life as she knew it came to a halt when, after contracting covid, she developed a neurological disorder known as spasmodic dysphonia. This essentially stole Greta’s voice, and with it, her life and sense of purpose. The Lost Voice is Greta’s memoir - a look at how her career began, moved forward, and was forced to change lanes unexpectedly. While much of it is Greta’s own personal journey, she also asks readers to question their understanding of what exactly art, passion, and creativity are.🎙️

Y’all I’ve put off this review for a couple months now, because two halves of myself are at war with one another. There’s the half of me that is constantly reading and regularly posting book reviews, and then there’s the part of me that has been a fan of Greta’s for practically half of my life and has written an entire 200k novel inspired by one of her songs. Both parts of me are valid, yet they are so at odds.

So, yeah. I’m torn on how to rate this book - let alone review it. Which means you’re getting two ratings and two reviews from me - choose what kind of reader you are to determine which review makes the most sense for you!


📖 Avid Reader & Nonfan Review 📖

The Lost Voice is a memoir that just didn’t quite work for me. While Greta’s overall story is an interesting and compelling one, this book just felt a bit muddled. Greta clearly has talent in short form writing - the poetry of her musical career being evidence of this - but the novel felt kind of long winded and repetitive.

I fear that in an effort to be honest and meaningful in this memoir we lost out on some of the beauty that should also be found in storytelling. It all felt a bit too rigid and formulaic, which felt so at odds with a life so rooted in art and music. All in all this was not a bad read, but not one I would go out of my way to recommend either so it gets a solid three stars.

🎵 Greta Morgan Fan Review 🎵

I have been a fan of Greta Morgan since the (relatively) early days of The Hush Sound, falling in love from the moment I heard Wine Red on a Warped Tour sample album. When all my friends were buying tickets to see P!ATD, I was sweating buckets in building without AC in the dead of summer so I could hear songs from Goodbye Blues live. When The Hush Sound broke up I continued to follow Greta’s career to her other musical projects. I literally walked down the aisle to one of her songs when I got married. And I, like so many others, was heartbroken by the news of her lost voice.

All of this is to say - when I saw that Greta would be releasing a memoir I knew that I would be reading it. The second I saw ARCs available to be requested I immediately threw my hat in the ring. I was lucky enough to get a copy of The Lost Voice and immediately dove in to Greta’s novel, ready to learn more about this artist who has meant so much to me.

I gained so much insight from this book. Deeper explanations of lyrics and band break ups, but also just so much of Greta’s personal life - the highs and the lows. Greta’s willingness to be so open with her readers was breathtaking and I’m in awe of the courage that must have taken. I also appreciated how this book not only taught me about Greta, but also encouraged me to consider how I treat my own talent and creativity.

Overall I really loved this one and am giving it five stars. And (somewhat selfishly) I can not WAIT to see what else Greta Morgan is going to create and do with her amazing talent.

This inspired me in profound ways that I wasn’t expecting! It sort of rekindled my love for making/creating art. The authors writing style is great, I enjoyed their perspective right from the start. Would recommend this read to anyone who is an artist.

Morgan leads readers through a raw reflection of her music career, all while offering her audience to honestly look at their own artistic journies. The golden mirror appeared on the page, asking me what do I truly believe my own artistic journey offers the rest of us.

I’ve loved Greta Morgan since 2006 when I first heard The Hush Sound. I still talk about how sad I am that I was 12 and too young to go to their tour with Panic at the Disco. I have no idea how this would read to someone who doesn’t know who Greta is, but I loved it.
The first half of this book was filled with things from that musical era that I didn’t know and was excited to learn.
The second half of the book felt like meeting a whole new person, and I could not put this down. Greta learning to grieve her voice and learning to live as a whole new person apart from “singer” made me admire her on an entirely new level.

I got an early copy but I’m excited for this book to come out so I can buy a physical copy for my shelf.

I've been following Greta and her music career since 2005, and when I say I was elated to receive this ARC, I'm not kidding.

In 2020, Greta had a high fever that ultimately led to a diagnosis of spasmodic disphonia (where your vocal chords don't work right anymore). And that put the brakes on her career as a vocalist. For the last five years, Greta has done a lot of soul searching in order to solve one of the biggest human questions: what am I if I'm not the thing that I've spent my whole life defining myself by?

Greta has this voice that is so down to earth and so poetic at the same time. It feels effortless and so natural; like having coffee with your oldest friend. Her insight speaks to how to cope with life not going how you planned it to, no matter what that plan was.

Greta Morgan is a singer songwriter who has been playing indie music since her teen years. She lost her singing voice after Covid in 2020. The first part of her book describes her early life and her experiences as a touring musician as a teenager. The second part describes her struggles with losing her voice and working to gain it back.
I really enjoyed reading about her work as a musician and singer. Greta really shows how devastating it is for a musician to lose their voice. I would recommend this book because it’s well written and has much to say about discovering yourself.

I enjoyed this book but would not use it in a classroom as I hoped it would have a stronger voice and structure. Nonetheless, the story is gripping, and I am glad I read it.