Author: Miel Moreland
Publication Date: 18 May 2021
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Page Count: 352
Reading Method: Digital ARC [Thank you to the publisher]
Dates Read: May 9 – 11
Synopsis:
Eva, Celeste, Gina, and Steph used to think their friendship was unbreakable. After all, they’ve been though a lot together, including the astronomical rise of Moonlight Overthrow, the world-famous queer pop band they formed in middle school, never expecting to headline anything bigger than the county fair.
But after a sudden falling out leads to the dissolution of the teens’ band, their friendship, and Eva and Celeste’s starry-eyed romance, nothing is the same. Gina and Celeste step further into the spotlight, Steph disappears completely, and Eva, heartbroken, takes refuge as a songwriter and secret online fangirl…of her own band. That is, until a storm devastates their hometown, bringing the four ex-best-friends back together. As they prepare for one last show, they’ll discover whether growing up always means growing apart.
Review:
If there’s something I absolutely LOVE reading about in books – it’s music. It’s a beautiful combination of two of my passions. The synopsis of It Goes Like This set it up to be an absolutely lovely read.
Plot:
I love the idea of a girl band falling apart and then coming back together to for an epic cause. With all of the band mates off on their own adventures after the split, it was interesting to see them explore the dynamics of the group when they came back together.
Characters:
We get the story from four perspectives – one for each of the band members. I think it was important to be able to see things through all of their different eyes and really allowed us to be able to experience their thoughts and struggles in a more authentic way.
Gina has left the band to pursue a career in acting, but it doesn’t seem to be all that she hoped it would be. Gina is a force to be reckoned with. Eva is attending college and learning how to live a normal life while still writing amazing music for other artists. She seems to be a bit more tenderhearted and I loved her obvious connection to the music. Celeste is the only one still in the music game, going on tour and writing all her songs about her recent heartbreak. And Steph is coming to terms with their sexuality and handling complex family issues back at home, trying to live completely out of the business. As you can imagine, when they all come back together, old suppressed tensions rise back to the surface.
Writing:
There were many portions of this book that I struggled to get through. Not because I thought it was boring, but because I found myself getting lost or confused and having to reread sentences to make them make sense. In the end, they did ~technically~ make sense, but it didn’t feel like they flowed well. I also found some of the scenarios and dialogue felt unrealistic and I couldn’t understand why the band handled the break up the way that they did. It made me kind of angry.
What I did love was the inclusivity, acceptance, self love, familial love, and romantic relationships. I enjoyed the way the music was written and used as a story telling device. I liked that there was real growth and development for the band mates and that at the end, everything resolved the way it needed to.
Overall:
All in all, this was a pretty good book. I probably wouldn’t re-read it and I wasn’t over the moon in love with it, but I definitely do think there is an audience for the story and could see myself recommending it to someone else.
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